German Reich
Deutsches Reich (English: German Reich) is the official title of the German state from 18 January 1871 to 23 May 1945 when the last Reichspräsident, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, was arrested in violation of international law by the British. In the subsequent transitional period of occupied Germany until 1949, the term had largely fallen into disuse. In the initially controversial question of whether the German Reich had continued to exist after 1945, from the end of the 1940s and finally with the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court of 31 July 1973, the theory that the German Reich had survived the collapse of 1945 prevailed. The Federal Republic was not its "legal successor", but rather identical as a state with the state "German Reich"; in terms of spatial extent, the old Federal Republic of Germany of the west was "partially identical" (partially congruent) until 1990. From the formula of spatial partial identity followed: "The GDR belongs to Germany", but not to the Federal Republic.
History
In 1848, during the March Revolution, a "German Reich" was created as a German federal state. Its Reich government, and thus the provisional constitution, was recognized by the Bundestag of the German Confederation against the resistance of the German monarchs, especially those in Prussia and Austria.. In the spring of 1849, however, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV crushed the revolution, and the drafted constitution failed to prevail. As a nation-state, the Reich united all Germans, with the exception of German-Austrians, Luxembourgers, and Liechtensteiners, who were still members of the HRE and the German Confederation. Austria had expressly agreed to the expansion of the North German Confederation beyond the Main line on 25 December 1870, thereby recognizing the Reich under international law. In general, three historical epochs are included in the German Reich:
- German Reich (1871–1918)
- On 10 December 1870, the Reichstag of the North German Confederation renamed the Confederation as the "Deutsches Reich" and gave the title of "German Emperor" to WilhelmI, the King of Prussia, although only officially acclaimed on 18 January 1871. The unofficial designation "German Empire" (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich) is the subsequent designation of the German Empire for this era. This empire is also referred to as the "Second German Reich". The "First Reich" (German: Erstes Reich) refers to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
- German Reich (1919–1933)
- After WWI and the November Putsch, the so-called Weimar Republic was formed. However, this name is unofficial; officially, the state structure was also called "German Reich" from 1919 to 1933. It was ruled by a Reichspräsident as head of state and a Reichskanzler as the head of the government. The flag was black, red, and gold.
- On 9 November 1918, the last Imperial Chancellor, Max von Baden, handed over the chancellorship to SPD chairman Friedrich Ebert. This was unconstitutional, but Ebert was seen as a guarantor of peaceful development until the state was reorganized. On 10 November 1918, a revolutionary government called the Council of People's Representatives took office, with Ebert and the USPD politician Hugo Haase as chairman. The Law on Provisional Reich Power, enacted on 10 February 1919, regulated the most important future constitutional bodies and described their responsibilities during the transition period from the German Empire to the Weimar Republic. The Weimar Constitution, promulgated on 14 August 1919 replaced the Law on Provisional Reich Power. With it, the German Reich became a federal republic with a mixed presidential and parliamentary system of government. According to the Weimar Constitution, the German Reich's state organs were the Reichstag, the Reich President, the Reich Government, the Reich Council, and the State Court. The office of the Reich President was vested with far-reaching powers.
- After WWI and the November Putsch, the so-called Weimar Republic was formed. However, this name is unofficial; officially, the state structure was also called "German Reich" from 1919 to 1933. It was ruled by a Reichspräsident as head of state and a Reichskanzler as the head of the government. The flag was black, red, and gold.
- German Reich (1933–1945)
- National Socialist Germany was also officially called "German Reich" from 1933 to 1945. In the summer of 1943, the state name "Greater German Reich" was added to the German Reich as its official self-designation. These 12 years are sometimes referred to as the "Third Reich" (sometimes derogatorily). The Weimar Constitution formally remained in force even after the "Machtergreifung" on 30 January 1933. However, it was soon largely repealed by laws and decrees, initially by the Reich President's Decree for the Protection of People and State of 28 February 1933. The process of National Socialist reorganization was concluded by the Law on the Head of State of the German Reich, issued by Hitler's Reich government on 1 August 1934 and implemented the following day. Section 1 of the Law combined "the office of the Reich President [...] with that of the Reich Chancellor" and stated that with the death of Paul von Hindenburg, all "previous powers of the Reich President had passed to the Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler." The German Reich was succeeded by Allied-occupied Germany, from this area developed West Germany, East Germany and to date still occupied Eastern Germany. With the assumption of supreme governmental power in Germany by the Allied Control Council on 5 June 1945, the Weimar Constitution remained formally in force but was still inoperative.
