the Diet. The result of the elections of 1906 was such that the two Liberal parties on the one side and the Catholic Centre and the Conservatives on the other were equally strong, so that the Social Democrats held the balance. The elections of 1912 brought about a fresh grouping of parties. The Conservatives and the Catholic Centre (forming together the so-called " Black-and- Blue bloc ") returned as many deputies as all the other parties together, with the consequence that very keen opposition devel- oped between the Right and the Left. The composition of the Ministry, it is true, was not affected by the constellation of parties, as the government of WUrttemberg was not on the parliamentary system. The Weizsacker Ministry remained in office and continued to conduct its policy on the liberal lines which had always been followed in WUrttemberg. The demand for the appointment of parliamentary ministers, which had been vigorously prosecuted by the Democratic (non-Socialist) party during the World War, was rejected by the Weizsacker Ministry, notwithstanding its liberal tendencies, until the change in the constitution of the Empire under Prince Max of Baden's chancel- lorship in Oct. 1918 compelled the WUrttemberg Government to give way. The Weizsacker Ministry resigned. A new Ministry was formed, containing a member of each of the four parties, the Catholic Centre, the National Liberal, the Democrats and the Social Democrats. The Democrat Liesching was made presi- dent of the Ministry. This new Ministry was going to meet on Nov. 8, but on Nov. 9 the revolution broke out in Stuttgart and on Nov. 10 the Liesching Cabinet resigned. A provisional Government was formed, consisting at first entirely of Social Democrats. The most extreme members of this Government, however, were ejected on Nov. n, and a member of each of the three parties, the Centre, the Democrats and the National Liberals, entered the Cabinet. After the disturbances which broke out in Jan. 1919 the Independent Socialists left the Min- istry, and its composition then remained unaltered until the general election of the year 1920.
The King, William II. (born 1848), had abdicated on Nov. 30 1918 and retained only the title of Duke of WUrttemberg. He subsequently lived mostly at Bebenhausen Castle in the Black Forest, where he died on Oct. 2 1921. The headship of the family passed to Duke Albrecht of Wiirttemberg. The abolition of the monarchy in WUrttemberg was solely a con- sequence of the fall of the Hohenzollern monarchy in the em- pire. The King of WUrttemberg himself had enjoyed great popularity, which extended into the ranks of the Social Demo- crats. The democratic tendencies which had always prevailed in WUrttemberg had, after the revolution, the favourable effect of enabling the Territory (Land) to settle down with comparative rapidity, and the cooperation of the so-called " bourgeois " (i.e. non-Socialist) parties with the Social Demo- crats took place without any serious friction.
After Nov. 9 1918 WUrttemberg experienced no further political convulsion of a serious character. The disturbances of Jan. 1919 were quickly suppressed. The attempt of the extremists among the working classes to cause disturbances by a general strike was frustrated by the action of the railway officials in paralysing the communications with Stuttgart. The Bavarian Communist insurrection produced no effect in WUrttemberg; it was, on the contrary, suppressed with the aid of WUrttemberg troops before it could spread across the border. During the so-called Kapp " Putsch " (March 1920) the Government of the Reich and the National Assembly removed for a short time from Berlin to Stuttgart because they felt that they would be safest in the capital of WUrttemberg.
The provisional Government of Wurttemberg issued on Nov. 2 1918 regulations for the election of a Representative Assembly which should meet and vote the new constitution. The elections of Jan. 12 1919 resulted in the return of 52 Social Democrats, 38 Democrats, 31 members of the Catholic Centre, 25 Conserva- tives and 4 Independent Socialists. The Assembly first confirmed the Government in office and then proceeded to deal with the new constitution. It was voted on April 26 against a minority of nine by the whole of the rest of the House. Most of the Con-
servatives were amongst the majority; the minority consisted of a few Conservatives and the Independent Socialists. Wurt- temberg was the second state of the Reich which deduced the consequence of the revolution by setting up a new constitution; Baden alone preceded it. The constitution of WUrttemberg naturally resembles that of Baden in many respects, but also differs from it in several important particulars. Moreover, the constitution which came into force on May 23 1919 was not definitive. As the constitution of the Reich had considerably restricted the rights of the separate states which composed it, a reconsideration of the constitution of Wurttemberg became necessary and large sections of it were eliminated. On Sept. 25 1919, exactly 100 years after the adoption of the first Wurttem- berg constitution, the new constitution was finally voted.
The constitution of Wurttemberg could not fail to resemble that of the other German states, since the constitution of the Reich prescribes for all the states that they must be republics and have a parliamentary government. The powers of the state in Wurttemberg proceed from the people and are trans- ferred by the people to the Diet; the people can, however, resume the powers of the state by dissolving the Diet or by giving a popular vote ( Volksabstimmung) on a law. Such a vote may be passed either upon a referendum or upon a popular initiative. In contrast to Baden, there is no compulsory referendum.
The Diet transfers the executive power to the Government. At the head of the Government there is the Minister-President, who has the title of President of the State (Staatsprasidcut); but in Wurttemberg, as in Baden, there is no head of the state independent of the Diet. The Ministry is formed by the Diet's electing the President of the State, who selects the Ministry in ac- cord with the Diet. (The same procedure is followed in Bavaria and Baden.) The administration, however, is not conducted by the Ministry as a whole, but by individual ministers. A peculiarity of the WUrttemberg constitution is that councils (Bciriite), formed from the different classes according to occupations (Berufsstandc), are attached to the ministries. Elections for the Diet take place every four years. No provision is made for a dissolution of the Diet except that, as already mentioned, the Diet can be dismissed by a vote of the people.
The constitution of Wurttemberg was framed by those parties which restored order in the country after the revolution the Social Democrats, the Democrats and the Catholic Centre. At the elections of June 1920 these parties, particularly the Social Democrats and the Democrats, were considerably weak- ened, while the parties to the Right and the Left of them gained. As in the Reich the result of the general elections compelled the Government to resign; the Wurttemberg Government took this course, although there was no absolute necessity. The new Government of Herr Hieber was composed of members of the Democratic and the Catholic Centre parties, but was never- theless supported by the German People's Party (former Nation- al Liberals) and the Social Democrats. The change of govern- ment did not entail any essential alteration in the policy of WUrttemberg. (W. v. B.)
WYNDHAM, SIR CHARLES (1837-1919), English actor (see 28.872), died in London Jan. 12 1919. In 1916 he married, as his
second wife, Miss Mary Moore, who had been for many years his
leading actress and his partner in management. His last appearance on the stage was made in a revival of Mrs. Dane's
Defence at the New theatre, London, in 1912.
WYNDHAM, GEORGE (1863-1913), English politician and
man of letters, was born Aug. 29 1863, the eldest son of the Hon. Percy Scawen Wyndham, and grandson of the ist Lord Leconfield. His mother was Madeline Caroline Frances Eden, daughter of Sir Guy Campbell, ist baronet; and through her he was great grandson of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the Irish rebel. He was educated at Eton and Sandhurst, obtained a commission in the Coldstream Guards in 1883, and served through the Suakin campaign of 1885. But his military career was a very short one. Interested as he was in soldiering, his eager temperament impelled him still more to adventure in politics and letters. He left the army in 1887, married Sibell Mary, daughter of the
