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| July 31 |
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| ADOPTION OF THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION. The president, elected for a seven-year term, was to appoint a chancellor who in turn chose a cabinet that could command a majority in the Reichstag. By Articles 25 and 48 the president was empowered to suspend constitutional guaranties and dissolve the Reichstag in periods of national emergency. The Reichsrat, composed of delegates from 18 states (no one of which was to have more than two-fifths of the seats), could delay but not prevent legislation. The members of the Reichstag were elected not as individuals or as representatives of districts but by party lists for all Germany. A system of proportional representation ensured the representation of minority parties but also necessitated coalition governments. | 1 |
| The new republic faced many problems. Germany was in financial ruins, the dead and wounded from the war numbered about 6 million, and returning soldiers found no jobs. Facing a crisis in confidence, the government turned to Paul von Hindenburg and the military. The latter, seeing in the republic the lost hope of maintaining German unity, lent its support by putting down rebellions and giving the new regime legitimacy. This alliance won over the majority of civil servants, many of whom remained loyal to the monarchy, who eased the transition to peace. The alliance also prevented significant social change, however. Landlords and industrialists retained their traditional power. Discontent and instability resulted; those on the Left sought the social changes promised by a republic and those on the Right sought a return to the prestige of the past. The result was a republic with over 11 governments in 13 years, as governments vacillated in their search for partners on the Left and on the Right. | 2 |
| There was change, however, in the cultural life of Germany. Socialists who controlled the city governments of many large cities eagerly sought to demonstrate Germany's new beginning through architecture. Schools, hospitals, public offices, and low-cost housing for workers reflected the rise of Walter Gropius (1883–1969) and his Bauhaus school of design, which emphasized functionalism. In other arts the absence of social stability fostered social criticism, as in the works of dramatist Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) and novelist Thomas Mann (1875–1955). Finally, the amusement industry flourished for those who had profited from speculation during the inflationary crisis of 1923. The cabaret became the center of new freedoms, seen especially in new expressions of sexuality. This remained an urban phenomenon, however, leaving rural Germans to reflect upon the “moral decay” of their nation. | 3 |
| Territorial changes. Aside from the union of eight central German states to form the new state of Thuringia (April 30, 1920), many areas around Germany held plebiscites to determine union or were reallocated by the Allies. These included plebiscites in Allenstein and Mareinwerder (July 11, 1920), Upper Silesia (March 20, 1921), and the southern zone of Schleswig (March 14, 1920), all of which voted for union with Germany. | 4 |
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| Sept. 22 |
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| The government was obliged by the Allies to strike out provision for the representation of Austria and to promise to respect Austrian independence. | 5 |
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