Misplaced Pages

Caprivi Strip

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

A salient , panhandle , or bootheel is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state .

#966033

78-482: The Caprivi Strip , also known simply as Caprivi , is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia . It is bordered by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a single point at the eastern tip of the Strip, which also comes within 150 m (490 ft) of Zimbabwe , thus nearly forming a quadripoint . Botswana and Zambia share

156-543: 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

234-556: 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

312-560: A 150-metre (490 ft) border at the crossing of Kazungula . The territory was acquired by then- German South West Africa in order to provide access to the Zambezi River and consequently a route to the east coast of the continent and German East Africa . The route was later found not to be navigable because of the location of the Victoria Falls , one of the world's largest waterfalls, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) east of

390-495: 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

468-682: 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

546-411: A few days. 17°52′12″S 23°01′48″E  /  17.8700°S 23.0300°E  / -17.8700; 23.0300 Salient (geography) While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on three sides. Instead, it has a land border on at least two sides and extends from the larger geographical body of the administrative unit. In American English ,

624-410: A language of western Zambia , as a lingua franca . Many also speak English, while Afrikaans has almost disappeared. The area is rich in natural wildlife and has mineral resources. Of particular interest to the government of Namibia is that it gives access to the Zambezi River and is thereby a potential trading route to Africa's East Coast. However, the vagaries of the river level, various rapids,

702-677: A mineral expedition in 1909 proved unsuccessful, Germany contemplated exchanging the strip for some other British territory, such as Walvis Bay . When that territory was transferred to the Cape Colony by the British in 1910, Germany was stuck with Caprivi for the rest of its colonial history. In 1976, the South African administration established the self-governing Eastern Caprivi homeland with its own flag, national anthem, and coat of arms. It remained under direct de facto control of

780-534: 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

858-550: 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, the office of an Austrian state chancellor was held by Prince Kaunitz . The imperial chancellery lost its importance, and from

SECTION 10

#1732765709967

936-585: Is Katima Mulilo , located at the point where the Zambezi reaches the Strip. When Namibia was a German colony, the Caprivi Strip was known in German as Caprivizipfel . Before colonisation, it was known as Itenge . During a short-lived secession attempt around the year 2000, the name Itenge was used by the separatists. It is also sometimes called the Okavango Panhandle . Inhabitants of

1014-481: 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

1092-520: Is generally confined to North America. The salient shape can be the result of arbitrarily drawn international or subnational boundaries, though the location of administrative borders can also take into account other considerations such as economic ties or topography . The following locations are salients in First-level administrative subdivisions of nations. Chancellor of Germany (German Reich) The chancellor of Germany , officially

1170-759: Is of politico-strategic military importance. During the Rhodesian Bush War (1964–1979), South West African People's Organization 's and Caprivi African National Union 's (CANU) liberation war against the South African occupation (1965–1994) and the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), the Strip saw continual military action and multiple incursions by various armed forces using the Strip as a corridor to access other territories. The Caprivi conflict involved an armed conflict in Namibia between

1248-583: 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

1326-534: 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

1404-487: 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

1482-719: The Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), a rebel group aiming for the secession of the Caprivi Strip led by Mishake Muyongo , and the Namibian government. Its main eruption occurred on 2 August 1999 when the CLA launched an attack in Katima Mulilo, occupying the state-run radio station and attacking a police station, the Wenela border post, and an army base. Namibian armed forces quashed the attempt at secession within

1560-549: The Chobe River was the thalweg , the bona fide international boundary. This was important, as, depending on the decision, a large island (known as Kasikili or Sedudu , by Namibia and Botswana respectively) would fall into one or the other's national territory. The Botswana government considered the island as an integral part of the Chobe National Park , whereas the Namibian government, and many inhabitants of

1638-794: The German Constitution ). The current officeholder is Olaf Scholz of 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

SECTION 20

#1732765709967

1716-490: 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

1794-524: 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

1872-466: 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

1950-605: The federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany , 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

2028-683: 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" 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,

2106-481: 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,

2184-447: 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

2262-495: 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

2340-474: 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

2418-410: 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

Caprivi Strip - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-575: The Caprivi Strip and the island of Heligoland in the North Sea . The river later proved unnavigable and inaccessible to the Indian Ocean due to the location of the Victoria Falls and more falls, a fact that was possibly already known to the British side during the negotiations. Caprivi itself was remote and inaccessible during the rainy season, and the Germans did not find use for it. After

2574-555: The Caprivi Strip are Bwabwata National Park , Mudumu National Park and Nkasa Rupara National Park . Local communities have organised themselves into communal area conservancies and community forests. People work closely with the Namibian Government to jointly manage natural resources through several programmes set up between the Namibian Government and various donor parties. Caprivi was named after German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi (in office 1890–1894), who negotiated

2652-595: The Caprivi Strip speak a number of African languages, mostly members of the Bantu language family, with speakers of Mbarakwena [Xu-Khoisan], Hukwe a San language, in the northwest of the strip near the border with Angola. The Bantu languages include Yeyi (or 'Yei' or 'Yeeyi'), Mbukushu , Gciriku (or 'Dciriku'), Fwe , Totela , and Subiya . The Silozi language is a lingua Franca of the Caprivi Strip, especially in Katima Mulilo , where some residents speak Lozi ,

2730-727: The Caprivi Strip, and because of more waterfalls downstream such as Kariba Gorge and Cahora Bassa . Within Namibia, the Strip is divided administratively between the Kavango East and Zambezi regions. It is crossed by the Okavango River . The Cuando River forms part of its border with Botswana, and the Zambezi River forms a part of its border with Zambia. The width of the strip varies from about 32 km (20 mi) to 105 km (65 mi). Its largest settlement

2808-586: 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 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

2886-490: 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

2964-479: 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

3042-666: 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

3120-492: 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

3198-505: 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

Caprivi Strip - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-468: 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

3354-586: 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

3432-522: 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

3510-542: 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 the agency of an imperial chancellery ( Reichshofkanzlei ) at the Vienna's Hofburg Palace , headed by

3588-581: The South African government in Pretoria until 1980, when its administration was transferred to South West Africa's administration in Windhoek. In the late 20th century, the Caprivi Strip attracted attention when Namibia and Botswana took a long-standing dispute over its southern boundary to the International Court of Justice . The core of the territorial dispute concerned which channel of

3666-552: 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

3744-727: The acquisition of the land in an 1890 exchange with the United Kingdom. Caprivi arranged for the Caprivi strip to be annexed to German South West Africa in order to give Germany access to the Zambezi River and a route to Africa's east coast, where the colony of German East Africa (now part of Tanzania ) was situated. The transfer of territory was a part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty of 1890, in which Germany gave up its interest in Zanzibar in return for

3822-558: 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,

3900-461: 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

3978-508: 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

SECTION 50

#1732765709967

4056-483: 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

4134-574: 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

4212-427: The eastern Caprivi Strip, held that not only was the island part of the original German–British agreement, but generations of inhabitants had used it for seasonal grazing, for reed-gathering, and as a burial site. In December 1999, the International Court of Justice ruled that the main channel, and hence the international boundary, lay to the north of the island, thus making the island part of Botswana. The Caprivi Strip

4290-436: 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

4368-403: 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

4446-415: 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

4524-405: 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 , 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

4602-404: 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

4680-409: 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

4758-524: 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 )

SECTION 60

#1732765709967

4836-407: 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

4914-469: The presence of the Victoria Falls downstream and continued political uncertainty in the region have made such use of the Caprivi Strip difficult. However, it may be used for ecotourism in the future. Within Namibia the Caprivi Strip provides significant habitat for the critically endangered African wild dog ( Lycaon pictus ). It is a corridor for African elephant moving from Botswana and Namibia into Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. National parks found in

4992-416: 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

5070-454: 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

5148-410: 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

5226-425: The term panhandle is often used to describe a relatively long and narrow salient, such as the westernmost extensions of Florida and Oklahoma , or the northernmost portion of Idaho . Another term is bootheel , used for the Missouri Bootheel and New Mexico Bootheel areas. The term salient is derived from military salients . The term "panhandle" derives from the analogous part of a cooking pan , and its use

5304-400: 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

5382-415: 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

5460-452: 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

5538-404: 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 . 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

5616-400: 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,

5694-413: 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

5772-468: 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

5850-643: 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

5928-623: 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

6006-544: 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

6084-621: 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 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

#966033