From the Peace of Basel to the Frankfurt Constitution: Settlements and Constitutions, 1795 to 1849

The three treaties signed at Basel in 1795 split France's opponents apart one at a time: Prussia on 5 April, Spain on 22 July and Hesse-Kassel on 28 August. Prussia left the First Coalition, and the secret clause effectively recognized French control of the Rhine's west bank.

Signed on 9 February 1801 after French victories at Marengo and Hohenlinden, this treaty gave France the entire left bank of the Rhine and recognized four sister republics, leaving Britain as the only major opponent.

Signed on 14 October 1809, it ended the War of the Fifth Coalition. Austria ceded Salzburg to Bavaria, lost Trieste, Carniola and Istria, saw its army limited to 150,000 troops and had to recognize Joseph as king of Spain.

Concluded on 11 April 1814, it ended Napoleon's rule over France and Italy while letting him keep the title of emperor, and it gave him Elba as a small sovereign principality with a pension of two million francs.

Signed on 30 May 1814 for the restored Bourbon king Louis XVIII, it returned France to roughly its borders of 1 June 1792, recognized Swiss independence and committed France to end its slave trade within five years, preparing the ground for the Congress of Vienna.

Granted by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 4 March 1848, it created a bicameral parliament and a constitutional monarchy while leaving the king command of the army and the power to appoint ministers. It later became the fundamental law of the Kingdom of Italy and stood until 1 January 1948.

Drafted under Lajos Kossuth and signed by King Ferdinand V on 11 April 1848, these laws abolished noble privileges and serfdom and created a ministry answerable to parliament. They were later revoked, and their provisions were effectively restored only with the Compromise of 1867.

Promulgated on 12 September 1848 after the Sonderbund War, it turned a loose confederation of cantons into one federal state, with a National Council and a Council of States modeled on the American House and Senate. Its framework still underlies the constitution of 1999.

Adopted on 4 November 1848, it gave the Second Republic a president elected by universal male suffrage. Alexis de Tocqueville sat on the drafting committee and argued for two chambers. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, elected under it, seized power in December 1851, and it was repealed on 14 January 1852.

Imposed by Frederick William IV on 5 December 1848, it listed civil rights and created two chambers, but the king kept an absolute veto and command of the army. Its three class franchise weighted votes by taxes paid, and as amended in 1850 it lasted until 1918.

Adopted on 28 March 1849, it proposed a hereditary emperor and an elected lower house. Twenty eight smaller states recognized it, but Frederick William IV of Prussia refused the imperial crown from an elected assembly, so it never took effect, though it influenced the Weimar Constitution and the Basic Law.

Signed by Frederick VII on 5 June 1849, it ended Danish absolute monarchy under the 1665 Lex Regia and created the Rigsdag with its Landsting and Folketing. The vote reached about fifteen percent of the population, and the signing is still marked as Constitution Day.