On the Threshold of a New Age
Focusing on 1866 and the Austro-Prussian War fought that year, this chapter examines the political ramification of Saxony’s defeat at the hands of Prussia, which fundamentally changed its international standing and domestic politics. The chapter begins by outlining socio-economic change in the mid-nineteenth century and Saxony’s constitutional system. A second section examines the birth of Conservative, left-liberal, National Liberal, and Social Democratic parties in Saxony under an oppressive Prussian occupation. The chapter next examines Bismarck’s fateful decision to introduce universal manhood suffrage for Reichstag elections. Final remarks identify the suffrage as a key issue in Saxon political discourse—one that remained contentious from 1866 until 1918.