Germany Flashcards
What happens on the 31st July 1919?
A constitution called the Weimar Republic is established
What’s the duration of the Weimar Republic?
1919-33
Who were the Electorate?
People allowed to vote
Who did the Electorate consist of?
All men and women aged over 21
How often did the Electorate vote for a president?
Every 7 years
What does the president have to do with day to day politics?
No part
What are some political powers the President has?
1) Power to choose the chancellor
Who is the chancellor?
Head of the German government and chooses all government ministers
Who are ministers?
People whose job it is to oversee a specific area of running the country
E.g. finances, foreign affairs
Who makes up the cabinet? Who are they?
The most important ministers, who are the most important decision making body of the government
What are the two houses that make up the weimar parliament?
Reichstag
Reichsrat
How often do the Electorate vote for these two houses?
Every 4 years
Which house is more powerful?
The reichstag
What are some things the reichstag do?
Control taxation, directly elected by the people
What does the reichsrat represent?
Regions of Germany
Each region sends a different number of representatives depending on its size
Strengths of Weimar constitution
- democratic (more than Germany under the kaiser and Britain)
- voting age had been reduced from 25 to 21
- reichstag elected using a system called proportional representation
What is proportional representation?
A party gets one representative for every certain number of votes it gets
Every 60000 votes gets 1 representative
What balances does this system have to prevent one person gaining too much power?
Chancellor, head of gov, can only pass laws with both houses votes
The reichsrat can delay any new laws passed by the reichstag unless the reichstag overalls the reichsrat by a 2/3 majority
Central government has more power than under kaiser
Weaknesses
Proportional representation, smaller parties find it easier to gain seats in reichstag
(Throughout 1920s, 29 different parties held seats in the reichstag at some point)
What are coalitions
Governments where different parties have to be formed to get majority votes
What happened between 1919- 1923?
There are 9 different coalition governments
What did the compromise for coalitions result in?
Difficulty making swift, clear decisions in times of crisis
What is article 48
Allows chancellor to bypass reichstag in times of crisis
He can pass laws straight through the president
