germany

• Until 1871 there were many separate states that were German-speaking but there was not a country called Germany
• In 1871, the German empire was created: this was largely the work of the Prussian chief minister, Otto von Bismarck
• Prussia was one of the largest German-speaking states and in 1871 Prussia and its allies had just won a war against France
• The King of Prussia became the ruler of the new Germany: he became the first German Emperor or Kaiser
• Germany also had a Parliament, the Reichstag, but its powers were limited
• By 1900 the new Germany was one of the most important countries in the world with powerful industries, a strong army and a newly created navy
• As a result of the growth of its industries a new class of industrial workers had been created in Germany
• The standard of living of many of these workers was quite low
• A new socialist political party called the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was formed to champion these workers
• Socialism was an important and fairly new left-wing political idea which proposed that ownership or control of the economy should rest with society as a whole
• The Social Democratic Party in Germany thought that the Kaiser had too much power while the Reichstag did not have enough
• By 1914 the Social Democratic Party was the single largest political party in the Reichstag
• When the First World War broke out in 1914, the Social Democratic Party at first supported the Kaiser's government and the German war effort
• By 1918 it became clear that Germany had no hope of winning the war and the Kaiser's rule collapsed
• The German army commanders advised the Kaiser to end the war and give more power to the Reichstag
• The Social Democratic Party, as the largest party in the Reichstag, formed a new government under the leadership of Friedrich Ebert in November 1918
• The outbreak of a naval mutiny in the port of Kiel and violent protests in several German cities persuaded the Kaiser to abdicate on 9 November 1918
• The monarchy was finished: Germany was now a republic
• On 11 November the German government signed an armistice with Germany's enemies: the war was over
• Over 2 million Germans had died
• Germany was close to bankruptcy as the war had lasted far longer than most people had expected
• There were serious food shortages
• There were serious political divisions between socialists, communists and other left-wing groups on the one hand and other political groups on the right wing
• These divisions often led to violent protest in the new German republic
• The new government decided to hold elections for a new Reichstag in January 1919
• There was an attempted communist uprising, inspired by the Russian revolution
• It was decided that it would be safer for the new Reichstag to meet in the city of Weimar
• The new constitution was created by August 1919 and was called the Weimar constitution
• The Weimar constitution made Germany one of the most advanced democratic countries in the world
• Proportional representation


  Each party would receive a number of seats in proportion to its total vote, so if a party won 20 per cent of the vote it would get 20 per cent of the seats
• President


  Head of the country, elected every seven years by the German people, had control of the armed forces and the power to dismiss the Reichstag and hold new elections, also had power under Article 48 to suspend the constitution and rule on his own
• Chancellor


  Head of the government, needed support from over half of the Reichstag
• The system of proportional representation could result in no political party having a majority of seats in the Reichstag
• Governments often had to be made up of several parties – these were called coalitions
• When coalitions broke or could not be formed, the only person who could govern effectively was the President and this resulted in democratic government being suspended under Article 48
• Germany's first president, Ebert, used Article 48 on 136 separate occasions and many Germans worried that this excessive use was a threat to democracy
• Not all Germans welcomed the new constitution
• Opponents of the Weimar constitution


  • Left-wing opponents, such as the communists
  • Right-wing political parties who wanted to see the return of the Kaiser and stronger government than the Weimar government could provide
• Democracy of the sort provided by the Weimar constitution was new for Germany
• There was little experience of the practice of democratic government before 1919