Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg was a German politician who was Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry into World War I and played a key role during its first three years. He was replaced as chancellor in July 1917 due in large part to opposition to his moderate policies by leaders in the military.

The Prussian three-class franchise was an indirect electoral system used from 1848 until 1918 in the Kingdom of Prussia and for shorter periods in other German states. Voters were grouped by district into three classes, with the total tax payments in each class equal. Those who paid the most in taxes formed the first class, followed by the next highest in the second, with those who paid the least in the third. Voters in each class separately elected one third of the electors who in turn voted for the representatives. Voting was not secret. The franchise was a form of apportionment by economic class rather than geographic area or population.