Prussian Revolutionary Cabinet

The Prussian Revolutionary Cabinet (initially also: "Political Cabinet") was the provisional state government of Prussia in 1918/1919 . As with the Council of People's Representatives at the Reich level, it was based on a coalition of Majority Social Democrats ( MSPD) and Independent Social Democrats (USPD). The cabinet was revolutionary because it was not formed on the basis of the previous Prussian constitution of 1848/1850 .

The cabinet under Paul Hirsch of the MSPD existed from November 12, 1918 to March 25, 1919. One MSPD and one USPD man were assigned to one department. The USPD members left the cabinet on January 4, 1919. It was finally replaced by a new cabinet after a Prussian state assembly had been elected.

background

The Kingdom of Prussia has been by far the most important member state in the monarchical federal state since the federal foundation in 1867 and remained so after the November Revolution of 1918/1919. During the monarchical period, the Prussian king was automatically the holder of the Federal Presidium , from 1871 with the title of German Emperor . In terms of constitutional reality , Prussia and the Reich were linked to one another in many ways: The Reich Chancellor was almost always Prussian Prime Minister and Prussian Foreign Minister, many State Secretaries (de facto Reich Ministers) were Prussian ministers. In the German Bundesrat , Prussia had been the determining power, which the Chancellor benefited from.

On November 9, 1918, the last Imperial Chancellor, Max von Baden , announced that Kaiser and King Wilhelm II had abdicated. Max transferred, unconstitutionally, the office of Reich Chancellor to Friedrich Ebert , the leader of the German majority Social Democracy. On November 10, Ebert formed the Council of People's Representatives as a revolutionary transitional body at the national level and became one of two chairmen of the council.

But Max was not the Prussian Prime Minister. So he couldn't equip Ebert with the office of prime minister at the same time. The Prussian state government (state government) actually wanted to resign on November 8th, but the king could no longer accept the resignation. The Prussian cabinet therefore remained in office, similar to the state secretaries at the Reich level.

On November 9th, Chancellor Ebert instructed the Prussian leader of the MSPD (Paul Hirsch) to ensure peace and order. The Prussian Minister of the Interior, Drews, confirmed this instruction by issuing his own power of attorney to Hirsch. According to Ernst Rudolf Huber, Hirsch became “Reichs- and Prussian State Commissioner” for a short time.

Cabinet formation and reshuffle

The MSPD and USPD formed a Revolutionary Cabinet on November 12th. There was no organizational or formal link between Reich and Prussia. The cabinet drew its legitimation from the confidence of the council organization , similar to the council of people's representatives. The dictatorship of the Revolutionary Cabinet was generally accepted. In contrast to the Reich level, the former ministers did not remain in office: The incumbent Vice President of the State Ministry, Friedberg, ended his activity and handed over the business to the new cabinet.

The Revolutionary Cabinet was composed equally: each department was headed by a majority Social Democrat and an Independent Social Democrat. There were also two prime ministers, Paul Hirsch (MSPD) and Heinrich Ströbel (USPD). In addition, another MSPD politician was assigned to the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of War were headed by specialist ministers; in the former one MSPD and one USPD man were assigned, in the latter one MSPD man was the undersecretary of state.

In the Reich, the coalition of the MSPD and USPD ended at the end of December. Parts of the USPD went over to striving for a council constitution for Germany and to initiate a corresponding further development of the revolution. In Prussia, the USPD politicians declared on January 2nd that they could no longer exercise their government offices. The occasion was the appointment of the new Minister of War, Walther Reinhardt . The MSPD members were also ready to resign, but were confirmed by the central council of the council organization. The USPD government posts have not been filled.

Activity of the Revolutionary Cabinet

Thanks to revolutionary law, the Revolutionary Cabinet saw itself legitimized to ignore the Prussian (monarchical) constitution. It confiscated the property of the royal family and abolished the privileges of the royal family and other nobles, eliminated the two chambers of the state parliament and reformed the school system. The cabinet reserved the right to repeal existing laws. It also initiated elections to a Prussian state assembly , corresponding to a national assembly at the Reich level. In addition, there was an ordinance of Interior Minister Paul Hirsch (SPD) dated January 25, 1919, according to which early elections were to be held in the city councils of the Free State of Prussia on March 3, which initiated a democratization of local politics.

The cabinet also protected the courts from interference by the council organization. It allowed the previous officials to continue their work; the major personnel changes did not take place until 1919/1920. When, for example, the Dortmund Workers 'and Soldiers' Council arrested some industrialists in December , the cabinet quickly ensured their release. As Ebert also confirmed, the aim was to avoid a regime of arbitrariness leading to legal uncertainty.

Prussian Cabinet - November 14, 1918 to March 25, 1919

Office	Surname	Political party
President	Paul Hirsch and Heinrich Ströbel until January 4, 1919	SPD USPD 0
Judiciary	Dr. Kurt Rosenfeld until January 4, 1919 and Dr. Wolfgang Heine from November 27, 1918	USPD SPD 0
Interior	Paul Hirsch and Dr. Rudolf Breitscheid November 16, 1918 to January 4, 1919	SPD USPD 0
Finances	Dr. Albert Südekum and Hugo Simon until January 4, 1919	SPD USPD 0
Agriculture	Dr. Otto Braun and Adolf Hofer until January 4, 1919	SPD USPD 0
science	Dr. Konrad Haenisch and Adolph Hoffmann until January 4, 1919	SPD USPD 0
trade	Otto Fischbeck	DDP
war	Heinrich Schëuch until January 2, 1919 Walther Reinhardt from January 3, 1919
Public work	Wilhelm Hoff	0
Police President of Berlin	Emil Eichhorn November 16, 1918 to January 3, 1919 Eugen Ernst from January 4, 1919	USPD SPD 0
Without business area	Eugen Ernst until January 3, 1919	SPD 0

See also

• November Revolution
• Free State of Prussia

supporting documents

1. ↑ Christoph Vondenhoff: Hegemony and balance in the federal state. Prussia 1867–1933: History of a hegemonic member state. Diss. Bonn 2000, Shaker Verlag, Aachen 2001, pp. 28–31.
2. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1978, pp. 1003/1004.
3. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1978, p. 1004.
4. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1978, pp. 1007/1008.
5. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1978, pp. 1008-1011.