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The Scheidemann cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Scheidemann'') was the first democratically elected ''Reichsregierung'' of the German Reich. It took office on 13 February 1919. Although the Weimar Constitution was not in force yet, it is generally counted as the first government of the Weimar Republic. It was based on the Weimar Coalition of centre-left parties. ''Ministerpräsident'' Philipp Scheidemann resigned in protest against the Treaty of Versailles on 20 June 1919. His cabinet was followed by the government of Gustav Bauer. ==Election and establishment== Following the collapse of the German Empire and the German Revolution of 1918-19, on 19 January 1919 the Germans had voted in elections for the ''Nationalversammlung''. At the time, the country was governed by the Council of the People's Deputies (''Rat der Volksbeauftragten''), a revolutionary government made up of members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which had also been the largest party in the Reichstag since the last elections in 1912. The January elections returned a smaller than expected share〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Files of the Reichskanzlei: Kabinett Scheidemann, Einleitung II (German) )〕 of the vote for the socialists (SPD: 38%, USPD: 7%, the communists of the KPD had boycotted the elections).〔 The National Assembly, meeting in Weimar because conditions in the capital Berlin were deemed too chaotic for the deliberations and Weimar was associated with Weimar Classicism, acted as unicameral legislature and constituent assembly for the new republic. After its inaugural session on 6 February it passed a provisional constitution known as ''Gesetz über die vorläufige Reichsgewalt''. Friedrich Ebert (SPD), chairman of the Council of the People's Deputies, was elected on 11 February as temporary ''Reichspräsident'', or head of state. That same day, Ebert asked his fellow ''Volksbeauftragten'' Philipp Scheidemann (SPD) to form the new government, referred to in the law as ''Reichsministerium''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Chronologie 1919 (German) )〕 In fact, at that point, coalition negotiations had been going on for a while. The SPD was talking to the DDP and the Zentrum. However, the SPD was making this cooperation conditional on the acceptance by the "bourgeois" parties of a) a republican form of state, b) a fiscal policy that would "severely" target wealth and c) a socialisation of "suitable" industries. Although the SPD did approach the USPD, Ebert reportedly said that he had only conducted talks with the extreme left so that they would bear the responsibility for the talks' failure. For their part, the DDP would not have accepted a coalition with the USPD.〔 The negotiations were difficult and dragged on. In particular, the presidency of the National Assembly was hotly contested and almost caused the talks to fail. Finally, it was agreed that Eduard David (SPD) who had been the initial president would resign (and join the cabinet in compensation), making way for the former president of the Reichstag, Constantin Fehrenbach (Zentrum).〔 Apart from Ebert himself–who had said that he preferred the more representative office of head of state–Scheidemann had been the clear favourite to become head of government. With the exception of Ebert all the other ''Volksbeauftragen'' joined the new cabinet. Gustav Noske had previously been in charge of Army and Navy affairs, and he became Defence Minister. Otto Landsberg, the leading thinker on law on the Council became Minister of Justice. Rudolf Wissell had been in charge of economic affairs and kept that portfolio. Gustav Bauer had been a member of the Cabinet Baden in charge of the newly formed Labour Ministry (''Reichsarbeitsamt''), a position he had continued to hold through the revolution. Robert Schmidt (Food) and Eduard David, with no portfolio but charged with looking at the question of what responsibility Germany had in bringing about the Great War, completed the SPD members of cabinet.〔 Against seven members from the SPD there were three from the DDP (Hugo Preuß, Georg Gothein and Eugen Schiffer) and three from the Zentrum (Johannes Giesberts, Johannes Bell and Matthias Erzberger). Schiffer had been a member of the National Liberal Party and served as Secretary of State for the Treasury in the Empire but had joined the DDP after the November revolution. Erzberger had been a member of the Cabinet Baden, had negotiated the Armistice in November 1918 and remained in charge of negotiations with the Allies.〔 In the coalition talks, Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau had been treated as a member of the DDP although he did not belong to the party. He was a career diplomat and in January 1919 Ebert and Scheidemann had asked him to take over the office of Secretary of State of the Foreign Office. This was also the portfolio he held in the Cabinet Scheidemann.〔 Finally, in addition to these fourteen politicians there were three members of the military who had an ex officio seat at the cabinet table but no right to vote in decisions of the cabinet. They were the Prussian Minister of War, since early January 1919 Oberst Walther Reinhardt, Oberstleutnant Joseph Koeth who headed the former ''Reichsamt'' now ''Reichsministerium für die wirtschaftliche Demobilmachung'' (i.e. was in charge of the transition from a war economy to a peace time economy) and the head of the Navy. Initially, the latter position was held by the acting Secretary of State for the Navy who had no official standing in the cabinet at all. This changed after the ''Reichsmarineamt'' was dissolved and replaced with the Admiralty in March 1919. ''Chef der Admiralität'' Adolf von Trotha then became a non-voting member of the cabinet.〔 Two features of the cabinet are conspicuous: Firstly, the balance of power between seven SPD members and seven representatives (if Brockdorff-Rantzau is counted as DDP) from the "bourgeois" parties. Secondly, there was a strong continuity in the personnel of government, especially considering the fact that the country had just gone through a revolution. Seven members of the Cabinet Scheidemann had been Secretary of State or Undersecretary under the final Imperial government of Max von Baden (Scheidemann, Schiffer, Bauer, Schmidt, Giesberts, David and Erzberger). Another six had held offices under the Council of the People's Deputies (Brockdorff-Rantzau, Preuß, Wissell, Noske, Landsberg and Koeth). Among the Social Democrats, the moderates or conservative "reformists" predominated. This constellation enabled the government to draw on considerable experience in government and administration, but it underscored the distance between the government and some of the driving forces behind the revolution, notably the unions, the far-left and many common workers. Nevertheless, the Cabinet Scheidemann was based on parties representing more than 75% of all voters. No other government of the Weimar Republic would ever have a larger majority in parliament (''Nationalversammlung'' or Reichstag).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Scheidemann cabinet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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