| Category | Template | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Text | Text |
| Author | Author | Author |
| Collection | Collection | Collection |
| Keywords | Keywords | Keywords |
| Subpage | Subpage | Subpage |
| Template | Form |
|---|---|
| BrowseTexts | BrowseTexts |
| BrowseAuthors | BrowseAuthors |
| BrowseLetters | BrowseLetters |
Template:GalleryAuthorsPreviewSmall
Special pages :
The Sanguinary Law in Dusseldorf
First published: in Neue Rheinische Zeitung No. 297, May 13, 1849.
Cologne, May 12. The ânew Constitutionâ, the abolition of ordinary laws and law-courts, together with the announcement of murderous privileges conferred by the sovereign on âMy glorious armyâ, already came into force in DĂźsseldorf yesterday.
After the defeat and massacre of the people, the commander immediately asked Berlin for instructions. From Herr von Hohenzollernâs accomplices, Brandenburg-Manteuffel, an order was received by telegraph to proclaim the sanguinary law and to set up murderous military courts.
By Articles 1 and 6 of the army orders the right of association is abolished, and Articles 5, 6, 7, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28, of the imposed âSchnapsâ Charter [1] are made invalid.
Last year, under the rule of âcitizen and communistâ Drigalski,[2] when a state of siege was proclaimed the DĂźsseldorf press was put under censorship, a measure which gave rise to loud protests and great indignation even among the majority of the feeble Agreersâ company. Today, after the new Hohenzollern achievements, when at the side of the subordinate knyaz in Potsdam there are no Chambers, but instead snub-nosed Cossack kinsmen, today the powers that be are not content with censorship, but proceed simply to suppression of the press.
According to Article 7, DĂźsseldorf newspapers, and the Neue Rheinische Zeitung as well, are prohibited in the DĂźsseldorf area. According to Article 8, nothing but official âinformationâ may be published.
Under âcitizen and communistâ Drigalskiâs rule by the sabre, the victims of arbitrary arrests were at least not removed from the jurisdiction of the ordinary law and its regular judges. Today the law and the courts have been suspended and murderous special military courts have been set up.
Article 9. Anyone who by word of mouth, in writing, in the press, or in representational form, incites resistance to the legal (!) orders of the authorities will come before a court martial.
Article 10. Anyone who is caught in open or armed resistance to the measures of the legal authorities, or who by traitorous action exposes the, troops to danger or harm, will be summarily shot in accordance with martial law.
The laurels of the murderer Windischgrätz allow no rest to the reinvigorated Hohenzollern!
- â The reference is to the Constitution imposed by the Prussian King on December 5, 1848. The Constitution imposed (âgrantedâ) by King Frederick William IV on December 5, 1848, dissolved the Prussian National Assembly and introduced a two-chamber system; the First Chamber was transformed by age and property qualifications into a privileged chamber of the nobility. According to the electoral law of December 6, 1848, the right to vote in the two-stage elections to the Second Chamber was granted only to so-called independent Prussians. The Constitution provided for the suspension, in case of war or disorder, of freedom of the individual, inviolability of the dwelling, freedom of the press, assembly, association and so forth. The royal authority was vested with very wide powers â the King was authorised to convene or dissolve the Chambers, to appoint Ministers, declare war or conclude a peace treaty. He was vested with full executive power, while he exercised legislative power together with the Chambers. Later on, anti-democratic revisions of the Constitution were repeatedly made on the initiative of Prussian ruling circles.
- â In the Neue Rheinische Zeitung this ironical expression was used of the commander of a division billeted in DĂźsseldorf, the reactionary Prussian general Drigalski (see Marxâs article âDrigalski â Legislator, Citizen and Communistâ) who in November 1848 proclaimed a state of siege in the town and appealed to the citizens to be âcommunists in the noble sense of the wordâ and make donations to the poor. The appeal signed âCitizen Drigalskiâ was published in the DĂźsseldorfer Zeitung No. 311, November 24, 1848.