Chronology of the Weimar Republic

This page draws up a chronology of the Weimar Republic (1918-1933).

For the following period, to see the Chronology of Third Reich

Year 1918

Year 1919

January 15th: Assassination of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
January 19th: legislative Elections, which SPD leaves victorious.
February 6th: Inaugural session of the German constituent National Assembly with Weimar.
February 13rd: Cabinet Scheidemann (SPD).
February 21st: Assassination of Kurt Eisner by Arco Valey, an extremist of right-hand side.
June 21st: Cabinet Bauer (SPD).
June 23rd: Treaty of Versailles, felt like a Diktat and whose Germany arises very weakened, losing approximately a seventh of its territory.
July 31st: Adoption of the Constitution of Weimar by the German constituent National Assembly.
August 11th: Promulgation of the Constitution.

Year 1920

February 24th: First important meeting of the Left working German (DAP) with Munich. Adolf Hitler proclaims there the Programme in 25 points .
March 13rd: Putsch of Kapp.
March 17th: Escape of Kapp.
March 27th: Government Hermann Müller (SPD).
June 6th: Elections with the Reichstag. SPD most extremely remains the party, but he sees his voters melting with the profits of other left establishments.
June 28th: Government Fehrenbach (Zentrum).

Year 1921

May 10th: First government Wirth (Zentrum).
August 26th: Assassination of Matthias Erzberger, former minister for finances.
October 26th: Second government Wirth (Zentrum).

Year 1922

April 16th: Treaty of Rapallo.
June 4th: Attempted murder against Philipp Scheidemann by the Organization Consul.
June 24th: The Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau is assassinated by the Organization Consul.
November 22nd: Government Cuno.

Year 1923

January 11th: Military occupation of the the Ruhr by the French and Belgian troops. Beginning of the Ruhrkampf .
August 13rd: First government Stresemann (DVP).
October 6th: Second government Stresemann (DVP).
November 9th: Putsch of the brewery: Led by Adolf Hitler, the Nazis of Munich try to reverse the mode. Total failure.
November 10th: NSDAP is prohibited.
November 30th: First government Marx (Zentrum).

Year 1924

April 1st Adolf Hitler is condemned to 5 years of prison.
June 3rd: Second government Marx (Zentrum).
September 1st: Coming into effect of the Plane Dawes.
December 20th: Release on parole of Adolf Hitler, which remains however prohibited of word.

Year 1925

January 15th: First government Luther.
February 28th: Died of the 1st president of the Republic Friedrich Ebert
March 27th: Presidential election (1st turn)
April 26th: Presidential election (2nd turn). Von Hindenburg, second president, is elected for a first mandate.

Year 1926

January 20th: Second government Luther.
May 17th: Third government Marx (Zentrum).

Year 1927

January 29th: Fourth government Marx (Zentrum).

Year 1928

June 28th: Second government Hermann Müller (SPD)

Year 1929

Year 1930

January 23rd: The national-Socialist Wilhelm Frick is named chancellor of Thuringe.
March 27th: Resignation of the social democrat chancellor Hermann Müller.
March 30th: First government Brüning (Zentrum).
L' arrived of the chancellor Brüning inaugurates an authoritative method of government based on the use quasi systempatic of article 48. It maintains Curtius with the Foreign affairs and Wilhelm Grœner in Reichswehr and makes enter two moderate of the DNVP, Schiele and Treviranus. Brüning then hopes to rest on the line to control.
June 30th: Anticipated total evacuation of the the Rhineland by the Allied troops.
July 16th: Rejection of the deflationary project presented by Brüning.
Ce last wished to decrease the unemployment benefits and to increase the taxes but it does not obtain the support of DNVP so that the project is rejected. Brüning resorts to article 48 in order to obtain its adoption by Order in Council but the Reichstag claims its cancellation by 236 votes against 221. The chancellor dissolves the Reichstag then.
September 14th: Legislative elections. The participation reaches the 82%. The traditional parties, put aside the Zentrum, crumble with the profit of the Communists of KPD and the national-Socialists of NSDAP. This last obtains 18,3% of the votes and 107 seats with the Reichstag.
October: Round of Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Reichsbank, with the the United States in order to obtain a revision of the Plane Young.
October 12th: Total evacuation of the the Saar by the French Army.
October 18th: Vote distrust with the government Brüning by NSDAP, DNVP, the Landvolkpartei and KPD. The government is saved by a coalition gathering SPD, the Staatpartei, Z, BVP and DVP. This heteroclite coalition votes then the vacancy of the Reichstag to make it possible to the chancellor to control by Orders in Council.

Year 1931

March 21st: Publication of a project of customs union austro-allemande which involves the protest of the France. Any attempt at Anschluss is prohibited by the Traité of Versailles.
March 31st, 1931: Law envisaging the payment of a help to the farmers, touched hard by the crisis.
June 9th: Order in Council attacking protection sociale.
L' assistance with the unemployed is decreased by 14%, the age of compensation is increased by 16 to 21 years and the women are excluded from it, the family benefits are decreased and the taxes increased by 4-5%. Brüning also lowers the wages of the civils servant. These measures are intended to limit the public deficit.
June 21st: The US president Hoover proposes a one year moratorium on the debts but Germany wishes the abrogation of repairs. The France cannot there be solved.
July 9th: Meet between Adolf Hitler and Alfred Hugenberg, leader of the DNVP. The two men intend themselves to make fall the Republic.
July 13rd: Crash of the Darmstädter Nationalbank (Danat). Brüning decides to close the banking institutions for two days in order to stop the wave of the withdrawals.
August 3rd: Reopening of the banks.
August 8th: Reopening of the savings banks.
October 9th: Second government Brüning (Zentrum).
Brüning replaces Curtius with the Foreign affairs and Groener adds the wallet of the Interior to that of Reichswehr which it had already. This new government also sees the arrival of many technicians. A new motion of distrust is rejected.
October 10th: Meet between the president Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler.
October 11th: Face of Harzburg. On the initiative of DNVP, a great demonstration gathers all the antirépublicains groups in Harzburg: NSDAP, the DNVP, the Stalhelm, the Reichslandbund, agrarian organization… But the enemies of the Republic are far from being plain.
December: Nearly 6 million Germans are with unemployment.
December 8th: Order in Council lowering once again the prices and the wages from approximately 10%. The rate of loan for the agricultural loans is also lowered.
December 18th: Formation of the Face of iron on the initiative of SPD. It joins together the Reichsbanner, the trade unions and the youth organizations and of sport in the movement of the SPD.

Year 1932

January: The number of unemployed exceeds from now on the 6 million.
February 22nd: Joseph Goebbels announces the candidature of Hitler for the presidency of the Republic.
February 26th: Adolf Hitler, until there stateless person, obtains German nationality.
March 12th: Presidential election (first turn).

Results: Participation 86,2%. 1st Von Hindenburg (49,6%), 2nd Hitler (30,1%), 3rd Thälmann (13,2%), 4th. Duesterberg (6,8%),…

April 12th: Presidential election (second turn)

Results: Participation 83,5%. 1st Von Hindenburg (53%, elected), 2nd Hitler (36,8%), 3rd Thälmann (10,2%).

April 14th: Order in Council prohibiting the private armies such SA and the S. This decision causes the anger of president Hindeburg and von Schleicher who wish an orientation of the mode on the right. This orientation cannot be done without the NSDAP so that they are opposed to the decisions against this party.
May 8th: Secret meeting between Adolf Hitler and the general Kurt von Schleicher. Hitler accepts the constitution of a government without Brüning and Groener against the lifting of the prohibition which weighs on SA and the S and the dissolution of the Reichstag.
May 12th: Resignation of Groener of the ministry for Reichswehr.
May 30th: Hindenburg returns the chancellor Brüning following the pressure of the Junkers who opposed a future agrarian law.
June 2nd: Government von Papen. This last forms the " cabinet of the barons" because it includes/understands close relations of the president, Junker S and conservatives almost all members of the aristocracy. Kurt von Schleicher obtains Reichswehr.
June 4th: Dissolution of the Reichstag.
June 16th: SA are again authorized.
July 20th: Introduction of the state of exception to Berlin and Brandebourg.
Franz von Papen takes pretext of the bloody désqordres which took place during the electoral campaign of April. The objective of the chancellor was to make fall the principal democratic bastion from Germany, namely Prussia. Once this area under the control of Reichswehr, the changes of personnel could start.
July 31st: Legislative elections, in an tense atmosphere extremes (several hundreds of died during the electoral campaign).

Results: Participations 80,6%. 1st NSDAP (37,3% and 230 elected officials), 2nd SPD (21,6% and 133 elected officials), 3rd KPD (14,3% and 89 elected officials), 4th Zentrum (12,5% and 75 elected officials), 5th DNVP (5,9% and 37 elected officials)… It is the best electoral result of NSDAP in free elections.
Analysis: These elections mark a total defeat for the chancellor insofar as it is constant only by DNVP. The large winner is the NSDAP which nibbles the preserving and liberal electorate. With the extreme-left, KPD is also reinforced, but with the detriment of SPD.

August 2nd: Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher proposes with NSDAP to occupy the post of vice-chancellor like two ministry: food and Foreign affairs. Hitler refuses because he claims the post of chancellor as well as the ministries for the Interior for Reich and the Prussia.
August 13rd: Interview enters the president Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler. The president means with the chief of NSDAP that he will not entrust the capacity to him.
August 30th: Election of Hermann Göring like chair Reichstag.
September 4th: Order in Council envisaging a reduction of the taxes as well as government orders, the expansion of the credit and an investment plan of 2,5 billion RM to create jobs.
September 12th: Dissolution of the Reichstag. At the time to discuss preceding Order in Council, KPD proposes a motion of distrust. 512 deputies decide against the government against 42 for. The chancellor is constrained to dissolve, and thus makes the play of NSDAP.
November 6th: Legislative elections

Results: Participations 84,1%. 1st NSDAP (33,1% and 196 elected officials), 2nd SPD (20,4% and 121 elected officials), 3rd KPD (16,9% and 100 elected officials), 4th Zentrum (11,9% and 70 elected officials), 5th DNVP (8,3% and 52 elected officials, 6th BVP (3,1% and 20 elected officials)… NSDAP is in noticeable decrease.
Analysis: NSDAP knows a retreat sensitive to the profit of the middle-class parties while KPD continues its progression with the detriment of SPD.

November 17th: Resignation of Franz von Papen. Z is ready to control with NSDAP but without Franz von Papen, the ladykiller of Brüning.
December 3rd: Government von Schleicher.
December 11th: Meeting of the five powers in Geneva which admit the principle of the equal rights, i.e. right for Germany to rearm freely.

Year 1933

January 28th: Resignation of Kurt von Schleicher.
January 30th: Government Hitler (NSDAP) (21e and last government of the Weimar Republic)
February 4th: President Von Hindenburg sign the decree (elaborate before the accession of Hitler to the capacity) “ for the protection of the German people ” allowing to suspend the basic rights.
February 27th: Fire of the Reichstag
February 28th: Order in Council “ for the protection of the people and the state ” abolishing to it quasi totality of the constitutional laws
March 5th: Legislative elections.

Results: NSDAP 43,9%, SPD 18,3%, KPD 12,3%, Zentrum 11,2%, DNVP 8%.
the NSDAP and its ally, DNVP obtains the absolute majority.

March 21st: Day of Potsdam : 1st setting in scene of the Propaganda Nazi of Joseph Goebbels
March 21st: Opening of Dachau, 1st German Concentration camp.
March 23rd: Vote Reichstag, Hitler obtains the full powerss for four years. Ermächtigungsgesetz
March 29th: Declaration of Fulda of the catholic bishops.
March 31st: Beginning of the Gleichschaltung: Put at the step of the Länder and all the German company.

First law of suppression of the Länder .

April 1st: Beginning of anti-Jewish violences and Boycott of the Jewish stores.
April 7th: Law on the re-establishment of the system of the civils servant of profession :

Legalization of the elimination of the Jews of the public office. Beginning of the Jewish emigration

April 7th: Second law of suppression of the Länder .
April 7th: Prohibition of KPD (Communist party). Its goods are seized.
April 26th: Hermann Göring founds the Gestapo.
May 2nd: Dissolution of the Trade union S.
May 10th: Auto-da-fe of Berlin.
June-July: Car-dissolution of the political parties.
July 6th: Hitler proclaims the end of the revolution .
July 8th: Signature of the legal settlement with the Catholic church.
July 14th: NSDAP becomes officially sole party.
October 14th: The Germany withdraws Société of the Nations.
November 12th: “Elections” for the renewal of the Reichstag.
February 1st: NSDAP becomes institution of state.

The Nazis never repealed the mode of Weimar, but they emptied it of any substance.

For the following period, to see the Chronology of Third Reich.

Sources

Hans Mommsen, Aufstieg und Untergang der Republik von Weimar , Ullstein, 1989

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