The Viceroy
and his cabinet are appointed by the Emperor in his capacity of
the sovereign of the Reichsland. Until the thirty-first of May,
1911, the Reichsland had no constitution of its own, the form
of its government being regulated by the Reichstag and Federal
Council (Bundesrat) in about the same way as the territories
of the United States are ruled by Congress and the President.
In 1911, Alsace-Lorraine received a constitution which gave it
representation in the Federal Council, representation in the
Reichstag having already been granted as early as 1871. The sympathy
of Alsace-Lorraine for France had been increased by the policy of
several of the German viceroys,--von Manteuffel, Prince Hohenlohe,
Prince Munster and Count Wedel, who had, in their administrations,
alternated severe measures with great leniency and had not improved
conditions, so that the population, essentially South German,
was undoubtedly irritated by the tone and manner of the North
German officials.
Great industries had been developed by the Imperial Government,
especially textile and coal mining, and the industrial population
centering in Mulhausen was hotly and thoroughly Social Democratic.
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