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Second Luther cabinet
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Second Luther cabinet
The second Luther cabinet, headed by the independent Hans Luther, was the 13th democratically elected government of the Weimar Republic. On 20 January 1926 it replaced the first Luther cabinet, which had resigned on 5 December 1925 following the withdrawal of the German National People's Party (DNVP) from the coalition in protest against the government's support of the Locarno Treaties. Luther had wanted to build a more stable majority coalition but had to settle for a second minority government with the same parties as his first cabinet but without the DNVP.
The short-lived cabinet attempted to deal with a growing economic crisis and rapidly rising unemployment by implementing measures to stimulate the economy. It faced strongly conflicting viewpoints when a referendum to expropriate the dynastic properties of the former German Empire's ruling houses was initiated. The cabinet fell after it backed a decree that allowed a trade flag with the Empire's colours to fly in certain mostly overseas locations. The Reichstag passed a motion of censure against Luther that led to the cabinet's resignation on 12 May 1926.
Luther refused to remain in office, but the rest of the cabinet stayed on as a caretaker government under the leadership of Otto Gessler until 17 May, when Wilhelm Marx of the Centre Party formed a new government. It was virtually unchanged from the second Luther cabinet except for the departure of Luther.
Talks over the formation of a new government began soon after the German National People's Party (DNVP) left the governing coalition in late October 1925 in protest against the Locarno Treaties – territorial settlements of post-World War I borders – which the Luther government had negotiated. On 5 November, representatives of the Centre Party, German Democratic Party (DDP) and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) met and discussed a grand coalition that would stretch from the German People's Party (DVP) on the right to SPD on the left. Nothing came of the talks because the SPD insisted on calling new Reichstag elections, and neither the SPD nor DVP was willing to commit itself fully to such a coalition. On 7 December, two days after Luther resigned as chancellor, President Paul von Hindenburg intervened, calling on the parties to speedily agree on a new government and hinting that, given the economic difficulties of the winter, he would welcome a grand coalition. The Centre Party, DDP and DVP agreed, but the SPD presented a list of social and economic policy demands as a precondition. After it was discussed by the President with the other parties, Erich Koch-Weser (DDP) was asked on 14 December to form a cabinet based on a grand coalition. Koch-Weser gave up after three days, telling Hindenburg that despite a large degree of flexibility on the part of the DVP, the SPD was not willing to compromise. Another attempt by Hindenburg in early January also failed due to the differences between the SPD and DVP on social policies.
Hindenburg then asked acting Chancellor Hans Luther, an independent, to try to form a new cabinet based on the parties of the political centre. Luther, although seeming disinterested according to Koch-Weser, won approval from the DDP, Centre Party and Bavarian People's Party (BVP) in talks that took place over the next six days. Disagreements then emerged on the distribution of the cabinet posts. The BVP refused to accept Koch-Weser as minister of the Interior, arguing he was too much in favour of a unitary rather than a federal state. On 19 January, Hindenburg called on the party leaders to put the interests of the fatherland above their doubts and send him a list of ministers. Luther was able to do so after the DDP agreed to Koch-Weser remaining out of the cabinet and to being represented instead by Wilhelm Külz (Interior) and Peter Reinhold (Finance). Gustav Stresemann (DVP, Foreign Affairs), Heinrich Brauns (Centre, Labour), Otto Gessler (Reichswehr, DDP), Karl Stingl (BVP, Postal Affairs) and Rudolf Krohne (DVP, Transport) all kept their portfolios. The other new ministers were Wilhelm Marx, chairman of the Centre Party at Justice, DVP Reichstag member Julius Curtius (DVP, Economic Affairs) and Heinrich Haslinde (Centre, Food and Agriculture).
The members of the cabinet were as follows:
In the winter of 1925/6, the economic situation deteriorated markedly. Consumption declined as did the utilisation of industrial capacity. Unemployment shot up from 673,000 in early December to 2 million by the start of February. One of the first acts of the new cabinet after the Reichstag had narrowly expressed its confidence in it was to try to stimulate the economy. Its attempts were not very durable as other issues soon took up an increasing share of the cabinet's attention, including the expropriation issue, the flag question and a debate over legal sanctions against duelling.
Luther and Finance Minister Peter Reinhold agreed that tax cuts and other measures to stimulate the economy, such as allowing money from the unemployment fund to be used, were urgently needed. Reinhold suggested a reduction of the value-added tax as well as of the merger tax and the stock exchange tax. He argued that the measures were only possible if the Reichstag was prevented from voting extra expenditures without ensuring offsetting revenues. A change in budget law to make that possible was not able to win approval, and the coalition parties agreed only that decisions having a considerable fiscal impact were to be discussed between the parties and with the cabinet before being proposed.
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Second Luther cabinet
The second Luther cabinet, headed by the independent Hans Luther, was the 13th democratically elected government of the Weimar Republic. On 20 January 1926 it replaced the first Luther cabinet, which had resigned on 5 December 1925 following the withdrawal of the German National People's Party (DNVP) from the coalition in protest against the government's support of the Locarno Treaties. Luther had wanted to build a more stable majority coalition but had to settle for a second minority government with the same parties as his first cabinet but without the DNVP.
The short-lived cabinet attempted to deal with a growing economic crisis and rapidly rising unemployment by implementing measures to stimulate the economy. It faced strongly conflicting viewpoints when a referendum to expropriate the dynastic properties of the former German Empire's ruling houses was initiated. The cabinet fell after it backed a decree that allowed a trade flag with the Empire's colours to fly in certain mostly overseas locations. The Reichstag passed a motion of censure against Luther that led to the cabinet's resignation on 12 May 1926.
Luther refused to remain in office, but the rest of the cabinet stayed on as a caretaker government under the leadership of Otto Gessler until 17 May, when Wilhelm Marx of the Centre Party formed a new government. It was virtually unchanged from the second Luther cabinet except for the departure of Luther.
Talks over the formation of a new government began soon after the German National People's Party (DNVP) left the governing coalition in late October 1925 in protest against the Locarno Treaties – territorial settlements of post-World War I borders – which the Luther government had negotiated. On 5 November, representatives of the Centre Party, German Democratic Party (DDP) and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) met and discussed a grand coalition that would stretch from the German People's Party (DVP) on the right to SPD on the left. Nothing came of the talks because the SPD insisted on calling new Reichstag elections, and neither the SPD nor DVP was willing to commit itself fully to such a coalition. On 7 December, two days after Luther resigned as chancellor, President Paul von Hindenburg intervened, calling on the parties to speedily agree on a new government and hinting that, given the economic difficulties of the winter, he would welcome a grand coalition. The Centre Party, DDP and DVP agreed, but the SPD presented a list of social and economic policy demands as a precondition. After it was discussed by the President with the other parties, Erich Koch-Weser (DDP) was asked on 14 December to form a cabinet based on a grand coalition. Koch-Weser gave up after three days, telling Hindenburg that despite a large degree of flexibility on the part of the DVP, the SPD was not willing to compromise. Another attempt by Hindenburg in early January also failed due to the differences between the SPD and DVP on social policies.
Hindenburg then asked acting Chancellor Hans Luther, an independent, to try to form a new cabinet based on the parties of the political centre. Luther, although seeming disinterested according to Koch-Weser, won approval from the DDP, Centre Party and Bavarian People's Party (BVP) in talks that took place over the next six days. Disagreements then emerged on the distribution of the cabinet posts. The BVP refused to accept Koch-Weser as minister of the Interior, arguing he was too much in favour of a unitary rather than a federal state. On 19 January, Hindenburg called on the party leaders to put the interests of the fatherland above their doubts and send him a list of ministers. Luther was able to do so after the DDP agreed to Koch-Weser remaining out of the cabinet and to being represented instead by Wilhelm Külz (Interior) and Peter Reinhold (Finance). Gustav Stresemann (DVP, Foreign Affairs), Heinrich Brauns (Centre, Labour), Otto Gessler (Reichswehr, DDP), Karl Stingl (BVP, Postal Affairs) and Rudolf Krohne (DVP, Transport) all kept their portfolios. The other new ministers were Wilhelm Marx, chairman of the Centre Party at Justice, DVP Reichstag member Julius Curtius (DVP, Economic Affairs) and Heinrich Haslinde (Centre, Food and Agriculture).
The members of the cabinet were as follows:
In the winter of 1925/6, the economic situation deteriorated markedly. Consumption declined as did the utilisation of industrial capacity. Unemployment shot up from 673,000 in early December to 2 million by the start of February. One of the first acts of the new cabinet after the Reichstag had narrowly expressed its confidence in it was to try to stimulate the economy. Its attempts were not very durable as other issues soon took up an increasing share of the cabinet's attention, including the expropriation issue, the flag question and a debate over legal sanctions against duelling.
Luther and Finance Minister Peter Reinhold agreed that tax cuts and other measures to stimulate the economy, such as allowing money from the unemployment fund to be used, were urgently needed. Reinhold suggested a reduction of the value-added tax as well as of the merger tax and the stock exchange tax. He argued that the measures were only possible if the Reichstag was prevented from voting extra expenditures without ensuring offsetting revenues. A change in budget law to make that possible was not able to win approval, and the coalition parties agreed only that decisions having a considerable fiscal impact were to be discussed between the parties and with the cabinet before being proposed.
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