Study Notes

Reichsrat

Level:
AS, A-Level
Board:
AQA, Edexcel, OCR

Last updated 22 Mar 2021

The Reichsrat was the upper chamber of the German Parliament. It was made up of delegates sent by the German states.

The original Reichsrat dates back into Imperial Germany. Every state sent members to the Reichsrat based on their population. Whilst this was the case, no state could have more than 2/5ths of the seats within the Reichsrat. The belief of this was that Prussia as a powerful state would not have too much dominance as it had under Bismarck.

In terms of legislative power, the Reichsrat could veto Reichstag laws, however, the Reichstag could override the veto issued if the Reichstag voted by two thirds to override.

It is important to remember that the Reichsrat was not elected but appointed by the State governments.

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