The new democratic Republic in Germany held its first democratic elections

19 January 1919
A new Constituent Assembly was created
06 February
Turnout was high (83%) which suggested people had faith in the idea of democracy, and over 76% of people supported political parties who were pro-democracy
A coalition government was now formed, which would become known as the 'Weimar Coalition'
Due to revolutionary trouble in Berlin, the new election government would meet in the town of Weimar, hence the new Germany democracy would become nicknamedthe "Weimar Republic"
Democracy in Germany had not got off to a great start, by being forced to surrender in World War I
With the Kaiser now gone, and with the election results showing an appetite among the German people for democracy, a real opportunity existed for these new democrats to establish a new political system for Germany which was fairer
The new President, Friedrich Ebert (leader of the Social Democratic Party) had asked the liberal lawyer Hugo Preuss to draw up a new constitution- a set of rules on how the Weimar Government would operate
The new constitution was heavily influenced by the democracies of Britain and America and had both positive and negative features
