| German Reich Deutsches Reich | ||||||
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| Motto Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit ("Unity and Justice and Freedom") | ||||||
Weimar Republic after surrender on 11 November 1918
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| Capital | Berlin | |||||
| Languages | German | |||||
| Government | Federal provisional government | |||||
| Head of Government | ||||||
| - | 1918–1919 | Friedrich Ebert | ||||
| - | 1919 | Karl Liebknecht | ||||
| Legislature | Council of the People's Deputies | |||||
| Historical era | German Revolution | |||||
| - | Established | 9 November 1918 | ||||
| - | End of the Great War | 11 November 1918 | ||||
| - | Communist takeover and disestablishment | 7 January 1919 | ||||
| - | Establishment of soviet republic | 14 May 1919 | ||||
| Currency | Papiermark | |||||
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The Weimar Republic (German: Weimarer Republik), officially named the German Reich (German: Deutsches Reich), was the short-lived government of Germany from 1918 to 1919, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic (German: Deutsche Republik). The nation's informal name is derived from the city of Weimar, which hosted the constituent assembly that established its government. The term "Weimar Republic" was first used in German history books in the 1920s, and has since been used to call the short-lived provisional government of 1918-1919.
Following the devastation of the Great War (1914–1918), Germany was exhausted and sued for peace in desperate circumstances. Awareness of imminent defeat sparked a revolution, the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, formal surrender to the Allies, and the proclamation of the provisional Weimar Republic on 9 November 1918 lead by Friedrich Ebert. However, a power struggle between Social Democrats and Communists within the government emerged, as they fought for dominance over the government. Ebert believed in a social-democratic Germany with multi-party elections, while the communists believed that a communist lifestyle would benefit the country after the imperial regime's failures.
In January 1919, the power struggle triggered a major uprising in Berlin lead by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, which successfully overthrew the Ebert government, and Liebknecht established himself as the leader of the provisional government, which continued to exist until 14 May 1919, when he officially proclaimed the German Soviet Republic.