| Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Freistaat Mecklenburg-Strelitz (German) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of theWeimar Republic | |||||||||
| 1918–1933 | |||||||||
The Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (red) within theWeimar Republic | |||||||||
| Capital | Neustrelitz | ||||||||
| • Type | Republic | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Established | 11 November 1918 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 31 December 1933 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
TheFree State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (German:Freistaat Mecklenburg-Strelitz) was a state of theWeimar Republic established in 1918 following theGerman Revolution which had overthrown theGrand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The state lasted until theNazi Party (NSDAP) came to power in Germany and merged the state with the neighbouringFree State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin to form a united state ofMecklenburg on 1 January, 1934.
The state parliament consisted of alandtag of 35 members, elected for a term of four years byuniversal suffrage. The state administration, headed by aMinister of State was responsible to thelandtag and could be removed by a vote of no confidence.[1] For most of the Weimar period, the governments were headed by either aSocial Democrat or aNationalist.
However, following theNazi seizure of power at the national level, they enacted the "Second Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich" which established more direct control over the states by means of the new powerful position ofReichsstatthalter (Reich Governor).Friedrich Hildebrandt was installed in this post on 26 May 1933.[2] He immediately moved to take full control of the state apparatus by the appointment of a fellow-Nazi,Fritz Stichtenoth, as Minister of State on 29 May 1933.[3]
By the end of the year, Hildebrandt, who was alsoReichsstatthalter of the larger neighboringFree State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, moved to consolidate his domains and merged the two states into a new united state ofMecklenburg, effective 1 January 1934.[2] And with that, the brief fifteen-year existence of the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz passed into history.
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