Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 1871 – 28 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the first president of Germany from 1919 until his death in 1925.

Ebert was elected leader of the SPD on the death in 1913 of August Bebel. In 1914, shortly after he assumed leadership, the party became deeply divided over Ebert's support of war loans to finance the German war effort in World War I. A moderate social democrat, Ebert was in favour of the Burgfrieden, a political policy that sought to suppress discord over domestic issues among political parties to concentrate all forces in society on the conclusion of the war effort. He tried to isolate those in the party opposed to war and advocated a split.

Ebert was a pivotal figure in the German revolution of 1918–1919. When Germany became a republic at the end of World War I, he became its first chancellor. His policies at that time were primarily aimed at restoring justice and order in Germany and suppressing the left. To accomplish these goals, he allied himself with conservative and nationalistic political forces, in particular the leadership of the military under General Wilhelm Groener and the right-wing Freikorps. With their help, the Reich government, which Ebert headed, crushed a number of socialist, communist and anarchist uprisings as well as those from the right, including the Kapp Putsch, a legacy that has made him a controversial historical figure.

Early life

thumb|left|upright=0.80|Ebert in 1890

thumb|Ebert with his wife Louise and their children, from left to right: Friedrich, Georg and Heinrich (Christmas 1898)

Ebert was born in Heidelberg in the Grand Duchy of Baden, on 4 February 1871, shortly after the creation of the German Empire, the seventh of nine children of the tailor Karl Ebert (1834–1892) and his wife Katharina (née Hinkel; 1834–1897). Three of his siblings died at a young age. Although he wanted to attend university, this proved impossible due to his family's lack of funds. Instead, he trained as a saddle-maker from 1885 to 1888. Although Ebert studied the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, he was less interested in ideology than in practical and organisational issues that would improve the lot of the workers then and there. He then became a pub owner that became a centre of socialist and union activity and was elected party chairman of the Bremen SPD. In 1904, Ebert presided over the national convention of the party in Bremen and became better known to a wider public. In January 1916, Haase resigned.

On 29 September 1918, Ludendorff suddenly informed Paul von Hintze, the German Foreign Minister, that the Western Front could collapse at any moment and that a ceasefire had to be negotiated without delay. However, he suggested that the request for the ceasefire should come from a new government sanctioned by the Reichstag majority. In his view, a "revolution from above" was needed. Chancellor Georg von Hertling and Emperor Wilhelm II agreed, although the former resigned.

November Revolution

thumb|People's Deputies [[Otto Landsberg, Philipp Scheidemann, Gustav Noske, Friedrich Ebert and Rudolf Wissell after the USPD had left the Council at the end of 1918.]]

The plans of the new German government were thrown into disarray when a confrontation between officers and crews on board the German fleet at Wilhelmshaven on 30 October set in motion a train of events that would result in the German Revolution of 1918–1919 that spread over a substantial part of the country over the next week. On the left, the Spartacists (numbering around 100 in Berlin) and a group of around 80 to 100 popular labour leaders from Berlin known as Revolutionary Stewards prepared for a communist revolution in the capital.

Shortly after Prince Maximilian's announcement, the SPD leadership arrived at the chancellery and Ebert asked the chancellor to hand over the government to him.

In domestic policy, a number of social reforms were quickly introduced by the Council of the People's Deputies under Ebert's leadership, including unemployment benefits, the eight-hour workday, universal suffrage for everyone over the age of 20, and increases in workers' old-age, sick and unemployment benefits.

Violence in Berlin

thumb|[[Freikorps supporting the Kapp Putsch in March 1920, at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin.]]

In the turbulent early weeks of the revolution, Ebert and the leadership of the SPD sided with the conservative and nationalistic elements in German society (civil servants, armed forces, police, judiciary) against the forces that wanted a more radical revolution.

<blockquote>No enemy has overcome you. It was only when the superior numbers of our opponents in men and material became increasingly oppressive that we gave up the fight. And it was precisely in view of your heroic courage that it was our duty not to call for further futile sacrifices from you. [...] You will not find our state as you left it. Something new has emerged: German freedom has arisen. The old rule, which lay like a curse on our actions, has been shaken off by the German people. They have made themselves masters of their own destiny. Above all, the hopes of German freedom rest on you. [...] No one suffered more than you from the injustice of the old regime. We thought of you when we did away with a disastrous system; we fought for freedom for you; we won the right to work for you.</blockquote>After the ten divisions had arrived, however, rather than remaining as a cohesive force, they dispersed to their homes. After Ebert's negotiations with the insurgents broke down, his major concern was with maintaining internal peace. He ordered the rebellion to be quashed, and Gustav Noske, who was in charge of the Army and Navy, used both regular forces and Freikorps units to bring the uprising to an end. Around 170 people lost their lives, including KPD leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, who were murdered extrajudicially by the Freikorps.

President of Germany (1919–1925)

thumb|Ebert, right, with Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno (1923)

thumb|Ebert caricatured by [[Oskar Garvens as "Frederic le Gros" in the nationalist magazine Kladderdatsch, 1919]]

thumb|left|Demonstration against the Treaty of Versailles in front of the [[Reichstag building|Reichstag, 15 May 1919]]

In the first German presidential election, held on 11 February 1919, five days after the National Assembly convened in Weimar, Ebert was elected provisional president of the German Republic by the members of the assembly. He remained in the position after the new constitution came into force and was sworn in as president of Germany on 21 August 1919.

The government's fight against communist forces and recalcitrant socialists went on after Ebert became president. From January to May 1919, in some areas through the summer, violence continued. Since the 19 January elections had returned a solid majority for the democratic parties (SPD, Centre, and DDP), Ebert felt that the revolutionary forces had no legitimacy left.

In March 1920, during the right-wing Kapp Putsch instigated by parts of the Reichswehr, some Freikorps units plus nationalist and monarchist elements, the government, including Ebert, had to flee Berlin. However, a refusal by civil servants to accept the self-declared government and a general strike called by the legitimate cabinet led to the collapse of the putsch. After it ended, striking workers in the Ruhr region refused to return to work. Led by members of the USPD and KPD, they presented an armed challenge to the authority of the government. It then sent Reichswehr and Freikorps troops to quell the Ruhr uprising by force.

To avoid an election campaign at a critical time, the Reichstag extended Ebert's term of office on 24 October 1922 until 30 June 1925, with a majority vote that was sufficient for a change to the constitution.

Death and funeral

thumb|left|Ebert's funeral

thumb|left|Ebert's tomb in [[Heidelberg]]

thumb|Memorial medal of the first President of Germany by [[August Hummel 1925, obverse]]

thumb|Death mask Friedrich Ebert

Ebert suffered from gallstones and frequent bouts of cholecystitis. Vicious attacks by Ebert's right-wing adversaries, including slander and ridicule, were often condoned or even supported by the judiciary when Ebert sought redress through the court system. The constant necessity to defend himself against those attacks also undermined his health. In December 1924, a court in Magdeburg fined a journalist who had called Ebert a "traitor to his country" for his role in the January 1918 strike, but the court also said that, in terms of strict legalism, Ebert had in fact committed treason. He became acutely septic on the night of 23 February and underwent an emergency appendectomy (which was performed by August Bier) in the early hours of the following day for what turned out to be appendicitis.

He was succeeded in office first by Chancellor Hans Luther (until 12 March) and then by Walter Simons, both of them on an acting basis, until Paul von Hindenburg became President of Germany on 12 May following his victory in the special presidential election.

Ebert was buried in Heidelberg. Several high-ranking politicians and a trade union leader made speeches at his funeral, as did a Protestant minister, Hermann Maas, pastor at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Heidelberg (which until the 1930s was used by both Lutheran and Catholic congregations). By thus taking part in the obsequies, Maas caused something of a scandal in his church and among political conservatives, because Ebert had been an outspoken atheist (although he was baptised a Catholic, he had officially abandoned Christian observance many years before his last illness).

Historical evaluation

thumb|The reverse of Silver Medal showing the dates of his birth and of his death, by [[August Hummel, 1925]]

Some historians have defended Ebert's actions as unfortunate but inevitable if the creation of a socialist state on the model that had been promoted by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and the communist Spartacus League was to be prevented. German historians who had lived through the Weimar Republic, including Sebastian Haffner, later argued that organised communism was not politically relevant in Germany at the time. The tolerance of Ebert and his minister of Defence Gustav Noske with regards to violence on German streets, so long as the pro-government Freikorps were involved, has been detailed by historians in the context of increasing support for fascist ideas.

Friedrich Ebert is credited with founding the German Republic between February and August 1919 in Weimar, quite deliberately so that the other nation states knew there was a Germany not devoted to militarism. As historians have stressed, Weimar in Thuringia, did provide parliamentarians with security assurance that Berlin could not provide. Friedrich Ebert linked the "spirit of Weimar" with building "the new Germany". Ebert's social democrat comrade Philipp Scheidemann agreed, pointing out that Weimar was the "city of Goethe". Ebert formed the Weimar Republic government with three SPD and three USPD ministers. Shop stewards reconvened the workers' councils (Räte) at a congress in Berlin and declared that Ebert's government was merely a Council of People's Commissioners answerable to the workers' councils. Historians emphasise that Ebert was only able to end the state of emergency in Germany by granting all political offenders an amnesty.

In Ebert's opinion, only "reforms", not a revolution, could advance the causes of democracy and socialism. He, therefore, has been called a traitor by leftists, who argue that he paved the way for the ascendancy of the far right and even of Adolf Hitler. Conservatives, who think his policies were justified, claim that he saved Germany from Soviet excesses.

Literature

  • Wolfgang Abendroth: "Friedrich Ebert". In: Wilhelm von Sternburg: Die deutschen Kanzler. Von Bismarck bis Kohl. Aufbau-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Berlin 1998, , pp. 145–159.
  • Friedrich Ebert. Sein Leben, sein Werk, seine Zeit. Begleitband zur ständigen Ausstellung in der Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte, edited by Walter Mühlhausen. Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg 1999, .
  • Köhler, Henning: Deutschland auf dem Weg zu sich selbst. Eine Jahrhundertgeschichte. Hohenheim Verlag, Stuttgart/Leipzig 2002, .
  • Eberhard Kolb (ed.): Friedrich Ebert als Reichspräsident – Amtsführung und Amtsverständnis. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München 1997, . Containing:
  • Richter, Ludwig: Der Reichspräsident bestimmt die Politik und der Reichskanzler deckt sie: Friedrich Ebert und die Bildung der Weimarer Koalition.
  • Mühlhausen, Walter: Das Büro des Reichspräsidenten in der politischen Auseinandersetzung.
  • Kolb, Eberhard: Vom "vorläufigen" zum definitiven Reichspräsidenten. Die Auseinandersetzung um die "Volkswahl" des Reichspräsidenten 1919–1922.
  • Braun, Bernd: Integration Kraft Repräsentation – Der Reichspräsident in den Ländern.
  • Hürten, Heinz: Reichspräsident und Wehrpolitik. Zur Praxis der Personalauslese.
  • Richter, Ludwig: Das präsidiale Notverordnungsrecht in den ersten Jahren der Weimarer Republik. Friedrich Ebert und die Anwendung des Artikels 48 der Weimarer Reichsverfassung.
  • Mühlhausen, Walter: Reichspräsident und Sozialdemokratie: Friedrich Ebert und seine Partei 1919–1925.
  • Mühlhausen, Walter: Friedrich Ebert 1871–1925. Reichspräsident der Weimarer Republik. Dietz, Bonn 2006, . (Rezension von Michael Epkenhans In: Die Zeit. 1 February 2007)
  • Mühlhausen, Walter: Die Republik in Trauer. Der Tod des ersten Reichspräsidenten Friedrich Ebert. Stiftung Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte, Heidelberg 2005,

See also

  • President Friedrich Ebert Memorial
  • Friedrich Ebert Foundation

References

Bibliography

  • President Friedrich Ebert Memorial in Heidelberg
  • Friedrich Ebert on the First Post-Imperial German Government, Statement of 10 November 1918
  • President Friedrich Ebert's Address to the German Assembly, 7 February 1919
  • President Friedrich Ebert's Address to the German Assembly, 11 February 1919