|
3 November 1918: the German navy mutinied; rebellion spread throughout the country.
9 November: Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled the country; a new Republic was declared.
19 January 1919: elections were held for a new Reichstag.
11 February 1919: in the town of Weimar, a new government was agreed, with Freidrich EBERT the elected President.
Germany did not just get a new government. The Allies made sure that Germany got a different kind of government.
Germanys Constitution Before 1914 and After 1919
|
Before 1914
|
After 1919
|
|
the government of Germany was almost a
MILITARY AUTOCRACY
|
the government of Germany was a
PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY
|
|
HEREDITARY monarch
|
elected PRESIDENT
|
|
Men over 25 can vote
|
all men and women over the age of 20 can vote, by
PROPORTIONAL voting.
|
|
the KAISER called the Reichstag
|
the ELECTORS elected the Reichstag
|
|
the Kaiser APPOINTED the Government
|
the Government was SELECTED from the Reichstag; it had to have a majority in the Reichstag, and had to do as the Reichstag said.
|
|
Kaiser Wilhelm said: 'Who opposes me I shall
CRUSH TO PIECES'.
|
a BILL OF RIGHTS safeguarded all Germans' equality before the law and political and religious freedom.
|
|
