Philipp Scheidemann

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Philipp Scheidemann
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Chancellor of Germany
In office February 13 – June 20, 1919
Preceded by	Friedrich Ebert
Succeeded by	Gustav Bauer

Born	26 July 1865
Died	29 November 1939
Political party	SPD

Philipp Scheidemann (26 July 1865 – 29 November 1939) was a German Social Democratic politician, who proclaimed the Republic on 9 November 1918, and who became the first Chancellor of the Weimar Republic.

Beginning his career as a journalist, Scheidemann became a Reichstag delegate for the Social Democrats in 1903, and soon rose to be one of the principal leaders of the party. During the First World War, Scheidemann, along with Friedrich Ebert was leader of the majority faction of the party, which continued to vote for war credits, while at the same time urging the negotiation of a compromise peace. When the Social Democrats were included in the cabinet for the first time in Prince Max of Baden's government in October 1918, Scheidemann entered the government as a minister without portfolio.

Following the Kaiser's abdication on November 9, Prince Max resigned in favour of Ebert. Although the new government intended to support a constitutional monarchy, probably in the person of one of the Kaiser's grandsons, Scheidemann, concerned in the face of a possible workers' revolution in Berlin, proclaimed the Republic from a balcony in the Reichstag building, without consulting any of his colleagues. The decision proved irrevocable.

Scheidemann continued to serve as a leader in the Provisional Government which followed for the next several months, and following the meeting of the National Assembly in Weimar in February 1919, Ebert was appointed Reich President, and Scheidemann became Chancellor, in coalition with the German Democratic Party and the Catholic Center Party. Scheidemann resigned in June along with the DDP owing to disagreement with the Treaty of Versailles, and never again served in the government, although he remained active in politics, serving as Mayor of Kassel (1920-1925), and then again as a Reichstag delegate, where he exposed military opposition to the Republic. Scheidemann went into exile following the Nazi takeover in 1933, dying in Denmark shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War.

[edit] Cabinet February 1919 - June 1919

Philipp Scheidemann (SPD) - Minister-President
Dr. Eugen Schiffer (DDP) - Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister
Dr. Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau - Foreign Minister
Dr. Hugo Preuß (DDP) - Interior Minister
Dr. Otto Landsberg (SPD) - Justice Minister
Rudolf Wissell (SPD) - Economics Minister
Robert Schmidt (SPD) - Food Minister
Gustav Bauer (SPD) - Labour Minister
Gustav Noske (SPD) - Defence Minister
Dr. Johannes Bell (Z) - Transportation Minister and Colonial Minister
Johannes Giesberts (Z) - Postal Minister
Dr. Eduard David (SPD) - Minister without Portfolio
Matthias Erzberger (Z) - Minister without Portfolio

Changes

March 1919 - Dr. Georg Gothein (DDP) enters the cabinet as Treasury Minister.
April 1919 - Dr. Bernhard Dernburg (DDP) succeeds Schiffer as Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister.

Political offices
Preceded by: Wilhelm Solf	Colonial Minister of Germany 1918–1919	Succeeded by: Johannes Bell
Preceded by: Siegfried Graf von Roedern	Finance Minister of Germany 1918–1919	Succeeded by: Eugen Schiffer
Preceded by: Friedrich Ebert	Chancellor of Germany 1919	Succeeded by: Gustav Bauer

Chancellors of Germany

Chairmen of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

1890-1933: Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)

Paul Singer/Alwin Gerisch | August Bebel/Paul Singer | August Bebel/Hugo Haase | Hugo Haase/Friedrich Ebert | Friedrich Ebert | Friedrich Ebert/Philipp Scheidemann | Otto Wels/Herman Müller | Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels/Herman Müller | Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels | Arthur Crispien/Otto Wels/Hans Vogel

1933-1945: SPD organisation in exile (SoPaDe)

Otto Wels/Hans Vogel | Hans Vogel

since 1946: Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)

[edit] External links

Works by and about Philipp Scheidemann in the German National Library catalogue (German)
Biografie bei Lemo (German)
Biografie bei Preußen-Chronik (German)
Texte im Internet bei litlinks.it (German)

Persondata
NAME	Scheidemann, Philipp
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Chancellor of Germany
DATE OF BIRTH	26 July 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH	Germany
DATE OF DEATH	29 November 1939
PLACE OF DEATH	Denmark