Editing Bavaria (section)

===Free State of Bavaria===
[[File:Kriegerdenkmal Dietelskirchen b.jpg|thumb|A memorial to soldiers who died in [[World War I]] and [[World War II]] in [[Kröning]], Bavaria]]

[[World War I]] led to the abolition of monarchy all over Germany in 1918. The Bavarian monarchy was the first to fall when on 8 November 1918 Socialist politician [[Kurt Eisner]] proclaimed the [[People's State of Bavaria]]. Eisner headed a new, republican government as minister-president. On 12 November, King [[Ludwig III of Bavaria|Ludwig III]] signed the [[Anif declaration]], releasing both civil and military officers from their oaths,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shirer |first1=William L. |title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany |date=2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York, NY |isbn=9781451642599 |page=33}}</ref> which the Eisner government interpreted as an abdication.<ref>To date, however, no member of the House of Wittelsbach has ever formally declared renunciation of the throne. {{cite news |author1=Imre Karacs |title=Bavaria buries the royal dream Funeral of Prince Albrechty |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/bavaria-buries-the-royal-dream-funeral-of-prince-albrechty-1328457.html |website=The Independent |date=13 July 1996 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412160020/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/bavaria-buries-the-royal-dream-funeral-of-prince-albrechty-1328457.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

After losing the [[Bavarian Landtag elections in the Weimar Republic|January 1919 elections]], Eisner was assassinated in February 1919, ultimately leading to a Communist revolt and the short-lived [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]] being proclaimed 6 April 1919. After violent suppression by elements of the German Army and notably the [[Freikorps]], the Bavarian Soviet Republic fell in May 1919. The [[Constitution of Bavaria|Bamberg Constitution]] (''{{lang|de|Bamberger Verfassung}}'') was enacted on 12 or 14 August 1919 and came into force on 15 September 1919, placing the [[Free State of Bavaria (Weimar Republic)|Free State of Bavaria]] inside the [[Weimar Republic]].

Extremist activity further increased, notably the 1923 [[Beer Hall Putsch]] led by the [[NSDAP|Nazis]], and Munich and Nuremberg became seen as strongholds of [[Nazism]] during the [[Weimar Republic]] and [[Nazi Germany|Nazi dictatorship]]. However, in the crucial [[German federal election, March 1933]], the Nazis received less than 50% of the votes cast in Bavaria.

As a manufacturing centre, Munich was heavily bombed during [[World War II]] and was occupied by [[United States Armed Forces]], becoming a major part of the American Zone of [[Allied-occupied Germany]], which lasted from 1945 to 1947, and then of [[Bizone]].

The Rhenish Palatinate was detached from Bavaria in 1946 and made part of the new state [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]. In 1949, Bavaria became part of the [[Federal Republic of Germany]], despite the [[Landtag of Bavaria|Bavarian Parliament]] voting against adopting the [[Basic Law of Germany]], mainly because it was seen as not granting sufficient powers to the individual states (''Länder''), but at the same time declared that it would accept it if two-thirds of the other ''Länder'' ratified it. All of the other states ratified it, so it became law.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/EN:Free_State_of_Bavaria_(Freistaat_Bayern) |title=Free State of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern) – Historisches Lexikon Bayerns |website=www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de |access-date=11 April 2021 |archive-date=14 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514130824/https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/EN:Free_State_of_Bavaria_(Freistaat_Bayern) |url-status=live }}</ref> Thus, during the [[Cold War]], Bavaria was part of [[West Germany]].