introduced that "confirmed and defined the protective measures taken in connection with the employment of women in certain work of a particularly dangerous or arduous nature," which included work in glass-works, rolling mills, and iron foundries (through Orders of 26 March 1930). Müller was Chancellor only until June 1920, when the outcome of the general elections to the Reichstag resulted in the formation of a new government led by Constantin Fehrenbach of the Zentrum. The SPD suffered a defeat at the polls, with the number of people voting for them almost dropping by half compared to the January 1919 election. Discouraged, Müller only half-heartedly negotiated with the USPD about a coalition. However, he was turned down anyway, as the USPD was unwilling to join any coalition including non-socialist parties and one in which the USPD was not the majority party. On the other side of the political spectrum, Müller was opposed to working with Gustav Stresemann's German People's Party (DVP), considering them a mouthpiece for corporate interests and doubting their loyalty to the republican constitution. 1920 to 1928 The SPD now was in the opposition regarding the domestic agenda of the new government while supporting its foreign policy, in particular regarding reparations to the Allies. Müller was an early advocate of joining the League of Nations and of moving politically closer to the West. He was critical of the Soviet Union's authoritarian system of government, its revolutionary goals, and its support for the radical left in Germany. However, he opposed a blockade of the Soviet Union by the western Allies. Initially, Müller favoured diplomatic relations with the Soviets only as far as they would help in preventing integration of Upper Silesia into the new Polish state. He viewed the Treaty of Rapallo (1922) as a true peace treaty, but one that only had meaning within the context of a successful diplomatic policy towards the western powers, not as an alternative to it. Müller warned against attaching too much hope to the potential economic gains from the treaty, arguing that only the US would be in a position to provide effective aid for the economic reconstruction of post-World War I Europe. During the period in office of the governments led by Joseph Wirth in 1921/22 and in which the SPD participated, Müller demanded as parliamentary leader of the SPD that budget consolidation would involve first and foremost the higher taxation of