A right to the protection of the Reich as against foreign countries is expressly granted "to all nationals of the Reich both within and without the territory of the Reich."[82] Nor may any German be delivered up to a foreign nation for prosecution or punishment. It is expressly provided that men and women "have, in principle, the same rights and duties." The right to assemble peaceably without previous notification or permission is granted--a flat contrast to the situation under the monarchy--but the Reichstag is empowered to enact a law requiring previous notification of such assemblages if they are to be held outdoors, and may prohibit them in case the public safety be threatened.
[82] This, too, is a departure from the American model. An American citizen has no constitutional right to the protection of his government while he is without the country.
Up to this point the Weimar constitution does not present any marked evidence of the circumstances under which it came into being. In comparison with the imperial constitution it may fairly be regarded as revolutionary, but considered by itself it is merely an advancedly democratic instrument with provisions insuring thoroughly parliamentary government in the best sense of the word. It is not until one reaches the articles dealing with social and economic life, the church and the school that the traces of Socialist influence become unmistakable. There, however, they are found on every page, beginning with the declaration that "motherhood has a right to the protection and care of the state," followed by an article providing that "illegitimate children are to be granted by legislation the same conditions for their bodily, mental and social development as are granted to legitimate children."
Essentially, of course, neither provision is especially Socialistic, but both really represent a compromise with the parties of the Left. The Majority Socialists tried to have an article inserted giving to illegitimate children full rights of inheritance with legitimate children of their father's estate, and the right to bear his name. The motion was defeated, 167 to 129 votes. The Independent Socialists wanted a provision protecting women civil servants who become mothers of illegitimate children, and granting them the right to be addressed as _Frau_ (Mrs.) instead of _Fräulein_ (Miss). This, too, was defeated.