1861: The February Patent

With pressure increasing on Emperor Franz Joseph’s neo-absolutist rule, the October Diploma of 1860—as a constitution—had attempted to create a new political order. But it was unable to meet demands for a progressive constitution. The Constitution Law of 26 February 1861 also fell short of accommodating these ideas and ultimately, this attempt to enact an empire-wide constitution also failed. In order to expand the scope of negotiations, on 20 September 1865 the emperor repealed the constitutional obligations resulting from the October Diploma and the February Patent (“Suspension”).