HIS CES. King. His Majesty has deigned to grant the people of Austria a constitution today, and in a manifesto issued at the same time, he has explained the principles that led him to take this step. Through this constitution our great Fatherland will be united into a single entity [...]. The Council of Ministers is firmly and unshakably convinced that it is in the power of the Authorities to maintain peace, order, peace, and the power of the Law to command solemnity and respect for the laws of the Austrian Constitution [...]. Olomouc, 6 III 1849 [Subp.] Rana of Ministers: Schwarzenberg, Stadion, Kraus, Bach, Cordon, Bruck, Thinnfeld, Kumler.
Single-sided print on ark. 37.7x49.5 cm. Information about the promulgation of the so-called "March Constitution" of the Austrian Empire, a reaction of the Austrian authorities to the recent incidents of the Spring of Nations. "The constitution, while incorporating to some extent democratic civil rights, provided for a large centralization of the state [...]. While the individual Austrian provinces were to have their own self-governing body in the form of national assemblies, their powers were in practice narrowed to matters of national culture. The central body alongside the emperor and the government was to be a bicameral parliament with legislative powers [...]. The March Constitution never came into force. Although it strongly emphasized that all power came from the emperor, who had broad control over the legislative sphere and full executive power, it was in the eyes of the emperor and the government anyway too great a restriction on central authority" (Wikipedia). Vertical sheet crease, traces of dampness. Notes on the back.
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