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Free State of Brunswick
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Free State of Brunswick
The Free State of Brunswick (German: Freistaat Braunschweig) was a German state during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). It was formed after the abolition of the Duchy of Brunswick in the early days of the German revolution of 1918–1919. Its capital was Braunschweig (Brunswick). The Free State was de facto abolished under the Nazis in 1933 and formally disestablished in November 1946, after the Second World War. Most of its territory became part of the new state of Lower Saxony, with two small areas going to Saxony-Anhalt.
Like most of Germany, Brunswick went through a period of unrest after the end of World War I. The last duke of Brunswick, Ernest Augustus, abdicated peacefully in November 1918, some violence continued into 1919 before the supporters of a republican state won out over members of the far left who wanted Brunswick to become a council republic. The Social Democrats were generally the strongest party in Brunswick's single-chamber parliament and provided the majority of its minister-presidents. The Nazi Party began gaining strength in 1930 and attained full control in 1933.
The Free State of Brunswick was the successor state of the Duchy of Brunswick, one of the 25 constituent states of the German Empire. The territory of the Duchy consisted of a number of non-contiguous areas, most of them surrounded by the Kingdom of Prussia's provinces of Hanover and Saxony. Its boundaries did not change when it became the Free State.
The representative body of the Duchy of Brunswick was a parliament of the estates (Ständeparlament) in which representatives were chosen under census suffrage, a system that gave different weights to votes according to the person's income or rank in society. In Brunswick, a defined number of members were elected from groups that included the highest-taxed citizens, Lutheran clergy, municipalities and rural communities. Under the Empire's more liberal voting rules, Brunswick elected a number of members of the Social Democratic Party to the imperial Reichstag beginning in 1890, but none were able to win a seat in Brunswick's parliament.
The last duke of Brunswick was Ernest Augustus of the House of Hanover, who ruled from 1 November 1913 to 8 November 1918. He was married to Emperor Wilhelm II's only daughter, Princess Victoria Luise of Prussia.
In the final days of World War I, the revolution of 1918 brought down the German Empire and all of Germany's royal houses, including that of the Duchy of Brunswick. The revolution began at the end of October 1918 with a sailors' mutiny at Kiel. The rebellious sailors set up a workers' and soldiers' council and in early November spread the revolt across the rest of Germany. Councils quickly took power from the existing military, royal and civil authorities with little resistance or bloodshed. In the face of the spreading revolution, Emperor Wilhelm II fled to Holland on 10 November.
Brunswick had become a center of left-wing activity before the outbreak of the revolution. In 1917, when the radical left wing of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) split away to form the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), the majority of party members in Brunswick went with it. On 2 November 1918, August Merges, a leader in the local branch of the USPD and an early member of the communist Spartacus League, organized a mass demonstration in the city. Five days later, and two days before the revolution reached Berlin, insurgents stormed the prison, occupied the railway station and police headquarters, and attacked Brunswick Palace. A quickly formed workers' and soldiers' council chose Merges as its leader. On 8 November, as a crowd of 20,000 protesters approached the palace, the council forced Duke Ernest Augustus to abdicate for himself and his descendants. He was the first of the German monarchs to abdicate; even Emperor Wilhelm II had not yet done so. Ernest Augustus went into exile in Gmunden, Austria.
The Duke's early abdication helped allow the revolution in the state of Brunswick to remain largely peaceful. On 10 November, the workers' and soldiers' council declared the Socialist Republic of Brunswick and formed a council of the people's deputies (Rat der Volksbeauftragten) to govern it. All nine of the council's members were from the USPD, and the majority were Spartacists. Merges was chosen president, with Sepp Oerter heading the ministries of the interior and of finance and Minna Fasshauer, who was one of the Spartacists, at the ministry of education. Fasshauer was the first woman to head a German state ministry.
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Free State of Brunswick
The Free State of Brunswick (German: Freistaat Braunschweig) was a German state during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). It was formed after the abolition of the Duchy of Brunswick in the early days of the German revolution of 1918–1919. Its capital was Braunschweig (Brunswick). The Free State was de facto abolished under the Nazis in 1933 and formally disestablished in November 1946, after the Second World War. Most of its territory became part of the new state of Lower Saxony, with two small areas going to Saxony-Anhalt.
Like most of Germany, Brunswick went through a period of unrest after the end of World War I. The last duke of Brunswick, Ernest Augustus, abdicated peacefully in November 1918, some violence continued into 1919 before the supporters of a republican state won out over members of the far left who wanted Brunswick to become a council republic. The Social Democrats were generally the strongest party in Brunswick's single-chamber parliament and provided the majority of its minister-presidents. The Nazi Party began gaining strength in 1930 and attained full control in 1933.
The Free State of Brunswick was the successor state of the Duchy of Brunswick, one of the 25 constituent states of the German Empire. The territory of the Duchy consisted of a number of non-contiguous areas, most of them surrounded by the Kingdom of Prussia's provinces of Hanover and Saxony. Its boundaries did not change when it became the Free State.
The representative body of the Duchy of Brunswick was a parliament of the estates (Ständeparlament) in which representatives were chosen under census suffrage, a system that gave different weights to votes according to the person's income or rank in society. In Brunswick, a defined number of members were elected from groups that included the highest-taxed citizens, Lutheran clergy, municipalities and rural communities. Under the Empire's more liberal voting rules, Brunswick elected a number of members of the Social Democratic Party to the imperial Reichstag beginning in 1890, but none were able to win a seat in Brunswick's parliament.
The last duke of Brunswick was Ernest Augustus of the House of Hanover, who ruled from 1 November 1913 to 8 November 1918. He was married to Emperor Wilhelm II's only daughter, Princess Victoria Luise of Prussia.
In the final days of World War I, the revolution of 1918 brought down the German Empire and all of Germany's royal houses, including that of the Duchy of Brunswick. The revolution began at the end of October 1918 with a sailors' mutiny at Kiel. The rebellious sailors set up a workers' and soldiers' council and in early November spread the revolt across the rest of Germany. Councils quickly took power from the existing military, royal and civil authorities with little resistance or bloodshed. In the face of the spreading revolution, Emperor Wilhelm II fled to Holland on 10 November.
Brunswick had become a center of left-wing activity before the outbreak of the revolution. In 1917, when the radical left wing of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) split away to form the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), the majority of party members in Brunswick went with it. On 2 November 1918, August Merges, a leader in the local branch of the USPD and an early member of the communist Spartacus League, organized a mass demonstration in the city. Five days later, and two days before the revolution reached Berlin, insurgents stormed the prison, occupied the railway station and police headquarters, and attacked Brunswick Palace. A quickly formed workers' and soldiers' council chose Merges as its leader. On 8 November, as a crowd of 20,000 protesters approached the palace, the council forced Duke Ernest Augustus to abdicate for himself and his descendants. He was the first of the German monarchs to abdicate; even Emperor Wilhelm II had not yet done so. Ernest Augustus went into exile in Gmunden, Austria.
The Duke's early abdication helped allow the revolution in the state of Brunswick to remain largely peaceful. On 10 November, the workers' and soldiers' council declared the Socialist Republic of Brunswick and formed a council of the people's deputies (Rat der Volksbeauftragten) to govern it. All nine of the council's members were from the USPD, and the majority were Spartacists. Merges was chosen president, with Sepp Oerter heading the ministries of the interior and of finance and Minna Fasshauer, who was one of the Spartacists, at the ministry of education. Fasshauer was the first woman to head a German state ministry.
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