Council of the People's Deputies
Council of People's Deputies was the name of the committee that 1918/19, held the supreme authority in the German Empire after the First World War. In the transition from Empire to the Weimar Republic, the November Revolution, it controlled the actual members of the government. The Council was formed on 10 November 1918 by MSPD and USPD and initially consisted of three moderate majority Social Democrats and three more radical Independent Social Democrats. The latter resigned on December 29, and two more majority Socialists were added.
Chairman of the Council was Friedrich Ebert, was the November 9, Chancellor Max von Baden transferred the Chancellorship. Ebert campaigned for early elections to a Constituent National Assembly to give Germany a legitimate Government. The Council of People's Deputies also decided to grant the active and passive right to vote for the first time women. Were entitled to vote in accordance with the Regulation, all German women who had reached the age of 20 on election day. The elections took place on 19 January 1919. With the arrival of the Cabinet Scheidemann on 13 February, the task of the Council of People's Deputies was fulfilled.
Development
The Council was reached by a coalition of the two social democratic parties MSPD and USPD and was confirmed on 10 November 1918 by the General Assembly of the Berlin workers 'and soldiers' councils which acted as deputy of all revolutionary councils in the kingdom.
Until December 29, 1918 the Council consisted of three Majority Social Democrats ( Friedrich Ebert, Philipp Scheidemann, Otto Landsberg) and three Independent ( Hugo Haase, Wilhelm Dittmann, Emil Barth ). It was chaired by Ebert and Haase. Since Ebert was still though, used by the last Imperial Chancellor Prince Maximilian of Baden, without constitutional basis as Chancellor, he enjoyed especially in the ministerial pre-eminence. In particular the Reich Chancellery and its director Walter Simons served Ebert with exclusive information.
During this time, the People's Representatives organized especially the handling of the armistice November 11, 1918, that is, the withdrawal of German troops and the choice of the future form of government: while the USPD favored a system of councils that Merheitssozialdemokraten went for a parliamentary democracy and penetrated on election of a Constituent National Assembly. A day Direction from December 16 to 20 Imperial Council Congress of Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils called for the National Assembly, whose election was then prepared by the People's Representatives.
This decision eventually led to the break of the cooperation between the two parties, on the one hand because the USPD had been overruled on the Nazi Congress, on the other hand because Ebert did not follow the decisions of the Congress Kingdom of the democratization of the army with the Ebert- Groener pact. On December 29, the three independents resigned. The occasion was an armed struggle during the Christmas holidays in Berlin. The Council of People's Representatives has been supplemented by the two Social Democrats Gustav Noske and Rudolf Wissel.
On January 19, 1919, the Weimar National Assembly was elected in general elections. This took on 6 February a law on the provisional Reich violence, a kind of provisional constitution. According to the law selected by the National Assembly on 11 Ebert President of the Reich, which in turn sat on 13 Scheidemann government one. Thus ended the role of the Council of People's Representatives, a democratically elected government was in power.
Council of People's Representatives in Saxony and Brunswick
Also in the Free State of Saxony and the Braunschweig Free State were named the first two post-revolutionary governments, Council of People's Representatives. At the top of the first people's government of Saxony (15 November 1918 - 16 January 1919 ) was Richard Lipinski ( USPD ); January 16, 1919 to March 14, 1919 was Georg Auer degree (SPD ) Chairman of the Council of People's Representatives.