These events produced a crisis in the government. On December 29 the Independents, Haase, Dittmann, and Barth, resigned from the Council of the Commissars of the People; whereupon the remaining three Commissars immediately handed their resignations to the Central Committee. The latter reappointed the three Social Democrats and completed the Government by adding to them three new Commissars, all Social Democrats, Noske, Wissel, Löbe. Löbe declined and his post remained vacant; but Noske and Wissel entered the Government. Scheidemann replaced Haase as co-president with Ebert. The Independents and the Communists made another attempt. On January 3, the Independents who had entered the Government of Prussia handed in their resignations. But Eichhorn, since the revolution president of the Berlin police, refused to resign his powers and, being recalled, refused to relinquish his post. That was the signal for a veritable insurrection which had been called, not without reason, “the second revolution.” Troops of Spartacists met in bloody encounters in the streets with the troops of Noske and the affair ended with the assassination of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. When, three days later the elections for the National Assembly took place, Germany found itself under an exclusively Social Democratic Government. SECTION II THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY The National Assembly elected on January 19, 1919, had as its foremost task the conclusion of peace and the creation of a new constitution for Germany. But in view of the problems that it was confronted with, it will be difficult to understand precisely how it was led to take this or that position and to know how to reconcile the intent of the different resolutions voted if one does not keep constantly in mind the spirit in which they were drawn up, the forces that met in conflict within the Assembly, and the proportion of strength they bore to one another--if one does not follow at least in its ensemble the long process of elaboration in the midst of which the work of the Assembly was accomplished. 1.--THE COMPOSITION OF THE ASSEMBLY. The Constituent Assembly had been elected according to what was perhaps the most democratic suffrage ever known. All Germans were electors, men and women, soldiers and officers, poor and feeble, provided they had passed the twentieth birthday. All electors were eligible to vote who had been Germans for at least a year. The election took place on the basis of general tickets which could not be “split,” that is, an elector could not vote for candidates of different tickets; but facility was offered for parties to present lists in common. The distribution of seats followed the system of proportional representation known under the name of Hondt. These elections sent to the Assembly 423 deputies, of whom 39 were women.