Cabinet of Gustav Bauer | |
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![]() 2nd Cabinet of Weimar Germany | |
21 June 1919 – 27 March 1920 | |
![]() Meeting of the cabinet in 1919 | |
Date formed | 21 June 1919 |
Date dissolved | 27 March 1920 (9 months and 6 days) |
People and organisations | |
President | Friedrich Ebert |
Chancellor | Gustav Bauer |
Vice-Chancellor | Matthias Erzberger (until 2 October 1919) Eugen Schiffer (from 2 October 1919) |
Member parties | Social Democratic Party Centre Party German Democratic Party |
Status in legislature | Weimar Coalition 331/423 (78%)
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Opposition parties | German National People's Party Independent Social Democratic Party German People's Party |
History | |
Election | 1919 federal election |
Legislature term | Weimar National Assembly |
Predecessor | Scheidemann cabinet |
Successor | First Müller cabinet |
The Bauer cabinet, headed by Gustav Bauer of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), was the second democratically elected government during the Weimar Republic. Bauer's title was minister president until the Weimar Constitution came into force on 14 August 1919, after which he became chancellor of Germany. The cabinet took office on 21 June 1919 when it replaced the Scheidemann cabinet, which had resigned the day before in protest against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Although the Weimar Constitution was not in force at the time, the Bauer cabinet is generally counted as the second government of the Weimar Republic.
The cabinet was initially based on a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. The German Democratic Party (DDP), which had been part of Scheidemann's cabinet, had refused to support signing the Treaty of Versailles and did not join the Bauer cabinet until 3 October 1919, at which point the original Weimar Coalition of centre-left parties was restored.
During its time in office, the Bauer cabinet worked with the Weimar National Assembly (the interim legislative body of the Republic) to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, adopt the Weimar Constitution and begin a fundamental reform of the German tax system. It also passed a number of social welfare laws covering unemployment relief and health insurance.
The Bauer cabinet resigned on 27 March 1920 as a result of its unsatisfactory handling of the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch. It was followed by the government of Hermann Müller of the SPD.