Gustav Adolf Bauer (; 6 January 1870 – 16 September 1944) was a German
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
leader and the
chancellor of Germany from June 1919 to March 1920. He served as head of government for nine months. Prior to becoming head of government, Bauer had been
Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
in the first democratically elected German cabinet. After his cabinet was brought down by the
Kapp Putsch
The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo th ...
in March 1920, Bauer served as vice-chancellor, Minister of the Treasury, and Minister of Transportation in other cabinets of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
from May 1920 to November 1922. In 1924 and 1925 he was involved in the
Barmat scandal.
Early life
Bauer was born on 6 January 1870 in
Darkehmen
Ozyorsk (russian: Озёрск, until 1938 german: Darkehmen; pl, Darkiejmy; lt, Darkiemis; from 1938 to 1946 german: link=no, Angerapp) is a town and the administrative center of Ozyorsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the ...
, near
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...
in
East Prussia (now
Ozyorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
Ozyorsk (russian: Озёрск, until 1938 german: Darkehmen; pl, Darkiejmy; lt, Darkiemis; from 1938 to 1946 german: link=no, Angerapp) is a town and the administrative center of Ozyorsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the ...
, Russia) as the son of bailiff Gustav Bauer and his wife Henriette (née Groß). From 1876 to 1884, he attended the ''Volksschule'' in Königsberg. After 1884, he worked as a clerk and later head clerk for a lawyer at Königsberg.
In 1895, he became president of the
Union of Office Employees of Germany The Union of Office Employees of Germany (german: Verbandes der Bureauangestellten Deutschlands) was a trade union representing office workers in Germany.
The union was founded in 1895 as the Central Union of Office Employees in Germany, on the ini ...
, a white-collar union that he co-founded. He also was editor of the publication ''Der Büroangestellte'' ("The Office Worker") and in 1903 was named head of the ''Zentral-Arbeiter-Sekretariat der Freien Gewerkschaften'' in Berlin ("Central Secretary of Independent Unions").
In 1908, Bauer became second chairman of the ''Generalkommission der Gewerkschaften'' (General Commission of Trade Unions) in Berlin, a position he kept until 1918.
On 2 October 1911, Bauer married Hedwig Moch.
Political career
Imperial Germany and revolutionary period
In 1912, Bauer was elected to the
Reichstag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in a
Breslau constituency. In October 1918, Bauer became Secretary of State at the ''Reichsarbeitsamt'' (Labour) in
Max von Baden's
cabinet.
Bauer remained in this position throughout the revolution of 1918/19. After Max von Baden resigned in November 1918, Bauer continued to serve under ''Reichskanzler''
Friedrich Ebert
Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925.
Ebert was elected leader of the SPD on t ...
and then under the
Council of the People's Deputies
The Council of the People's Deputies (, sometimes translated as Council of People's Representatives or Council of People's Commissars) was the name given to the government of the November Revolution in Germany from November 1918 until February 19 ...
, also headed by Ebert. While serving as Minister of Labour, Bauer introduced the Factory Constitution Law and issued a number of decrees, including universal voting rights for those aged 20 and above in all types of elections, regulated wage agreements, protection from arbitrary dismissal with appeal as a right, the re-instalment of demobilised workers, a national health insurance, local municipality social welfare (split between the states and government), the right of civil-service associations, agricultural labour reform, domestic labour reforms, and the eight-hour workday.
Weimar Republic
In January 1919, Bauer was
elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
to the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
for
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
.
In February, he became ''Reichsarbeitsminister'' in
Philipp Scheidemann's cabinet. After Scheidemann resigned in June 1919 as a protest against the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, Bauer succeeded him as ''Reichsministerpräsident'', heading the
Bauer cabinet. His government signed the Treaty. When the Weimar Constitution came into force in August 1919, Bauer became ''Reichskanzler'' (Chancellor).
Bauer's time as Chancellor witnessed the passage of the
Reich Settlement Law of August 1919,
which redistributed large estates among smaller farmers, although only 3% of small-scale farmers had benefitted from this law by 1928.
The Allotment Garden and Small-Lease-Holding Ordinance of July 1919 provided legal protection for non-commercially used property such as workers' gardens and "Schreber" gardens. In October 1919, a law came into force that entitled insured women to a lump sum of 50 marks from their insurance board to cover the cost of childbirth, together with confinement compensation for 10 weeks. In addition, maternity care was covered by a 25 mark payment and a daily breastfeeding bonus of one mark fifty for 10 weeks. This law also entitled the wives and daughters of insured employees (both female and male) to certain types of support in connection with pregnancy.
Following a similar decree issued in December 1918, an important decree was issued in support of Jugendpflege (youth welfare) in November 1919.
Various improvements to unemployment benefits were also carried out during Bauer's time as chancellor. A winter supplement was provided in October 1919, and certain modifications were carried out in January 1920. In addition, the maximum benefit for single males over the age of 21 was increased from three and a half to six marks in February 1920. A decree of October 1919, however, ordered all Reich unemployment relief funds to be withdrawn from those municipal authorities that went beyond the maximum scales.
In the field of sickness insurance, a decree of 28 June 1919 bestowed upon rural funds the same right of self-government that other funds had. An order of 27 October 1919 empowered the Reich Minister of Labour to encourage through grants and loans "measures which were estimated to create opportunities for employment". In December 1919, laws were passed that extended compulsory insurance against infirmity and old age to certain new classes of workpeople.
[The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 31 by Hugh Chisholm] The ''Betriebsrätegesetz'' (Factory Council Act) of February 1920 established
works councils
A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...
at workplaces with 20 or more on the payroll as a means of improving lines of communication between labour and management.
In addition, a series of progressive tax reforms were implemented under the auspices of finance minister
Matthias Erzberger
Matthias Erzberger (20 September 1875 – 26 August 1921) was a German writer and politician (Centre Party), the minister of Finance from 1919 to 1920.
Prominent in the Catholic Centre Party, he spoke out against World War I from 1917 and as a ...
,
such as the Reich Revenue Law of July 1919, which gave the Reich sole authority for levying and administering taxes,
the levying of war taxes on income and wealth as well as inheritance taxation in July 1919,
and a one-off wealth tax in December 1919.
In March 1920, the
Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch attempted to depose the government. Bauer, along with other SPD members of the cabinet and president Ebert, signed a call for a general strike against the putsch. Most of the cabinet left Berlin for Dresden, then Stuttgart. However, some ministers remained in the capital and, led by vice-chancellor
Eugen Schiffer
Eugen Schiffer (14 February 1860 – 5 September 1954) was a German lawyer and liberal politician. He served as Minister of Finance and deputy head of government from February to April 1919. From October 1919 to March 1920, he was again deputy h ...
negotiated with the putschists. Once the putsch had collapsed, the Bauer government was forced to resign on 27 March—mostly as a result of the negotiations conducted with Kapp and his fellow conspirators. Bauer was succeeded as chancellor by
Hermann Müller (also SPD).
However, Bauer joined the new cabinet as ''Reichsschatzminister'' at the Treasury, a position he held until June 1920. From May to June 1920, Bauer was also Minister of Transportation. In the
Reichstag elections of June 1920, he was reelected to parliament.
However, the new government formed on 25 June excluded the SPD.
Bauer rejoined the cabinet of
Joseph Wirth
Karl Joseph Wirth (6 September 1879 – 3 January 1956) was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party who served for one year and six months as the chancellor of Germany from 1921 to 1922, as the finance minister from 1920 to 1921, a ...
in May 1921 as ''Reichsschatzminister'' and vice-chancellor. He held those positions throughout the term of office of Wirth (until November 1922). Throughout this time, Bauer was also a member of the Reichstag for Magdeburg and he retained his seat after leaving the government. However, in November 1924 he became involved in the
Barmat scandal due to a personal relationship with the accused, Julius Barmat. On 7 February 1925, he was forced by the SPD parliamentary group to relinquish his seat in the Reichstag and on 14 February was expelled from the party.
Yet on 14 May 1926, Bauer's expulsion was overturned by the party. He returned to the Reichstag until 1928, when he left parliament and retired from public life.
Later life
After the
Nazi party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
took power in 1933, Bauer was arrested on 29 June 1933. He was supposed to have misappropriated public funds. However, the charge was based on alleged statements made by his son in school. When it turned out that Bauer's marriage was childless and there was in fact no son, he was released after a week of custody. The lawsuit was dismissed only in 1935, however.
Bauer died in Hersdorf (Berlin Reinickendorf) on 16 September 1944.
Literature
* Braun, Bernd: Die Reichskanzler der Weimarer Republik. Zwölf Lebensläufe in Bildern. Droste, Düsseldorf 2011, p. 100 – 133. .
*
* Rintelen, Karlludwig: ''Ein undemokratischer Demokrat: Gustav Bauer. Gewerkschaftsführer – Freund Friedrich Eberts – Reichskanzler. Eine politische Biographie'', Lang, Frankfurt/M. 1993, (the only biography of Gustav Bauers and a very critical account)
* Voigt, Martin: "Gustav Adolf Bauer". p. 177–190. In: Wilhelm v. Sternburg (Hrsg.): ''Die deutschen Kanzler. Von Bismarck bis Schmidt.'' Königstein/Taunus: Athenäum 1985. .
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer, Gustav
1870 births
1944 deaths
20th-century Chancellors of Germany
People from East Prussia
People from the Province of Prussia
Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
Chancellors of Germany
Vice-Chancellors of Germany
Labor ministers (Germany)
Transport ministers of Germany
Federal government ministers of Germany
Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire
Members of the Weimar National Assembly
Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Prussian politicians