THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION Weimar’s Political Crisis

The making of the constitution November 1918 Ebert asked Hugo Preuss to draw up a constitution On the 31 st of July 1919 the Reichstag voted in favour of the constitution 262 to 75 and on the 11 th of August it was ratified by the President

What did it do? Germany was declared a democratic state and a republic. It had a federal structure with 17 regional states The people elected the president every 7 years. He:  Had the right to dissolve the Reichstag  Appointed the Chancellor  Was Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces  Had the capacity to rule by decree at a time of national emergency (Article 48)  Oversaw the Reichstag

Parliament There were two houses  The Reichstag, the main representative assembly and the law- making body, which had deputies elected every 4 years on a system of proportional representation – one member for every 60,000 votes in an electoral district  The Reichsrat, which was made of representatives from each state which held local responsibilities such as education – it could initiate or delay proposals but the Reichstag could always overrule it

The Bill of Rights Personal liberty and free speech Censorship was forbidden Equality before the law for all Germans Religious freedom and no State Church allowed Welfare provision Protection of labour Etc.

Supreme Court A supreme court was created in order to settle different interpretations of the law

Problems with the constitution? Proportional representation The emergency powers available to the president under Article 48 The relationship between the President and the Chancellor The fact that the traditional institutions of Imperial Germany had been allowed to continue

Proportional Representation It came into criticism after 1945 because, it was argued, it encouraged the formation of small fringe parties such as the Nazis It was virtually impossible for a party to have a majority so coalitions were necessary, and it is blamed for the political instability of the Weimar Republic – arguably the main problem was how set in their ways the old parties were It is arguable that after the political and economic problems PR encouraged extremism

The relationship between the President and Reichstag Was meant to have a fair system of checks and balances but it was very complex Fear of an over-powerful parliament was strong in the right-wing and liberal circles so it was meant to keep them happy The President was almost an Ersatzkaiser Article 48 makes it seem clear that the President had too much power, but in 1923 it was used as intended and to good effect

Traditional institutions The civil service was well educated and professional but tended to have the conservative values of Imperial Germany Judiciary still independent but many judges did not like the Weimar Constitution. They were biased towards the extreme right The army enjoyed great status and many generals were socially linked to Prussian landowners – it sought to maintain its influence and did not like democratic Germany Universities were generally more sympathetic towards old political ideas and rules

The significance of the constitution Great improvement on previous constitution and a very large majority voted in favour of it Weimar was initially seen as the most advanced democracy in the world The Weimar Republic had more serious issues than the constitution – e.g. the Treaty of Versailles