Gustav Bauer
(© Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-J0113-0500-001 / o. Ang.)
1870-1944
- State Secretary in the last imperial government
- Reichskanzler from 1919 to 1920
- Minister in Scheidemann’s and Müller’s cabinets
Gustav Bauer was one of the SPD’s right-wing members and supported the policy of Burgfrieden (truce among parties). In October 1918, he joined Max von Baden’s cabinet as State Secretary. In February 1919, he became Minister of Labor in Scheidemann’s cabinet. When the government collapsed in June under the burden of the Treaty of Versailles, Bauer became Reichsministerpräsident (Reichskanzler from August 1919). In this capacity, he pushed through the nationalization of the railways and reforms of the Reich’s finances. Yet his policies remained controversial. After the Kapp Putsch, he had to leave politics as the SPD no longer trusted him. In the mid-1920s, he was temporarily excluded from the SPD because of the Barmat scandal. He subsequently withdrew from politics, tending to his private life.