Free People's State of Württemberg

Free People's State of Württemberg
Freier Volksstaat Württemberg
State of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany
1918–1945

The Free People's State of Württemberg (red) within the Weimar Republic
CapitalStuttgart
Area 
• 1925
19,508 km2 (7,532 sq mi)
Population 
• 1925
2,580,235
Government
 • TypeRepublic
President 
• 1918–1920 (first)
Wilhelm Blos
• 1933–1945 (last)
Christian Mergenthaler
Reichsstatthalter 
• 1933–1945
Wilhelm Murr
Historical eraInterwar period
• Established
9 November 1918
• Constitution enacted
29 September 1919
7 April 1933
• Abolition (de jure)
1945
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Württemberg
Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Hohenzollern
Today part ofGermany

The Free People's State of Württemberg (German: Freier Volksstaat Württemberg) was a state of the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). It was formed from the Kingdom of Württemberg during the German revolution of 1918–1919 which broke out in the final days of World War I and led to the fall of the German Empire and all of Germany's reigning monarchs, including King William II of Württemberg.

The Free People's State of Württemberg was a parliamentary republic that was more stable than the Weimar Republic of which it was a part. It was led initially by parties of the moderate left, moving in the mid-1920s to the center-right and right. The Nazi Party became the strongest party in 1932 and took over control of the state after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933.

Following Germany's defeat in World War II, Württemberg was divided between the French and American zones of occupation. In 1952, after several intermediate combinations, it became part of the West German state of Baden-Württemberg.