1919
Civil Rights
Hugo Preuss
A President can invoke article 48 to suspend civil rights & assume dictatorial power
Weimar Republic · static historical guide
Article 48 and presidential government
Article 48 allowed the Reich President to issue emergency measures under specified conditions. These archive records show how emergency decrees and presidential cabinets became increasingly central after 1930 as parliamentary government weakened.
19 crawlable archive records1919
1919
Constitution of Germany
Hugo Preuss
The state will consist of the Reichstag, elected Parliament & Reichsrat. Germany is to be headed by a popularly elected President. Drafts the new German Constitution. A President can invoke article 48 to suspend civil rights & assume dictatorial power
1922
1 February 1922
Railway Strike Ban
Friedrich Ebert
Uses Article 48 powers to prohibit a planned strike by the national union representing railway civil servants and trainees.
26 June 1922
Republic Protection Decree
Friedrich Ebert
Issues emergency measures under Article 48 against anti-republican organizations, propaganda and political violence following Rathenau's assassination.
1930
29 March 1930
Chancellor
Heinrich Brüning
Hindenburg appoints Heinrich Brüning Chancellor after the collapse of Hermann Müller's coalition. Brüning's cabinet lacks a parliamentary majority and increasingly relies on presidential emergency decrees under Article 48.
14 September 1930
Election
Heinrich Brüning
After the election Brüning attempts to reform the devastated state without a majority in Parliament, governing with the help of the Presidents emergency decrees
14 September 1930
Weimar Republic
Heinrich Brüning
After the election Brüning attempts to reform the devastated state without a majority in Parliament, governing with the help of the Presidents emergency decrees
1930
Article 48
Heinrich Brüning
After an unpopular bill to reform the Reichs finances is left unsupported by the Reichstag, Hindenburg establishes the bill as an emergency decree based on Article 48 of the constitution
1930
Budget
Heinrich Brüning
Passes the Finance Bill by Presidential decree, cannot win a majority in the Reichstag
1930
Constitution of Germany
Heinrich Brüning
After an unpopular bill to reform the Reichs finances is left unsupported by the Reichstag, Hindenburg establishes the bill as an emergency decree based on Article 48 of the constitution
1930
Economy of Germany
Heinrich Brüning
Invokes article 48 to impose deflationary policies
1930
Weimar Republic
Heinrich Brüning
After an unpopular bill to reform the Reichs finances is left unsupported by the Reichstag, Hindenburg establishes the bill as an emergency decree based on Article 48 of the constitution
1931
9 October 1931
Foreign Minister of Germany
Heinrich Brüning
Brüning assumes the Foreign Ministry as he forms his second presidential cabinet.
1932
8 May 1932
Alliance
Kurt von Schleicher
Agrees a Presidential Cabinet of Hindenburgs choosing & dissolution of the Reichstag. Agrees a deal with the Nazis to lift the ban on the SA
30 May 1932
Resignation
Heinrich Brüning
Brüning resigns after Hindenburg withdraws support; Franz von Papen is then chosen to form the next presidential cabinet.
20 July 1932
Dismissal
Otto Braun
The SPD-led Prussian Government in Berlin, headed by Otto Braun, is ousted by Franz von Papen, the new Chancellor, by means of a Presidential decree, proves to be a significant factor contributing to the downfall of the Weimar Republic. Otto Braun his Social Democratic Administration are deposed by Chancellor Papen
July 1932
Vote of Confidence
Franz von Papen
The emergency decrees carried fail to help the Papen plan stimulate the economy. Loses a vote of confidence in the Reichstag
1933
28 February 1933
Constitution of Germany
Paul von Hindenburg
Allows Hitler to use emergency powers under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution
1933
Weimar Republic
Adolf Hitler
Less than a month after Adolf Hitler's appointment as Chancellor the Reichstag Fire Decree invokes Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, suspending several constitutional protections on civil rights
Records are derived from the World History Database Weimar archive. Obvious spelling variants and a conservative set of demonstrable factual errors are normalized on the parent archive before these pages are generated.