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147-620: Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg (29 November 1856 – 1 January 1921) was a German politician who was chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry into World War I and played a key role during its first three years. He was replaced as chancellor in July 1917 due in large part to opposition to his policies by leaders in the military. Between 1884 and 1899 Bethmann Hollweg rose rapidly through positions in

294-538: A motion of confidence ( Vertrauensfrage , literally "question of trust"), either combined with a legislative proposal or as a standalone vote. If such a vote fails, the chancellor may ask the president for the dissolution of the Bundestag ; they are however not bound to do so, and the president in turn is not bound to follow this request. The chancellor must appoint one of the cabinet ministers as vice chancellor (Article 69.1 Basic Law). The vice chancellor may deputise for

441-520: A one-year volunteer in the military before entering on his career path. On 17 June 1889 Bethmann Hollweg married Martha von Pfuel, the niece of Prussian Minister President Ernst von Pfuel . The marriage produced four children, one of whom died young. Their oldest son August Friedrich was killed on the eastern front on 9 December 1914. Bethmann Hollweg began his career as a royal government assessor in December 1884. The next year, after his father expressed

588-546: A "chancellor majority" of yes-votes. If the Bundestag is unable to elect a chancellor in these fourteen days, a final ballot is held on the very next day. Once again, candidates must be nominated by at least a quarter of all MPs. Candidates receiving a "chancellor majority" in this ballot are elected. Otherwise, it is up to the President of Germany either to appoint the candidate with the plurality of votes as Chancellor or to dissolve

735-679: A British-Russian naval agreement, it cast a shadow over Bethmann Hollweg's foreign policy. Disappointed in his confidence in British Foreign Minister Edward Grey, he wrote to the German embassy in Constantinople that it was a matter of muddling through without any major conflicts. A few days later, after a disagreement with the Chief of the Army's General Staff Helmuth von Moltke , he left for

882-682: A daughter of the wealthy Frankfurt am Main banking family of Bethmann . His mother, Isabella de Rougemont, was a French Swiss and his grandmother Auguste Wilhelmine Gebser came from the Prussian noble family of Gebesee . He was educated at the Schulpforta boarding school in the Prussian province of Saxony and studied law at the Universities of Strasbourg and Leipzig and at the Humboldt University of Berlin from 1875 to 1879. He then served as

1029-491: A department minister. The chancellor presided over the government, and he had to conduct business in accordance with given rules of procedure. In practice the Reich chancellor's power to determine political guidelines was limited by his own party as well as the other parties in the governing coalition. The Weimar chancellors were accordingly men whose strength lay in mediation rather than political initiative. Constitutionally, there

1176-602: A few days later. On 9 November 1918, Imperial Chancellor Prince Maximilian of Baden , handed over his office of chancellor to Friedrich Ebert . Ebert continued to serve as head of government during the three months between the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the end of the German Empire in November 1918, the beginning of the November 11, 1918 Armistice , and the first gathering behind the Western Front battle lines and trenches of

1323-435: A firm believer that a parliamentary monarchy was the best form of government for Germany. During World War I , Bethmann Hollweg thought that Germany was so threatened that it needed to take all necessary measures to survive. He assured Austria-Hungary of Germany's full backing and supported its aggressive demands against Serbia . He held back on German mobilization until after Russia's so that Germany would not appear to be

1470-872: A growing middle and working class. The Junkers held a virtual monopoly on all agriculture in the part of the German Reich lying east of the River Elbe. Since the Junker estates were necessarily inherited by the eldest son alone, younger sons, all well-educated and with a sense of noble ancestry, turned to the civil and military services, and dominated all higher civil offices, as well as the officer corps. Around 1900 they modernised their farming operations to increase productivity. They sold off less productive land, invested more heavily in new breeds of cattle and pigs , used new fertilisers , increased grain production, and improved productivity per worker. Their political influence achieved

1617-683: A monopoly on grain by storing it to drive up the price. As more money was profited, they were able to control political offices. Junkers were able to force people to continue paying more money for their product, while keeping who they wanted in office. Through the controlling of politics behind a veil, Junkers were able to influence politicians to create a law that prohibited collecting of debts from agrarians, thus pocketing even more money and strengthening their power. Defunct Defunct Supporting monarchism and military traditions, Junkers were seen as reactionary , anti-democratic , and protectionist by liberals and Socialists , as they had sided with

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1764-531: A new election in which Bethmann Hollweg did not participate. It was the end of his brief career both as a member of the Reichstag for the Free Conservative Party and as a party politician. For the remainder of his life he was an independent and unsympathetic to the party system. In 1896, after ten years as a district administrator, he received two rapid promotions and then in 1899, at the age of 43, became

1911-405: A premature commitment, since the question of redeeming the pledge would arise only at the end of the war. It was thus a rhetorical weapon against annexationist claims. Bethmann Hollweg probably never retracted his 4 August 1914 statement admitting guilt for the "injustice to Belgium", although some historians think he did. In May 1917 he told his friend Karl von Weizsäcker that he had wanted to bind

2058-579: A speech to soldiers and called for rebellious Alsatians to be stabbed. He was only minimally held to account by his colonel, and after protests by Alsatians, the military had some citizens arrested illegally. When Bethmann Hollweg declared in the Reichstag on 3 December 1913 that the Kaiser's uniform must be respected under all circumstances, he gave the impression that he was fully behind Minister of War Erich von Falkenhayn . The parties that had hitherto supported Bethmann Hollweg because of his progressive policies –

2205-426: A strong monarchist, bureaucratic, and ultimately antiparliamentary component, as in the Prussian tradition of, for instance, Hardenberg . In both of these aspects, the executive of the earlier confederation, and then empire, as it was formed in 1867 and 1871, was deliberately different from the previous Imperial Ministry of the German revolutionary years of 1848–1849 , which had been led by a prime minister elected by

2352-688: A summer vacation at his home in Hohenfinow. It was abruptly ended shortly after his arrival by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary on 28 June 1914. After the assassination of the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Wilhelm II issued the famous "blank check" to László Szőgyény , Austria-Hungary's ambassador in Berlin. It affirmed that Germany would uphold its alliance obligations with Austria-Hungary and stand at its side. Bethmann Hollweg later wrote in his Reflections on

2499-474: Is called "constructive motion of no confidence" ( konstruktives Misstrauensvotum ) and was created to avoid the situation that existed in the Weimar Republic, when it was easier to gather a parliament majority willing to remove a government in office than to find a majority capable of supporting a new stable government. In order to garner legislative support in the Bundestag , the chancellor can also ask for

2646-460: Is only possible with the free participation of all circles of the people". When the House dealt with the question of Prussia's three-class franchise that weighted votes by amount of taxes paid, Bethmann Hollweg opposed Prussia's adoption of the national Reichstag's universal manhood suffrage. He warned against "democratic egalitarianism" but praised the "tremendous aspirations of our working class". In

2793-525: Is seen as such within the German public, it is only the third highest office , following the head of state (the President of Germany ) and the President of the Bundestag , a position similar to the speaker of the federal parliament. Whichever major party ( CDU /CSU or SPD ) does not hold the chancellorship usually calls its leading candidate for the federal election "chancellor-candidate" ( Kanzlerkandidat ). The federal government ( Bundesregierung ) consists of

2940-597: Is the head of the federal government of Germany , and the commander-in-chief of the German Armed Forces during wartime . The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag on the proposal of the federal president and without debate (Article 63 of the German Constitution ). The current officeholder is Olaf Scholz of

3087-522: The Bundespräsidium , (i.e. the Prussian king; since 1871 called German Emperor). The state secretaries ( Staatssekretäre ) were civil servants subordinate to the chancellor and similar to ministers. Besides his executive duties, the constitution gave the chancellor only one function: presiding over the German Empire's upper legislative chamber of the Bundesrat (Federal Council), the representative organ of

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3234-595: The Balkan countries' support for a German alliance with the Ottoman Empire . Although Bethmann Hollweg was critical of naval expansion, in April 1912 he pushed forward a Reichstag bill providing for a buildup of the army. A year later he submitted the next defense bill which asked for a 136,000 man increase in the army and almost 1.3 billion marks in additional funds for it and for arms purchases. The SPD spoke out vigorously against

3381-480: The Bundespräsidium , appointed him on 14 July 1867. Under the German Empire's constitution of 1 January 1871, the king had the additional title of Emperor. The constitution still called the chancellor, Bundeskanzler . This was changed a few months later in the new revised constitution of 16 April 1871 to Reichskanzler . Since the office remained the same, it was not necessary for Bismarck to be re-appointed. In

3528-575: The Federal Administrative Court decided that the prince had no right to compensation for the disseized estates of the House of Hanover around Blankenburg Castle in Saxony-Anhalt . Other families, however, have quietly purchased or leased back their ancestral homes from the current owners (often the German federal government in its role as trustee). A petition for official rehabilitation of

3675-483: The German Empire , First German Republic (Weimar Republic) , National Socialist Germany (Nazi Germany) , Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) / German Democratic Republic (East Germany) or the earlier North German Confederation of 1867–1871, then the current reunified, revived and expanded Federal Republic of Germany - nearly all of them with the title of Chancellor as the elected head of government. In

3822-512: The German Empire , the Reichskanzler (" Imperial Chancellor ") served both as the emperor's first minister and as presiding officer of the Bundesrat , the upper chamber of the German parliament. He was neither elected by nor responsible to parliament (the Reichstag ). Instead, the chancellor was appointed by the emperor. The federal level had four organs: Technically, the foreign ministers of

3969-458: The National Assembly . In 1871, the concept of the federal chancellor was transferred to the executive of the newly formed German Empire, which now also contained the several South German states. Here too, the terms of "chancellor" and "federal agency" (as opposed to "ministry" or "government") suggested an (apparent) lower priority of the federal executive as compared to the governments of

4116-524: The Prussian government and served briefly as a member of the Reichstag in 1890. The experience left him unsympathetic to the party system and an independent for the remainder of his political life. Emperor Wilhelm II appointed him chancellor in 1909, in part because he approved of his conciliatory political style. His eight years as chancellor showed him to be cautiously supportive of some liberalization but also

4263-730: The Social Democratic Party (SPD) Bethmann Hollweg represented just another chancellor loyal to the Emperor. But the benevolent neutrality of the overall party spectrum resulted from Bethmann Hollweg's many facets. He was not a Junker in the true sense of the word, which the leftists took as a positive sign. His family history made him appreciated by the National Liberals and the Centre, and his activity as an administrative official had created trust among conservatives. The response from abroad

4410-744: The Social Democratic Party , who was elected in December 2021, succeeding Angela Merkel . He was elected after the SPD entered into a coalition agreement with Alliance 90/The Greens and the FDP . The office of Chancellor has a long history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire ( c. 900-1806), when the office of German arch chancellor was usually held by the Roman Catholic archbishops of Mainz . The title was, at times, used in several states of German-speaking Central Europe . The modern office of chancellor

4557-475: The Soviet Union after World War II . Junkers fled or were expelled alongside other German-speaking populations by the incoming Polish and Soviet administrations, and their lands were confiscated. In western and southern Germany, the land was often owned by small independent farmers or a mixture of small farmers and estate owners, and this system was often contrasted with the dominance of the large estate owners of

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4704-677: The Soviet Union . However, Helmuth James Graf von Moltke formed the Kreisau Circle as part of the resistance to Nazi rule, and as World War II turned against Nazi Germany, several senior Junkers in the Wehrmacht participated in Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg 's assassination attempt of 20 July 1944. Fifty-eight of them either were executed when the plot failed, among them Erwin von Witzleben and Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort , or committed suicide like Henning von Tresckow . During

4851-694: The archbishop of Cologne was chancellor of Italy and the archbishop of Trier of Burgundy . These three prince-archbishops were also prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire electing the King of the Romans . Already in mediaeval times, the German chancellor had political power like Archbishop Willigis (archchancellor 975–1011, regent for King Otto III (AD 991–994) or Rainald von Dassel (chancellor, 1156–1162 and 1166–1167), under Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa . In 1559, Emperor Ferdinand I established

4998-548: The conservative monarchist forces during the Revolution of 1848 . Their political interests were served by the German Conservative Party in the Reichstag and the extraparliamentary Agriculturists' League ( Bund der Landwirte ). This political class held tremendous power over industrial classes and government alike, especially through the Prussian three-class franchise . When German chancellor Leo von Caprivi in

5145-582: The " camarilla " around him urging the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany , personified by men like Hindenburg's son Oskar and his West Prussian "neighbour" Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau , who played a vital role in the Osthilfe scandal of 1932/33. Many World War II field marshals were also members of the Junkers, most notably Gerd von Rundstedt , Fedor von Bock , and Erich von Manstein . Many Junkers used forced labourers from Poland and

5292-439: The "most important tasks of the present". Reichstag deputy Friedrich Naumann , who liked the state secretary's style, later particularly emphasized Bethmann Hollweg's positive influence on the Emperor. Emperor Wilhelm II appointed Bethmann Hollweg Reich chancellor on 7 July 1909. He had been deputy to Chancellor von Bülow during his time in office, and the Emperor knew Bethmann Hollweg's willingness to compromise in order to calm

5439-411: The 1890s reduced the protective duties on imports of grain, these landed magnates demanded and obtained his dismissal; and in 1902 , they brought about a restoration of such duties on foodstuffs as would keep the prices of their own products at a high level. "Junker" acquired its current and often pejorative sense during the 19th-century disputes over the domestic policies of the German Empire. The term

5586-513: The 1913 German military mission to the Ottoman Empire had been overcome in spite of the pan-Slav sentiment in the Russian Empire . The Reich Chancellor's statements from the time reveal that he was anxious to prevent a major European war. Russia's actions in northern Persia also brought Britain temporarily closer to Germany. When in the early summer of 1914 the German government learned of

5733-476: The Basic Law can be divided into three phases: The process begins with the President of Germany proposing a candidate to the Bundestag (A formality, as they are usually a candidate on which majority parties have agreed to beforehand), who is then voted upon without debate ("1st voting phase"). If the nominee reaches the necessary "chancellor majority", the President of Germany will appoint him or her and, after that,

5880-447: The Basic Law sets forth three principles that define how the executive branch functions: Political party:     CDU     SPD The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag and formally appointed by the president of Germany. A chancellor's election is necessary whenever the office of Chancellor has fallen vacant. This is the case if a newly elected Bundestag meets for the first time, or during legislative periods, if

6027-488: The Basic Law, the chancellor may set the number of cabinet ministers and dictate their specific duties. Chancellor Ludwig Erhard had the largest cabinet, with 22 ministers, in the mid-1960s. Helmut Kohl presided over 17 ministers at the start of his fourth term in 1994; the 2002 cabinet, the second of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, had 13 ministers, and the Angela Merkel cabinet as of 22 November 2005 had 15. Article 65 of

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6174-563: The British declaration of war, Bethmann Hollweg appeared before the Reichstag to stress that Germany had not wanted the war and that the Russian military had ignited the blaze. The "injustice to Belgium" must be righted by the Empire, he said, but those who were so threatened could think only of how to cut their way through. He had a conversation with the British ambassador to Germany Sir Edward Goschen on

6321-469: The Bundesrat, Bismarck could effectively control the proceedings by making deals with the smaller states. The term chancellor signalled the seemingly low priority of this institution compared to the governments of the German states, because the new chancellor of the federal empire should not be a full-fledged prime minister, in contrast to the heads of the states. The title of chancellor additionally symbolized

6468-410: The Bundestag and call new elections. Another possibility to vote a new chancellor into office is the constructive vote of no confidence , which allows the Bundestag to replace a sitting chancellor, if it elects a new chancellor with the "chancellor-majority" (see below). As of 2023, all chancellors of the federal republic have been (re-)elected on proposal of the President and on the first ballot with

6615-698: The Centre, the Progressive People's Party , the National Liberals and the Social Democrats – united in introducing a motion of censure against him. When Philipp Scheidemann (SPD) pointed to the exemplary constitutional conditions in Great Britain and the Netherlands, Bethmann Hollweg responded with dismissive, angry heckling. The Chancellor of the center seemed to have moved to the right even though he

6762-541: The Chancellor about his trip to Russia. Rathenau noted in his diary that Bethmann Hollweg wanted to "maintain the modus vivendi in the Russian question as well". In foreign policy matters, Rathenau proposed to Bethmann Hollweg a European customs union, a halt to British imperialism in the Mediterranean, then an alliance with Great Britain for the purpose of understanding and colonial acquisitions for Germany. The ideas were not

6909-561: The Chancellor let the Austrians have their way. The Reich Chancellery stated when asked, "We cannot comment on the formulation of the demands to Serbia, since it is Austria's affair." Believing in Great Britain's neutrality, Bethmann Hollweg telegraphed to the London Foreign Office: "Since Austria is safeguarding vital interests in its action, any interference by Germany as its ally is out of the question. ... Only if forced will we take up

7056-492: The Chancellor's, but he signed the list of proposals with "generally agreed". Bethmann Hollweg's second foreign policy problem was the expansion of the German fleet that Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz wanted. The Chancellor intended to use dialogue with the United Kingdom to facilitate a cautious expansion of the fleet and at the same time to improve relations through honesty. Due to threatening speeches by German conservatives in

7203-484: The Enabling Act to merge the office of chancellor with that of the president to create a new office, "the leader" (or Führer ). Although the offices were merged, Hitler continued to be addressed as " Führer und Reichskanzler " indicating that the head of state and head of government were still separate positions, albeit held by the same person, although the title of " Reichskanzler " was quietly dropped. This separation

7350-534: The Foreign Office Gottlieb von Jagow telegraph Prince Lichnowsky , the German ambassador in London, that "everything must be avoided that could give the appearance that we are inciting the Austrians to war". Thinking that he could localize the conflict, Bethmann Hollweg endorsed the continuation of the Emperor's absence aboard his yacht. The Chancellor gave Austria a free hand, although not without criticism, as

7497-623: The French ambassador in Vienna testified. His confidant Kurt Riezler noted that Bethmann Hollweg expressed early fears that if Austria adopted too expansionist a tone, the conflict could no longer be contained in the Balkans and "could lead to world war". Even when the Foreign Office finally knew in July 1914 that Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia was to be formulated in a way that Serbia could not accept,

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7644-541: The General Staff Paul von Hindenburg threatened to resign if he was not replaced as chancellor, Bethmann Hollweg submitted his resignation to the Emperor. In his Reflections on the World War that remained unfinished when he died in 1921, Bethmann Hollweg stressed Germany's difficult geographical position, admitted that the government and the Emperor had made mistakes leading up to the war and that Germany bore some of

7791-746: The German courts have upheld the land reforms and rebuffed claims to full compensation, confirming the legal validity of the terms within the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (Two Plus Four Agreement) (and incorporated into the Basic Law of the Federal Republic ), by which expropriations of land under Soviet occupation were irreversible. The last decisive case was the unsuccessful lawsuit of Prince Ernst August of Hanover in September 2006, when

7938-443: The Junkers owned most of the arable land in Prussia. Being the bulwark of the ruling House of Hohenzollern , the Junkers controlled the Prussian Army , leading in political influence and social status , and owning immense estates worked by tenants. These were located especially in the north-eastern half of Germany (i.e. the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg , Pomerania , Silesia , West Prussia , East Prussia , and Posen ). This

8085-434: The Morocco issue. The Morocco crisis was settled with a Franco-German agreement in which the Empire relinquished its claims to Morocco in return for New Cameroon ( Neukamerun ), a land extension of German Cameroon ( Kamerun ). Conservative Colonial State Secretary Friedrich von Lindequist protested strongly and resigned in November 1911. Instead of appointing the successor Lindequist proposed, Bethmann Hollweg chose

8232-414: The Napoleonic Wars and the peace-making Congress of Vienna did not have a government or parliament, only the single-chamber legislature Bundestag as representative organ of the various German states in the 51 year old Confederation. The role of the chancellor has varied during the different eras. From 1867 to 1918, the chancellor was the only responsible minister at the federal level. He was appointed by

8379-700: The Nazi regime by the Soviet Military Administration and the SED, with many of them being arrested, brutally beaten and interned in NKVD special camps ( Speziallager ), while their property was plundered and the manor houses demolished. Some were executed. Many women were raped . From 1952 these individual farms were pressured by a variety of means to join together as collectives and incorporated into Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften ("agricultural production comradeships", LPG) or nationalised as Volkseigene Güter ("publicly owned estates", VEG). After German reunification , some Junkers tried to regain their former estates through civil lawsuits, but

8526-431: The People's Deputies , to attempt to govern Germany in the crisis aftermath of the war reversals and seek an armistice / peace with the attacking / invading Allies of World War I , which was attained in the Armistice of 11 November 1918 on the Western Front in occupied northern France and Belgium . Following the defeat of the 1918 German Empire in the First World War , a new post-war democratic republic government

8673-419: The President of the Bundestag will administer the oath of office before the assembled house. If this nominee is not elected, the right of nomination is transferred onto the Bundestag: Candidates can now be nominated for election, whereby a nomination must be supported by at least a quarter of all MPs. The Bundestag can hold any number of ballots in this manner for two weeks. To be elected, a candidate still needs

8820-440: The Reich President was forced to ask Adolf Hitler, to become Chancellor of Germany. Subsequently, the 1919 Weimar Constitution was de facto set aside. After the death of elderly German Reich President Paul von Hindenburg the following year in 1934, Adolf Hitler, the dictatorial party leader, also then took over the powers of the president. The new official title became Führer und Reichskanzler (meaning "Leader and Chancellor of

8967-404: The Reich"). The 1949 constitution gave the chancellor much greater powers than during the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and early 1930s, while strongly diminishing the role of the federal president. Germany is today often referred to as a "chancellor democracy", reflecting the role of the chancellor as the country's chief executive. Since 1867, 33 people have served as heads of government of

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9114-418: The Reichstag and British conservatives in the Houses of Parliament, the efforts were unsuccessful. In the 1912 Haldane Mission – an attempt by the British diplomat Richard Haldane to come to an agreement on the naval arms race between Great Britain and Germany – Bethmann Hollweg failed again to reach a settlement. Germany wanted Britain to pledge neutrality in any future war while Britain sought to slow down

9261-458: The Reichstag before he made ministerial appointments. Based on these talks, the president would get a sense of which potential chancellor would be able to build a stable majority in the Reichstag. According to the sense of the Weimar Constitution, the president was thus to have the initiative. The task of putting together the Reich government was nevertheless the responsibility of the chancellor. The president could not appoint anyone as minister whom

9408-402: The Reichstag could also impeach the chancellor as well as the ministers and the president before the State Court for the German Reich ( Staatsgerichtshof für das Deutsche Reich ), the Weimar Republic's constitutional court. Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933 by Paul von Hindenburg . On taking office, Hitler immediately began accumulating power and changing

9555-449: The Reichstag he pushed forward the reform of the constitutional status of Alsace–Lorraine , which had been taken from France after its defeat in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War . It was given its own constitution with a bicameral parliament, the lower house of which was elected under Reichstag suffrage (universal manhood suffrage). The Reich Chancellor's bill was adopted on 23 March 1911 in the face of strong protests from conservatives and

9702-528: The Russian court, the Tsar saw a belligerent involvement with Germany as "receding into the far distance". In 1912 the Reich Chancellor took advantage of a meeting between the Emperor and the Tsar in Baltischport (now Paldiski, Estonia ) for a friendly discussion. After talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Kokovtsov and Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov , Bethmann Hollweg wrote that he had been able to establish "trusting and friendly relations". On 25 July 1912 Walther Rathenau stayed at Hohenfinow to talk to

9849-410: The Social Democrats to the Empire with both formulations ("pledge" and "injustice to Belgium"). Before the Weimar National Assembly 's committee of inquiry on the question of war guilt in 1919, he stressed that he had never revoked the confession of wrongdoing. Chancellor of the German Empire The chancellor of Germany , officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany ,

9996-545: The World War Bethmann Hollweg conceded that saying "scrap of paper" had been a faux pas ( Entgleisung , lit.   ' derailment ' ), but he held to his opinion that Belgian neutrality was as nothing compared to the approaching world war. Bethmann Hollweg remained largely unaffected by the patriotic enthusiasm in Germany in August 1914 (the so-called " spirit of 1914 "). A letter he sent to his friend Wolfgang von Oettingen on 30 August 1914 bears witness: "Work and hope have been sundered in my hands. But I feel innocent of

10143-411: The World War that "the Emperor's views coincided" with his own. On 6 July 1914, during the July Crisis that led up to the outbreak of World War I, the Reich Chancellor again assured the Austrian embassy that Germany would fight faithfully alongside its ally. Austria-Hungary's aggressive demands against Serbia thus took place with Bethmann Hollweg's backing. At the same time, he had State Secretary of

10290-433: The abdication of the emperor / kaiser Wilhelm II of the Hohenzollern dynasty , who then left Germany with his family for exile in the neighboring Kingdom of the Netherlands . Although he lacked the constitutional authority, the last imperial chancellor handed over his office to Friedrich Ebert , (leader of the anti-war Social Democratic Party who the next day became co-chairman of the temporary revolutionary Council of

10437-502: The advance of the Red Army in the closing months of the war and subsequently, most Junkers had to flee from the eastern territories that were turned over to the re-established Republic of Poland with the implementation of the Oder–Neisse line according to the Potsdam Agreement . After World War II, during the communist Bodenreform (land reform) of September 1945 in the Soviet Occupation Zone , later East Germany , all private property exceeding an area of 100 hectares (250 acres)

10584-566: The agency of an imperial chancellery ( Reichshofkanzlei ) at the Vienna's Hofburg Palace , headed by a vice chancellor under the nominal authority of the Mainz archbishop. Upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain , Emperor Ferdinand II created the office of an Archduchy of Austria court chancellor in charge of the internal and foreign affairs of the ruling dynasty of the Habsburg monarchy . From 1753 onwards,

10731-587: The aggressor. Although he supported the invasion of Belgium as necessary given Germany's threatened position, he saw it from the first as an injustice that would need to be righted. He fought against the implementation of unrestricted submarine warfare but in the end bowed to pressure from the military and the conservatives in the Reichstag and approved its use. As the war progressed, many who had supported him in parliament felt that he had been in his position too long to be able to negotiate an acceptable peace. When both Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff and Chief of

10878-432: The best thing to do. But under the enormous pressure coming from the military, which was clamoring for annexations ("That cursed sentiment at Headquarters"), it was not possible at the time, he said, and politics, as Otto von Bismarck had remarked, was the art of the possible. Instead the Chancellor spoke of a "pledge" ( Faustpfand ) to Belgium and France. For him the formulation had the advantage that it did not lead to

11025-553: The chairmanship of the SPD in 2004. The first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer , set many precedents that continue today and established the chancellorship as the clear focus of power in Germany. Under the provisions of the Basic Law giving him the power to set guidelines for all fields of policy, Adenauer arrogated nearly all major decisions to himself. He often treated his ministers as mere extensions of his authority rather than colleagues. While his successors have tended to be less domineering,

11172-461: The chancellor and cabinet ministers. The chancellor's authority emanates from the provisions of the Basic Law and in practice from their status as leader of the party (or coalition of parties) holding a majority of seats in the Bundestag (federal parliament). With the exception of Helmut Schmidt and Olaf Scholz , the chancellor has also been chairman of their own party. This was the case with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 1999 until he resigned

11319-500: The chancellor had not proposed. The chancellor alone had to answer to the Reichstag and the president for the policy guidelines, and he determined whether the conduct of business by the individual Reich ministries conformed to the guidelines. The government's decisions required a majority vote of the ministers, who sitting together were known as the National Ministry (Article 58). The chancellor could therefore be outvoted, as could

11466-476: The chancellor has acquired enough ex officio authority (in addition to their constitutional powers) that Germany is often described by constitutional law experts as a "chancellor democracy". The chancellor determines the composition of the Federal Cabinet . The president formally appoints and dismisses cabinet ministers, on the recommendation of the chancellor; no parliamentary approval is needed. According to

11613-441: The chancellor, if they are absent or unable to perform their duties. Although the chancellor is theoretically free to choose any cabinet minister, in coalition governments the leadership of the second biggest coalition party usually designates one of their ministers for the position, whom the chancellor appoints accordingly. Junker (Prussia) Many Junkers lived in the eastern provinces that were annexed by either Poland or

11760-471: The conflict. In his memoirs, Admiral Tirpitz described the Chancellor's situation in those days as that of a "drowning man". Germany declared war on Russia and began mobilization on 1 August 1914. Bethmann Hollweg, in contrast to representatives of the Prussian Ministry of War, had insisted on formal declarations in order "to have affirmation under international law". His profound desire for guidelines in

11907-560: The court of territorial princes . These families were mostly part of the German medieval Uradel and had carried on the colonisation and Christianisation of the northeastern European territories during the Ostsiedlung . Over the centuries, they had become influential commanders and landowners, especially in the lands east of the Elbe River in the Kingdom of Prussia. As landed aristocrats,

12054-589: The east. Before World War II, the dividing line was often drawn at the river Elbe which was also roughly the western boundary of Slavic settlement by the Wends in the so-called Germania Slavica prior to Ostsiedlung . The term for the junker dominated East was thus Ostelbien or East Elbia. They played a prominent role in repressing the liberal movement in Germany. Junker is derived from Middle High German Juncherre , meaning "young nobleman" or otherwise "young lord" (derivation of jung and Herr ), and originally

12201-436: The empire's states instructed their states' deputies to the Bundesrat and therefore outranked the chancellor. For this reason, Prince Bismarck (as he was from 1871 onwards) continued to serve as both minister president and foreign minister of the Kingdom of Prussia for virtually his entire tenure as chancellor of the empire (1871–1890), since he wanted to continue to exercise the power. Because Prussia controlled seventeen votes in

12348-477: The enlargement of this short-lived federal state to the newly unified and established German Empire (" Second Reich ") in 1871, the title was renamed to Reichskanzler (meaning " Imperial Chancellor "). 78 years later after the 1945 defeat in World War II , with the new reorganized Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)'s Basic Law (constitution) of 1949 , the title of Bundeskanzler - "Federal Chancellor"

12495-517: The evening of 4 August. In tears the Chancellor poured out his soul to him. For a "scrap of paper" (meaning the 1839 Treaty of London guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality), he said, Britain wanted to wage war against a kindred nation that wished to live in peace with it. All efforts had collapsed before his eyes like a house of cards. In the end the Reich Chancellor and ambassador are said to have been weeping in each other's arms. In his Reflections on

12642-403: The federal states. For this reason, neither the chancellor nor the leaders of the imperial departments under his command used the title of Minister until 1918. The constitution of the German Empire was reformed / altered on 29 October 1918 , when the parliament Reichstag and Bundesrat was given the right to dismiss the chancellor. However, the change could not prevent the outbreak of revolution

12789-462: The foreign office. British Foreign Secretary Grey warned Germany that if the conflict was not limited to Austria and Russia but also involved France and the Reich, Britain could not stand aside either. Bethmann Hollweg then informed the German ambassador in Vienna that Austria should not resist negotiations with the Russian Empire. Although Germany was prepared to fulfill its alliance obligation, it

12936-415: The former chancellor died or resigned. The chancellor's election is one of the few cases in which a vote in the Bundestag requires a majority of all elected members , not just a majority of those assembled at the time, or the so-called Kanzlermehrheit ("chancellor majority"). As with other elections performed by the Bundestag, the chancellor is elected via secret ballot. The election procedure laid down in

13083-640: The guilt for it but that only a "common guilt" could have led to such a great catastrophe. Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg was born at Hohenfinow in Brandenburg , then part of the Kingdom of Prussia , the largest state within the German Empire . He was the son of Prussian official Felix von Bethmann Hollweg. His grandfather August von Bethmann-Hollweg had been a prominent law scholar, president of Frederick William University in Berlin and Prussian minister of culture. His great-grandfather Johann Jakob Hollweg had married

13230-490: The halt-in-Belgrade proposal combined with Austrian renunciation of annexation of Serbia. But he knew that it would be considered unsatisfactory by the Russians. When the Emperor "threatened to weaken again", the Chancellor and the Foreign Office undermined the proposal calling for restraint by forwarding the letter from the German ambassador in London belatedly and not entirely correctly to Vienna. The last (here italicized) sentence

13377-686: The imposition of high tariffs that reduced competition from U.S. grain and meat. During World War I , Irish nationalist MP Tom Kettle compared the Anglo-Irish landlord class to the Prussian Junkers, saying, "England goes to fight for liberty in Europe and for junkerdom in Ireland." Their political influence extended from the German Empire of 1871–1918 through the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933. It

13524-475: The interior by Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow immediately after the 1907 Reichstag elections . Bethmann Hollweg was again reluctant to take on the post, but since he viewed the appointment as an imperial order, he ultimately saw no alternative but to accept. In October 1907 he attended the German Workers' Congress, a general meeting of Christian trade unions, where the appearance of an imperial state secretary

13671-472: The interior. He accepted the task only reluctantly, as he held views that "did not fit into Prussian schematism". Noting early on the slow drifting apart of Wilhelmine society into an increasingly nationalistic, militaristic right and an increasingly radical republican left, he tried to steer a conciliatory course in domestic policy. He wanted, as he himself often said, to find a "policy of the diagonal" between Germany's conservative and liberal-radical currents. To

13818-507: The liberal governor of Samoa , Wilhelm Solf . Solf was one of the few foreign policy makers in the Empire to fully support Bethmann Hollweg. German-Russian relations had moved in a positive direction before the Moroccan crisis. In 1910 Tsar Nicholas I I had been in Potsdam , which Bethmann Hollweg described in a letter as a "stepping stone to an understanding with England". According to records of

13965-458: The loose federal government of the brief North German Confederation , which was created on 1 July 1867, had the title Bundeskanzler . The only person to hold the office for those three years was Otto von Bismarck , the serving minister president of the Kingdom of Prussia. Chancellor Bismarck served under the king of Prussia of the Hohenzollern royal dynasty , then William (Wilhelm) I , holder of

14112-439: The maintenance of peace". In January 1910 Bethmann Hollweg wrote that the government faced the "great task of the political education of the people, eliminating the rule of slogans and superficial evaluations". He saw the basic task of a statesman as a "kind of listening to developments". In 1910 he submitted a bill to reform Prussia's three-class electoral law, but it was rejected by the Prussian state parliament ( Landtag ). In

14259-543: The military buildup. Bethmann Hollweg combined the bill with a cover bill that provided for an "extraordinary defense contribution" from all assets over 10,000 marks. Since the SPD had always called for direct taxes on the wealthy, it agreed to the bill after a contentious debate. In late 1913 the Zabern Affair shook German politics and public opinion. In Zabern ( Saverne ) in Alsace, a young German lieutenant insulted Alsatians in

14406-452: The military. Unlike in Prussia, Bethmann Hollweg was not opposed by any influential conservatives, which allowed his democratic constitutional initiative to pass. In foreign policy Bethmann Hollweg from the beginning attached great importance to an understanding with Great Britain. He considered German-Austrian relations to be so problem-free that he thought it more important to prove friendly to

14553-463: The nature of the chancellorship. After only two months in office, and following the burning of the Reichstag building , the parliament passed the Enabling Act giving the chancellor full legislative powers for a period of four years – the chancellor could introduce any law without consulting parliament. The powers of the chancellor continued to grow until August 1934, when Hindenburg died. Hitler used

14700-682: The new National Assembly of the German Republic (Weimar Republic) several months later in the town of Weimar , in February 1919, but Ebert did not then use the title of chancellor. During that time, Ebert also served as chairman of the " Council of the People's Deputies ", until a month and half later on 29 December 1918 together with the allied Independent Social Democrat party leader Hugo Haase , who unfortunately died later that next year in November 1919. The office of chancellor ( Reichskanzler )

14847-467: The newly appointed Chief of the Reich Chancellery he wrote: The elements to be reconciled no longer have any inner relationship on which to base mutual political views. They stand with respect to each other like members of different worlds. Hopefully you will succeed in having a balancing effect, for without gradual assimilation we will arrive at conditions that are quite untenable. His focus early on

14994-457: The now-defunct communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) , which also existed in a parallel life, first occupied in the eastern Soviet Zone (including a similar wedge of the former German capital of Berlin after World War II by the Red Army of the Soviet Union , which dominated East Germany from 7 October 1949 to 3 October 1990 (when the territory of the former GDR was reunified with

15141-621: The office of an Austrian state chancellor was held by Prince Kaunitz . The imperial chancellery lost its importance, and from the days of Queen Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II , merely existed on paper. After the 1806 dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon, Prince Klemens von Metternich served as state chancellor of the German-speaking Austrian Empire , likewise Prince Karl August von Hardenberg acted as Kingdom of Prussia 's chancellor (1810–1822). The German Confederation of 1815–1866, organized after

15288-650: The other powers" in his 1909 speech from the throne, Kiderlen-Waechter's diplomacy in connection with the 1911 Second Moroccan Crisis – when he sent a German gunboat to the African nation over which France had political control – was not in keeping with the Emperor's words. Bethmann Hollweg was often reproached for his passivity during the crisis. The fact that he gave Kiderlen-Waechter a free hand in spite of his misgivings about his approach can be explained by his feeling that he lacked expertise in foreign policy and did not consider himself competent to stand up to Kiderlen-Waechter on

15435-428: The other powers. He appointed Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter as state secretary for foreign affairs. It was initially seen as a good appointment but later proved to be a disappointment. The impulsive Swabian contrasted with the Reich Chancellor not only in his temperament but above all in foreign policy matters. Although Wilhelm II had called for the Empire to increase its advocacy of "peaceful and friendly relations with

15582-506: The people themselves, not among the people's representatives". It was therefore necessary to "make room for the new views that have emerged from the changed economic and social conditions". On Bethmann Hollweg's advice, the Emperor announced electoral reform in the Kingdom of Prussia in his speech from the throne of 20 October 1908. (The Prussian electoral system was in fact not finally reformed until 12 November 1918.) Wilhelm II promised "organic further development", which he described as one of

15729-477: The plans originated with Bethmann Hollweg cannot be proven. His associate Kurt Riezler is generally considered to have been the author. Riezler wrote on 20 September 1914 that the Chancellor would "never do more than listen on the issue of war aims." Nevertheless, Bethmann Hollweg signed the September Program. Bethmann Hollweg admitted in 1918 that demanding the restoration of Belgium would probably have been

15876-416: The president on the recommendation of the chancellor (Article 53), and members of the government required the confidence of the Reichstag (Article 54). The provisions gave rise to the question of who in fact was responsible for forming the government. Constitutional law expert Ernst Rudolf Huber said that the constitution had tacitly assumed that the president would have discussions with party leaders in

16023-484: The rivalry between parties. His modest appearance and successes as an advisor to Wilhelm had also put him in the Emperor's good graces. Bethmann Hollweg's appointment had previously been suggested in political circles, including by Friedrich von Holstein in the Foreign Office. Overall there was a positive response from all parties to the appointment, although the Catholic Centre Party had reservations, and for

16170-549: The rivers of blood that now flow. Our people [ Volk ] is glorious and cannot perish." In what would later be called the September Program , the Empire formulated concrete war aims for the first time. The program contained demands for territory in Europe directed primarily against Russia, as well as the creation of a European customs union that would smooth the way for German economic interests in neighboring countries and secure German supremacy in central Europe. Whether or not

16317-411: The role of mediator; we have to pass the British proposal on to Vienna for consideration, especially since London and Paris are continuously using their influence on Petersburg. AIso, the whole world here is convinced, and I hear the same from my colleagues, that the key to the situation lies in Berlin, and that if Berlin seriously wants peace, it will prevent Vienna from following a foolhardy policy. At

16464-579: The same time, Italy, a supposed ally of the Triple Alliance , demanded compensation for Austria's actions in the Balkans. Vienna responded by offering to divide Serbia between Russia, which had not previously made any territorial claims in Serbia, and Austria. The proposal was rejected with loud protest in Berlin. For the first time Bethmann Hollweg was openly furious at the Danube monarchy and telegraphed his views to

16611-576: The same year, Polish-speaking schoolchildren in the Province of Posen , supported by the Catholic clergy, went on strike demanding that religion lessons be given in Polish again. The conservatives wanted to increase military presence in the province but Bethmann Hollweg rejected the idea. Instead he authorized that in the future religious instruction be given in Polish. Bethmann Hollweg was appointed state secretary of

16758-454: The sole exception of Helmut Kohl, who was elected to his first term via a constructive vote of no confidence against Helmut Schmidt . Unlike in other parliamentary legislatures, the Bundestag cannot remove the chancellor with a traditional motion of no confidence . Instead, the removal of a chancellor is only possible if a majority of the Bundestag members agree on a successor, who is then immediately sworn in as new chancellor. This procedure

16905-410: The subordinate ministers of various portfolios (departments / agencies) on the chancellor's recommendation. The chancellor or any minister had to be dismissed if the lower chamber of the Reichstag legislative assembly (continuing its old name of the previous century of the Reichstag ) demanded it. As today, the chancellor had the prerogative to determine the guidelines of government. In reality this power

17052-529: The support of the Social Democrats for most of the war. On 3 August Bethmann Hollweg assured British Foreign Minister Grey that the Russian mobilization of 30 July was what had put Germany in such straits that it had demanded that Belgium allow its troops to pass through the country. He had tried everything, he said, to avoid the breach of international law and to prevent "the madness of the self-destruction of Europe's nations of culture [ Kulturnationen ]". On 4 August German troops invaded Belgium. While awaiting

17199-510: The sword." Serbia's reply to the Austrian ultimatum accepted almost all of Austria-Hungary's demands. When it arrived in Berlin on 27 July 1914, the Emperor saw no need for war. He suggested that Austria should occupy Belgrade with the aim of furthering negotiations towards a permanent solution to the Balkan question. Bethmann Hollweg, seeing the threat of British entry into the war, briefly advocated

17346-400: The title "Leading Minister". The 1949 German constitution, the Basic Law ( Grundgesetz ), invests the chancellor (German, Bundeskanzler ) with broad powers to initiate government policy. For that reason, some observers refer to the German political system as a "chancellor democracy". Even though the office of chancellor is often considered the most powerful in the German political system and

17493-424: The title is Jkr., most often placed before the given name and titles, for example: Jkr. Heinrich von Hohenberg. The female equivalent Junkfrau (Jkfr.) was used only sporadically. In some cases, the honorific Jkr. was also used for Freiherren (Barons) and Grafen (Counts). A good number of poorer Junkers took up careers as soldiers ( Fahnenjunker ), mercenaries, and officials ( Hofjunker , Kammerjunker ) at

17640-478: The two countries' race to expand their navies. Bethmann Hollweg nevertheless enjoyed a good reputation with British Foreign Minister Sir Edward Grey : "So long as Bethmann Hollweg is chancellor, we will cooperate with Germany for the peace of Europe." Bethmann Hollweg negotiated treaties over an eventual partition of the Portuguese colonies and the projected Berlin–Baghdad railway , the latter aimed in part at securing

17787-415: The various German states (which together with the Reichstag was the Reich's lower legislative chamber and major lawmaking body). The chancellor was also nearly always Minister President of Prussia , which was the largest and dominant state in the Empire. Indirectly, this gave him the power of the Bundesrat, including to dissolve the houses of parliament and call for elections. Although effective government

17934-488: The villages and spoke with both landlords and workers. His work was based on the principle of voluntary participation by the bourgeoisie rather than on authoritarian instructions. The approach made him one of the most progressive district administrators of his time. A coalition of three parties put Bethmann Hollweg forward as a joint candidate for the 1890 Reichstag election . He won by a majority of one vote, but protests by opposing candidates over alleged irregularities led to

18081-617: The war that were always applicable was met with surprise in Berlin. He rejected the Tsar's proposal to bring the Serbian question before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague because Russian general mobilization had already taken place the day before. Waiting to mobilize until after Russia had done so allowed the German government to claim that it was the victim of Russian aggression and won it

18228-660: The western Federal Republic of Germany), the position of chancellor did not exist. The equivalent position of head of government there was called either Minister President (Ministerpräsident) or the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the GDR (Vorsitzender des Ministerrats der DDR) , which was the second powerful position under General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (See Leaders of East Germany ). The head of

18375-462: The wish to give up his post as district administrator ( Landrat ), Theobald took over the office on an interim basis and in January 1886 secured it by official appointment. At the age of 29, he became the youngest district administrator in the province of Brandenburg. While Bethmann Hollweg's father had conducted his office in the more autocratic style of the Prussian landed Junkers , Theobald drove to

18522-523: The year 1913/1914, the European atmosphere had calmed, and Bethmann Hollweg felt a new optimism in foreign policy. It seemed to him that the Treaty of Bucharest , which concluded the Second Balkan War , had solved the problems in the Balkans in the medium term, and a recent exchange of letters with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov had stabilized the situation in the east. The diplomatic crisis over

18669-423: The youngest provincial governor ( Oberpräsident ) in Prussia as the head the province of Brandenburg. His rapid professional success had been made possible by his talent for statesmanship, his grandfather's prestige, and by the intercession of Reich Chancellor Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst , who had been watching his rise for some time. On 21 March 1905 Bethmann Hollweg was appointed Prussian minister of

18816-488: Was also called chancellor (from Latin : cancellarius ). The chapel's college acted as the emperor's chancery issuing deeds and capitularies . From the days of Louis the German , the Roman Catholic archbishop of Mainz was ex officio German archchancellor , a position he held until the end of the 900 year old Holy Roman Empire decreed by Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars in 1806; de jure .

18963-400: Was also the fact that the president had certain special rights. The actions of the president required the countersignature of the chancellor or the minister or ministers concerned, but the president always had to be informed about matters of foreign and defence policy. The Reichstag could call for the dismissal of any member of the government, including the chancellor. Under Articles 54 and 59,

19110-413: Was continued in the Weimar Republic . The Weimar Constitution provided for a two-part executive consisting of a Reich president and a government made up of Reich ministers and a Reich chancellor (Article 52) who determined the guidelines of the government's policy (Article 56). The constitution stipulated that the president appoint and dismiss the chancellor and ministers. The ministers were appointed by

19257-430: Was deleted before it was sent: If we rejected every attempt at mediation, the whole world would hold us responsible for the conflagration and represent us as the real warmongers. That would also make our position impossible here in Germany, where we have got to appear as though the war had been forced on us. Our position is the more difficult because Serbia seems to have given way very extensively. We cannot therefore reject

19404-547: Was directed at the Social Democratic Party's commitment to the existing state structure. In his inaugural speech in the Prussian House of Representatives on 6 April 1905, on the subject of the left's proposal for the creation of a people's welfare office, he described public welfare as "the most important and serious task of the present day". Bethmann Hollweg promised to consider the application thoroughly and sympathetically, pointing out that "liberation from bureaucratic fetters

19551-651: Was established with the beginning of the North German Confederation in 1867, after the Prussian Army 's decisive military victory in the brief Austro-Prussian War of 1866 over the rival Austrian Empire . The office began with the Confederation under which its prime creator / instigator Otto von Bismarck , (previously foreign minister, then Chancellor of the Kingdom of Prussia since 1862), became Bundeskanzler (meaning " Federal Chancellor ") in 1867. With

19698-430: Was exclusively friendly. The French Journal des Débats spoke of a "reassuring sign" for Franco-German relations. The French ambassador in Berlin, Jules Cambon , sent the new Reich chancellor an official letter of congratulations, something that had never happened before. The German Embassy in London under Paul Wolff Metternich wrote that British King Edward VII considered the new chancellor an "important partner for

19845-522: Was expropriated, and then predominantly allocated to 'New Farmers' on condition that they continued farming them. As most of these large estates, especially in Brandenburg and Western Pomerania , had belonged to Junkers, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany promoted their plans with East German President Wilhelm Pieck 's slogan Junkerland in Bauernhand! ("Junker land into farmer's hand!"). The former owners were accused of war crimes and involvement in

19992-534: Was in contrast to the predominantly Catholic southern states such as the Kingdom of Bavaria or the Grand Duchy of Baden , where land was owned by small farms, or the mixed agriculture of the western states like the Grand Duchy of Hesse or even the Prussian Rhine and Westphalian provinces. Junkers formed a tightly knit elite. Their challenge was how to retain their dominance in an emerging modern state with

20139-520: Was limited by the needs of coalition governments of the several major political parties (and numerous smaller minor ones) plus the powers of the Reich President in this early 20th century created version of a European German democratic republic and political system. When the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler came to power after receiving a plurality in the parliamentary elections on 30 January 1933, and

20286-587: Was made more evident when, in April 1945, Hitler gave instruction that upon his death, the office of the Führer would dissolve and be replaced by the previous system of administration: that of the office of the President separate from that of Chancellor. On 30 April 1945, when Hitler committed suicide, he was briefly succeeded as Chancellor by Joseph Goebbels and as President of Germany by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz . When Goebbels also committed suicide, Dönitz appointed Count Schwerin von Krosigk as head of government with

20433-604: Was not prepared to be "recklessly dragged ... into a world conflagration". Meanwhile, the military of Austria-Hungary and Russia were on the move, and Chief of the General Staff Moltke called for the Chancellor to initiate German general mobilization. Austria must not be abandoned, he said. The General Staff's strategic route through Belgium (a key part of the Schlieffen Plan for the German attack on France) ultimately undermined all of Bethmann Hollweg's efforts to localize

20580-668: Was possible only in cooperation with the Reichstag, the results of the elections had at most an indirect influence on the chancellorship. Only by October 1918 on the verge of disastrous defeat in the First World War , was the Empire's 1871 constitution changed and reformed after 47 years, to require that the chancellor have the trust / confidence of parliament (as in the British Parliament and other European parliamentary democracies). Some two weeks later, Chancellor Max von Baden declared

20727-410: Was reviled as a democrat in national-conservative circles. In his Reichstag speech, he had spoken against his convictions in order to preserve the neutrality of the government and to underpin his loyalty to the Emperor. Ultimately, though, he had given in to the military and fallen into a position of weakness. For the first time he confessed that he regretted not having a party behind him. At the turn of

20874-692: Was revived, continuing to the present after 1992 with the Reunification of Germany following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War , and a newly expanded Federal Republic of Germany . Due to his administrative tasks, the head of the clerics at the chapel of an Kaiserpfalz during the Carolingian Empire (AD 800–887), beginning with first the king of the Franks , Charlemagne ,

21021-470: Was said that "if Prussia ruled Germany, the Junkers ruled Prussia, and through it the Empire itself". A policy known as Osthilfe ("Help for the East") granted Junkers 500,000,000 marks in subsidies to help pay for certain debts and to improve equipment. Junkers continued to demand and receive more and more subsidies, which gave them more money in their pockets, thus resulting in political power. Junkers exploited

21168-423: Was seen as a major step forward. In December he opposed the creation of a Reich labor office but rejected the claim that in sociopolitical matters the government would not act. "I have never discovered even a trace of tired skepticism in this activity; in it, albeit far removed from the parliamentary arena, our present-day Germany has been formed." He felt that the "searching and groping for the new takes place among

21315-526: Was set up for the German people by the popularly elected Weimar National Assembly , which met in the historic town of Weimar in 1919/20. According to the Weimar Constitution for the First German Republic (a.k.a. "Weimar Republic", 1919-1933), the chancellor was head of a collegial democratic government. The chancellor was appointed by the new President of Germany (Reich President) , as were

21462-648: Was the title of members of the higher edelfrei ( immediate ) nobility without or before the accolade . It evolved to a general denotation of a young or lesser noble, often poor and politically insignificant, understood as "country squire " (cf. Martin Luther 's disguise as "Junker Jörg" at the Wartburg ; he would later mock King Henry VIII of England as "Juncker Heintz" ). As part of the nobility, many Junker families only had prepositions such as von or zu before their family names without further ranks. The abbreviation of

21609-619: Was used by sociologists such as Max Weber and was even adopted by members of the landed class themselves. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was a noted Junker, though his family hailed from the Altmark region west of the Elbe. After World War I many Prussian agriculturists gathered in the national conservative German National People's Party (DNVP). The term was also applied to Reich President Paul von Hindenburg , lord of Neudeck in West Prussia, and to

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