Republic of Baden

With revolution threatening the German Empire in the dying days of World War I, the state ministry of the Grand Duchy of Baden passed an electoral reform on 2 November 1918 in a final attempt to preserve the monarchy there. On 8 November, workers' and soldiers' councils were established in Lahr and Offenburg. On the following day, similar councils were established in Mannheim and Karlsruhe and the entire Badische state ministry stepped down.

On 10 November 1918 a provisional government was formed in Karlsruhe and an assembly of the various revolutionary councils took place on the following day. On 13 November Grand Duke Frederick II relinquished all governing duties; he eventually abdicated on 22 November, following the abdication of his first cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II (announced on 9 November and formalised on 28 November).

The provisional government declared the establishment of the freie Volksrepublik Baden (Free People's Republic of Baden) on 14 November 1918, and set 5 January 1919 as the date for new elections.

A national assembly was created on 12 January 1919, with the Christian democratic Centre Party emerging as the strongest party ahead of the centre-left SPD. Together, these two parties received 91.5% of all votes. On 1 April, the Badische parliament (Landtag) formed a government from members of the Weimar Coalition. Until 1933, Baden was mostly governed by the Centre Party.

On 21 March 1919, the Landtag unanimously passed a new constitution.[3] A popular vote approved of the constitution on 13 April. This popular vote was the first in German history and the Baden constitution was the only one passed by popular vote in Germany during the Weimar period.[4]

Baden, like all other German states, was subject to the process of Gleichschaltung in 1933, which effectively abolished all states – in practice, if not in law. The elected president of Baden was replaced with the Nazi-appointed Walter Köhler, although administrative power in the region truly rested with Robert Heinrich Wagner, the Gauleiter of Baden and Reichsstatthalter for Alsace-Lorraine. Between 1940 and 1944, the Gau of Baden was renamed "Baden-Elsass" and extended westwards to include much of Alsace.

Through the Allied occupation of post-war Germany, Baden was divided between the American and French occupation zones. The division was made so that the Autobahn connecting Karlsruhe and Munich (today the A8) was completely contained within the American zone. This northern American-administered area became part of Württemberg-Baden on 19 September 1945[5] while the southern half (known as South Baden or simply "Baden") was placed under French administration.

These two parts of Baden were reunited and merged with the former state of Württemberg on 23 April 1952 to form the new state of Baden-Württemberg.