Introduction

Political and Economic Circumstances in Germany

Before World War I, Germany was ruled by an emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II. But at the end of the war, the Kaiser fled to Holland and abdicated his throne.

Post-war Berlin (Germany’s capital city) was in such a chaotic state that it was too dangerous for the politicians to meet there to work out the new constitution, following the collapse of the monarchy. The politicians thus met in the small town of Weimar. Germany’s new democratic government thus became known as the Weimar Republic.

• Its first president was Friedrich Ebert, leader of the German Social Democratic Party.
• All citizens were guaranteed freedom of speech and religion by the Bill of Rights.
• The Bill of Rights also guaranteed equality under the law. All men and women over the age of 20 could vote in elections for President and parliament to run the government in Germany.
• The parliament, or Reichstag, would implement the laws of the country.