The prime minister of the United States of Europe was the head of government for the United States of Europe. The office was established in 1633, not long after the Confederated Principalities of Europe collapsed and was replaced by the USE. Both the existence of the office and its powers were set out in the Constitution of the United States of Europe. As the office was patterned rather closely on the up-time office of the prime minister of the United Kingdom, the powers of the USE's government rested primarily with the PM, rather than with the emperor of the United States of Europe, the head of state of the USE.
The prime minister was an elected position, again patterned rather closely on the UK, with elements of down-time German government and representation added to the mix. The prime minister was elected from the political party that held a majority of seats in the USE Parliament's House of Commons, and was required to be a member of the Commons. Formally, this was a recommendation to the emperor, and the new PM did not formally take office until confirmed by the emperor.[1]
Michael Stearns was the USE's first prime minister. In 1635, Stearns was successfully challenged by Wilhelm Wettin, the former Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and the leader of the Crown Loyalists. Stearns had deliberately prompted Wettin to run, in an effort to foster further republicanism.
Unfortunately, when the emperor, Gustav II Adolf, was injured in battle later in 1635, his chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, who had no power in the USE, nonetheless took it upon himself to roll back the democratic reforms and restore the powers of the aristocracy. While Wettin was initially receptive, when he learned of Oxenstierna's plan to surrender Ingolstadt to Bavaria in 1636, he confronted Oxenstierna, who had Wettin arrested. Oxenstierna then appointed a new prime minister, Johann Wilhelm Neumair von Ramsla, thereby exposing his unconstitutional plans.
After Wettin was restored, he agreed to elections in 1636.[2] The Fourth of July Party gained a plurality in the Senate and a majority in the Commons; Ed Piazza became the USE's third legal prime minister (Ramsla having been illegally appointed). Further, the Fourth of July Party gained super majorities in provincial elections where the head of state was an elected position. In most other provinces, the Fourth of July Party gained enough seats to prevent Crown Loyalist super majorities, except in Pomerania, Tyrol, (and most likely Brandenburg).
| № |
Prime Minister | Term | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Stearns | 1633-1635 | Fourth of July Party | |
| 2 | Wilhelm Wettin | 
|
1635-1636 | Crown Loyalists |
| - | Johann Wilhelm Neumair von Ramsla | 1636 (appointed briefly) | Crown Loyalists | |
| (2) | Wilhelm Wettin |
|
1636- 1636 | Crown Loyalists |
| 3 | Ed Piazza | 1636- (Incumbent) | Fourth of July Party | |
References[]
- ↑ 1636: The Saxon Uprising, ch. 20
- ↑ 1636: The Saxon Uprising, ch. 56