March demands (1848)
3월 요구 (1848)
The core demands that people's assemblies across Germany put to their princes at the start of the March Revolution of 1848. First formulated by the people's assembly at Mannheim in Baden on 27 February 1848, they called for arming of the people with free election of officers, unconditional freedom of the press, jury courts on the English model and the immediate creation of a German parliament. Many princes conceded them almost without resistance and appointed liberal "March ministries".
In depth
Their basis was the thirteen "demands of the people of Baden" that Hecker and Struve put forward at the Offenburg assembly of 12 September 1847, which Struve condensed into four "pressing demands" for the deputation to Karlsruhe. Similar resolutions followed in Württemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau and other states.
Where princes gave way quickly, as in Württemberg, Hanover and Hesse-Darmstadt, jury courts, the end of censorship and peasant emancipation were promised, though much remained promise. Public jury trials are counted among the lasting achievements of the revolution that survived the reaction.