View source for Friedrich Ebert

{{short description|President of Germany from 1919 to 1925}}
{{for-multi|Ebert's son, a leading politician in East Germany|Friedrich Ebert Jr.|the German bibliographer and librarian|Friedrich Adolf Ebert}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name         = Friedrich Ebert
| image        = Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00015, Friedrich Ebert(cropped).jpg
| caption      = Ebert in 1925
| office       = [[President of Germany (1919–1945)|President of Germany]]
| term_start   = 11 February 1919
| term_end     = 28 February 1925
| 1blankname   = {{longitem|Minister&nbsp;President<br />{{nobold|(1919)}}}}
| 1namedata    = [[Philipp Scheidemann]]<br />[[Gustav Bauer]]
| 2blankname   = {{longitem|Chancellor<br />{{nobold|(1919–1925)}}}}
| 2namedata    = {{ubl|Gustav Bauer|[[Hermann Müller (politician, born 1876)|Hermann Müller]]|[[Constantin Fehrenbach]]|[[Joseph Wirth]]|[[Wilhelm Cuno]]|[[Gustav Stresemann]]|[[Wilhelm Marx]]|[[Hans Luther]]}}
| predecessor  = [[German revolution of 1918–1919|''Office established'']]<br>[[Wilhelm II]] (as [[German Emperor|Emperor]])
| successor    = [[Paul von Hindenburg]]
| office1      = Head of the [[Council of the People's Deputies]]
| term_label1  = ''De facto''
| term_start1  = 9 November 1918
| term_end1    = 13 February 1919
| predecessor1 = [[Prince Maximilian of Baden|Max von Baden]]<BR>(as Chancellor)
| successor1   = Philipp Scheidemann {{nowrap|(as Minister President)}}
| office2      = [[Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany|Leader of the Social Democratic Party]]
| term_start2  = 20 September 1913
| term_end2    = 15 June 1919
| predecessor2 = [[August Bebel]]
| successor2   = {{ubl|Hermann Müller|[[Otto Wels]]}}
| office3      = Member of the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]]<br />for [[Düsseldorf (region)|Düsseldorf 2]]
| term_start3  = 7 February 1912
| term_end3    = 9 November 1918
| predecessor3 = Friedrich Linz
| successor3   = ''Constituency abolished''
| birth_date   = 4 February 1871
| birth_place  = [[Heidelberg]], [[Grand Duchy of Baden]], Germany
| death_date   = {{death date and age|df=yes|1925|2|28|1871|2|4}}
| death_place  = Berlin, Germany
| party        = [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Louise Ebert|Louise Rump]]|9 May 1894}}
| children     = 5, including [[Friedrich Ebert Jr.|Friedrich Jr.]]
| signature    = Friedrich Ebert Signature.svg
| module       = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Friedrich Ebert speech 1919-8-21.ogg|title=Friedrich Ebert's voice|type=speech|description=Recorded 21 August 1919}}
}}
'''Friedrich Ebert''' ({{IPA|de|ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈeːbɐt||De-Friedrich Ebert.ogg}}; 4 February 1871{{spaced ndash}}28 February 1925) was a German politician of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD) who served as the first [[President of Germany (1919–1945)|president of Germany]] from 1919 until his death in 1925.

Ebert was elected leader of the SPD on the death in 1913 of [[August Bebel]]. In 1914, shortly after he assumed leadership, the party became deeply divided over Ebert's support of war loans to finance the German war effort in [[World War I]]. A moderate [[social democrat]], Ebert was in favour of the ''[[Burgfriedenspolitik|Burgfrieden]]'', a political policy that sought to suppress discord over domestic issues among political parties in order to concentrate all forces in society on the conclusion of the war effort. He tried to isolate those in the party opposed to war and advocated a split.

Ebert was a pivotal figure in the [[German revolution of 1918–1919]]. When Germany became a republic at the end of World War I, he became its first chancellor. His policies at that time were primarily aimed at restoring justice and order in Germany and suppressing the left. To accomplish these goals, he allied himself with conservative and nationalistic political forces, in particular the leadership of the military under General [[Wilhelm Groener]] and the right-wing ''[[Freikorps]]''. With their help, the [[Weimar Republic|Reich]] government which Ebert headed crushed a number of socialist, communist and anarchist uprisings as well as those from the right, including the [[Kapp Putsch]], a legacy that has made him a controversial historical figure.

==Early life==
[[File:Friedrichebert1890.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Ebert in 1890]]
Ebert was born in [[Heidelberg]] in the [[Grand Duchy of Baden]], on 4 February 1871, shortly after the creation of the [[German Empire]], the seventh of nine children of the tailor Karl Ebert (1834–1892) and his wife Katharina (''née'' Hinkel; 1834–1897). Three of his siblings died at a young age.<ref name="DHM">{{cite web |last=Albrecht |first=Kai-Britt |date=14 September 2014 |title=Friedrich Ebert |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/biografie/friedrich-ebert |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=9 November 2024 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |publisher= |language=de}}</ref><ref name="Bio">{{cite web |last=Kotowski |first=Georg |date=1959 |title=Ebert, Friedrich |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118528610.html#ndbcontent |access-date=2 August 2013 |website=Neue Deutsche Biographie 4 |publisher=Bayerische Nationalbibliothek}}</ref><ref name="Stiftung Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte">{{cite web |title=Friedrich Ebert: Leben |trans-title=Friedrich Ebert: Life 1871–1888 |url=http://www.ebert-gedenkstaette.de/pb/,Lde/Startseite/Friedrich+Ebert/1871_1888.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030184724/http://www.ebert-gedenkstaette.de/pb/,Lde/Startseite/Friedrich+Ebert/1871_1888.html |archive-date=30 October 2016 |access-date=30 October 2016 |publisher=Stiftung Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte |language=de}}</ref> Although he wanted to attend university, this proved impossible due to his family's lack of funds.<ref name="Gestalten">{{cite book |title=Geschichte in Gestalten 1 A-E |publisher=Fischer |year=1963 |editor-last=Herzfeld |editor-first=Hans |location=Frankfurt |pages=335–336 |language=de |trans-title=History in Biographies 1 A–E}}</ref> Instead, he trained as a saddle-maker from 1885 to 1888.<ref name="DHM"/> After he became a [[journeyman]] in 1889 he travelled, according to the German custom, from place to place in Germany, seeing the country and learning fresh details of his trade. In [[Mannheim]], he was introduced by an uncle to the [[History of the Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]], joining it in 1889.<ref name="Gestalten"/><ref name="Harenberg">{{cite book |title=Harenberg Personenlexikon: Ebert, Friedrich |publisher=Harenberg Lexikon Verlag |year=2000 |isbn=978-3-611-00893-1 |location=Dortmund |pages=274–275 |language=de}}</ref> Although Ebert studied the writings of [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]], he was less interested in ideology than in practical and organisational issues that would improve the lot of the workers then and there.<ref name="Gestalten"/> Ebert was placed on a police "black list" due to his political activities, so he kept changing his place of residence. Between 1889 and 1891, he lived in [[Kassel]], [[Braunschweig]], Elberfeld-Barmen, [[Remscheid]], [[Quakenbrück]] and [[Bremen]], where he founded and chaired local chapters of the Association of Saddlers.<ref name="DHM"/>

After settling in Bremen in 1891, Ebert made a living doing odd jobs.<ref name="DHM"/> In 1893, he obtained an editorial post on the socialist ''Bremer Bürgerzeitung''. In May 1894, he married Louise Rump (1873–1955), daughter of a manual labourer, who had been employed as a housemaid and in labelling boxes and who was active in union work.<ref name="DHM"/><ref name="FES">{{cite web |title=Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925).Vom Arbeiterführer zum Reichspräsidenten |trans-title=Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925). From Workers' Leader to Reich President |url=http://www.fes.de/fulltext/historiker/00211005.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807065030/http://www.fes.de/fulltext/historiker/00211005.htm |archive-date=7 August 2013 |access-date=23 July 2013 |publisher=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung |language=de}}</ref> He then became a pub owner that became a centre of socialist and union activity and was elected party chairman of the Bremen SPD.<ref name="DHM"/> In 1900, Ebert was appointed a union secretary and elected a member of the ''[[Bürgerschaft of Bremen|Bremer Bürgerschaft]]'' (city and state assembly) as the representative of the Social Democratic Party.<ref name=eb>{{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Ebert, Friedrich}}</ref> In 1904, Ebert presided over the national convention of the party in Bremen and became better known to a wider public.<ref name="DHM"/> He became a leader of the "moderate" wing of the Social Democratic Party and in 1905 Secretary-General of the SPD, at which point he moved to Berlin.<ref name="Gestalten"/> At the time, he was the youngest member of the party executive.<ref name="FES"/>

[[File:Friedrichebert1898.jpg|thumb|right|Ebert with his wife Louise and their children, from left to right: Friedrich, Georg and Heinrich (Christmas 1898)]]
Meanwhile, Ebert had run for a seat in the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|''Reichstag'']] (parliament of Germany) several times in constituencies where the SPD had no chance of winning: 1898 [[Vechta]] ([[Grand Duchy of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]]), 1903 and 1906 [[Stade]] ([[Province of Hanover]]).<ref name="FES"/> However, in 1912, he was elected to the ''Reichstag'' for the constituency of Elberfeld-Barmen (today part of [[Wuppertal]]).<ref name="DHM"/> This was the election that also made the SPD the strongest party in the ''Reichstag'' with 110 out of a total of 397 members, surpassing the [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]]. On the death of August Bebel on 13 August 1913, Ebert was elected as joint party chairman at the convention in [[Jena]] on 20 September with 433 out of 473 votes.<ref name="Gestalten"/><ref name="Harenberg"/> His co-chairman was [[Hugo Haase]].<ref name="DHM"/>

==World War I==
When the [[July Crisis]] of 1914 erupted, Ebert was on vacation. After war was declared in early August, Ebert travelled to [[Zurich]] with party treasurer [[Otto Braun]] and the SPD's money to be in a position to build up a foreign organisation if the SPD should be outlawed in the German Empire. He returned on 6 August and led the SPD ''Reichstag'' members to vote almost unanimously in favour of war loans, accepting that the war was a necessary patriotic, defensive measure, especially against the autocratic regime of the Tsar in [[Russian Empire|Russia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pikart |first=Eberhard |date=1966 |title=Der deutsche Reichstag und der Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs |trans-title=The German Reichstag and the Outbreak of the First World War |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43639554 |journal=Der Staat |language=de |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=58 ff |jstor=43639554 }}</ref> In January 1916, Haase resigned.<ref name="DHM"/> Under the leadership of Ebert and other "moderates" such as [[Philipp Scheidemann]], the SPD party participated in the ''[[Burgfrieden]]'', an agreement among the political parties in the ''Reichstag'' to suppress domestic policy differences for the duration of the war in order to concentrate the energies of the country solely on bringing the conflict to a successful conclusion for Germany. This positioned the party in favour of the war with the aim of a compromise peace, a stance that eventually led to a split in the SPD, with those radically opposed to the war leaving the SPD in early 1917 to form the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany]], or USPD. Similar policy disputes caused Ebert to end his parliamentary alliance with several left-wing members of the ''Reichstag'' and start to work closely with the Centre Party and the [[German Progress Party|Progress Party]] in 1916.<ref name="Gestalten"/> Later those kicked out by Ebert called themselves "[[Spartacus League|Spartacists]]".

Beginning in 1916, Ebert shared the leadership of his ''Reichstag'' delegates with Scheidemann.<ref name="Gestalten"/> Although he opposed a policy of territorial gains secured through military conquest on the western front (aside from Luxembourg which was German speaking and could be easily incorporated), Ebert supported the war effort overall as a defensive struggle.<ref name="Gestalten"/> Ebert experienced the traumatic loss of having two of his four sons killed in the war: Heinrich died in February 1917 in Macedonia, whereas Georg was killed in action in May 1917 in France.<ref name="FES"/> In June 1917, a delegation of social democrats led by Ebert travelled to Stockholm for talks with socialists from other countries about a conference that would have sought to end the war without any annexations of territory on the western front except for Luxembourg and giving back most of Alsace and Loraine with blessings from the German government. The initiative failed, however.<ref name="FES"/>

In January 1918, when the workers in munition factories in Berlin went on strike, Ebert joined the strike leadership but worked hard to get the strikers back to work.<ref name="Gestalten"/> He was pilloried by some from the left as a "traitor to the working class" and by others from the right as a "traitor to the fatherland".<ref name="DHM"/>

==Revolution of 1918–19==
{{Main|German Revolution of 1918–1919}}

===Parliamentarisation===
When it became clear that the war was lost in late summer and fall of 1918, First Quartermaster General [[Erich Ludendorff]] of the military [[Oberste Heeresleitung|Supreme Command (OHL)]],pushed for the "parliamentarisation" of the German Empire, i.e. a transfer of power to those parties that held the majority in the Reichstag (SPD, Centre Party and Progress Party). The goal was to shift the blame for the military defeat from the OHL to the politicians of the majority parties.<ref name="Haffner">{{cite book |last=Haffner |first=Sebastian |title=Die deutsche Revolution 1918/19 |publisher=Kindler |year=2002 |isbn=3-463-40423-0 |location=Berlin |language=de}}</ref>{{rp|25–26}}

[[File:Paul von Hintze 1915.jpg|thumb|right|Paul von Hintze in 1915]]
On 29 September 1918, Ludendorff suddenly informed [[Paul von Hintze]], the German Foreign Minister, that the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] could collapse at any moment and that a ceasefire had to be negotiated without delay. However, he suggested that the request for the ceasefire should come from a new government sanctioned by the Reichstag majority. In his view, a "revolution from above" was needed. Chancellor [[Georg von Hertling]] and Emperor [[Wilhelm II]] agreed, although the former resigned.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|36–40}} Scheidemann and a majority of SPD deputies were opposed to joining "a bankrupt enterprise", but Ebert convinced his party, arguing that "we must throw ourselves into the breach" and "it is our damned duty to do it".<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|44–45}} In early October, the Emperor appointed a liberal, [[Prince Maximilian of Baden]], as chancellor to lead peace negotiations with the Allies. The new government for the first time included ministers from the SPD: Philipp Scheidemann and [[Gustav Bauer]]. The request for a ceasefire went out on 4 October.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|44}} On 5 October, the government informed the German public about these events. However, there was then a delay, as the American President Wilson initially refused to agree to the ceasefire. His diplomatic notes seemed to indicate that the changes to the German government were insufficient and the fact that Wilhelm II remained head of state was a particular obstacle.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|52–53}} Ebert did not favour exchanging the monarchy for a republic, but like many others, he was worried about the danger of a socialist revolution, which seemed more likely with every day that passed. On 28 October, the [[German constitutional reforms of October 1918|constitution was changed]] to make the chancellor dependent on the confidence of the Reichstag rather than the emperor. At that point, the majority parties of the Reichstag, including Ebert's SPD, were quite satisfied with the state of affairs; what they wanted was a period of calm to deal with the issue of negotiating an armistice and a peace treaty.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Sturm |first=Reinhard |date=23 December 2011 |title=Vom Kaiserreich zur Republik 1918/19. Revolution von unten |trans-title=From Empire to Republic 1918/19. Revolution from below |url=https://www.bpb.de/themen/nationalsozialismus-zweiter-weltkrieg/dossier-nationalsozialismus/168748/vom-kaiserreich-zur-republik-1918-19/#node-content-title-5 |access-date=1 November 2024 |website=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung |language=de}}</ref>

===November Revolution===
The plans of the new German government were thrown into disarray when a confrontation between officers and crews on board the German fleet at [[Wilhelmshaven]] on 30 October set in motion a train of events that would result in the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]] that spread over a substantial part of the country over the next week.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|59–72}} Against that backdrop, the SPD led by Ebert on 7 November demanded a more powerful voice in the cabinet, an extension of parliamentarism to [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] and the renunciation of the throne by both the Emperor and his oldest son, Crown Prince [[Wilhelm, German Crown Prince|Wilhelm]]. Ebert had favoured retaining the monarchy under a different ruler, but told Prince Max von Baden, "If the Emperor does not abdicate, the social revolution is inevitable. But I do not want it, I even hate it like sin."<ref>{{cite web |title=Friedrich Ebert: Leben 1918–1919 |trans-title=Friedrich Ebert: Life 1918–1919 |url=http://www.ebert-gedenkstaette.de/ebert_leben1918.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718232941/http://www.ebert-gedenkstaette.de/ebert_leben1918.html |archive-date=18 July 2011 |access-date=30 October 2016 |publisher=Stiftung Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte |language=de}}</ref> On the left, the Spartacists (numbering around 100 in Berlin) and a group of around 80 to 100 popular labour leaders from Berlin known as [[Revolutionary Stewards]] prepared for a communist revolution in the capital.<ref name=":0" />

On 9 November, the revolution reached Berlin as the larger companies were hit by a general strike called by the Spartacists and the Revolutionary Stewards, but also supported by the SPD and the mainstream unions. [[German workers' and soldiers' councils 1918–1919|Workers' and soldiers' councils]] were created, and important buildings occupied. As the striking masses marched on the centre of Berlin, the SPD, afraid of losing its influence on the revolution, announced that it was resigning from the government of Prince Max.<ref name=":0" />

Meanwhile, Prince Max had failed to convince Emperor Wilhelm II, who was at the army headquarters at [[Spa, Belgium]], of the need to abdicate. Wilhelm had resigned himself to the loss of the imperial crown, but still thought he could remain king of Prussia. However, under the imperial constitution, the imperial crown was tied to the Prussian crown. When Max failed to convince him of the unreality of giving up one crown and not the other, he unilaterally and untruthfully announced that Wilhelm had in fact abdicated both titles and that the Crown Prince had agreed to relinquish his right of succession.<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp||pages=87–92}} The following morning Wilhelm went into exile the Netherlands, where he signed a formal abdication statement on 28 November.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Piper |first=Ernst |date=24 August 2018 |title=Deutsche Revolution |trans-title=German Revolution |url=https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/izpb/info-aktuell/274840/deutsche-revolution/ |access-date=2 November 2024 |website=Bundeszentral für politische Bildung (bpb) |language=de}}</ref>

Shortly after Prince Max's announcement, the SPD leadership arrived at the chancellery and Ebert asked the chancellor to hand over the government to him.<ref name=":0" /> After a short meeting of the cabinet, Prince Max resigned and, in a move that was unconstitutional because only the emperor could appoint a chancellor, handed his office over to Ebert, who thus became chancellor of Germany and minister president of Prussia. He was the first socialist, the second politician and the second commoner to hold either office.<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|87}} Ebert left the government of Prince Max mostly unchanged but appointed SPD members as Prussian Minister of War and military commander of the Berlin area.<ref name=":0" />

Ebert's first action as chancellor was to issue a series of proclamations asking the people to remain calm, stay out of the streets and to restore peace and order. It failed to work. Ebert then had lunch with Scheidemann at the Reichstag and, when given the opportunity to do so, refused to speak to the masses gathered outside. Scheidemann however seized upon the opportunity,<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|88–90}} and in hopes of forestalling whatever the Communist leader [[Karl Liebknecht]] planned to tell his followers at the former royal palace, [[Proclamation of the republic in Germany|proclaimed Germany a republic]]. A furious Ebert promptly reproached him: "You have no right to proclaim the Republic!" By this he meant that the decision on the form of government was to be left to an elected national assembly.<ref name=":0" /> Later that day, Ebert asked Prince Max to stay on as regent, but was refused.<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|90}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-074-08, Volksbeauftragte Landsberg, Scheidemann, Noske, Ebert, Wissell.jpg|thumb|right|People's Deputies [[Otto Landsberg]], [[Philipp Scheidemann]], [[Gustav Noske]], Friedrich Ebert and [[Rudolf Wissell]] after the USPD had left the Council at the end of 1918]]
An entirely socialist provisional government based on workers' and soldiers' councils was about to take power under Ebert's leadership. It was called the [[Council of the People's Deputies]]. Ebert found himself in a quandary. He had succeeded in bringing the SPD to power, and he was in a position to put into law social reforms and improve the lot of the working class. Yet as a result of the revolution, he and his party were forced to share power with those on the left with whom he fundamentally disagreed: the Spartacists and the Independent Social Democrats (USPD).<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|96}} In the afternoon of 9 November, he grudgingly asked the USPD to nominate three ministers for the future government. That evening a group of several hundred followers of the Revolutionary Stewards occupied the [[Reichstag building]] and held an impromptu debate. They called for the election of workers' and soldiers' councils the next day with an eye to naming a provisional government.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|100–103}} In order to keep control of events and against his own anti-revolutionary convictions, Ebert decided that he needed to control the workers' councils and thus become the leader of the revolution while at the same time serving as the formal head of the German government.

On 10 November, the SPD, led by Ebert, managed to ensure that a majority of the newly elected workers' and soldiers' councils came from among their own supporters. Meanwhile, the USPD agreed to work with him and share power in the Council of the People's Deputies, the new revolutionary government. Ebert announced the pact between the two socialist parties to the assembled councils who were eager for a unified socialist front and approved the parity of three members each coming from SPD and USPD.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|109–119}} Ebert and Haase (USPD) were to be the joint chairmen.<ref name="DHM"/> The same day, Ebert received a telephone call from OHL chief of staff [[Wilhelm Groener]], who offered to cooperate with him. According to Groener, he promised Ebert the loyalty of the military in exchange for some demands: that Ebert fight [[Bolshevism]], end the system of workers' and soldiers' councils, call a national assembly and return the country to a state of law and order. In return Ebert promised that command of the troops would stay with the officer corps. Hindenburg remained head of the OHL to ensure and orderly return of the army.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scriba |first=Arnulf |date=15 August 2015 |title=Ebert-Groener-Pakt |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/revolution-191819/ebert-groener-pakt |access-date=3 November 2024 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref><ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|120}} This initiated a regular communication between the two that involved daily telephone conversations over a secret line, according to Groener.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|121}} The agreement between the two became known as the [[Ebert–Groener pact]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2006 |title=The November revolution, 1918/1919 |url=https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/189772/8b9e17bd8d64e64c8e3a95fc2305e132/november_revolution-data.pdf |access-date=3 November 2024 |website=Deutscher Bundestag}}</ref>

In domestic policy, a number of social reforms were quickly introduced by the Council of the People's Deputies under Ebert's leadership, including unemployment benefits,<ref name="google2">{{cite book|title=A Week in May 1940 & the Pencilled Message|author=McEntee-Taylor, C.|date=2011|publisher=Createspace Independent Pub|isbn=9781466442931|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeG-zfPwHu4C|page=330}}</ref> the eight-hour workday, universal suffrage for everyone over the age of 20,<ref name="google2"/> the right of farmhands to organise,<ref name="google3">{{cite book |author=Fischer, R.P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iFkgDNQazwC |title=Stalin and German Communism |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1948 |isbn=978-1-412-83501-5 |location=Cambridge |page=296}}</ref> and increases in workers' old-age, sick and unemployment benefits.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watt |first=Richard M. |url=https://archive.org/details/kingsdeparttrage0000watt_v2f8/page/219/mode/2up |title=The Kings Depart: The Tragedy of Germany: Versailles and the German Revolution |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1930 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/kingsdeparttrage0000watt_v2f8/page/219/mode/2up] |url-access=registration}}</ref>
===Violence in Berlin===
In the turbulent early weeks of the revolution, Ebert and the leadership of the SPD sided with the conservative and nationalistic elements in German society (civil servants, armed forces, police, judiciary) against the forces that wanted a more radical revolution.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|129}} The majority of the members of the workers' and soldiers' councils also viewed themselves as supporters of the government rather than of the Spartacists, the only group that wanted a dictatorship of the workers.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|130}} Ebert and Groener worked out a plan to restore order in Berlin by having army units returning from the Western Front move in and disarm all paramilitary forces from 10 to 15 December. In a speech to the returning troops, Ebert told them in words that "appeared to justify the [[stab-in-the-back myth]]":<ref>{{Cite book |last=Winkler |first=Heinrich August |author-link=Heinrich August Winkler |title=Weimar 1918–1933. Die Geschichte der ersten deutschen Demokratie |publisher=C.H. Beck |year=1993 |isbn=3-406-37646-0 |location=Munich |page=50 |language=de |trans-title=Weimar 1918–1933. The History of the First German Democracy}}</ref><blockquote>No enemy has overcome you. It was only when the superior numbers of our opponents in men and material became increasingly oppressive that we gave up the fight. And it was precisely in view of your heroic courage that it was our duty not to call for further futile sacrifices from you. ... You will not find our state as you left it. Something new has emerged: German freedom has arisen. The old rule, which lay like a curse on our actions, has been shaken off by the German people. They have made themselves masters of their own destiny. Above all, the hopes of German freedom rest on you. ... No one suffered more than you from the injustice of the old regime. We thought of you when we did away with a disastrous system; we fought for freedom for you; we won the right to work for you.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friedrich Ebert, "Ansprache an die Heimkehrenden Truppen" (10. Dezember 1918) |trans-title=Friedrich Ebert, "Address to Returning Troops" (December 10, 1918) |url=https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4016&language=german |access-date=4 November 2024 |website=German History in Documents and Images (GHDI)}}</ref></blockquote>After the ten divisions had arrived, however, rather than remaining as a cohesive force, they dispersed to their homes.<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|132–134}}  

On 16 December, the [[German workers' and soldiers' councils 1918–1919#Reich Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils|Reich Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils]] met in Berlin and set the date for elections to the [[Weimar National Assembly|National Assembly]] for 19 January 1919. It also passed a resolution that was aimed at ensuring that the military would be under the strict control of the civilian government and called for a powerful position of the soldiers' councils vis-à-vis the professional officer corps. This was unacceptable to the leaders of the military, and the OHL began to establish volunteer regiments in the Berlin area.<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|136–138}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1970-051-65, Kapp-Putsch, Berlin.jpg|thumb|right|Freikorps supporting the [[Kapp Putsch]] in March 1920, at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin]]
Fighting erupted on 24 December in central Berlin. Today this episode is known as the [[1918 Christmas crisis]]. On 23 December, dissatisfied members of the revolutionary [[Volksmarinedivision|People's Navy Division]] occupied the chancellery and put the Peoples' Deputies under house arrest. Ebert asked the OHL for help over the phone, and troops assembled on the outskirts of the capital. During the night, Ebert ordered the troops to attack, which they did in the morning of 24 December. When the fighting stopped in the afternoon, the People's Navy forces held the field, and they returned to their barracks, ending the crisis.<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|139–147}} As a result of the event, which Karl Liebknecht called "Ebert's Bloody Christmas" because it had cost 67 lives, the USPD members left the Council of the Peoples' Deputies on 29 December. The next day, SPD members Gustav Noske and [[Rudolf Wissell]] took their place, and from that point on, government communiques were signed {{Lang|de|Reichsregierung}} (i.e. federal government) instead of "Council of the Peoples' Deputies".<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|151–152}} At the same time, the Spartacists severed their remaining links with the USPD and set themselves up as the [[Communist Party of Germany]] (KPD).<ref name="Haffner" />{{rp|152}}

On 5 January 1919, the USPD and KPD called for demonstrations to protest the dismissal of the head of the Berlin police, who was a USPD member, for supporting the revolutionary sailors during the Christmas uprising. The demonstration grew into the [[Spartacist uprising]], which had the goal of replacing the national government with a council republic.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scriba |first=Arnulf |date=1 September 2014 |title=Der Januaraufstand 1919 |trans-title=The January Uprising 1919 |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/revolution-191819/januaraufstand-1919.html |access-date=2 January 2024 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref> After Ebert's negotiations with the insurgents broke down, his major concern was with maintaining internal peace. He ordered the rebellion to be quashed, and Gustav Noske, who was in charge of the Army and Navy, used both regular forces and [[Freikorps]] units to bring the uprising to an end. Around 170 people lost their lives, including KPD leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, who were murdered extrajudicially by the Freikorps.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friedrich Ebert – Biographie |url=https://www.fes.de/stiftung/friedrich-ebert/friedrich-ebert-biographie |access-date=2 January 2024 |website=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung |language=de}}</ref> 

==President of Germany (1919–1925)==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1973-076-58, Reichskanzler Cuno und Reichspräsident Ebert.jpg|thumb|right|Ebert, right, with Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno (1923)]]
In the [[1919 German presidential election|first German presidential election]], held on 11 February 1919, five days after the National Assembly convened in [[Weimar]], Ebert was elected provisional president of the [[Weimar Republic|German Republic]] by the members of the assembly.<ref name="Kolb2005">{{cite book|last=Kolb|first=Eberhard|title=The Weimar Republic|year=2005|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415344418|page=226}}</ref> He remained in the position after the new constitution came into force and was sworn in as president of Germany on 21 August 1919.<ref name="DHM"/> He was Germany's first-ever democratically elected head of state, and was also the first commoner, the first social democrat, the first civilian, and the first person from a proletarian background to hold the position. In the life of the unified German Reich from 1871 to 1945, he was also the only head of state who was unequivocally committed to democracy.<ref name="FES"/>

[[File:Frederic-le-Gros-(1919).jpg|thumb|right|Ebert caricatured by [[Oskar Garvens]] as "Frederic le Gros" in the nationalist magazine [[Kladderadatsch|''Kladderdatsch'']], 1919]]
One of Ebert's first tasks as president was to deal with the [[Treaty of Versailles]]. When the treaty's terms became public on 7 May 1919, it was cursed by Germans of all political shades as an onerous "dictated peace", particularly because Germany had essentially been handed the treaty and told to sign without any negotiations. Ebert himself denounced the treaty as "unrealizable and unbearable".{{sfn|Shirer|1990|p=57}} However, Ebert was well aware of the possibility that Germany would not be in a position to reject the treaty. He believed that the Allies would invade Germany from the west if Germany refused to sign. To appease public opinion, he asked Hindenburg if the army was capable of holding out if the Allies renewed hostilities. He promised to urge rejection of the treaty if there was even the remote possibility that the army could make a stand. Hindenburg, with some prodding from Groener, concluded that the army was not capable of resuming the war even on a limited scale. Rather than tell Ebert himself, he dispatched Groener to telephone the Army's conclusion to the president. The National Assembly approved the treaty by a large majority on 24 June.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pinson |first=Koppel S. |title=Modern Germany: Its History and Civilization |publisher=Macmillan |year=1964 |isbn=0881334340 |edition=13th |pages=397 f}}</ref>{{sfn|Shirer|1990|pp=58–59}}
[[File:Mass demonstration in front of the Reichstag against the Treaty of Versailles.jpg|thumb|left|Demonstration against the Treaty of Versailles in front of the [[Reichstag building|Reichstag]], 15 May 1919]]

The government's fight against communist forces and recalcitrant socialists went on after Ebert became president. From January to May 1919, in some areas through the summer, violence continued. Since the 19 January elections had returned a solid majority for the democratic parties (SPD, [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre]], and [[German Democratic Party|DDP]]), Ebert felt that the revolutionary forces had no legitimacy left.<ref name="Haffner"/>{{rp|183–196}} The individual workers' and soldiers' councils across Germany had dissolved by late in the autumn of 1919.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scriba |first=Arnulf |date=15 August 2015 |title=Arbeiter- und Soldatenräte |trans-title=Workers' and Soldiers' Councils |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/revolution-191819/arbeiter-und-soldatenraete.html |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref>

In March 1920, during the right-wing [[Kapp Putsch]] instigated by parts of the [[Reichswehr]], some Freikorps units plus nationalist and monarchist elements, the government, including Ebert, had to flee Berlin. However, a refusal by civil servants to accept the self-declared government and a general strike called by the legitimate cabinet led to the collapse of the putsch.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 May 2013 |title=Kapp Putsch |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Kapp-Putsch |access-date=9 November 2024 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> After it ended, striking workers in the [[Ruhr]] region refused to return to work. Led by members of the USPD and KPD, they presented an armed challenge to the authority of the government. It then sent Reichswehr and Freikorps troops to quell the [[Ruhr uprising]] by force.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wulfert |first=Anja |date=22 January 2002 |title=Der Märzaufstand 1920 |trans-title=The March Uprising 1920 |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/innenpolitik/maerzaufstand-1920.html |access-date=9 November 2024 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref>

To avoid an election campaign at a critical time, the Reichstag extended Ebert's term of office on 24 October 1922 until 30 June 1925, with a majority vote that was sufficient for a change to the constitution.<ref name="DHM"/><ref name="Gestalten"/>

As president, Ebert appointed centre-right figures like [[Wilhelm Cuno]] and [[Hans Luther]] chancellor and made rigorous use of his wide-ranging powers under [[Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)|Article 48]] of the Weimar constitution. For instance, he used it to deal with the Kapp Putsch and the [[Beer Hall Putsch]].<ref name="Gestalten"/> Through 1924, he used the presidency's emergency powers a total of 134 times.<ref name="Krockow">{{cite book |last=von Krockow |first=Christian |title=Die Deutschen in ihrem Jahrhundert 1890–1990 |publisher=Rowohlt |year=1990 |isbn=3498034529 |page=135 |language=de |trans-title=The Germans in their Century 1890–1990}}</ref>{{rp|135}}

==Death and funeral==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H0109-0502-007, Berlin, Trauerzug für verstorbenen Friedrich Ebert.jpg|thumb|left|Ebert's funeral]]
[[File:Ebert-tomb.JPG|thumb|left|Ebert's tomb in [[Heidelberg]]]]
[[File:Germany, Death of Friedrich Ebert Silver Medal by Hummel 1925, obverse.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial medal of the first President of Germany by [[August Hummel]] 1925, obverse]]
Ebert suffered from [[gallstone]]s and frequent bouts of [[cholecystitis]]. Vicious attacks by Ebert's right-wing adversaries, including slander and ridicule, were often condoned or even supported by the judiciary when Ebert sought redress through the court system. The constant necessity to defend himself against those attacks also undermined his health. In December 1924, a court in [[Magdeburg]] fined a journalist who had called Ebert a "traitor to his country" for his role in the January 1918 strike, but the court also said that, in terms of strict legalism, Ebert had in fact committed treason.<ref name="Gestalten"/> These proceedings prevented him from seeking medical help for a while, as he wanted to be available to give evidence.<ref name="Gestalten"/>

Ebert became acutely ill in mid-February 1925 from what was first believed to be influenza. His condition deteriorated over the following two weeks, and at that time he was thought to be suffering from another episode of gallbladder disease.<ref name="EDR1925">{{cite news |date=24 February 1925 |title=German president has appendicitis |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19250224&id=qdQrAAAAIBAJ&pg=6522,2262802 |access-date=9 June 2012 |newspaper=The Evening Record / Ellensburg Daily Record (Associated Press)|page=2}}</ref> He became acutely [[Sepsis|septic]] on the night of 23 February and underwent an emergency [[appendectomy]] (which was performed by [[August Bier]]) in the early hours of the following day for what turned out to be [[appendicitis]].<ref name=EDR1925/> Four days later, he died of [[septic shock]], aged 54.<ref name="Kershaw">{{cite book |last=Kershaw |first=Ian |title=Hitler, 1889–1936: Hubris |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co. |year=1998 |isbn=0393320359 |page=267}}</ref>

Ebert was buried in [[Heidelberg]]. Several high-ranking politicians and a trade union leader made speeches at his funeral, as did a Protestant minister, [[Hermann Maas]], pastor at the [[Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg|Church of the Holy Spirit in Heidelberg]] (which until the 1930s was used by both Lutheran and Catholic congregations). By thus taking part in the obsequies, Maas caused something of a scandal in his church and among political conservatives, because Ebert had been an outspoken atheist (although he was baptised a Catholic, he had officially abandoned Christian observance many years before his last illness).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mühlhausen |first=Walter |title=Friedrich Ebert 1871–1925: Reichspräsident der Weimarer Republik |publisher=Dietz Verlag |year=2006 |isbn=9783801241643 |pages=977 ff |language=de |trans-title=Friedrich Ebert 1871–1925: Reich President of the Weimar Republik}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Keller |first=Werner |title=Die Heiliggeistkirche zu Heidelberg 1398–1998 |publisher=Umschau Buchverlag |year=2001 |isbn=3829563183 |editor-last=Seebaß |editor-first=Gottfried |location=Neustadt An Der Weinstrase |pages=108 ff |language=de |trans-title=The Church of the Holy Spirit at Heidelberg 1398–1998 |chapter=Heiliggeistpfarerr und Brückenbauer |trans-chapter=Hermann Maas – Priest of the Church of the Holy Spirit and Bridge Builder |editor-last2=Sellin |editor-first2=Volker |editor-last3=Gercke |editor-first3=Hans |editor-last4=Keller |editor-first4=Werner |editor-last5=Fischer |editor-first5=Richard}}</ref>

== Historical evaluation ==
[[File:Germany, Death of Friedrich Ebert Silver Medal by Hummel 1925, reverse.jpg|thumb|right|The reverse showing the dates of his birth and of his death]]
Some historians have defended Ebert's actions as unfortunate but inevitable if the creation of a socialist state on the model that had been promoted by [[Rosa Luxemburg]], [[Karl Liebknecht]] and the communist [[Spartacus League]] was to be prevented. German historians who had lived through the Weimar Republic, including [[Sebastian Haffner]], later argued that organized communism was not politically relevant in Germany at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Engelmann |first=Bernt |title=Einig gegen Recht und Freiheit. Deutsches Anti-Geschichtsbuch. 2. Teil |publisher=Bertelsmann |year=1975 |language=de |trans-title=United against Justice and Freedom. German Anti-History Book, Part 2|isbn=3570022625}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=November 2024}} The tolerance of Ebert and his minister of Defence [[Gustav Noske]] with regards to violence on German streets, so long as the pro-government ''[[Freikorps]]'' were involved, has been detailed by historians in the context of increasing support for fascist ideas.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Mark Jones |title=Founding Weimar: Violence and the German Revolution of 1918–1919 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9781107115125 |pages=18–19 }}</ref>

Friedrich Ebert is credited with founding the ''German Republic'' between February and August 1919 in Weimar quite deliberately so that the other nation states knew, there was a Germany not devoted to [[militarism]]. As historians have stressed, [[Weimar]] in [[Thuringia]], did provide parliamentarians with security assurance Berlin could not provide. Friedrich Ebert linked the "spririt of Weimar" with building "the new Germany". Ebert's social democrat comrade [[Philipp Scheidemann]] agreed, pointing out that Weimar was the "city of Goethe".<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Heinrich August Winkler |title=Germany: 1789–1933 |publisher= Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780199265978 |page=354 }}</ref> Ebert formed the Weimar Republic government with three [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] and three [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|USPD]] ministers. [[Shop steward]]s reconvened the workers' councils (Räte) at a congress in Berlin and declared that Ebert's government was merely a ''Council of People's Commissioners'' answerable to the workers' councils. Historians emphasize, that Ebert was only able to end the [[state of emergency]] in Germany by granting all political offenders an amnesty.<ref>{{Cite book |editor1=Eva Kolinsky |editor2=Wilfried van der Will |title=The Cambridge Companion to Modern German Culture |year=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139825535}}</ref>

In Ebert's opinion only 'reforms', not a revolution, could advance the causes of democracy and socialism. He therefore has been called a traitor by leftists, who argue that he paved the way for the ascendancy of the far right and even of [[Adolf Hitler]]. Conservatives, who think his policies were justified, claim that he saved Germany from [[soviet]] excesses.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bosen |first1=Ralf |date=4 February 2021 |title=Friedrich Ebert: Germany's pioneer of democracy |url=https://www.dw.com/en/friedrich-ebert-at-150-germanys-pioneer-of-democracy/a-56447749 |access-date=12 November 2024 |publisher=DW News Deutsche Welle}}</ref>

== Literature ==
* Wolfgang Abendroth: "Friedrich Ebert". In: Wilhelm von Sternburg: ''Die deutschen Kanzler. Von Bismarck bis Kohl.'' Aufbau-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Berlin 1998, {{ISBN|3746680328}}, pp.&nbsp;145–159.
* ''Friedrich Ebert. Sein Leben, sein Werk, seine Zeit.'' Begleitband zur ständigen Ausstellung in der Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte, edited by Walter Mühlhausen. Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg 1999, {{ISBN|3933257034}}.
* Köhler, Henning: ''Deutschland auf dem Weg zu sich selbst. Eine Jahrhundertgeschichte.'' Hohenheim Verlag, Stuttgart/Leipzig 2002, {{ISBN|3898500578}}.
* [[Eberhard Kolb]] (ed.): ''Friedrich Ebert als Reichspräsident – Amtsführung und Amtsverständnis.'' Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München 1997, {{ISBN|3486561073}}.<ref name="google17">{{cite book|title=Friedrich Ebert als Reichspräsident: Amtsführung und Amtsverständnis|author=Kolb, E.|date=1997|publisher=de Gruyter|isbn=9783486561074|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Naisct7EWgC&pg=PA307|page=307|access-date=26 January 2017}}</ref> Containing:
** Richter, Ludwig: ''Der Reichspräsident bestimmt die Politik und der Reichskanzler deckt sie: Friedrich Ebert und die Bildung der Weimarer Koalition.''
** Mühlhausen, Walter: ''Das Büro des Reichspräsidenten in der politischen Auseinandersetzung.''
** Kolb, Eberhard: ''Vom "vorläufigen" zum definitiven Reichspräsidenten. Die Auseinandersetzung um die "Volkswahl" des Reichspräsidenten 1919–1922.''
** Braun, Bernd: ''Integration kraft Repräsentation – Der Reichspräsident in den Ländern.''
** Hürten, Heinz: ''Reichspräsident und Wehrpolitik. Zur Praxis der Personalauslese.''
** Richter, Ludwig: ''Das präsidiale Notverordnungsrecht in den ersten Jahren der Weimarer Republik. Friedrich Ebert und die Anwendung des Artikels 48 der Weimarer Reichsverfassung.''
** Mühlhausen, Walter: ''Reichspräsident und Sozialdemokratie: Friedrich Ebert und seine Partei 1919–1925.''
* {{NDB|4|254|256|Friedrich Ebert|Georg Kotowski|118528610}}
* Mühlhausen, Walter:''Friedrich Ebert 1871–1925. Reichspräsident der Weimarer Republik.'' Dietz, Bonn 2006, {{ISBN|3801241645}}. ([http://zeus.zeit.de/text/2007/06/P-Ebert Rezension von Michael Epkenhans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214090657/http://zeus.zeit.de/text/2007/06/P-Ebert |date=14 February 2007 }} In: ''[[Die Zeit]].'' 1 February 2007)
* Mühlhausen, Walter: ''Die Republik in Trauer. Der Tod des ersten Reichspräsidenten Friedrich Ebert.'' Stiftung Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte, Heidelberg 2005, {{ISBN|3928880284}}

== See also ==
* [[President Friedrich Ebert Memorial]]
* [[Friedrich Ebert Foundation]]

== References ==
{{Reflist |30em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin |30em |indent=yes}}
*{{cite book |last=Shirer |first=William |year=1990 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |title-link=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |publisher=Simon & Schuster }}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
*{{in lang|de}} [http://www.ebert-gedenkstaette.de/ President Friedrich Ebert Memorial in Heidelberg]
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Ebert, Friedrich |short=x}}
* {{Librivox author |id=305}}
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/abdication_ebert.htm Friedrich Ebert on the First Post-Imperial German Government, Statement of 10 November 1918]
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/germanassembly_ebert1.htm President Friedrich Ebert's Address to the German Assembly, 7 February 1919]
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/germanassembly_ebert2.htm President Friedrich Ebert's Address to the German Assembly, 11 February 1919]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/004447}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-new|title}}
{{s-ttl | title = Supreme Commander of the {{lang|de|[[Reichswehr]]}} | years = 1919–1925}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Paul von Hindenburg]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Prince Maximilian of Baden|Max von Baden]]|rows=2}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister President of Prussia]] |years=1918}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Paul Hirsch (politician)|Paul Hirsch]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Council of the People's Deputies|Head of Government of Germany]]|years=1918–1919}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Philipp Scheidemann]]}}
{{s-new|title}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of Germany (1919–1945)|President of Germany]] |years=1919–1925}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Paul von Hindenburg]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Paul Hirsch (politician)|Paul Hirsch]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany|Leader of the Social Democratic Party]] |years=1913–1919 |alongside=[[Hugo Haase]], [[Philipp Scheidemann]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hermann Müller (politician, born 1876)|Herman Müller]]<br />[[Otto Wels]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{German presidents}}
{{GermanChancellors}}
{{Prime Ministers of Prussia}}
{{Social democracy}}
{{Social Democratic Party of Germany}}
{{SPDHeads}}
{{Council of the People's Deputies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebert, Friedrich}}
[[Category:1871 births]]
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[[Category:20th-century presidents of Germany]]
[[Category:20th-century chancellors of Germany]]
[[Category:German nationalists]]
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[[Category:Politicians from Heidelberg]]
[[Category:People from the Grand Duchy of Baden]]
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[[Category:Members of the Council of the People's Deputies]]
[[Category:Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire]]
[[Category:Members of the Weimar National Assembly]]
[[Category:Prussian politicians]]
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[[Category:German atheists]]
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