Misplaced Pages

#570429

30-581: According to the 1871 Constitution of the German Empire , the federal states were responsible for the German land forces and the imperial government for the navy. So while there were Prussian , Bavarian , Saxon and Württemberg armies, there was a single Imperial Navy, the only formation under the direct authority of the German Reich beside the colonial Schutztruppe forces. The head of

60-656: A German through admission, or through naturalization), were laid down by the separate laws of the individual States. Only on 22 July 1913 was a common uniform Nationality Law for the Empire – the Nationality Law of the German Empire and States (Reichs- und Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, shorthand: RuStAG) – adopted. Formally, imperial officials were appointed and dismissed by the Emperor. They were required to take an oath of allegiance. Imperial officials appointed from one of

90-887: A balance with the British and Tirpitz' requests for full powers as fleet commander modelled on a First Sea Lord were denied. After the war, the Imperial Naval Office was disestablished on 15 July 1919, when by decree of Reich President Friedrich Ebert its responsibilities were assigned to the Admiralty Staff , which was transformed into the Marineleitung agency of the German Reichswehr Ministry in 1920. 52°30′25″N 13°21′41″E  /  52.5069°N 13.3614°E  / 52.5069; 13.3614 Constitution of

120-865: A new, republican constitution: the Weimar Constitution , which has the same title in German as its predecessor ( Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches , or 'Constitution of the German Reich'). The constitution was signed by William I , the King of Prussia , acting in his capacity as Bundespräsidium of the North German Confederation, the Kings of Bavaria and Württemberg , and the Grand Dukes of Baden and Hesse . Hesse north of

150-713: A parliamentary democratic monarchy on the British model. One month later, with the defeat of Germany in World War I and the November Revolution , the monarchy ceased to exist and the Constitution technically became obsolete. It formally remained in force, though, and was only changed on 10 February 1919 by the Gesetz über die vorläufige Reichsgewalt passed by the National Assembly . In fact,

180-595: A state in some regards, including limited voting power in the Bundesrat. The constitution was heavily amended in the waning days of World War I. The amended document, known as the Oktoberverfassung ("October Constitution") was debated and passed by the Reichstag in late October 1918. The most important changes were: The changes came into force on 28 October, transforming the authoritarian Empire into

210-857: The Reichstag , the Imperial Diet elected by male Germans above the age of 25 years. The constitution followed an earlier constitution of 1 January 1871, the Constitution of the German Confederation . That constitution had already incorporated some of the agreements between the North German Confederation and the four German states south of the River Main . It renamed the country to Deutsches Reich (conventionally translated to 'German Empire') and gave

240-868: The Anglo-German naval arms race . Tirpitz had urged for the dissolution of the Imperial Naval High Command in 1899, which gave him even more power but proved as fatal in World War I . In 1898, the Naval Office also took over the administration of the Chinese Kiautschou Bay territory. During World War I, it gave out the casualty list of the Imperial Navy. State Secretary Tirpitz finally resigned in 1916, when Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg strove for

270-651: The Bundesrat and supervised the conduct of its business. He had the right to delegate the power to represent him to any member of the Bundesrat. (Article 15) Decrees and ordinances of the Emperor required the counter-signature of the Chancellor to be valid (Article 17). On paper, the Chancellor was a one-man cabinet. In practice, the Secretaries of State functioned much like ministers in other monarchies. Imperial laws were enacted, via simple majority, by both

300-445: The Reichstag (parliament) and the Bundesrat (Article 5). These laws took precedence over the laws of the individual states (Article 2). Article 13 required the annual convocation of both bodies. The Bundesrat could be called together for the preparation of business without the Reichstag , but not the converse. The Bundesrat (Articles 6 and 7) was made up of representatives of the various states. In German constitutional law, it

330-530: The Übergangsgesetz of 4 March stipulated explicitly that the 1871 constitution was still valid unless in contradiction to laws passed since November 1918. A new constitution , completely replacing the Imperial one, came into force in the Reich only on 14 August 1919. Bundespr%C3%A4sidium Präsidium des Bundes or Bundespräsidium ( German: [ˈbʊndəs.pʁɛˌziːdi̯ʊm] , roughly chairmanship of

SECTION 10

#1732772424571

360-473: The Emperor; members of all the other committees were elected by the Bundesrat . Additionally, there was created a Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Bavaria, with individual members representing Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg, and two other members representing the other states. Membership of the parliament, the Reichstag or Imperial Diet, was by universal suffrage (this was interpreted to mean suffrage for all male citizens over 25). A secret ballot

390-529: The Empire abroad, conclude treaties and alliances, and accredit and receive ambassadors. In the case of a non-defensive war being declared, consent of the Bundesrat was required. Both the Bundesrat and the Reichstag had to approve a treaty and also had to approve laws for it to be ratified. He had other powers: The Emperor exercised his powers with the assistance of the Chancellor of the Empire (Reichskanzler), whom he appointed and commanded. He presided over

420-699: The German Empire The Constitution of the German Empire ( German : Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches ) was the basic law of the German Empire of 1871–1918, from 16 April 1871, coming into effect on 4 May 1871. Some German historians refer to it as Bismarck's imperial constitution , in German the Bismarcksche Reichsverfassung (BRV). According to the constitution, the empire was a federation (federally organised national state) of 25 German states under

450-489: The Naval Office the power base in his campaign to build a great German High Seas Fleet to encounter Britain's Royal Navy . According to the theories of US admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan and his book The Influence of Sea Power upon History , the "Tirpitz Plan" was established jointly with Foreign State Secretary Bernhard von Bülow and, in interaction with the British Naval Defence Act 1889 , fuelled

480-577: The Naval Office was a Secretary of State who reported directly to the Imperial Chancellor ( Reichskanzler ). While the operational management of the Navy was the responsibility of the Imperial Naval High Command and under the direct command of Emperor Wilhelm II from 1899, the tasks of the Office were mainly administrative, such as planning naval construction and maintenance programs, directing

510-602: The Prussian King the title of German Emperor. The constitutions of 1 January and 4 May 1871 are both essentially an amended version of the North German Constitution , which had likewise been instigated by Otto von Bismarck . The political system remained the same. The constitution lost its effect in the November Revolution of 1918: the legislative and executive powers were performed by a new revolutionary organ. A national assembly created in 1919

540-519: The areas for which the Empire was responsible for, or was entitled to legislate on: A single German citizenship was created, with equal treatment of citizens within each state guaranteed by Article 3. Until 1913, a person held the citizenship of the Empire as a result of holding the citizenship of one of the States. Therefore, initially, the criteria for becoming a citizen (the rules of acquisition of citizenship by descent, birth, marriage, legitimation, for

570-483: The end of World War I . He believed that he ruled the Empire in personal union with Prussia, and could merely abdicate as German Emperor while keeping the Prussian crown. He realized that he could not do so without renouncing the entire constitution, which would have been, in effect, the de jure dissolution of the Empire. Article 11 stated that the emperor had the power to declare war (and make peace), represent

600-671: The federation ) was a title under the German Confederation (1815–1848, 1851–1866) whereby the Austrian delegate held the chair of the Federal Assembly . Austria was thus called the presiding power ( German : Präsidialmacht ). This did not give Austria extra competencies: its delegate simply led the proceedings of the Federal Assembly. Later, during the North German Confederation (1867–1871),

630-415: The larger and more powerful states having more. Voting had to be in person, and representatives in some cases had to be bound by the instructions of their state governments. In the case of legislation affecting only certain states, only those states were allowed to vote. The Bundesrat's presiding officer could break ties. A representative could not be a member of both chambers at the same time (Article 9) and

SECTION 20

#1732772424571

660-517: The permanent presidency of Prussia , the largest and most powerful state. The presidency of the confederation ( Bundespräsidium ) was a hereditary office of the King of Prussia , who had the title of German Emperor . The Emperor appointed the Chancellor, the head of government and chairman of the Bundesrat , the council of representatives of the German states. Laws were enacted by the Bundesrat and

690-582: The procurement of naval supplies, and advising the Reichstag parliament on naval matters. It also ran the Imperial shipyards in Danzig , Kiel and Wilhelmshaven , several educational institutions, and the Seewarte meteorological institute in Hamburg . When in 1897 Konteradmiral Alfred von Tirpitz succeeded State Secretary Friedrich von Hollmann , who had resigned in a dispute on the naval budget, he made

720-599: The river Main was already a member of the North German Confederation; its territory south of the river was now included as well. The member states of the North German Confederation that now became members of the Empire were Prussia, Saxony , Mecklenburg-Schwerin , Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , Mecklenburg-Strelitz , Oldenburg , Brunswick , Saxe-Meiningen , Saxe-Altenburg , Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , Anhalt , Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt , Schwarzburg-Sondershausen , Waldeck , Reuss (older line) , Reuss (younger line) , Schaumburg-Lippe , Lippe , Lübeck , Bremen , and Hamburg . The empire

750-472: The same title was used for an office functioning as head of state . According to the constitution, the holder of this office was always the king of Prussia . The king was also Bundesfeldherr , federal commander-in-chief . The constitutional changes of 1870–1871 renamed the North German Confederation to the German Empire ; the title and function of Bundespräsidium remained, but was combined with

780-647: The states were guaranteed the same rights as given them by their native state. (Article 18) The constitution was amended on 20 December 1873 by the Lex Miquel-Lasker to make the entirety of civil law the responsibility of the Empire. Two decades later, a national civil code was finally promulgated (as the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch ). In 1911 the constitution was amended to treat the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine as

810-416: Was given Imperial protection (Article 10). The apportionment of the Bundesrat in 1871–1919 was: The constitution established permanent committees (Article 8): At least four states had to be represented on each committee, excluding the chairman. Each state was allowed one vote. On the committee for the army and fortifications, Bavaria had a permanent seat. All of that committee's members were appointed by

840-464: Was guaranteed (Article 20). Transitional arrangements set the total number of deputies at 382, with 48 for Bavaria, 17 for Württemberg, 14 for Baden, and 6 for Hesse south of the river Main (Article 20). Bills would be laid before the Reichstag in the name of the emperor, in accordance with a resolution of the Bundesrat , and would be advocated by members of the Bundesrat (or by special commissioners appointed by it)(Article 16). Article 4 detailed

870-405: Was not considered a parliament chamber, but foreign commentators tended to reckon it as an upper house. It can be translated into English as Federal Council. Each state was allocated a specified number of votes; although a state could appoint as many delegates to the Bundesrat as it had votes, the delegates from each state voted as a bloc. Each state had a different number of representatives, with

900-484: Was officially defined as a federation of the member states under the permanent presidency of Prussia. The presidency of the Confederation (Bundespräsidium) was a hereditary office of the King of Prussia . From 1 January 1871 onward, he was granted the additional title of German Emperor ( Deutscher Kaiser ). Thus, the imperial crown was tied to the office of the King of Prussia. Wilhelm II discovered this at

#570429