Abstract :
[en] On August 18, 1789, the Liège Revolution erupted. This movement, stemming from the political, social, and legal grievances of previous reigns, quickly transcended the boundaries of the imperial and ecclesiastical principality of Liège, disrupting the entire Holy Roman Empire. As early as December 1789, Berlin deployed troops in the principality to prevent the Reichsexekution led by the Elector of Cologne, Maximilian of Austria.
This intervention led to the convening of an imperial electoral congress in Frankfurt in September 1790. The upcoming election of Leopold II as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire provided an opportunity for discussions. The objective was to find a constitutional compromise that reconciled revolutionary demands, based on an idealized vision of ancient Liège law, with the legal framework of the Holy Roman Empire as well as the political imperatives of the time. Despite their divisions, the eight Electors proposed a constitutional plan that essentially provided for the restoration of the Prince-Bishop of Liège and the drafting of a new Constitution under the supervision of the Reichskammergericht. However, despite the insistence of the King of Prussia, the Liège revolutionaries rejected the proposal, considering it incompatible with their constitutional ideals.
Rather than describing the content of the "Frankfurt Compromise," this paper analyzes the balance that the Electors sought to establish between imperial law and the revolutionary demands in Liège. It also examines the reasons behind the rejection by the Liège revolutionaries, particularly the unilateral nature of the proposals, as they had not been consulted during the negotiations.
