The Free State of Coburg decides who should rule
The abdication of the ruler of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1918 led to the disaffiliation of the two areas Saxe and Coburg and their establishment as free states. The new government of the Free State of Coburg decided that with a population of only 75,000, independence as a constituent state of the Weimar Republic was not a viable proposition, and entered discussions with representatives of a new administrative area to be called Thuringia. However, like every self-respecting young state, Coburg kept its options open and asked Bavaria and Prussia what they would offer them. Whilst Berlin quickly rebuffed its overtures, Munich was open to negotiations.
Seeking to resolve the matter, the Coburg government decided to consult its people. The first democratic referendum in Germany took place on 30 November 1919. When asked, “Should Coburg join Thuringia?”, almost 90% of those eligible to vote said no. Coburgers had always felt an affinity to Franconia, which had been part of Bavaria since 1806. The decision was taken, and Coburg was annexed by Bavaria in 1920. No one could foresee the long-term consequences of the decision: in 1945, Coburg was occupied not by the Soviet Union, but by the USA. This meant that the decision taken in 1919 eventually made Coburgers into West Germans and they grew up as capitalists. Today, the Basic Law forbids referenda at the federal level, but any measure of territorial reorganization requires a referendum, the result of which is then binding.
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