Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution

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Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution was an emergency powers clause that allowed the German president to suspend civil liberties and rule by decree, a mechanism later exploited by the Nazis to dismantle democracy.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf constitutional article
emergency powers provision
adoptedAfter First World War NERFINISHED
affectedRight freedom of assembly
freedom of association
freedom of expression
privacy of postal and telecommunication correspondence
protection against unlawful searches
protection of property
allowedAction deployment of armed forces within Germany
overriding of state governments
rule by presidential decree
suspension of civil liberties
alsoKnownAs Notverordnungsrecht des Reichspräsidenten NERFINISHED
citedAsExampleOf abuse of emergency powers
democratic backsliding through legal means
contrastedWith liberal democratic constitutional safeguards
country Germany NERFINISHED
enactedIn 1919
exploitedBy Adolf Hitler NERFINISHED
National Socialist German Workers Party NERFINISHED
fieldOfStudy Weimar Republic history
comparative constitutionalism
constitutional law
frequentlyUsedBy President Friedrich Ebert NERFINISHED
President Paul von Hindenburg NERFINISHED
grantedPowerTo President of the Weimar Republic NERFINISHED
historicalAssessment considered a key structural weakness of the Weimar Constitution
influencedEvent Nazi seizure of power NERFINISHED
collapse of the Weimar Republic
inForceUntil 1933
jurisdiction Weimar Republic NERFINISHED
language German
legalBasisFor Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 NERFINISHED
legalSystem German constitutional law
partOf Weimar Constitution NERFINISHED
politicalEffect facilitated presidential cabinets ruling without parliamentary majorities
weakened parliamentary democracy in the Weimar Republic
providedCheckBy Reichstag power to revoke emergency decrees
purpose to provide emergency powers to the president of Germany
relatedTo Reichstag Fire Decree NERFINISHED
replacedInPracticeBy Enabling Act of 1933 NERFINISHED
requiredCondition emergency situation in the Reich
existence of serious disturbance or danger to public order and security
requiredNotification Reichstag NERFINISHED
suspendedRightThrough Reichstag Fire Decree NERFINISHED
usedFor centralization of power in the executive
dismantling democratic institutions in Germany
suppression of political opponents

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Reichstag elections of the Weimar Republic affectedBy Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution
Article 48 alsoKnownAs Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution
President of the Reich emergencyPowers Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution
Machtergreifung legalInstrumentUsed Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution
German federal election, 1930 usedEmergencyDecreesUnder Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution