Constitution of the Kaiserreich Flashcards
What is a democracy?
A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
What is a constitution?
A set of fundamental principles or established precedence according to which a state or other organisation is governed.
How many state governments were there?
How many states were there?
25 state Governments
26 states
What happens if your state is bigger in Germany?
For example?
The bigger your state in Germany, the more votes you get in the Bundesrat (Prussia had 17 out of 58 seats and Bavaria, the next biggest state, had 6 votes)
What part of the constitution made it democratic?
Vote, elected, accept/deny, law, Emperor, classes
Reichstag- all males over 25 could vote in who they wanted.
Reichstag- elected every 5 years.
Reichstag- could accept or deny new laws.
Bundesrat- could pass new laws and, the bigger your state, the more seats that you have so each state has a proportionally equal say. i.e more people in your state means that there are more seats so everyone has a equal chance of getting voted in.
Bundesrat- Emperor can’t pass new laws without Bundesrat support.
-Defies classification
What part of the constitution made it undemocratic?
Responsible, outlines, hire/fire, stamped, Prussia, paid
- Chancellor is only responsible to the Emperor and not the Reichstag.
- Chancellor decided upon Reich policy outlines.
- Chancellor could ‘hire and fire’ state secretaries responsible for various government ministries.
- Chancellor usually made Bundesrat rubber stamp his policies despite the Bundesrat supposedly having extensive powers.
- Emperor is also the King of Prussia
- The Reichstag weren’t paid so it was most likely the rich that could afford it as they could afford to not get paid as they work.
What could the Emperor do?
Chancellor, Reichstag, foreign, treaties, army, war/peace, laws, interrupt
- Dismiss the Chancellor.
- Dissolve the Reichstag.
- Controlled foreign policy.
- Could make treaties/alliances.
- Commanded the army.
- Declare war/make peace.
- Supervised the execution of Federal Laws.
- Possessed the right to interrupt the constitution
Why was the 1871 German Constitution Prussian dominated?
Veto, style, Emperor
- They had 17 out of 58 seats (and you only needed 14 to call a Veto).
- The new Kaiserreich was was designed like the old Prussian government so it was designed in the old Prussian style.
- The Emperor is always King of Prussia and appoints the Chancellor so constitution leaders are always Prussian.
What were the powers of the Chancellor?
Chief, responsible, policy, chaired, hire/fire, ignore, combined
- Chief Minister of the Reich.
- Not responsible to the Reichstag, only to the Emperor.
- Decided upon Reich policy outlines.
- Chaired session of the Bundesrat.
- Could ‘hire and fire’ state secretaries responsible for the various government ministries.
- Could ignore resolutions passed by the Reichstag.
- Office was normally combined with the Minister-Presidency of Prussia.
What is the Federation?
What are examples of the work that they do?
Where was this based?
The centralized government with specific responsibilities for the Reich as a whole.
E.g: foreign affairs, defence, civil and criminal law, customs, railways and postal service.
The federation was based in Prussia
What is the State?
What are examples of the work that they do?
Regional government with specific responsibilities for individual states.
E.g: education, transport, direct taxation, police, local justice and health.
What was the Bundesrat?
What it was, seats, consent, veto, smaller states, extent of its powers
- The Federal Council.
- Comprised of 58 members nominated by state assemblies.
- Consent was required in the passing of new laws.
- A vote of 14 against a proposal constituted a veto.
- Smaller states had one seat each,
- Theoretically able to change the constitution and have extensive powers but it usually rubber stamped the chancellor’s policies.
What was the Reichstag?
(What it was was, who voted them in, legislation, state secretaries, finances, budget, elected, how many seats in 1871 and 74)
- The national Parliament
- Elected by all males over the age of 25.
- Could accept or reject legislation, but its power to initiate new laws was negligible.
- State secretaries were excluded from membership of the Reichstag and not responsible to it.
- Members weren’t paid.
- Could approve or reject the budget.
- Elected every 5 years (unless dissolved)
- In 1871, it had 382 seats and in 1874 it was enlarged to 397 members.
How powerful were the individual states?
What were some Kings allowed to retain?
They were no longer sovereign or free to secede but they did preserve their own constitutions, rulers, parliaments and administrative systems. They also had power over individual things like education.
The Kings of Bavaria, Saxony an Wurttemberg were allowed to retain their own armies.
