What were the main features of the Weimar Constitution of 1919?
Following the National Congress of December 1918, as scheduled, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held on 19 January 1919. An overwhelming victory, at eighty percent, was recorded for the collective of the SPD, DDP and the Zentrum, a Catholic confessional religious based party based. Although this ended the German socialist monopoly, it signalled that the vast majority of the population were in full support of a democratic German state. The elected Assembly, led by Hugo Preuss, began to draft the Constitution on 6 February 1919, located in the picturesque southern German town of Weimar, which was now heavily fortified by around seven thousand Freikorps troops after being preferred to Berlin, which was considered too dangerous a venue, with revolutionary forces still active. The creation of the interim constitution, which had been fashioned by 10 February, allowed a SPD-Centre-Democratic coalition government, with the socialist Scheidemann and Ebert respectively elected as Reich Chancellor and President, to therefore come into existence. The constitution itself was an amalgamation of two separate parts, firstly the composition of the Reich and secondly the basic rights and duties of the German population and moreover it therefore was characterised by three separate elements, the fact that it was ultra-democratic, consisted of a Federal system and was a hybrid compromise between a parliamentary and presidential style system. Appreciably it is thus evident that the new constitution attempted a careful balance of political forces and interests and therefore consisted of a number of compromises, which ultimately ensured that the Weimar Republic was a flawed state.
The Weimar Constitution itself was agreeable to the majority of the German population, who had previously voted for the left of centre, pro-democratic parties, in the main because it was characterised by the fact that it was ultra-democratic. Appreciably it was apparent that the constitution was not simply concerned with the formation of a viable political structure, more significantly it sought to establish new social and economic rights. The right to vote was provided to both sexes, ensuring universal suffrage, over the age of twenty and this therefore ensured that elections, which had previous been dominated by might of the upper classes, were devoid of corruption. Notably Germany was one of the first countries in Europe to allow the vote for women, clearly indicating that the new constitution was determined to ensure that it was fully democratic. A system of proportional representation was established which ensured that the percentage of votes directly corresponded to the percentage of seats within parliament and therefore guaranteed that there would be no misrepresentation of the population’s will. Importantly the duration of the term of office was relatively short which certified that the political system could never at one point be dominated by a party that was not agreeable to the majority of the German population. Significantly the constitution also indicated that, on demand from ten percent of the electorate, a referendum could be called, this although ensuring that all conflicts could be dealt with democratically also allowed for the rise of fringe parties which would be able to gain seats in the assembly and more importantly be able to override the Reichstag with a slender proportion of the electorate. Moreover there was a directly elected President, who with the Reich government could be removed from their position office if they had lost the confidence of the Reichstag, this therefore guaranteed that the government could be held directly accountable for their actions and could not escape a fall from power when they had lost the backing of the Reichstag. Furthermore innovative guarantees of freedom of speech, assembly and association were also ensured. This made certain that every German had the right to work, whilst the state would provide for those who were unable to find a job, significantly the National Factory Council was also established to ensure that the relationship between unions and employers remained hospitable. Evidently the welfare of the population was a significant priority of the new political agenda and this indicated that the new constitution was not only democratic but also made consideration for the working class and sought to fully guarantee that they would be protected in the Weimar Republic. Additionally the constitution was amended by two-thirds of the Reichstag which ensured that it the Weimar Republic remained fully democratic in its actions.
