Prussia and Austria were rivals in Germany.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2022). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] Representatives from all over Germany were elected to it.
2. [1] It held long debates that often went nowhere.
3. [1] It discussed plans for a united Germany.
4. [1] It attempted to take over the running of the war with Denmark.
5. [1] It produced the constitution for Germany.
6. [1] It proposed a constitutional monarchy.
7. [1] It voted to offer the position of emperor to Frederick William of Prussia.
8. [1] It offered the position of emperor to Frederick William, who refused it.
9. [1] Many of the members were ordered home by their state governments.
10. [1] It moved to Stuttgart with few members left.
11. [1] It was broken up by troops in 1849.
12. [1] He acted like that because he had no choice. He was in a position of weakness.
13. [1] He reacted this way because he was not a despot.
14. [1] He reacted that way because he was caught by surprise.
15. [1] He reacted by accepting the demands of the people because of the strength of their fury.
16. [1] He wanted to be popular with his people and at the head of the movement.
17. [1] He eventually recalled the army because the tide was turning in favour of the establishment.
18. [Explanation L3] When revolution broke out in Berlin, Frederick William acted as he did because he did not want to be a despot and did not want to be as reactionary as his father. He rather liked being popular with the people. When the disturbances began, he simply accepted the demands such as a constitution, elections and a united Germany.
19. [1] It was very surprising because few people thought that Prussia was strong enough to dominate Germany.
20. [1] Prussia was in the Zollverein, Austria was not.
21. [1] The Austrian defeat against Prussia left Prussia as the dominant power.
22. [1] Prussia was more economically advanced than Austria.
23. [1] Austria lost Russia as an ally, making it internationally weaker.
24. [1] Military defeats against France in 1859 made Austria weaker.
25. [1] Austria was left out of the North German Confederation.
26. [1] The Convention of Gastein helped Prussia manipulate Austria.
27. [1] Austria opposed German unification.
28. [1] The Austrian Empire was huge and very powerful.
29. [Explanation L3 (Surprising)] I think this is very surprising because for a long time it looked as if Austria would be the dominant power. When the German Confederation was set up, Austria was probably the leading country in it. It was one of the major powers in Europe and President of the German Confederation.
30. [Explanation L3 (Not Surprising)] This was not surprising because of Prussia's growing economic power. Prussia was the leading member of the Zollverein which included many major German states. This helped Prussia strengthen its economy. Austria was not in the Zollverein and therefore did not grow so economically strong as Prussia. Also, Prussia could trade more easily because of the Rhine, while Austria in southern Germany was more backward and still very agricultural.