Votes for women!

The first democratic elections take place across Germany

Germany took some time to shape its future following the November Revolution of 1918; by mid-January 1919, the forces of parliamentary democracy had prevailed and a date was set for elections. The German Parliament had always been an elected body, but women had previously been excluded. Now both men and women were called to cast a vote in a free, equal and secret ballot.

After the votes had been counted, the National Assembly began its work in Weimar on 6 February, where the risk of unrest was deemed to be lower than in Berlin. This led to the name “Weimar Republic”.