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Joseph Wirth
Chancellor of Germany
In office 10 May 1921 – 14 November 1922
Preceded by	Konstantin Fehrenbach
Succeeded by	Wilhelm Cuno
Born	6 September 1879(1879-09-06)
Died	3 January 1956 (aged 76)
Political party	Catholic Centre Party

Karl Joseph Wirth, known as Joseph Wirth, (6 September 1879 Freiburg im Breisgau – 3 January 1956 Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1921 to 1922. Along with his foreign minister, Walther Rathenau, Wirth set out to follow a policy of "fulfillment" with respect to Germany's reparations in order to show that Germany was incapable of payment.

Only 41 years old when he took office, he was the youngest Chancellor of Germany to date. He is perhaps best known for his speech in front of the Reichstag after the assassination of Walther Rathenau by rightist extremists in 1922. Wirth famously proclaimed "The enemy is on the right!". He received the Stalin Peace Award in 1955 for his anti-fascist positions.

First Cabinet, May - October 1921

• Joseph Wirth (Z) - Chancellor and Finance Minister
• Gustav Bauer (SPD) - Vice Chancellor and Treasury Minister
• Friedrich Rosen - Foreign Minister
• Georg Gradnauer (SPD) - Interior Minister
• Robert Schmidt (SPD) - Economics Minister
• Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Labour Minister
• Eugen Schiffer (DDP) - Justice Minister
• Otto Gessler (DDP) - Defence Minister
• Wilhelm Gröner - Transport Minister
• Andreas Hermes (Z) - Food Minister

Changes

• 29 May 1921 - Walther Rathenau (DDP) enters the cabinet as Reconstruction Minister.

Second Cabinet, October 1921 - November 1922

• Joseph Wirth (Z) - Chancellor and Foreign Minister
• Gustav Bauer (SPD) - Vice Chancellor
• Adolf Köster (SPD) - Interior Minister
• Andreas Hermes (Z) - Finance Minister and Food Minister
• Robert Schmidt (SPD) - Economics Minister
• Heinrich Brauns (Z) - Labour Minister
• Gustav Radbruch (SPD) - Justice Minister
• Otto Gessler (DDP) - Defence Minister
• Johannes Giesberts (Z) - Postal Minister
• Wilhelm Groener - Transport Minister

Changes

• 1 February 1922 - Walther Rathenau (DDP) succeeds Wirth as Foreign Minister. Wirth remains Chancellor
• 10 March 1922 - Anton Fehr (Bavarian Peasants' League) succeeds Hermes as Food Minister. Hermes remains Finance Minister.
• 24 June 1922 - Upon Rathenau's assassination, Wirth again becomes Foreign Minister.

Chancellors of Germany German Empire (1871–1918) Otto von Bismarck · Leo von Caprivi · Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst · Bernhard von Bülow · Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg · Georg Michaelis · Georg von Hertling · Prince Maximilian of Baden Weimar Republic (1919–1933) Philipp Scheidemann · Gustav Bauer · Hermann Müller · Konstantin Fehrenbach · Joseph Wirth · Wilhelm Cuno · Gustav Stresemann · Wilhelm Marx · Hans Luther · Wilhelm Marx · Hermann Müller · Heinrich Brüning · Franz von Papen · Kurt von Schleicher Third Reich (1933–1945) Adolf Hitler · Joseph Goebbels Federal Republic (1949–) Konrad Adenauer · Ludwig Erhard · Kurt Georg Kiesinger · Willy Brandt · Helmut Schmidt · Helmut Kohl · Gerhard Schröder · Angela Merkel

Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of Germany German Empire (1871–1918) Thile · Balan · B.E. v. Bülow · Radowitz · Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst · Limburg-Stirum · Busch · Hatzfeld zu Trachenberg · H. v. Bismarck · Bieberstein · B. von Bülow · Richthofen · Tschirschky-Bögendorff · Schoen · Kiderlen-Waechter · Jagow · Zimmermann · Kühlmann · Hintze · Solf · Brockdorff-Rantzau Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Brockdorff-Rantzau · Müller · Köster · Simons · Rosen · Wirth · Rathenau · Rosenberg · Stresemann · Curtius · Brüning · Neurath Nazi Germany (1933–1945) Neurath · Ribbentrop · Seyss-Inquart · Schwerin von Krosigk German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (1949–1990) Dertinger · Ackermann · Bolz · Winzer · O. Fischer · Meckel · de Maizière Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949) Adenauer · Brentano · Schröder · Brandt · Scheel · Genscher · Kinkel · J. Fischer · Steinmeier · Westerwelle

Interior Ministers of Germany Imperial Interior Secretaries (1871–1918) Rudolf Delbrück · Karl Hofmann · Karl Heinrich von Bötticher · Count Arthur Adolf von Posadowsky-Wehner · Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg · Klemens Delbrück · Karl Helfferich · Max Wallraf · Karl Trimborn Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Friedrich Ebert · Hugo Preuß · Eduard David · Erich Koch-Weser · Georg Gradnauer · Adolf Köster · Rudolf Oeser · Wilhelm Sollmann · Karl Jarres · Martin Schiele · Otto Geßler · Wilhelm Külz · Walter von Keudell · Carl Severing  · Joseph Wirth · Wilhelm Groener · Wilhelm Freiherr von Gayl · Franz Bracht Nazi Germany (1933–1945) Wilhelm Frick · Heinrich Himmler · Paul Giesler · Wilhelm Stuckart German Democratic Republic (1949–1990) Karl Steinhoff · Karl Maron · Friedrich Dickel · Lothar Ahrendt · Peter Michael Diestel Federal Republic of Germany (1949–) Gustav Heinemann · Robert Lehr · Gerhard Schröder · Hermann Höcherl · Paul Lücke · Ernst Benda · Hans-Dietrich Genscher · Werner Maihofer · Gerhart Baum · Jürgen Schmude · Friedrich Zimmermann · Wolfgang Schäuble · Rudolf Seiters  · Manfred Kanther · Otto Schily · Wolfgang Schäuble · Thomas de Maizière

Finance Ministers of Germany German Empire (1871-1918) Adolf Heinrich Wilhelm Scholz · Franz Emil Emanuel von Burchard · Karl Rudolf Jacobi · Baron Helmuth von Maltzahn · Count Arthur Adolf von Posadowsky-Wehner  · Max Franz Guido von Thielmann  · Baron Hermann von Stengel · Reinhold Sydow  · Adolf Wermuth  · Hermann Kühn  · Karl Helfferich · Count Siegfried von Roedern Weimar Republic (1918-1933) Eugen Schiffer  · Bernhard Dernburg  · Matthias Erzberger · Joseph Wirth · Andreas Hermes · Rudolf Hilferding · Hans Luther  · Otto von Schlieben · Hans Luther · Peter Reinhold · Heinrich Köhler · Rudolf Hilferding · Paul Moldenhauer · Heinrich Brüning · Hermann R. Dietrich Third Reich (1933-1945) Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk East Germany (1949-1990) Hans Loch · Willy Rumpf · Siegfried Böhm · Werner Schmieder · Ernst Höfner · Uta Nickel · Walter Romberg  · Werner Skowron Federal Republic of Germany (1949-) Fritz Schäffer  · Franz Etzel · Heinz Starke · Rolf Dahlgrün · Kurt Schmücker · Franz Josef Strauß · Alexander Möller · Karl Schiller · Helmut Schmidt · Hans Apel  · Hans Matthöfer · Manfred Lahnstein · Gerhard Stoltenberg · Theodor Waigel · Oskar Lafontaine · Hans Eichel · Peer Steinbrück · Wolfgang Schäuble

The First Müller Cabinet – 27 March 1920 to 21 June 1920 Hermann Müller (Chancellor, SPD) | Erich Koch-Weser (DDP) | Adolf Köster (SPD) | Andreas Blunck (DDP) | Joseph Wirth (Z) | Robert Schmidt (SPD) | Andreas Hermes (Z) | Alexander Schlicke (SPD) | Otto Gessler (DDP) | Johannes Bell (Z) | Gustav Bauer (SPD) | Johannes Giesberts (Z) | Eduard David (SPD)

The Fehrenbach Cabinet – 25 June 1920 to 4 May 1921 Konstantin Fehrenbach (Chancellor, Z) | Rudolf Heinze (DVP) | Walter Simons (independent) | Erich Koch-Weser (DDP) | Joseph Wirth (Z) | Ernst Scholz (DVP) | Andreas Hermes (Z) | Heinrich Brauns (Z) | Otto Gessler (DDP) | Wilhelm Groener (independent) | Johannes Giesberts (Z) | Hans von Raumer (DVP)

The Second Müller Cabinet Hermann Müller (Chancellor, SPD) · Gustav Stresemann (DVP) · Julius Curtius (DVP) · Carl Severing (SPD) · Erich Koch-Weser (DDP) · Theodor von Guérard (Z) · Rudolf Hilferding (SPD) · Paul Moldenhauer (DVP) · Robert Schmidt (SPD) · Hermann Dietrich (DDP) · Rudolf Wissell (SPD) · Wilhelm Groener (independent) · Georg Schätzel (BVP) · Adam Stegerwald (Z) · Joseph Wirth (Z)