Free People's State of Württemberg

Free People's State of Württemberg
*Freier Volksstaat Württemberg*
Free People's State of Württemberg Freier Volksstaat Württemberg
State of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany
1918–1945
	Flag Coat of arms (1922)
	; The Free People's State of Württemberg (red) within the Weimar Republic
Capital	Stuttgart
Area
• 1925	19,508 km2 (7,532 sq mi)
Population
• 1925	2,580,235
Government
• Type	Republic
President
• 1918–1920 (first)	Wilhelm Blos
• 1933–1945 (last)	Christian Mergenthaler
Reichsstatthalter
• 1933–1945	Wilhelm Murr
Historical era	Interwar period
• Established	9 November 1918
• Constitution enacted	29 September 1919
• Abolition (de facto)	7 April 1933
• Abolition (de jure)	1945
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Kingdom of Württemberg
Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Hohenzollern
Today part of	Germany

The Free People's State of Württemberg (German: Freier Volksstaat Württemberg) was a state which existed in the Weimar Republic and from 1933 in Nazi Germany.

History

Revolution in Württemberg

With the German revolution near the end of World War I, the Kingdom of Württemberg was transformed from a monarchy to a democratic republic without bloodshed; its borders and internal administration remained unchanged. King William II of Württemberg abdicated on 30 November 1918. Following the introduction of a new constitution (significantly amended later in the year) by an assembly elected in January,^[2] and the Weimar Constitution in 1919, Württemberg was re-established as a member state of the German Reich.^[3]

In comparison to the political turmoil that plagued Weimar Germany, political development in Württemberg was driven by continuity and stability. The attempt of some agitators to cause disturbances by a general strike was frustrated by the action of railway officials in paralysing communications with the capital, Stuttgart. The Bavarian Communist insurrection produced no effect in Württemberg; it was, on the contrary, suppressed with the aid of Württemberg troops before it could spread across the border.^[2]

1920–1952

The three legislative periods of the Württemberg parliament from 1920 to 1932 each ran the full prescribed length of four years, unlike at the federal level which saw seven elections and seventeen governments during the same period. The social democrats lost their influence in Württemberg early in the state's history, with conservative coalitions forming government from 1924 to 1933. Despite the many financial crises that affected Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, the economic development of Württemberg proceeded better than in many other German states and Stuttgart became a regional centre of finance and culture.

With the Nazi seizure of federal power in 1933 they embarked on a process Gleichschaltung (coordination), the elimination of all non-Nazi organisations. Württemberg, along with all other German states, had its Landtag abolished and its state sovereignty transferred to the Reich government by the "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich" of 30 January 1934. Though the state itself was not formally abolished, it was superseded in administrative importance by the Nazi Party Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern.

After World War II, Württemberg was split between the US and French Allied occupation zones in Germany and became parts of two new states: Württemberg-Baden in the northern American zone, and a smaller Württemberg-Hohenzollern in the southern French zone. In 1952, these two states were merged with South Baden (also in the French zone) to form the modern German state of Baden-Württemberg.

The former Free People's State coat of arms was used by the Porsche family as inspiration to create the logo of Porsche company.

Leaders

References

^ Beckmanns Welt-Lexikon und Welt-Atlas. Leipzig / Vienna: Verlagsanstalt Otto Beckmann. 1931.
^ ^a ^b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: von Blume, Wilhelm (1922). "Württemberg". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 32 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. pp. 1089–1090. This source gives a detailed description of the constitutional balance, and of the political makeup after the 1920 elections.
^ Article 1 of the Württemberg constitution (25 September 1919) states: "Württemberg is a democratic republic and member of the German Reich. Its state authority is exerted in accordance with both this constitution and German national law". Article 2 of the Weimar Constitution (11 August 1919) states: "The territory of the German Reich consists of the territory of its member states."

[1] Beckmanns Welt-Lexikon und Welt-Atlas. Leipzig / Vienna: Verlagsanstalt Otto Beckmann. 1931.

[EB1922-2] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: von Blume, Wilhelm (1922). "Württemberg". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 32 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. pp. 1089–1090. This source gives a detailed description of the constitutional balance, and of the political makeup after the 1920 elections.

[3] Article 1 of the Württemberg constitution (25 September 1919) states: "Württemberg is a democratic republic and member of the German Reich. Its state authority is exerted in accordance with both this constitution and German national law". Article 2 of the Weimar Constitution (11 August 1919) states: "The territory of the German Reich consists of the territory of its member states."

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