The Weimar Constitution

• The council of people's representatives was set up in the immediate aftermath of the abdication of the kaiser but it was only ever supposed to be temporary
• As soon as it was feasibly possible, the new chancellor of the reichstag frederick ebert announced there would be elections held to choose a new national assembly to represent the people
• The new national assembly would be responsible for drafting a constitution for the new republic
• Those eligible to vote, which is everyone male or female over the age of 20, got to cast their first votes in the election held on the 19th of January 1919
• The elections were a huge success, with 83% of those eligible voting
• The socialist democratic party won 40% of the vote, the center party won 20%, and the rest was shared mostly between moderate non-extreme parties
• The first national assembly met in February, but because there was still protests and unrest in Berlin, the assembly was forced to meet in a small town called Weimar
• As a consequence of this, the new government became known as the Weimar Republic
• The new constitution was agreed

  On the 31st of July 1919
• The new makeup of the German political system


  • President
  • Chancellor
  • Parliament
  • Electorate
• The president


  Was the head of state, elected every seven years, not to take part in everyday politics, but responsible for the army and for choosing the chancellor
• The chancellor


  Was the head of the government, responsible for choosing the government ministers and for leading the reichstag
• The parliament


  Consisted of the reichstag and the reichrat, with the reichstag being the most powerful, making decisions about taxation and policy, elected by the people every four years, and the reichrat being the representative of each of the German regions, also elected every four years
• The electorate


  Was unique in Europe, as all men and women over the age of 20 had the vote
• Strengths of the Weimar constitution

  • It was completely democratic, with everyone over 20 having the vote
  • It used proportional representation to choose the reichstag seats
  • It was designed to provide balance between the powers, with the president choosing the chancellor and being in charge of the army, and the chancellor deciding which laws should pass but needing to be voted on in the reichstag and the reichrat
• Weaknesses of the Weimar constitution

  • Proportional representation meant it was very unlikely there would be a single party in control, making it difficult to pass laws
  • It was very hard to get urgent decisions made, leading to the overuse of Article 48 which allowed the president to give control to the chancellor in an emergency
  • No one felt like the government actually represented them, as the votes were spread between dozens of parties, and extreme parties like the communists and nationalists had a say in the reichstag and tried to undermine the parliament