The North German Constitution was the constitution of the North German Confederation, which existed as a country from 1 July 1867 to 31 December 1870. The Constitution of the German Empire (1871) was closely based on it.
A constituent Reichstag was elected on 12 February 1867. Its only task was to discuss, amend and adopt the proposal for a constitution which had been largely written by Otto von Bismarck,[1] the Prussian minister president and first and only federal chancellor (Bundeskanzler), the sole minister of the Confederation. The constituent Reichstag was dominated by national liberals and moderate conservatives.
The highest body of the country was the Bundesrat (Federal Council). It represented the governments of the North German states. Prussia had 17 of 43 votes in the Bundesrat.[2] Decisions were based on a simple majority (Article 7),[3] but Prussia's great size and influence often gave it what amounted to a veto. Under the constitution, the king of Prussia (William I), was the holder of the Bundespräsidium, de facto the head of state. He installed the chancellor, who was the federal executive.[2] Besides the chancellor, there were no official ministers.
The Reichstag was the lower house of parliament, elected by all male north Germans above the age of 25.[2] This was quite extraordinary in those times; Bismarck introduced this in the hope that it would create conservative majorities. The Reichstag and Bundesrat together had legislative powers, making the democratically elected Reichstag an important and powerful body.
After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871, the south German states Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg joined the confederation. It was renamed Deutsches Reich (German Empire), and the constitution of the confederation, with few changes, became the Constitution of the German Empire.
^"Establishment of the North German Confederation". Britannica.
^ abc"Die Verfassung des Norddeutschen Bundes" [The Constitution of the North German Empire]. Lebendiges Museum Online (LeMO) (in German). 23 June 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
^"Verfassung des Norddeutschen Bundes" [Constitution of the North German Confederation]. de.wikisource (in German).
and 23 Related for: North German Constitution information
The Constitution of the German Empire (German: Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches) was the basic law of the German Empire of 1871–1918, from 16 April 1871...
The NorthGerman Confederation (German: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of...
Germany (German: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. The West GermanConstitution...
des Norddeutschen Bundes [NorthGermanConstitution] (in German). 26 June 1867 – via Wikisource. Constitution of the German Empire [Verfassung des Deutschen...
German states and constitutional adoption of the name "German Empire") and 4 May 1871 (entry into force of the permanent Constitution of the German Empire)...
change occurred with German reunification in 1990, in which the territory of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) became part of the Federal...
(1850) NorthGermanConstitution (1867) Constitution of the German Confederation (1871) Constitution of the German Empire (1871) Weimar Constitution (1919)...
The German Empire (German: Deutsches Reich), also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich...
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other...
state to the German Empire in 1871, the title was renamed to Reichskanzler (meaning "Imperial Chancellor"). With Germany'sconstitution of 1949, the title...
Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (German: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire...
the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990). The colours black-white-red appeared for the first time in 1867 in the constitution of the NorthGerman Confederation...
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures...
German Confederation was formed in 1815. Formal unification of Germany into the modern nation-state commenced on 18 August 1866 with the NorthGerman...
Under Article 59 (1) of the Basic Law (GermanConstitution), the president represents the Federal Republic of Germany in matters of international law, concludes...
The German Confederation (German: Deutscher Bund, German pronunciation: [ˌdɔɪ̯t͡ʃɐ ˈbʊnt] ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign...
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution...
German Reich (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from German: Deutsches Reich, pronounced [ˌdɔʏtʃəs ˈʁaɪç] ) was the constitutional name for the German...
obliged to join the North German Federation. However it obtained an opt-out in the form of Article 34 of the NorthGermanconstitution, which stated that Hamburg...
a constitution for the NorthGerman Confederation on 1 July 1867. This Confederation, a federal state, was expanded in 1870–71 with the south German states...
The term "Lesser Germany" (German: Kleindeutschland, pronounced [ˌklaɪ̯nˈdɔɪ̯t͡ʃlant] ) or "Lesser German solution" (German: Kleindeutsche Lösung) denoted...
new constitution of 1 January 1871, following Reichstag and Bundesrat decisions on 9/10 December, transformed the NorthGerman Confederation (German: Norddeutscher...