bavarikon4UAgreement of the Landtagsparteien (Parties of the State Parliament) in Favour of Comprehensive Constitutional Reforms, 2 November 1918 (Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, 3 November 1918)
Comprehensive constitutional reforms were to be implemented in Bavaria with the agreement of the State Parliament parties of 2 November 1918. The Kammer der Reichsräte (Chamber of Imperial Councillors) was to be expanded and its possibility of blocking the legislative procedure removed. In future, proportional representation rather than majority voting should be applied to state, district and local elections. All professional privileges should be reviewed and a one-year budget be introduced. Above all, however, Bavaria should be transformed into a parliamentary monarchy, i.e. in future the government should no longer depend on the confidence of the monarch, but should be accountable to parliament and consist of representatives of the parties.
Constitutional reforms had already been called for by the SPD in the Bavarian State Parliament with the so-called Auer-Süßheim proposals of September 1917, but they were rejected by the Zentrumspartei (Centre Party) and by the government without further discussion. Only faced by certain military defeat did the Bavarian government feel compelled to take appropriate measures. The demands of US President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who had made the democratisation of the German Reich a prerequisite for armistice negotiations, were a decisive factor. At imperial level, appropriate reforms had already been implemented by 28 October 1918.
In Bavaria, the democratisation agreed in the treaty of 2 November 1918 could no longer be achieved. The corresponding constitutional adjustments required the approval of the Staatsrat (State Council) and of the Landtag (State Parliament). On the eve of the ballot planned for 8 November 1918 in the Kammer der Reichsräte, the reform efforts were overtaken by the revolution of Kurt Eisner (1867-1919).