The Weimar Coalition is the name given to the coalition

Coalition government

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

 of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

(SPD), the German Democratic Party (DDP), and the Catholic Centre Party

Centre Party (Germany)

The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...

, who together had a large majority of the delegates to the Constituent Assembly

Weimar National Assembly

The Weimar National Assembly governed Germany from February 6, 1919 to June 6, 1920 and drew up the new constitution which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933, technically remaining in effect even until the end of Nazi rule in 1945...

 that met at Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

 in 1919, and were the principal groups that designed the constitution of Germany's

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Weimar Republic

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

. These three parties were seen as the most committed to Germany's new democratic system, and together governed Germany until the elections of 1920

German election, 1920

The Weimar Republic's second elections were held on 6 June 1920.-Results:-References:*Kolb, Eberhard. The Weimar Republic, p. 224. Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0415344417....

, when the first elections under the new constitution were held, and both the SPD and especially the DDP lost a considerable share of their votes. Although the Coalition was revived in the ministry of Joseph Wirth

Joseph Wirth

Karl Joseph Wirth, known as Joseph Wirth, was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1921 to 1922.-Biography:...

 from 1921 to 1922, the pro-democratic elements never truly had a majority in the Reichstag from this point on, and the situation gradually grew worse with the continued weakening of the DDP. This meant that any pro-republican group that hoped to attain a majority would need to form a "Grand Coalition" with the more conservative German People's Party

German People's Party

The German People's Party was a national liberal party in Weimar Germany and a successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire.-Ideology:...

 (DVP).

Nevertheless, the coalition remained at least theoretically important as the parties most supportive of republican government in Germany, and continued to act in coalition in the government of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 and other states until as late as 1932. In the second round of voting in the 1925 presidential election

German presidential election, 1925

The presidential election of 1925 was the first direct election to the office of President of the Reich , Germany's head of state during the 1919-1933 Weimar Republic. The first President, Friedrich Ebert, died on 28 February, 1925...

, the Weimar Coalition parties all supported the candidacy of the Centrist former chancellor Wilhelm Marx

Wilhelm Marx

Wilhelm Marx was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was Chancellor of the German Reich twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and also served briefly as minister president of Prussia in 1925, during the Weimar Republic.-Life:Born in Cologne to...

, who was narrowly defeated by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg

Paul von Hindenburg

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....

, supported by a center-right coalition of the DVP, the German National People's Party

German National People's Party

The German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...

, and the Bavarian People's Party

Bavarian People's Party

The Bavarian People's Party was the Bavarian branch of the Centre Party, which broke off from the rest of the party in 1919 to pursue a more conservative, more Catholic, more Bavarian particularist course...

.

Chronology

• 13 February 1919 – 20 June 1919: chancellor: Philipp Scheidemann (SPD)

• 21 June 1919 – 26 March 1920: chancellor: Gustav Bauer (SPD)

• 27 March 1920 – 8 June 1920: chancellor: Hermann Müller (SPD)

• 10 May 1921 – 22 October 1921: chancellor: Joseph Wirth (Zentrum)

• 29 October 1921 – 14 November 1922: chancellor: Joseph Wirth (Zentrum)