Back يوزيف فيرت Arabic يوزيف فيرت ARZ Josef Virt Azerbaijani Ёзэф Вірт Byelorussian Йозеф Вирт Bulgarian Joseph Wirth Catalan Joseph Wirth Czech Joseph Wirth Danish Joseph Wirth German Joseph Wirth DIQ
Joseph Wirth | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Wirth c. 1920 | |
| Chancellor of Germany (Weimar Republic) | |
| In office 10 May 1921 – 22 November 1922 | |
| President | Friedrich Ebert |
| Deputy | Gustav Bauer |
| Preceded by | Constantin Fehrenbach |
| Succeeded by | Wilhelm Cuno |
| Foreign Minister | |
| Acting 26 October 1921 – 31 January 1922 | |
| Chancellor | Joseph Wirth |
| Preceded by | Friedrich Rosen |
| Succeeded by | Walther Rathenau |
| Acting 24 June 1922 – 22 November 1922 | |
| President | Friedrich Ebert |
| Chancellor | Joseph Wirth |
| Preceded by | Walther Rathenau |
| Succeeded by | Hans von Rosenberg |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 27 March 1920 – 22 October 1921 | |
| Chancellor | Hermann Müller Constantin Fehrenbach Joseph Wirth |
| Preceded by | Matthias Erzberger |
| Succeeded by | Andreas Hermes |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 30 March 1930 – 7 October 1931 | |
| Chancellor | Heinrich Brüning |
| Preceded by | Carl Severing |
| Succeeded by | Wilhelm Groener |
| Minister for the Occupied Territories | |
| In office 13 April 1929 – 27 March 1930 | |
| Chancellor | Hermann Müller |
| Preceded by | Carl Severing |
| Succeeded by | Gottfried Treviranus |
| Member of the Reichstag (Weimar Republic) | |
| In office 1920–1933 | |
| Constituency | National list (1932-1933) Liegnitz (1930-1932) National list (1928-1930) Baden (1920-1928) |
| (German Empire) | |
| In office 1914–1918 | |
| Constituency | Baden 7 |
| Member of the Weimar National Assembly | |
| In office 6 February 1919 – 21 May 1920 | |
| Constituency | Baden |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Karl Joseph Wirth 6 September 1879 Freiburg im Breisgau, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire |
| Died | 3 January 1956 (aged 76) Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany |
| Political party | Zentrum Christian Democratic Union of Germany Alliance of Germans |
Karl Joseph Wirth (German pronunciation: [kaɐ̯l jo:zɛf vɪɐ̯t]; 6 September 1879 – 3 January 1956) was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party who was chancellor of Germany from May 1921 to November 1922, during the early years of the Weimar Republic. He was also minister of four government departments between 1920 and 1931 (Foreign Affairs, Finance, Interior, and Occupied Territories). Wirth was strongly influenced by Christian social teaching throughout his political career.
He was named chancellor in May 1921 when Germany was facing difficult negotiations with the Allies of World War I over German war reparations. Wirth accepted the Allies' conditions and began a policy of fulfilment – an attempt to show that Germany was unable to afford the reparations payments by making the effort to meet them. He resigned after less than six months in protest against the partition of Upper Silesia by the League of Nations and formed a second, minority cabinet a few days later. Following the assassination of Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau by members of a right-wing terrorist group in April 1922, his government attempted to confront political violence with the Law for the Protection of the Republic. Wirth's second government resigned after just over a year when it was unable to expand its political base.
After his two terms as chancellor, Wirth continued to fight right-wing political forces as a Reichstag member and government minister. During the Nazi era he went into exile and worked with several anti-Nazi groups. Following the end of World War II, he opposed Konrad Adenauer's policy of integration with the West. Although he lived in West Germany, he had contacts with the Soviet Union and East Germany, the latter of which awarded him two prestigious honours. He died in his hometown of Freiburg in 1956.