For those who had been involved in the uprisings of 1848–1849, the situation in Germany at mid-century was anything but heartening. Friedrich Wilhelm IVs refusal to "pick up the crown from the gutter" was the final blow to the helpless Frankfurt Parliament. By April of 1849 the Prussian army was in firm control, as it in fact had been for some time, and the German flirtation with revolution was history. It was a time to admit failure, to drop Utopian illusions and to face the world soberly and realistically for what it was.