The revolution was over, great hopes had evaporated leaving only disenchantment and the rejection of unsuccessful ‘idealistic’ policies. A book appeared in 1853, which was written by a former Burschenschaft member and revolutionary called August Ludwig von Rochau and entitled Principles of Realpolitik, with reference to political conditions in Germany. Those radical democrats who had not chosen the path of emigration turned into sensible observers of the prevailing conditions; the Liberal middle classes came to terms with the state of affairs and settled down into commercial or learned professions or, as loyal servitors of both the people and the crown, got themselves elected to the second chambers of the various Parliaments (Landtage). One thing had however been achieved. In every German state, in Prussia especially, the rulers had committed themselves to constitutional norms and had come to share their legislative power with the parliamentary forces.

In any case, the liberalism of the propertied middle classes had also won, in so far as the economic revival benefited from the political doldrums of the fifties. After all, was not involvement in economic matters also a means of drawing closer to their nationalist goal? This is what Friedrich Motz, the Prussian Minister of Finance, had realised as early on as the twenties, when he attempted to remove the nuisance of an economically splintered Germany and the muddle of the different customs duties and currencies in the 39 states.