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Chancellor Otto Wels

Cabinet Position
Chancellor	Otto Wels (SPD)
Vice-Chancellor	Wilhelm Marx (CVP)
Foreign affairs	Rudolf Breitscheid (SPD)
Finance	Rudolf Hilferding (SPD)
Interior	Joseph Wirth (CVP)
Justice	Gustav Rodabruch (CVP)
Labour	Adam Stegerwald (CVP)
Reichswehr	Wilhelm Groener (Ind.)
Economic affairs	Konrad Adenauer (CVP)

Formation of the cabinet

During the comunist uprising, President Braun kept the government alive via presidential decrees. After the rebellion calmed down, europe was left in a highly unstable state, with threats from both the Soviets and Italians. Due to the stark differences between liberal and socialdemocratic economic plans for the recession, The SPD decided to form a government with the CVP. Stegerwald negotiated plenty of cabinet positions for his party, with him becoming Labour minister. Due to health problems, Müller retired and Wels was reapointment as chancellor.

Response to the depression

The first issue the cabinet had to resolve was what to do about the great depression, with unemployment spiking to over 22%, massive economic instability after the uprising and a devastated Rhine. The first this the cabinet did was estalbish a bunch of reconstruction brigades, sending the reichswehr to reconstruct the destroyed cities.

Reichswehr soldiers posing in a destroyed home

- The "Union reconciliation act"

Minister of labour Stegerwald, along with SPD union leader Theodor Leipart crafted the "Union reconciliation act". It would reintroduce Christian unions into worker cooperatives (after they were removed by the United left government). Impose harsher limits to the formation of far left unions and the pardoning of striking workers.

This act was obiously opposed by the comunists, but their neutered support after the rebelion led to the Reichstag passing the law with overwhelming support

Minister of Labour Stegerwald

- The emergency monetary response

Minster of finance Hilferding was handed the unenviable task of fixing Germany's finances. Eventhough reparations negotiations had given Germany some breathing-room, the deficit was still concerning. Hilferding negotiated a plan with newly appointed reichsbank president Hans Luther. They ended up negotiating a reduction in intrest rates and general tax hikes and cuts to the civil service. This led to neither being happy, however, this compromise kept Germany's finances afloat.

Reichsbank president Hans Luther (left), minister of finance Rudolf Hilferding (right)

-The WTB plan

The devastated economy led to even the CVP to accept more left wing responses to the economic crisis. The SPD and CVP agreed to implement the Woytinsky-Tarnow-Baade plan. The WTB plan would implement a massive debt-financed public works programme, across Germany. This begun with a 3 billion reichsmark loan from the reichsbank and the construction a "reichsautobahn".

From left to right: Vladimir S. Woitinsky, Fritz Tarnow, and Fritz Baade, for whom the plan was named

The Reichskonkordat with the Vatican (1932)

The CVP, however, wasn't going to simply accept the SPDs economic plan without asking for something in return, the first of their demands was that an official reichskonkordat be signed with the Vatican.

This treaty protected the rights of German Catholic clergymen and improved the standing of the German government with the Holy see (after relations had cooled during the united left government's attempts to warm relations with the soviets). The main force behind this agreement was CVP member and Catholic priest Ludwig Kaas.

Signing of the Reichskonkordat (1932)

(International news) French legislative elections of 1932 and the rise of the "lefts cartel"

Meanwhile, in France, new elections were held the same month as in Germany, the hotly contested results led to the lefts cartel achieving a silm majority over the conservatives. This, however, came at the cost of aleniating the comunists, as the Rhine uprising had scared many middle class frenchmen who feared that a similar uprising would take place in france. Édouard Herriot became the new prime minister.

French Prime minister Édouard Herriot

New German elections

Surprisingly, the government coalition survived and the rechstags term ended in May of 1932, elections were held on the 20th of the same month. The voters would decide if the Coalitions response to the depression was adecuate, the heightened tensions in europe left an air of unease among Germans. Would the traditional Weimar parties ride out the storm or would the republic take a new course?