The creation of the Weimar Republic and its constitution

October Reforms | Peace Note | November Revolution | Ebert-Groener Pact | Constituent Assembly | The Weimar Constitution

What were the October Reforms?

In October 1918, General Erich Ludendorff had a solution of partially democratising Germany in order to receive fairer terms from the Allies and still have Kaiser Wilhelm II remain in power.

The Kaiser implemented the following:

• Prince Max of Baden was appointed as Chancellor

• The Chancellor was to be responsible to the Reichstag

• A new government was established based on the majority parties in the Reichstag including the SPD

• The armed forces were under the control of the government

The Kaiser now had less power than the Reichstag.

This was an example that the November Revolution was a ‘revolution from above’.

What was the Peace Note?

On the 3rd October 1918, Prince Max wrote to President Wilson asking for an armistice; Wilson responded three weeks later, as he was suspicious that the German High Command was using this request to buy time to rearm.

Wilson demanded then following:

• A call to end submarine warfare

• Germany must evacuate all occupied territory

• Germany must fully democratise its political system

These terms effectively asked Germany to surrender and for the kaiser to abdicate.

Ludendorff refused to accept and tried to gather support for one last ditch military effort to resist; however, this failed causing him to resign and flee to Sweden.

The reforms failed to achieve Ludendorff’s objectives.

How did the German public react to the Peace Note?

The Peace Note was how the German public learned the truth that the country were horribly losing the war.

This in turn caused many civilians to lose faith in the Kaiser and the current government, especially as they persevered through food shortages during the war as they were still under the assumption that they would win.

On the 22nd October 1918, workers that went on strike in Friedrichshafen, shouted ‘The Kaiser is a scoundrel’.

On the 28th, the crews of two cruisers refused to obey orders of the German navy’s high command.

What were the events of the November Revolution of 1918?

On the 3rd November, sailors in Kiel mutinied against their officers and took control of the base.

By the 6th, workers and soldiers’ councils were established all over the country.

The 8th of November saw the deposition of the Bavarian monarchy; Bavaria became a republic.

On the 9th, the SPD called on workers in Berlin to join a general strike to force the king to abdicate; they threatened to withdraw support from Prince Max’s government unless the Kaiser abdicated within 24 hours.

As Max knew the SPD’s involvement was vital in running the country, as they were the largest party, he released a statement claiming the Kaiser had abdicated (before the Kaiser actually did!).

On the same day, Max resigned, letting Friedrich Ebert (SPD leader) be Chancellor; Phillip Scheidemann, another key figure in the SPD, declared that the German Republic was now in existence.

General Groner told the kaiser that the army was no longer supporting him, which the final turning point that led to the official abdication of the Kaiser.

What was the Constituent Assembly?

The Constituent Assembly was created with the task of drawing up the new constitution.

Ebert’s priority after agreeing the armistice with the Allies on 11th November 1918 was to organise the elections for this assembly.

Before the new constitution was created and after the signing of the armistice there were many social disturbances throughout the country (due to the demobilisation of much of the army causing many ex-soldiers to join street demonstrations, strikes, and armed clashes).

What was the Ebert-Groener Pact? How did the left respond to this?

The left wanted more radical change and were encouraging further rebellion.

Currently, Ebert’s government heavily relied on the army; many army officers were part of the aristocracy, pro-kaiser, and opposed to democracy.

However, in late 1918, they were worried that due to all the political disturbances that Germany could face a Bolshevik revolution.

On 10th November, General Groner assured Ebert that the army would support the government as long as Ebert defended Germany against the communists.

This agreement became known as the Ebert-Groener Pact.

• Ebert found this pact necessary to ensure an orderly transition to the new republic.

• The left felt that Ebert was betraying them.

Spartacists (the KPD) responded to this with uprisings:

• On 6th December 1918, a Spartacist demonstration in Berlin was fired on by troops, killing 16

• 6th January saw the Spartacist Uprising

What were the outcomes of the January 1919 election?

These elections for the Constituent Assembly were held on the 19th January 1919; this was the first time women were able to vote.

Ebert was elected as the first President of the Republic.

The SPD won with 163 seats but did not have the majority; Phillip Scheidemann was Chancellor of the first coalition government from February to June 1919.

What was in the Weimar Constitution that could be seen as strengths?

S: The constitution itself was in many ways more democratic than other countries - for example, it provided a wider right to vote than in other countries as women were allowed to vote on the same terms as men (which by 1919, wasn’t achieved in Great Britain) and women were also allowed to become deputies in the Reichstag and state parliaments.

S: There was full democracy in local government as well central government; this was unlike the Second Empire as now Prussia, the largest state, was not able to dominate the rest of Germany.

S: ‘all Germans are equal before the law’ ‘censorship is forbidden’

What was proportional representation? How is it both a strength and weakness?

Proportional representation was a system in which seats are allocated depending on the percentage of votes a party receives

The country was divided into 35 electoral districts with each one having a million voters.

S: It was a sign of democracy as everyone could be heard, even the voices of smaller parties could influence government decisions.

The proliferation of smaller parties:

• W: Smaller parties could be heard which could disrupt the flow of government especially as these parties were typically anti-republican [it could be argued that this isn’t the fault of the constitution but due to already existing hate for the new government]

• W: This led to many short-lived coalitions that meant that decisions were made slowly, negatively impacted the running of government

What was Article 48? How is it both a strength and weakness?

Article 48 gave the President the power to rule ‘by decree’ in emergencies (could pass/repeal laws without the consent of the Reichstag).

S: It isn’t inherently authoritarian as most republics would have a figure with this power; it had the potential to be extremely useful if a country was in a crisis and the government couldn’t work efficiently.

W: There was nothing in the constitution that described what an emergency entails so the President could use it whenever he deemed it an ‘emergency’ which therefore allowed for the article to be overused (like how Ebert used it a total of 136 times).

What institutions did the government not change? Why was this problematic for the existence of democracy?

The army (or Reichswehr):

• They were fairly free from politically control during the Second Empire and this remained the same in Weimar

• Most army leaders were conservative and right-wing; while the army was used in squashing left-wing revolts, they were much more lenient towards the right wing opposition

• General Hans von Seeckt believed that the army was not loyal to the Republic (which Seeckt thought of as temporary) but to a timeless Reich that was the true expression of German nationhood

• Seeckt didn’t allow for his officers to meddle in politics on their own initiative but viewed this with his command, the army as a whole could intervene in politics if necessary

The civil service:

• They were typically royalist and traditionalist

• Many of the senior civil servants were members of the aristocracy

The judiciary:

• Article 102 of the constitution guaranteed the independence of the judges, which meant that the anti-democratic, monarchist judges of the Second Empire were allowed to keep their role

• This allowed for left-wing rebels to be treated much more severely than the right-wing.