Second Wirth cabinet
The Second Wirth cabinet (German: Zweites Kabinett Wirth) was the sixth democratically elected Reichsregierung of the German Reich, during the period in which it is now usually referred to as the Weimar Republic. The cabinet was named after Reichskanzler (chancellor) Joseph Wirth and took office on 26 October 1921 when it replaced the First Wirth cabinet.
Second Cabinet of Joseph Wirth Cabinet Wirth II | |
|---|---|
6th Cabinet of Weimar Germany | |
| 26 October 1921 – 14 November 1922 (until 22 November 1922 as caretaker government) | |
Chancellor Joseph Wirth | |
| Date formed | 26 October 1921 |
| Date dissolved | 22 November 1922 (1 year, 2 weeks and 5 days) |
| People and organisations | |
| President | Friedrich Ebert |
| Chancellor | Joseph Wirth |
| Vice Chancellor | Gustav Bauer |
| Member parties | Social Democratic Party Centre Party German Democratic Party Bavarian Peasants' League |
| Status in legislature | Minority Weimar Coalition[a] 210 / 459 (46%) Majority Weimar Coalition[b]354 / 459 (77%) |
| Opposition parties | Independent Social Democratic Party[c] German National People's Party German People's Party Bavarian People's Party German-Hanoverian Party Communist Party Christian People's Party |
| History | |
| Election(s) | 1920 federal election |
| Legislature term(s) | 1st Reichstag |
| Predecessor | Wirth I |
| Successor | Cuno |
The cabinet was based on a coalition of Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Catholic Zentrum. The DDP supported it and its Reichswehrminister Otto Gessler remained in office, to be later joined by industrialist Walther Rathenau.
The Second Wirth cabinet resigned on 14 November 1922 and was replaced on 22 November by the Cuno cabinet.
Establishment Edit
Wirth's first government resigned on 22 October 1921 in protest over the partitioning of Upper Silesia decided on by the League of Nations which gave rise to what became known as the Genfer Ultimatum (the "Geneva Ultimatum"). President Friedrich Ebert asked Wirth to form a new cabinet on 25 October. Ebert noted that attempts to form a "grand coalition", i.e. including the DDP and/or the German People's Party (DVP) on 23 to 25 October seemed to have failed. Both of these parties had refused to support acceptance of the Geneva ultimatum and to join any coalition that agreed to it. SPD and Zentrum now decided to form a government, but on 26 October, Wirth gave a government statement in which he presented his new cabinet as a combination of individuals, not as members of a coalition. Wiederaufbau was left vacant. Wirth was in charge of the Foreign Office and Andreas Hermes became acting Finance Minister. This left positions to divide in case of a later increase in the size of the coalition. Otto Gessler remained in office as an individual, not a representative of his party.[1]
Hopes to add the DVP to the government were disappointed, however, after Wirth incensed them by appointing Rathenau as Foreign Minister at the end of January. With Hermes becoming Finance Minister and Fehr replacing him at Ernährung in March 1922, there was just Wiederaufbau left as a potential prize for an additional party.[1]
Composition Edit
The members of the cabinet were as follows:[2]
| Portfolio | Minister | Took office | Left office | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chancellor of the German Reich | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | Centre | ||
| Vice-Chancellor of the German Reich & Minister of the Treasury | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | SPD | ||
| Minister of Finance | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | Centre | ||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Joseph Wirth (acting) | 26 October 1921 | 1 February 1922 | Centre | |
| 1 February 1922 | 24 June 1922 | DDP | |||
Joseph Wirth (acting) | 24 June 1922 | 22 November 1922 | Centre | ||
| Minister of the Interior | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | DDP | ||
| Minister of Economic Affairs | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | SPD | ||
| Minister of Food and Agriculture | 26 October 1921 | 10 March 1922 | Centre | ||
Anton Fehr | 21 March 1922 | 22 November 1922 | BB | ||
| Minister of Labour | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | Centre | ||
| Minister of Justice | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | SPD | ||
| Minister of Defence | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | DDP | ||
| Minister of Postal affairs | Johannes Giesberts | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | Centre | |
| Minister of Transport | 26 October 1921 | 22 November 1922 | Independent | ||
| Minister of Reconstruction | Vacant | – | – | ||
Notes: in addition to his role as Ernährungsminister Hermes was acting Minister of Finance until officially appointed to Finance in early March 1922. He then gave up the former position on either 10 or 31 March, when he was succeeded by Fehr. The post of Foreign Minister was held by Wirth until 1 February 1922 when Rathenau took over at the Auswärtiges Amt (AA). Rathenau was assassinated in office on 24 June and Wirth once again resumed the duties at the AA. The position of Reichsminister für Wiederaufbau was left vacant throughout the cabinet's tenure.[3]
Resignation Edit
On 24 September 1922, the "Majority" SPD and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USDP) merged, thus boosting the SPD's number of seats in the Reichstag. Nevertheless, in October the "bourgeois" parties joined together to outvote the strongest party, the SPD, on the issue of the Getreideumlage (agricultural policy). On 14 November 1922, Vice-Chancellor Bauer announced that the SPD refused to agree to include the DVP in the coalition as desired by Zentrum and DDP. As a result, the cabinet resigned but continued to conduct buissness until it was replaced on 22 November 1922 by the Cuno cabinet, a Kabinett der Persönlichkeiten ("cabinet of personages").[1]