A History of Germany 1918 - 2020. Mary Fulbrook
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Название: A History of Germany 1918 - 2020

Автор: Mary Fulbrook

Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited

Жанр: Историческая литература

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isbn: 9781119574248

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СКАЧАТЬ Scheidemann went to a balcony of the Reichstag to proclaim a republic, in an attempt to marginalize the almost simultaneous proclamation of a socialist republic by Karl Liebknecht, speaking for more radical socialists assembled in front of the Hohenzollern palace towards the other end of Unter den Linden in central Berlin. It was clear that Ebert and the moderate Social Democrats would have to move fast to assert control over a situation of strikes, uprisings, mass demonstrations and the breakdown of governmental authority across a Germany that was, formally, still at war.

      Rapid negotiations took place between the moderate Social Democrats and the USPD leaders, and a compromise caretaker government was agreed. This consisted of a six-member ‘Council of People’s Representatives’ (Rat der Volksbeauftragten), of whom three – Ebert, Scheidemann and Landsberg – were members of the SPD, and three – Haase, Dittmann and Barth – were members of the USPD. Even before this body had been constituted, Ebert had declared his priorities to the people of Germany. The new government was committed to organizing elections for a national constituent assembly, which would be elected by all men and women over twenty years of age. Until this elected body could take power, the temporary government would agree an armistice, lead peace negotiations, seek to ensure an adequate food supply for the people and oversee an orderly demobilization of troops and the return of former soldiers to civilian life and work. In the meantime, law and order were to be upheld and the people were to desist from plunder and violence and help to build a better future.

      In the context of widespread strikes and demonstrations, the obstacles to a peaceful transition to a new order were formidable. The USPD did agree to cooperate with the SPD, despite their rather different general aims, and the new government – which was to last only a few weeks – was duly given popular legitimization, first by a meeting of council delegates in Berlin in November and then in December by a wider body of delegates from workers’ and soldiers’ councils from all over Germany. An armistice was achieved on 11 November, although it was not until the following summer that the terms of the peace treaty would be revealed.

      In the first few days after the proclamation of the Republic, two very significant agreements were reached, which embodied compromises which would have a profound effect on the subsequent course of events. The first was between the new government and the army; the second between leaders of industry and the trade unions.

      The other early compromise was that negotiated by the trade unionist Carl Legien and the employers’ leader Hugo Stinnes. With the ‘Stinnes– Legien agreement’ of 15 November 1918 the employers made certain crucial concessions to labour. These included recognition of the legitimacy of trade union representation of the workforce and agreement no longer to support ‘employer-friendly associations’; the smooth reincorporation, so far as possible, of former employees returning from war into their old jobs; the establishment of ‘Workers’ Committees’ (or Works Councils) in enterprises with more than fifty employees to ensure discussion between employers and employees over conditions of work; the limitation of the working day to 8 hours; and the institution of a ‘Central Committee’ (Zentralausschuss) made up of representatives of the unions and the employers to regulate not only the more immediate problems of demobilization and the reconstruction of a war-torn economy but also the longer-term issues of wages, working conditions and other contentious matters that might arise in labour affairs. This committee laid the foundations for the Zentral-Arbeits-Gemeinschaft (ZAG), which was to give Weimar democracy a corporatist element that later played a role in the economic elites’ utter rejection of the ‘system’ that allowed workers such a considerable voice. Concessions made by employers to workers, when the latter were relatively strong and the former feared a more radical revolution, were to be fundamentally queried and subject to sustained assault – as was the political system that guaranteed those concessions – when the relative circumstances of the parties had changed.

      Street-fighting, strikes, demonstrations and barricades provided the backdrop for a national campaign for the elections of 19 January 1919. The SPD, which had been relying on this for a solid majority confirming its mandate to govern the new republic, was disappointed. It gained only 38% of the vote, which under the system of proportional representation entailed forming a coalition government in conjunction with the Catholic Centre Party (Zentrum) and the liberal German Democratic Party (DDP). On 6 February 1919 the National Constituent Assembly convened in the town of Weimar (hence the name ‘Weimar Republic’), because Berlin was deemed too dangerous. Within a week Ebert had been elected the Republic’s first President, while Scheidemann became head of the coalition cabinet.

      The Weimar Constitution and the Treaty of Versailles

      During December 1918 a group of experts under the leadership of Hugo Preuss, a left-liberal professor of law, started to develop a draft constitution for the Republic. This draft constitution was considered by the National Assembly, and an agreed version took effect on 11 August 1919. It appeared – and indeed was – very progressive but has subsequently come under much criticism for alleged weaknesses which facilitated the subsequent collapse of democracy.