First Wirth cabinet
The first Wirth cabinet, headed by Chancellor Joseph Wirth of the Centre Party, was the fifth democratically elected government of the Weimar Republic. On 10 May 1921 it replaced the Fehrenbach cabinet, which had resigned as a result of differing opinions among its members over the payment of war reparations to the Allied powers. It was based on the Weimar Coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Centre Party and the German Democratic Party (DDP).
First Cabinet of Joseph Wirth | |
|---|---|
5th Cabinet of Weimar Germany | |
| 10 May 1921 – 22 October 1921 (until 26 October 1921 as caretaker government) | |
Chancellor Joseph Wirth | |
| Date formed | 10 May 1921 |
| Date dissolved | 26 October 1921 (5 months and 16 days) |
| People and organisations | |
| President | Friedrich Ebert |
| Chancellor | Joseph Wirth |
| Vice-Chancellor | Gustav Bauer |
| Member parties | Centre Party Social Democratic Party German Democratic Party |
| Status in legislature | Weimar Coalition Minority coalition government 216 / 469 (46%) |
| Opposition parties | German National People's Party Independent Social Democratic Party Communist Party of Germany |
| History | |
| Election(s) | 1920 federal election |
| Legislature term(s) | 1st Reichstag of the Weimar Republic |
| Predecessor | Fehrenbach cabinet |
| Successor | Second Wirth cabinet |
The cabinet won the Reichstag's approval for the Allies' reparations demands and began the war crimes trials required by the Treaty of Versailles. It resigned on 22 October 1921 in protest over the partition of Silesia by the League of Nations following the Upper Silesia plebiscite. The cabinet stayed on as a caretaker government until it was replaced on 26 October by a second cabinet led by Wirth.