The Weimar Republic was announced following the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in November 1918. The removal of the Emperor left an apparent power vacuum, with no Head of State the political structure of the\u00a0Second Reich<\/a>\u00a0was obsolete, and an alternative form of government would have to be established. In fact the move towards a different form of Government had begun prior to the Kaisers abdication. As it became apparent to the German High Command that the war was lost moves were made to not only sue for peace but to amend the way in which the decision making process was conducted in Germany.<\/p>\n In October of 1918 a significant change in the\u00a0constitution<\/a>\u00a0was instigated. The Chancellor and his ministers were no longer accountable directly to the Kaiser. Removed from the construction was the right of the Kaiser to install and remove his chief minister as he saw fit. From this point onwards the Chancellor was accountable to the Reichstag. Thus the first moves towards a\u00a0democratic state<\/a>\u00a0were made prior to the abdication of Wilhelm II. This is significant in that this illustrates that there was recognition of the need to change. What is open to debate is where the pressure for this change came from (by\u00a0fuller<\/a>). Historians are split as to whether the impetus for change came from the High Command and the Kaiser himself, or whether pressure from leading members of the Reichstag led to the change in the construction whichever interpretation is more valid, it meant that upon the Kaiser’s abdication, there was still a form of government in which authority, no matter how much weakened, was held. This meant that to an extent the power vacuum left by the abdication was filled, if left in an extremely precarious position.<\/p>\n Unification of Germany<\/a> – Political systems within the Second Reich<\/a> – German Society during the Second Reich<\/a> – Collapse of the Second Reich<\/a><\/p>\n Interim Government<\/a> –\u00a0Founding of the Weimar Republic<\/a> –\u00a0Impact of the First World War on Germany<\/a> –\u00a0The Treaty of Versailles and its impact on Germany<\/a> –\u00a0Weimar Constitution<\/a>1919-1923: Years of Crisis?<\/a> –\u00a0Spartacist Uprising<\/a> –\u00a0Kapp Putsch<\/a> – Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold<\/a> – Reparations<\/a> –\u00a0Hyperinflation in Germany, 1923<\/a> –\u00a01924-1928: A Golden Era?<\/a> – 1925 Presidential Election<\/a> – Gustav Stresemann<\/a> –\u00a0German Foreign Relations 1919-1932<\/a> –\u00a0Germany in the Great Depression<\/a> \u00a0–\u00a0Failings of the Weimar Republic<\/a> – Dada Movement<\/a><\/p>\n The Munich Putsch<\/a> –\u00a0Did the Economic Crisis of 1923 help the Nazi’s?<\/a> –\u00a0Origins of the Nazi Party<\/a> –\u00a0Rise of the Nazi Party<\/a><\/p>\n Totalitarian Regime in Nazi Germany<\/a> –\u00a0How did Hitler consolidate power?<\/a> –\u00a0Mein Kampf<\/a> –\u00a0Nazi methods of control<\/a> –\u00a0Opposition to the Nazi Regime<\/a> –\u00a0Organisation of the Nazi Party<\/a> –\u00a0Fuhrerprinzip<\/a> –\u00a0Kristallnacht<\/a> –\u00a0Youth and Education<\/a> –\u00a0Goering and the 2nd 4 Year Plan<\/a> –\u00a0Anti-Jewish Boycott, 1933<\/a> –\u00a0Nazi Anti-Semitism<\/a> –\u00a0DAF (The German Labour Front)<\/a> –\u00a0Propaganda in Germany 1919-39<\/a> –\u00a0Economic Policy of the Nazi Party<\/a> – Kreisau Circle<\/a> – The Confessing Church<\/a> – Catholic Church<\/a> – Edelweiss Pirates<\/a><\/p>\n Ludwig Beck<\/a> – Dietrich Bonhoeffer<\/a> – Bishop Clemens von Galen<\/a> – Carl Goerdeler<\/a> – Robert Ley<\/a> – Helmuth von Moltke<\/a> – Martin Niemoller<\/a> – Erwin Rommel<\/a>\u00a0– Hjalmar Schacht<\/a> – Sophie Scholl<\/a> – Albert Speer<\/a> – Claus von Stauffenberg<\/a> –\u00a0Fritz Todt<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Collapse of the Second Reich The Weimar Republic was announced following the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in November 1918. The removal of the Emperor left an apparent power vacuum, with no Head of State the political structure of the\u00a0Second Reich\u00a0was obsolete, and an alternative form of government would have to be established. In fact… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":13,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1933","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tGermany 1919 – 1945 Links<\/h2>\n
The Second Reich<\/h3>\n
Weimar Republic<\/h3>\n
Rise of the Nazi Party<\/h3>\n
Nazi Germany<\/h3>\n
Biographies<\/h3>\n