Wilhelm Marx

Infobox Officeholder
name = Wilhelm Marx


imagesize =
small

caption =
order = 17th Chancellor of the German Reich
8th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic
term_start = November 30, 1923
term_end = January 15, 1925
president = Friedrich Ebert
deputy = Karl Jarres
predecessor = Gustav Stresemann
successor = Hans Luther
order2 = 19th Chancellor of the German Reich
10th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic
term_start2 = May 17, 1926
term_end2 = June 12, 1928
president2 = Paul von Hindenburg
deputy2 = Oskar Hergt (1927-1928)
predecessor2 = Hans Luther
successor2 = Hermann Müller
order3 = 6th Minister President of the Free State of Prussia
term_start3 = February 18
term_end3 = April 6, 1925
predecessor3 = Otto Braun
successor3 = Otto Braun
birth_date =birth date|1863|1|15|mf=y
death_date =death date and age|1946|8|5|1863|1|15|mf=y
occupation =Lawyer
party=Centre
religion=Roman Catholic

Wilhelm Marx (January 15, 1863ndash August 5, 1946) was a German Lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party.

Life

Born in Cologne to a teacher, Marx was a very naughty boy, but still passed his Abitur at the Marzellengymnasium in 1881. He then studied jurisprudence at the university of Bonn. As student he became a member of K.St.V. Arminia. After his degree in law, he worked as an assessor in both Cologne and Waldbröl and later in the land registry in Simmern. From [1894] Marx worked as a judge in [ to Cologne and Düsseldorf, where he ha

Politics

He served as Chancellor of Germany from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and was the Centre Party's (and, in the second round, the entire Weimar Coalition's) candidate in the 1925 presidential election, when he was defeated by Paul von Hindenburg.

Being a Catholic, Marx took an active part in the political arm of German Catholics, the Centre Party. In 1899, he presided the Zentrums-Verein in Elberfeld; in 1908 he became chairman of the Centre Party in Düsseldorf.

From 1899 to 1918 Marx was a member of the Landtag of Prussia. From 1910 he was a member of the Reichstag, where he became a member of the executive committee of the Centre Party faction. There, he specialised in the field of school and culture politics. He was known as a calm and intercessional politician who didn't have many enemies and always worked towards a compromise.

During World War I he expressed his opinion against annexation and for a peace resolution. Thus, he was elected into the Nationalversammlung of Weimar. He supported the treaty of Versailles during the occupation of the Rhineland in 1923 because he thought that if Germany did not accept it, the Rhineland would be separated from Prussia. Marx also tried to unify the Centre Party and to support the government, using his style of politics and an appeal to Catholicism.

When the cabinet of Gustav Stresemann failed in 1923, Marx became chancellor, leading the tenth German cabinet since 1919. His first term lasted 13 months, his second term lasted 25 months. In this time, he presided over four cabinets, the first two being civic minority governments, later joined by the DNVP. His foreign minister was Gustav Stresemann, whose politics led to a toleration by the SPD. During Marx's terms, he managed to stabilise the German economy after the hyperinflation of 1923 by introducing a new currency. By the end of 1924, the state of emergency could be repealed. The cabinets led by Marx also accepted the Dawes Plan. In his second term, Germany joined the League of Nations, and Marx managed to unseat General Hans von Seeckt, who wanted to make the army a "state within the state". On the other hand, it should be noted that during his terms the Reichswehr worked secretly together with the Russian army to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1925 Marx also became president of Prussia, and in 1926 he was minister of justice in the cabinet of his successor Hans Luther. He was a member of the Reichstag up to 1932. During the Nazi period, and after World War II, he lived in Bonn, where he died.

First cabinet (November 1923 - May 1924)

* Dr. Wilhelm Marx (Z) - Chancellor
* Dr. Karl Jarres (DVP) - Vice-Chancellor and Minister of the Interior
* Dr. Gustav Stresemann (DVP) - Foreign Minister
* Dr. Erich Emminger (BVP) - Minister of Justice
* Dr. Hans Luther - Minister of Finance
* Eduard Hamm (DDP) - Minister of Economics
* Gerhard Graf von Kanitz - Minister of Food
* Dr. Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Minister of Labour
* Dr. Otto Geßler (DDP) - Minister of Defence
* Dr. Rudolf Oeser (DDP) - Minister of Transportation
* Dr. Anton Höfle (Z) - Postal Minister and temporary Minister of Occupied Territories

Changes
* April 15, 1924 - Kurt Joel succeeded Emminger as Minister of Justice.

econd cabinet (June 1924 - December 1924)

* Dr. Wilhelm Marx (Z) - Chancellor
* Dr. Karl Jarres (DVP) - Vice-Chancellor and Minister of the Interior
* Dr. Gustav Stresemann (DVP) - Foreign Minister
* Dr. Kurt Joel - Minister of Justice
* Dr. Hans Luther - Minister of Finance
* Eduard Hamm (DDP) - Minister of Economics
* Gerhard Graf von Kanitz - Minister of Food
* Dr. Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Minister of Labour
* Dr. Otto Geßler (DDP) - Minister of Defence
* Dr. Rudolf Oeser (DDP) - Minister of Transportation
* Dr. Anton Höfle (Z) - Postal Minister and temporary Minister of Occupied Territories

Changes
* October 11, 1924 - Dr. Rudolf Krohne (DVP) succeeded Oeser as Minister of Transport.

Third cabinet (May 1926 - December 1926)

* Dr. Wilhelm Marx (Z) - Chancellor
* Dr. Gustav Stresemann (DVP) - Foreign Minister
* Dr. Wilhelm Külz (DDP) - Minister of the Interior
* Dr. Johannes Bell (Z) - Minister of Justice and temporary Minister of Occupied Territories
* Dr. Peter Reinhold (DDP) - Minister of Finance
* Dr. Julius Curtius (DVP) - Minister of Economics
* Dr. Heinrich Haslinde (Z) - Minister of Food
* Dr. Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Minister of Labour
* Dr. Otto Geßler (DDP) - Minister of Defence
* Dr. Rudolf Krohne (DVP) - Minister of Transportation
* Karl Stingl (BVP) - Postal Minister

Fourth cabinet (January 1927 - June 1928)

* Dr. Wilhelm Marx (Z) - Chancellor and temporary Minister of Occupied Territories
* Oskar Hergt (DNVP) - Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Justice
* Dr. Gustav Stresemann (DVP) - Foreign Minister
* Walter von Keudell (DNVP) - Minister of the Interior
* Dr. Heinrich Köhler (Z) - Minister of Finance
* Dr. Julius Curtius (DVP) - Minister of Economics
* Dr. Martin Schiele (DNVP) - Minister of Food
* Dr. Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Minister of Labour
* Dr. Otto Geßler - Minister of Defence
* Dr. Wilhelm Koch (DNVP) - Minister of Transportation
* Dr. Georg Schätzel (BVP) - Postal Minister

Changes
* January 19 1928 - Wilhelm Groener succeeded Geßler as Minister of Defence.

External links

* [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/MarxWilhelm/]