German emperor

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Large coat of arms of the German Emperor 1871–1918

The German Kaiser was the head of state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918 . The basis was initially Article 11 of the Constitution of the German Confederation of January 1, 1871 and then the Bismarckian Constitution of April 16, 1871. The previous designation for the functionary in the constitution of the North German Confederation was " Presidium of the Federation " or "Federal Presidium". The constitutional norm kept this older designation, but in practice it took a back seat to the imperial title.

The Federal Presidium and thus the title of “German Emperor” was constitutionally entitled to the King of Prussia . A new Prussian king also became the new German emperor. There were two different offices that are always in Real Union were exercised by the same man (not mere personal union since constitutional connection of the offices). The Kaiser appointed the Federal Chancellor or Reich Chancellor , the executive . In addition, the emperor had other powers, some of which he exercised with the Federal Council . The emperor was not an absolute ruler : all of his official acts had to be countersigned by the chancellor or (from 1878) by a state secretary .

During the German Empire there were three officials: Wilhelm I , Friedrich III. and Wilhelm II. In November 1918, towards the end of the First World War , the emperor's reputation sank dramatically. Several parties called for his resignation. Fearing the beginning of the November Revolution , Chancellor Max von Baden proclaimed the abdication of the Emperor and Crown Prince Wilhelm on November 9, 1918 . Wilhelm II went into exile in the Netherlands on the same day and did not formally renounce his titles and rights until November 28, 1918.

prehistory

In the 19th century, the constitutions were modernized in many countries, mostly in line with the constitutional monarchy . If necessary, the monarchy was “reinvented”, as the historian Jürgen Osterhammel puts it. In addition to Germany, this also happened, for example, in France or Japan. Existing monarchies were also given a different status.

From the middle ages to the 19th century

The medieval Frankish ruler Charlemagne , as imagined by the painter Albrecht Dürer in 1513 .

The title was based on that of the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation , the Roman Emperor or Roman King . The emperors saw themselves as such until the High Middle Ages . The later emerging designation of German king or king of the Germans was never used by them and it was only from the early modern period that they also called themselves king in Germania . In this context, the term “German Kaiser” refers to its descriptive character in the old German Empire. In 1806, Franz II had laid down the "German Imperial Crown", with which the Old Reich was extinguished.

From 1815 to 1866 there was the German Confederation. This federation was not a monarchy and had no head. The only and therefore highest body was the Bundestag . According to Article 5 of the Federal Act, the Bundestag envoy from Austria chaired the Bundestag, which was more of an honorary title and not associated with additional power. Austria was called the “presidential power” and its envoy the “presidential envoy”. When asked about a head of the empire in the years 1848 to 1850 , the imperial title was intended as a reference to the Middle Ages ; according to the Frankfurt constitution of March 1849, an emperor of the Germans was planned. For the Erfurt Union 1849–1850 the title should be “Reichsvorstand” or “Unionvorstand”.

North German Confederation

In 1867 the North German Confederation was established as a federal state . The King of Prussia took over the presidium of the Federation . Thus there was no express head of state in the federal constitution. The Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck wanted to give the North German Confederation the appearance of a confederation as much as possible and to spare the sensibilities of the other princes. However, the holder of the Federal Presidium had many of the powers of a monarchical head of state. Some such as the legislative initiative or the dissolution of parliament, however, exercised the Federal Council , which was composed of representatives of the member states.

At the beginning of 1870, Federal Chancellor Otto von Bismarck had an imperial plan to upgrade the reputation of the Prussian king. This should also give the federal government a better position vis-à-vis the southern German states and France. However, the plan hardly received the desired response. King Wilhelm also rejected what he thought was an artificial imperial title, which he gave to upstarts like Napoleon III. remembered.

Establishment of the imperial title and its position

Constitutional amendment 1870/1871

The southern German states of Baden, Bavaria, Hessen-Darmstadt and Württemberg joined the North German Confederation in the course of the Franco-German War . On November 30, 1870, the Bavarian King Ludwig II of Bavaria signed the so-called Kaiserbrief , in which he asked the Prussian king to accept an imperial title with the consent of the other princes. On December 10th, the Reichstag and Bundesrat decided to name the new state "Reich" and the head of state "Kaiser". On December 18, the Imperial Deputation of the Reichstag visited the Prussian King at the German headquarters in Versailles and asked him to accept the Imperial title. Wilhelm followed suit.

In the new constitution of the German Confederation of January 1, 1871, the federal government was given the name “ German Empire ” and the Federal Presidium (in Article 11) also received the title “German Emperor”. In the constitution of the German Empire of April 16, 1871, the new designation was used in most places that had spoken of the "Federal Presidium" or "Federal General".

Acceptance of the title

Third version of the painting The Proclamation of the German Empire (January 18, 1871) by Anton von Werner , 1885

Thus Wilhelm had been German Emperor since January 1, 1871. However, inwardly he hadn't finally come to terms with it. On the one hand, he wanted the title of king to precede the title of emperor, but understood that this would have annoyed southern Germany. On the other hand, in his opinion, the title should be "Kaiser von Deutschland". However, this would have made the federal princes subjects of the emperor and emphasized the unitarian character of the empire. In addition, “Germany” was not the constitutional name of the entire national state , but “German Empire”.

Bismarck preferred “German Emperor” because it was reminiscent of the Roman-German emperors and sounded more like auctoritas (reputation) rather than potestas (authority). Furthermore, the imperial letter had already contained this formula, not to mention the new constitution. Wilhelm persevered and wanted to see actual powers associated with the imperial dignity. On January 17, he threatened to renounce the throne. Even after overcoming this crisis, he held on to his desire to become Emperor of Germany . On the morning of January 18, he reluctantly resigned himself to the solution of the Grand Duke Friedrich of Baden , who simply shouted cheers to "Kaiser Wilhelm" in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles . January 1st was the day of commencement of office, January 18th “the day of induction and assumption of office”.

In his address, Wilhelm I referred to the Roman-German Empire, which expired in 1806, but there was no legal continuity between the two offices. That is why Bismarck advised Friedrich III. also refrain from being addressed as Friedrich IV in the tradition of the Holy Roman Empire when he ascended the throne in 1888.

The federal constitution did not recognize a constitutional oath of the presidium or, later, of the emperor. Nevertheless, Friedrich III. and Wilhelm II. each freely and voluntarily made a constitutional vow before the Reichstag. They knew an oath from the Prussian constitution. In Prussia , the refusal to take the oath would have triggered a serious crisis because the king would then not have been able to exercise his royal rights. He would still have been king and consequently the holder of the Federal Presidium. The obligations from the federal constitution already applied to the emperor when he accepted the office, not only when he swore an oath.

Position in the political system

The emperor was a constitutional monarch , not an autocrat . Despite his strong constitutional position, he was less powerful than, say, the President of the United States . He was not part of the government, but appointed the Chancellor as the responsible minister . The orders and orders of the Kaiser did not become legally effective if they were not countersigned by the Reich Chancellor . This also applied, for example, to speeches for which the Kaiser had to obtain the prior approval of the Chancellor. So there was no " personal regiment ", no personal policy of the emperor, not even in the time of Wilhelm II, who gave a different impression in some utterances.

Unlike other constitutions of the time, the German did not explicitly name the monarch "inviolable". However, the Prussian regulations were applied accordingly, so that the emperor could not be brought before a criminal court. The Reich Chancellor assumed political responsibility with a view to parliament. This political and legal responsibility only turned into a parliamentary one in October 1918 : In the last two weeks of the German Empire, a chancellor had to resign if the Reichstag expressed suspicion in him.

The emperor or the chancellor or the foreign office represented the empire externally. The emperor declared war and peace. However, international treaties required the approval of the Bundesrat and the Reichstag in order to become national law.

The imperial army and the imperial navy were at all times, peace and war, under the command of the emperor. The ministerial responsibility or the obligation to countersign did not apply to command files, as the emperor acted in his capacity as commander in chief.

Public officials

The three bearers of the title, Kaiser Wilhelm I , Friedrich III. and Wilhelm II. , were the kings of Prussia. Wilhelm I had been regent for his sick brother since 1858 and Prussian King since 1861. Since July 1, 1867, he was the holder of the Federal Presidium, and since January 1, 1871, at the same time, Kaiser. He died on March 9, 1888 at the age of 90.

His son Friedrich III. immediately became the new Prussian king and German emperor. The 57-year-old died of throat cancer after only 99 days in office . He was followed by his 29-year-old son as Wilhelm II. In the " Dreikaiserjahr " of 1888, all three emperors who existed in the history of the empire were in office.

End of the empire in 1918

Development by November 9th

Reich Chancellor Max von Baden on the way to the Reichstag, October 1918

On October 29, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II went to the German headquarters in Spa , Belgium . While there was political ferment at home, he saw his most important support in the army leadership. In the meantime, Chancellor Prince Max von Baden had transferred to the camp of those who were in favor of abdication to calm the discontented people.

On October 31, the cabinet in Berlin discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the emperor's abdication. In any case, it must be officially “voluntary”. However, both the political and the military leadership were internally at odds over this issue. Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Wilhelm Groener from the Supreme Army Command encouraged the Kaiser in Spa not to abdicate. The sons of Wilhelm, in turn, had promised their father not to take over any regency.

Soon afterwards, on November 3rd, the revolution broke out in Kiel . On November 7, the SPD , which was already involved in the leadership of the Reich , demanded that the Emperor and Crown Prince renounce the throne the following day. Max then announced his resignation and put himself and the emperor under pressure: a chancellor in the sense of the Supreme Army Command would have led to the revolution, a middle-class chancellor would not have had a majority in the Reichstag, a social democrat would not have been available without the emperor's abdication. Out of a sense of responsibility, the Social Democrats accepted a compromise by not demanding the abdication until November 9th.

The Chancellor continued to try to abdicate, a demand that the Left Liberals and the Center Party also followed. The Supreme Army Command initially supported Wilhelm in his plan to put down the beginning revolution in Germany at the head of the army. But on November 8th she realized that this would be hopeless. On the morning of November 9th, Wilhelm heard that the commanders were no longer behind him.

Idea of ​​partial abdication

Together with Count Schulenburg, Wilhelm developed the plan for a partial abdication. According to a strictly conservative view, the Prussian crown had an old tradition. The German empire existed anyway only on the basis of the imperial constitution and represented an almost republican presidential function. Wilhelm wanted to resign as emperor, but not as king. After some hesitation, Wilhelm let the Reich Chancellery in Berlin know of his intention by telephone (around 2:00 p.m. on November 9th).

However, the actual abdication was still missing. In addition, the constitution did not provide for a separation of the two offices. In a regency plan from the end of October, Chancellor Max had thought that a three-member Regency Council could be set up in Prussia . A constitutional amendment would have been necessary in Prussia, but not at the Reich level. The Regency Council would then automatically have assumed presidential powers at the national level.

Partial abdication would have required the appointment of a Reich administrator at the Reich level, for which the consent of the Reichstag and Bundesrat would have been required. Such approval was more than questionable. On top of that, popular anger was directed against Wilhelm as emperor as well as against him as king. Partial abdication would also have acted like a provocation in hostile countries.

Press release and regency plan

The messages from Spa about Wilhelm's willingness to abdicate were unclear. Nevertheless, the Chancellor had gained the impression that the full declaration of abdication would soon follow and that only the question of the correct formulation would delay the matter. Because the uprising in Berlin was imminent, the Chancellor did not want to wait any longer. At around 12 noon, the Reich Chancellery announced to the press that the Emperor and King, like the Crown Prince, was giving up the throne - although the latter was not mentioned in the reports from Spa. Also questionable was Max von Baden's announcement that he would propose to a regent the appointment of MSPD chairman Friedrich Ebert as Reich Chancellor and that a national assembly would decide on the future form of government .

The appointment of regents or imperial administrators was out of the question. In order to prevent the impending civil war, Max wanted to transfer the Reich Chancellorship to Ebert directly. For this, the emperor's abdication had to be certain, which explains the haste. Ebert accepted the chancellorship. Max also asked about a reign. Ebert refused, saying it was too late for that. Max's employees had advised that before transferring the chancellorship to demand the appointment of an imperial administrator who would have exercised monarchical rights. But Max did not advocate it because he lacked Wilhelm's authorization. This created a vacuum: without a representative, the imperial power was at the mercy of the revolutionaries.

Ernst Rudolf Huber criticizes the fact that Max had already broken the constitution: firstly by the unauthorized publication of an alleged abdication, secondly by transferring the Reich Chancellery. After creating a gap at the top of the empire, Max should have closed that gap too. He shouldn't have suddenly pleaded a lack of authorization, but should have confessed that he now considered a regency or imperial administration to be impracticable.

Escape and abdication

Wilhelm at the Belgian-Dutch border crossing in Eysden, November 10, 1918

Around 2 p.m., the Reich Chancellery received a message from Spa that Wilhelm intended to partially abdicate. Only now did Berlin inform him that the full abdication had already been announced. At about the same time, Philipp Scheidemann from the MSPD shouted cheers for the republic . Ebert was outraged because only a national assembly should decide the question of the form of government; only now did Ebert press Prince Max to become imperial administrator. But Max refused, and the revolution was already too far advanced.

At Spa, people were outraged by Max's arbitrariness. Wilhelm wanted to lodge a formal protest against the declaration of abdication. Hindenburg advised Wilhelm against it to lay down the crown and leave for the neutral Netherlands . Wilhelm was also persuaded that the protest should not be public. Through this silence he accepted the announced renunciation of the throne. The Supreme Army Command was probably ready to cooperate with the revolutionaries in Berlin.

On November 10, 1918 at around 7 a.m., Wilhelm crossed the border to the Netherlands, where he found his exile and finally died in 1941. For the longest time he lived at Haus Doorn , which is now a museum. Both supporters and opponents of the monarchy condemned Wilhelm's departure as desertion . Huber: "Only this act sealed the end of the Prussian-German monarchy."

Wilhelm signed the declaration of his abdication on November 28, 1918, releasing the officers and soldiers from the oath of loyalty. The Crown Prince followed on December 1 with a declaration of his own. This also formally ended the monarchy. The Weimar Constitution of August 11, 1919 finally abolished public-law advantages by birth or status (Art. 109) and thus the privileges of the nobility, including the occupation of state functions.

See also

Literature and film

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Osterhammel : The transformation of the world. A story of the 19th century . CH Beck, Munich 2009, pp. 829, 838 f.
  2. ↑ For the informal use of the German royal / imperial title in the old “German Empire” see Reichsdeputationshauptschluss ; Otto von Freising , Chronicle or the History of the Two States ; Ulrich von Hutten and the imperial chronicle (1150).
  3. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, pp. 740/741, 746/747, 750.
  4. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 750/751.
  5. ↑ See Rudolf Weber-Fas: Epochs of German Statehood. From the empire of the Franks to the Federal Republic. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2006, p. 134 .
  6. ↑ See Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the Reich. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 751-753.
  7. ^ John CG Röhl: Wilhelm II. , Pp. 784/785.
  8. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 809 f., 1012 f.
  9. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 814/815.
  10. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, p. 815.
  11. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 931/932, 941.
  12. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the empire. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, p. 1003.
  13. ^ Wilhelm Deist : Kaiser Wilhelm II as Supreme Warlord . In: ders .: Military, State and Society. Oldenbourg, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-486-55920-6 (paperback), ISBN 3-486-55919-2 (fabric), p. 2.
  14. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1978, pp. 656-658.
  15. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, pp. 661-663.
  16. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 669.
  17. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, pp. 680/681.
  18. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 631.
  19. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 682.
  20. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 684.
  21. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, pp. 688/689.
  22. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 689.
  23. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 691 f.
  24. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 699.
  25. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 702.
  26. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, p. 706.