Free State of Prussia

• 1. Revolutionary Origins 1918-1920

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  On Saturday, the 9th of November 1918, sailors of the High Seas Fleet mutinied at Kiel and sparked a revolution that would sweep across Germany. Workers and soldiers established councils and occupied important buildings such as the police headquarters in Berlin. Max von Baden, the last chancellor of the German Empire, prematurely announced the abdication of Wilhelm II as Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia at midday. He then handed the chancellorship to Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the Majority Social Democratic Party (MSPD). In the afternoon, Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed a republic from the Reichstag building. On the following day, Ebert formed a provisional government called the Council of the People's Deputies. It was made up of three representatives each from the MSPD and the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD). Paul Hirsch, the MSPD's party leader in the Prussian House of Representatives, was charged with maintaining peace and order in Prussia. Bill Drews, the last minister of the interior of the Kingdom of Prussia, legitimized the transfer of de facto governmental power to Hirsch. On the 12th of November 1918, representatives from the Workers' and Soldiers' Councils declared the previous government of Prussia deposed. They issued instructions that all departments of the state continue their work as usual. A manifesto titled "To the Prussian People" stated that their goal was to transform the old, fundamentally reactionary Prussia into a fully democratic component of the unified People's Republic. The new socialist government opposed any changes in the state's composition despite separatist tendencies emerging in the Rhineland and Hanover. Hugo Preuss, author of the draft version of the Weimar Constitution, originally envisaged breaking Prussia into smaller states. Otto Landsberg commented that if Germany is to live, Prussia in its present form must die. Most members of the Council of the People's Deputies saw this as the first step toward the secession of the Rhineland from Germany. In December 1919, the State Assembly passed a resolution stating that Prussia views its first duty to be an attempt to see whether the creation of a unified German nation can now be achieved.

• 2. Territorial Losses And Borders

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  Most of the German territorial losses required by the Treaty of Versailles affected Prussia directly. Eupen-Malmedy went to Belgium, while Danzig became a free city under the administration of the League of Nations. Large areas of the provinces of Posen and West Prussia became part of the new state of Poland, leaving East Prussia separated from the rest of Germany by the Polish Corridor. In northern Schleswig, 74% of the vote on the 10th of February 1920 was in favor of annexation to Denmark. Eastern Upper Silesia went to Poland even though 59.6% of voters chose to remain part of Germany in the 1921 plebiscite. The former Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France without a vote. Under the Ministry of Justice alone, 3,500 civil servants and employees were affected by these changes. The loss of territory had considerable negative economic and financial consequences for the Prussian state. Population movements within Prussia slowed significantly after 1918 compared to the period before 1914. More people were moving into Prussia from foreign countries than were emigrating. In 1925, East Prussia had an average of 60.9 inhabitants per square kilometer, while the Rhine Province had 295.6. Because of the extent of its low population rural regions, Prussia had a density of 130.7 per square kilometer, which was below average among the German states. The Free State of Saxony had 333 inhabitants per km2 as a point of contrast. Urbanization lost momentum compared to the pre-1914 period. Population increases in larger cities were caused not so much by in-migration as by incorporation. This was the case with the formation of Greater Berlin in 1920 when 8 cities, 59 rural communities and 27 estate districts were incorporated.

• 3. The Braun-Severing System

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  Otto Braun replaced Paul Hirsch as Minister President following the Kapp Putsch in March 1920. Carl Severing became the new Minister of the Interior. Both were much more assertive than their predecessors in office. Hirsch and Finance Minister Südekum were politically discredited because they had negotiated with the putschists. The "Braun-Severing system" became synonymous with democratic Prussia. Otto Braun made purposeful use of his authority to make policy under the constitution. The position of parliament (the Landtag) under the constitution was strong. A distinctive feature was the minister president's position, which was elevated by his authority to make policy. The constitution also provided for elements of plebiscitary democracy in the form of referendums and petitions. The legislative period of the Landtag was four years. It could be dissolved by majority vote or referendum. The Landtag acted as the legislature, elected the minister president, had the right to establish committees of inquiry, and could amend the constitution by a majority of two-thirds of the deputies. With a two-thirds majority, it could impeach ministers before the state court. The Ministry of State consisted of the minister president and the ministers of state. Although it was organized collegially, the minister president had policy-making authority. He was elected by the Landtag. After an amendment to the rules of procedure, an absolute majority was required from 1932 onward. The minister president appointed the other ministers. The constitution did not specify the ministries; they came about from practical requirements.

• 4. Administrative Democratization

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  After Carl Severing was named Prussian minister of the Interior following the March 1920 Kapp Putsch, he carried out a series of fundamental reforms. Senior civil servants hostile to the Republic were dismissed, and the political reliability of new hires was checked. A total of about one hundred senior civil servants were placed on retirement. Among them were three governors, three district presidents and 88 district administrators. Almost all were from the eastern provinces. In addition to supporters of the conservative parties, those let go included the Social Democratic governors August Winnig and Felix Philipp. Severing and his successors purposely appointed supporters of the coalition parties as political officials. The policy led to a considerable change in the heads of departments. In 1929, 291 of 540 political officials were members of Weimar Coalition parties. This included nine of 11 governors and 21 of 32 district presidents. The shift also changed the social composition among top officials. While in 1918 eleven governors were aristocrats, there were only two in the period between 1920 and 1932. Massive restructuring began in the police force after the Kapp Putsch to ensure its loyalty to the Republic. Under Severing's leadership, the republican-minded police chief Wilhelm Abegg became the decisive figure in carrying out the reform. By the end of the 1920s, all leading police officers were republicans. Of thirty police chiefs in 1928, fifteen were members of the SPD, five belonged to the Centre, four to the DDP, and three to the DVP.

• 5. Economic Structure And Society

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  Industry and the skilled trades dominated Prussia's economy in 1925, accounting for 41.3% of all workers. Agriculture played only a secondary role at 22%, with trade and transport trailing slightly at 17.5%. There were strong geographic differences in Prussia's economic structure as well. In East Prussia agriculture employed 45.4% of the workforce, while industry and skilled crafts accounted for only 19.6%. By contrast, agriculture was of very little importance in the Rhineland and Westphalia, each with about 13%. The commercial sector was correspondingly strong, at over 56% in Westphalia. Commercial employment in Berlin at 46% was high, but the city's metropolitan character was reflected above all in the share of the trade and transport sector, which was over 28%. Overall there were still considerable economic differences after 1918 between the eastern part of the Free State which tended to be agrarian and the industrial west. In 1925 almost half the population was employed. Of these, 46.8% were blue collar workers, 17.1% were salaried employees and civil servants, 16.2% were self-employed, 15.4% were contributing family members, and 4.5% were domestic workers. The unemployment rate in 1925 was 6%. The proportions varied depending on the predominant economic sector in the individual provinces. In more rural East Prussia, the number of contributing family members was significantly higher at 22.3% than in industrial Westphalia, where it was 12.8%. Conversely, the proportion of blue-collar workers in East Prussia was 42.6%, while in Westphalia it was 54.1%.

• 6. Crisis And Political Polarization

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  In December 1928, following political clashes between Communists, National Socialists and Social Democrats in Berlin, the city's police chief Karl Zörgiebel issued a ban on all open-air demonstrations and gatherings. The ban applied to the 1st of May 1929, International Workers' Day. Fighting broke out between the police and KPD supporters. The fighting came to be known as "Blood May" and cost 33 lives. Nearly 200 people were hurt and more than 1,200 arrests were made. The Prussian government pressed for a ban of the Communist Party (KPD) and all its subsidiary organizations. Carl Severing rejected the idea as unwise and impracticable. Ernst Thälmann, leader of the KPD, called the "social fascism" of the SPD a particularly dangerous form of fascism. He urged the KPD to direct its policies against the SPD as the main enemy. In 1930, when the Young Plan on German reparations came into force, German President Paul von Hindenburg forced the ban on the Stahlhelm paramilitary group to be lifted. On the 4th of October 1930, Stahlhelm leader Franz Seldte announced a plan to call a referendum for the premature dissolution of the Prussian Landtag. The Stahlhelm's move was supported by the DVP, DNVP and NSDAP. 5.96 million Prussians signed the initiative to put the referendum on the ballot. Under pressure from Joseph Stalin and the Comintern, the KPD also supported the referendum. The referendum on the 9th of August 1931 failed due to low voter turnout. The tally showed 9.8 million votes in favor, which was 93.9% of those who had voted but only 37.1% of eligible voters.

• 7. The Prussian Coup d'État 1932

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  On the 20th of July 1932, German Chancellor Franz von Papen led a federal intervention that stripped Prussia of its autonomy and independence. This event became known as the Prussian coup d'état. Von Papen replaced Prussia's legal government with himself as Reich Commissioner. He appointed Hermann Göring as Minister President of Prussia. The Ministry of Welfare in its old form was dissolved at the same time. At the same time, the minister of Trade also became the minister of Economics and Labor. The Ministry of Justice was dissolved in 1935 under the law transferring the administration of justice to the central government. After the Nazi Party seized power in 1933, a Prussian government under Hermann Göring continued to function formally until 1945. The National Socialists saw Prussia as an important strategic target in taking over power in Germany. Joseph Goebbels wrote in 1930 that the key to power in Germany lies in Prussia. Whoever has Prussia also has the Reich. Brüning temporarily blocked cooperation with Prussia in its fight against the NSDAP. In December 1931 the Brüning government prevented the execution of an arrest warrant against Adolf Hitler issued by Berlin police chief Grzesinski.

• 8. Abolition And Legacy 1947

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  After the end of the Second World War, Prussia was legally abolished on the 25th of February 1947 by decree of the Allied Control Council. This marked the final dissolution of the Free State of Prussia which had existed from 1918 to 1947. The legal abolition ended the status of Prussia as one of the constituent states of the Weimar Republic and later the German state. The history of Prussia transformed from an authoritarian monarchy into a parliamentary democracy before its destruction. Even though most of Germany's post-war territorial losses came from its territory, Prussia continued to be the dominant state during the Weimar period. It was home to the federal capital Berlin and had roughly three-fifths of Germany's territory and population. During the Weimar period it was governed almost entirely by pro-democratic parties and was more politically stable than the Republic itself. With only brief interruptions, the Social Democratic Party provided the minister president. Its ministers of the Interior pushed republican reform of the administration and police. As a result, Prussia was considered a bulwark of democracy within the Weimar Republic until its formal end in 1947.