Joseph Wirth - Definition and Overview

Joseph Wirth

Order:	14th Chancellor of Germany
Term of Office:	May 10, 1921 - November 14, 1922
Predecessor:	Konstantin Fehrenbach
Successor:	Wilhelm Cuno
Date of Birth:	September 6, 1879
Date of Death:	January 3, 1956
Political Party:	Catholic Center Party
Profession:	mathematician

Dr. Karl Joseph Wirth (September 6, 1879–January 3, 1956) was a German Catholic Centre politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1921 to 1922. Along with his foreign minister, Walther Rathenau, Wirth set out to follow a policy of "fulfillment" with respect to Germany's reparations in order to show that Germany was incapable of payment.

First Cabinet, May - October 1921

• Joseph Wirth (Z) - Chancellor and Finance Minister
• Gustav Bauer (SPD) - Vice Chancellor and Treasury Minister
• Friedrich Rosen - Foreign Minister
• Georg Gradnauer (SPD) - Interior Minister
• Robert Schmidt (SPD) - Economics Minister
• Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Labour Minister
• Eugen Schiffer (DDP) - Justice Minister
• Otto Gessler (DDP) - Defence Minister
• Wilhelm Gröner - Transport Minister
• Andreas Hermes (Z) - Food Minister

Changes

• May 29, 1921 - Walther Rathenau (DDP) enters the cabinet as Reconstruction Minister.

Second Cabinet, October 1921 - November 1922

• Joseph Wirth (Z) - Chancellor and Foreign Minister
• Gustav Bauer (SPD) - Vice Chancellor
• Adolf Köster (SPD) - Interior Minister
• Andreas Hermes (Z) - Finance Minister and Food Minister
• Robert Schmidt (SPD) - Economics Minister
• Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Labour Minister
• Gustav Radbruch (SPD) - Justice Minister
• Otto Gessler (DDP) - Defence Minister
• Johannes Giesberts (Z) - Postal Minister
• Wilhelm Groener - Transport Minister

Changes

• February 1, 1922 - Walther Rathenau (DDP) succeeds Wirth as Foreign Minister. Wirth remains Chancellor
• March 10, 1922 - Anton Fehr (Bavarian Peasants' League) succeeds Hermes as Food Minister. Hermes remains Finance Minister.
• June 24, 1922 - Upon Rathenau's assassination, Wirth again becomes Foreign Minister.