German Revolution of 1918–1919
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The German Revolution or November Revolution was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliamentary republic that later became known as the Weimar Republic.
The revolutionary period lasted from November 1918 until the adoption of the Weimar Constitution in August 1919.
Among the factors leading to the revolution were the extreme burdens suffered by the German population during the four years of war, the economic and psychological impacts of the German Empire's defeat by the Allies, and growing social tensions between the general population and the aristocratic and bourgeoisie elite.
The first acts of revolution were triggered by the policies of the Supreme Command of the German Army and its lack of coordination with the Naval Command.
In the face of defeat, the Naval Command insisted on trying to precipitate a climactic pitched battle with the British Royal Navy by means of its naval order of 24 October 1918, but the battle never took place.
Instead of obeying their orders to begin preparations to fight the British, German sailors led a revolt in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven on 29 October 1918, followed by the Kiel mutiny in the first days of November.
These disturbances spread the spirit of civil unrest across Germany and ultimately led to the proclamation of a republic to replace the imperial monarchy on 9 November 1918, two days before Armistice Day.
Shortly thereafter, Emperor Wilhelm II fled the country and abdicated his throne.
The revolutionaries, inspired by liberalism and socialist ideas, did not hand over power to Soviet-style councils as the Bolsheviks had done in Russia, because the leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) opposed their creation.
The SPD opted instead for a national assembly that would form the basis for a parliamentary system of government.
Fearing an all-out civil war in Germany between militant workers and reactionary conservatives, the SPD did not plan to strip the old German upper classes completely of their power and privileges.
Instead, it sought to peacefully integrate them into the new social democratic system.
In this endeavour, SPD leftists sought an alliance with the German Supreme Command.
This allowed the army and the Freikorps (nationalist militias) to act with enough autonomy to quell the communist Spartacist uprising of 4–15 January 1919 by force.
The same alliance of political forces succeeded in suppressing leftist uprisings in other parts of Germany, with the result that the country was completely pacified by late 1919.
The first elections for the new Weimar National Assembly were held on 19 January 1919, and the revolution ended on 11 August 1919, when the Weimar Constitution was adopted.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SPD and the World War
In the decade after 1900, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was the leading force in Germany's labour movement.
With 35% of the national votes and 110 seats in the Reichstag elected in 1912, the Social Democrats had grown into the largest political party in Germany.
Party membership was around one million, and the party newspaper (Vorwärts) attracted 1.5 million subscribers.
The trade unions had 2.5 million members, most of whom probably supported the Social Democrats.
In addition, there were numerous co-operative societies (for example, apartment co-ops and shop co-ops) and other organizations either directly linked to the SPD and the labor unions or at least adhering to Social Democratic ideology.
Other notable parties in the Reichstag of 1912 were the Catholic Centre Party (91 seats), the German Conservative Party (43), the National Liberal Party (45), the Progressive People's Party (42), the Polish Party (18), the German Reich Party (14), the Economic Union (10), and the Alsace-Lorraine Party (9).
At the congresses of the Second Socialist International beginning in 1889, the SPD had always agreed to resolutions asking for combined action of Socialists in case of a war.
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the SPD, like other socialist parties in Europe, organised anti-war demonstrations during the July Crisis.
After Rosa Luxemburg called for disobedience and rejection of war in the name of the entire party as a representative of the left wing of the party, the Imperial government planned to arrest the party leaders immediately at the onset of war.
Friedrich Ebert, one of the two party leaders since 1913, travelled to Zürich with Otto Braun to save the party's funds from being confiscated.
After Germany declared war on the Russian Empire on 1 August 1914, the majority of the SPD newspapers shared the general enthusiasm for the war (the "Spirit of 1914"), particularly because they viewed the Russian Empire as the most reactionary and anti-socialist power in Europe.
In the first days of August, the editors believed themselves to be in line with the late August Bebel, who had died the previous year.
In 1904, he declared in the Reichstag that the SPD would support an armed defence of Germany against a foreign attack.
In 1907, at a party convention in Essen, he even promised that he himself would "shoulder the gun" if it was to fight against Russia, the "enemy of all culture and all the suppressed".
In the face of the general enthusiasm for the war among the population, which foresaw an attack by the Entente powers, many SPD deputies worried they might lose many of their voters with their consistent pacifism.
In addition, the government of Imperial Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg threatened to outlaw all parties in case of war.
On the other hand, the chancellor exploited the anti-Russian stance of the SPD to procure the party's approval for the war.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SPD and the World War
In the decade after 1900, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was the leading force in Germany's labour movement.
With 35% of the national votes and 110 seats in the Reichstag elected in 1912, the Social Democrats had grown into the largest political party in Germany.
Party membership was around one million, and the party newspaper (Vorwärts) attracted 1.5 million subscribers.
The trade unions had 2.5 million members, most of whom probably supported the Social Democrats.
In addition, there were numerous co-operative societies (for example, apartment co-ops and shop co-ops) and other organizations either directly linked to the SPD and the labor unions or at least adhering to Social Democratic ideology.
Other notable parties in the Reichstag of 1912 were the Catholic Centre Party (91 seats), the German Conservative Party (43), the National Liberal Party (45), the Progressive People's Party (42), the Polish Party (18), the German Reich Party (14), the Economic Union (10), and the Alsace-Lorraine Party (9).
At the congresses of the Second Socialist International beginning in 1889, the SPD had always agreed to resolutions asking for combined action of Socialists in case of a war.
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the SPD, like other socialist parties in Europe, organised anti-war demonstrations during the July Crisis.
After Rosa Luxemburg called for disobedience and rejection of war in the name of the entire party as a representative of the left wing of the party, the Imperial government planned to arrest the party leaders immediately at the onset of war.
Friedrich Ebert, one of the two party leaders since 1913, travelled to Zürich with Otto Braun to save the party's funds from being confiscated.
After Germany declared war on the Russian Empire on 1 August 1914, the majority of the SPD newspapers shared the general enthusiasm for the war (the "Spirit of 1914"), particularly because they viewed the Russian Empire as the most reactionary and anti-socialist power in Europe.
In the first days of August, the editors believed themselves to be in line with the late August Bebel, who had died the previous year.
In 1904, he declared in the Reichstag that the SPD would support an armed defence of Germany against a foreign attack.
In 1907, at a party convention in Essen, he even promised that he himself would "shoulder the gun" if it was to fight against Russia, the "enemy of all culture and all the suppressed".
In the face of the general enthusiasm for the war among the population, which foresaw an attack by the Entente powers, many SPD deputies worried they might lose many of their voters with their consistent pacifism.
In addition, the government of Imperial Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg threatened to outlaw all parties in case of war.
On the other hand, the chancellor exploited the anti-Russian stance of the SPD to procure the party's approval for the war.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SPD and the World War, concluded ...
The party leadership and the party's deputies were split on the issue of support for the war: 96 deputies, including Friedrich Ebert, approved the war bonds demanded by the Imperial government.
There were 14 deputies, headed by the second party leader, Hugo Haase, who spoke out against the bonds, but nevertheless followed party voting instructions and raised their hands in favour.
Thus, the entire SPD faction in the Reichstag voted in favour of the war bonds on 4 August 1914.
It was with those decisions by the party and the unions that the full mobilisation of the German Army became possible.
Haase explained the decision against his will with the words: "We will not let the fatherland alone in the hour of need!"
The Emperor welcomed the so-called "truce" (Burgfrieden), declaring: "Ich kenne keine Parteien mehr, ich kenne nur noch Deutsche!" ("I no longer see parties, I see only Germans!").
Even Karl Liebknecht, who became one of the most outspoken opponents of the war, initially followed the line of the party that his father, Wilhelm Liebknecht, had cofounded: he abstained from voting and did not defy his own political colleagues.
However, a few days later he joined the Gruppe Internationale (Group International) that Rosa Luxemburg had founded on 5 August 1914 with Franz Mehring, Wilhelm Pieck, and four others from the left wing of the party, which adhered to the prewar resolutions of the SPD.
From that group emerged the Spartacus League (Spartakusbund) on 1 January 1916.
On 2 December 1914, Liebknecht voted against further war bonds, the only deputy of any party in the Reichstag to do so.
Although he was not permitted to speak in the Reichstag to explain his vote, what he had planned to say was made public through the circulation of a leaflet that was claimed to be unlawful:
The present war was not willed by any of the nations participating in it and it is not waged in the interest of the Germans or any other people.
It is an imperialist war, a war for capitalist control of the world market, for the political domination of huge territories and to give scope to industrial and banking capital.
Because of high demand, this leaflet was soon printed and evolved into the so-called "Political Letters" (German: Politische Briefe), collections of which were later published in defiance of the censorship laws under the name "Spartacus Letters" (Spartakusbriefe).
As of December 1916, these were replaced by the journal Spartakus, which appeared irregularly until November 1918.
This open opposition against the party line put Liebknecht at odds with some party members around Haase who were against the war bonds themselves.
In February 1915, at the instigation of the SPD party leadership, Liebknecht was conscripted for military service to dispose of him, the only SPD deputy to be so treated.
Because of his attempts to organise objectors against the war, he was expelled from the SPD, and in June 1916, he was sentenced on a charge of high treason to four years in prison.
While Liebknecht was in the army, Rosa Luxemburg wrote most of the "Spartacus Letters".
After serving a prison sentence, she was put back in jail under "preventive detention" until the war ended.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SPD and the World War, concluded ...
The party leadership and the party's deputies were split on the issue of support for the war: 96 deputies, including Friedrich Ebert, approved the war bonds demanded by the Imperial government.
There were 14 deputies, headed by the second party leader, Hugo Haase, who spoke out against the bonds, but nevertheless followed party voting instructions and raised their hands in favour.
Thus, the entire SPD faction in the Reichstag voted in favour of the war bonds on 4 August 1914.
It was with those decisions by the party and the unions that the full mobilisation of the German Army became possible.
Haase explained the decision against his will with the words: "We will not let the fatherland alone in the hour of need!"
The Emperor welcomed the so-called "truce" (Burgfrieden), declaring: "Ich kenne keine Parteien mehr, ich kenne nur noch Deutsche!" ("I no longer see parties, I see only Germans!").
Even Karl Liebknecht, who became one of the most outspoken opponents of the war, initially followed the line of the party that his father, Wilhelm Liebknecht, had cofounded: he abstained from voting and did not defy his own political colleagues.
However, a few days later he joined the Gruppe Internationale (Group International) that Rosa Luxemburg had founded on 5 August 1914 with Franz Mehring, Wilhelm Pieck, and four others from the left wing of the party, which adhered to the prewar resolutions of the SPD.
From that group emerged the Spartacus League (Spartakusbund) on 1 January 1916.
On 2 December 1914, Liebknecht voted against further war bonds, the only deputy of any party in the Reichstag to do so.
Although he was not permitted to speak in the Reichstag to explain his vote, what he had planned to say was made public through the circulation of a leaflet that was claimed to be unlawful:
The present war was not willed by any of the nations participating in it and it is not waged in the interest of the Germans or any other people.
It is an imperialist war, a war for capitalist control of the world market, for the political domination of huge territories and to give scope to industrial and banking capital.
Because of high demand, this leaflet was soon printed and evolved into the so-called "Political Letters" (German: Politische Briefe), collections of which were later published in defiance of the censorship laws under the name "Spartacus Letters" (Spartakusbriefe).
As of December 1916, these were replaced by the journal Spartakus, which appeared irregularly until November 1918.
This open opposition against the party line put Liebknecht at odds with some party members around Haase who were against the war bonds themselves.
In February 1915, at the instigation of the SPD party leadership, Liebknecht was conscripted for military service to dispose of him, the only SPD deputy to be so treated.
Because of his attempts to organise objectors against the war, he was expelled from the SPD, and in June 1916, he was sentenced on a charge of high treason to four years in prison.
While Liebknecht was in the army, Rosa Luxemburg wrote most of the "Spartacus Letters".
After serving a prison sentence, she was put back in jail under "preventive detention" until the war ended.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SPD's split
As the war dragged on and the death tolls rose, more SPD members began to question the adherence to the Burgfrieden (the truce in domestic politics) of 1914.
The SPD also objected to the domestic misery that followed the dismissal of Erich von Falkenhayn as Chief of the General Staff in 1916.
His replacement, Paul von Hindenburg, introduced the Hindenburg Programme by which the guidelines of German policy were de facto set by the Supreme Army Command, not the emperor and the chancellor.
Hindenburg's subordinate, Erich Ludendorff, took on broad responsibilities for directing wartime policies that were extensive.
Although the Emperor and Hindenburg were his nominal superiors, it was Ludendorff who made the important decisions.
Hindenburg and Ludendorff persisted with ruthless strategies aimed at achieving military victory, pursued expansionist and aggressive war goals and subjugated civilian life to the needs of the war and the war economy.
For the labour force, that often meant 12-hour work days at minimal wages with inadequate food.
The Hilfsdienstgesetz (Auxiliary Service Law) forced all men not in the armed forces to work.
After the outbreak of the Russian February Revolution in 1917, the first organised strikes erupted in German armament factories in March and April, with about 300,000 workers going on strike.
The strike was organized by a group called the Revolutionary Stewards (Revolutionäre Obleute), led by their spokesman Richard Müller.
The group emerged from a network of left-wing unionists who disagreed with the support of the war that came from the union leadership.
The American entry into World War I on 6 April 1917 threatened further deterioration in Germany's military position.
Hindenburg and Ludendorff had called for an end to the moratorium on attacks on neutral shipping in the Atlantic, which had been imposed when the Lusitania, a British ship carrying US citizens, was sunk off Ireland in 1915.
Their decision signaled a new strategy to stop the flow of US materiel to France to make a German victory (or at least a peace settlement on German terms) possible before the United States entered the war as a combatant.
The emperor tried to appease the population in his Easter address of 7 April by promising democratic elections in Prussia after the war, but lack of progress in bringing the war to a satisfactory end dulled its effect.
Opposition to the war among munitions workers continued to rise, and what had been a united front in favour of the war split into two sharply divided groups.
After the SPD leadership under Friedrich Ebert excluded the opponents of the war from his party, the Spartacists joined with so-called revisionists such as Eduard Bernstein and centrists such as Karl Kautsky to found the fully anti-war Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) under the leadership of Hugo Haase on 9 April 1917.
The SPD was now known as the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD) and continued to be led by Friedrich Ebert.
The USPD demanded an immediate end to the war and a further democratisation of Germany but did not have a unified agenda for social policies.
The Spartacist League, which until then had opposed a split of the party, now made up the left wing of the USPD.
Both the USPD and the Spartacists continued their anti-war propaganda in factories, especially in the armament plants.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SPD's split
As the war dragged on and the death tolls rose, more SPD members began to question the adherence to the Burgfrieden (the truce in domestic politics) of 1914.
The SPD also objected to the domestic misery that followed the dismissal of Erich von Falkenhayn as Chief of the General Staff in 1916.
His replacement, Paul von Hindenburg, introduced the Hindenburg Programme by which the guidelines of German policy were de facto set by the Supreme Army Command, not the emperor and the chancellor.
Hindenburg's subordinate, Erich Ludendorff, took on broad responsibilities for directing wartime policies that were extensive.
Although the Emperor and Hindenburg were his nominal superiors, it was Ludendorff who made the important decisions.
Hindenburg and Ludendorff persisted with ruthless strategies aimed at achieving military victory, pursued expansionist and aggressive war goals and subjugated civilian life to the needs of the war and the war economy.
For the labour force, that often meant 12-hour work days at minimal wages with inadequate food.
The Hilfsdienstgesetz (Auxiliary Service Law) forced all men not in the armed forces to work.
After the outbreak of the Russian February Revolution in 1917, the first organised strikes erupted in German armament factories in March and April, with about 300,000 workers going on strike.
The strike was organized by a group called the Revolutionary Stewards (Revolutionäre Obleute), led by their spokesman Richard Müller.
The group emerged from a network of left-wing unionists who disagreed with the support of the war that came from the union leadership.
The American entry into World War I on 6 April 1917 threatened further deterioration in Germany's military position.
Hindenburg and Ludendorff had called for an end to the moratorium on attacks on neutral shipping in the Atlantic, which had been imposed when the Lusitania, a British ship carrying US citizens, was sunk off Ireland in 1915.
Their decision signaled a new strategy to stop the flow of US materiel to France to make a German victory (or at least a peace settlement on German terms) possible before the United States entered the war as a combatant.
The emperor tried to appease the population in his Easter address of 7 April by promising democratic elections in Prussia after the war, but lack of progress in bringing the war to a satisfactory end dulled its effect.
Opposition to the war among munitions workers continued to rise, and what had been a united front in favour of the war split into two sharply divided groups.
After the SPD leadership under Friedrich Ebert excluded the opponents of the war from his party, the Spartacists joined with so-called revisionists such as Eduard Bernstein and centrists such as Karl Kautsky to found the fully anti-war Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) under the leadership of Hugo Haase on 9 April 1917.
The SPD was now known as the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD) and continued to be led by Friedrich Ebert.
The USPD demanded an immediate end to the war and a further democratisation of Germany but did not have a unified agenda for social policies.
The Spartacist League, which until then had opposed a split of the party, now made up the left wing of the USPD.
Both the USPD and the Spartacists continued their anti-war propaganda in factories, especially in the armament plants.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Impact of the Russian Revolution
After the February Revolution in Russia and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on 15 March 1917, the Russian Provisional Government, led by Alexander Kerensky as of 21 July 1917, continued the war on the side of the Entente powers.
Nevertheless, Russian society was severely strained by the opposing motivations of patriotism and anti-war sentiment.
There was sizable support for continuing the war to defend Russia's honour and territory, but also a strong desire to remove Russia from the conflict and let the other countries of Europe destroy one another without Russian involvement.
The German Imperial Government now saw one more chance for victory.
To support the anti-war sentiment in Russia and perhaps turn the tide in Russia toward a separate peace, it permitted the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin, to pass in a sealed train wagon from his place of exile in Switzerland through Germany, Sweden and Finland to Petrograd.
Since he had heard about the February Revolution, Lenin had been scheming on how to get back into Russia, but no option previously available to him proved successful.
Within months, Lenin led the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the moderates and withdrew Russia from the world war.
Leon Trotsky observed that the October Revolution could not have succeeded if Lenin had remained stuck in Switzerland.
Thus, the Imperial German government had an important influence in the creation of what would become the Soviet Union by turning over Russia's socialist transformation decisively into the hands of the Bolsheviks, whereas in February, it had been oriented toward parliamentary democracy.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Impact of the Russian Revolution
After the February Revolution in Russia and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on 15 March 1917, the Russian Provisional Government, led by Alexander Kerensky as of 21 July 1917, continued the war on the side of the Entente powers.
Nevertheless, Russian society was severely strained by the opposing motivations of patriotism and anti-war sentiment.
There was sizable support for continuing the war to defend Russia's honour and territory, but also a strong desire to remove Russia from the conflict and let the other countries of Europe destroy one another without Russian involvement.
The German Imperial Government now saw one more chance for victory.
To support the anti-war sentiment in Russia and perhaps turn the tide in Russia toward a separate peace, it permitted the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin, to pass in a sealed train wagon from his place of exile in Switzerland through Germany, Sweden and Finland to Petrograd.
Since he had heard about the February Revolution, Lenin had been scheming on how to get back into Russia, but no option previously available to him proved successful.
Within months, Lenin led the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the moderates and withdrew Russia from the world war.
Leon Trotsky observed that the October Revolution could not have succeeded if Lenin had remained stuck in Switzerland.
Thus, the Imperial German government had an important influence in the creation of what would become the Soviet Union by turning over Russia's socialist transformation decisively into the hands of the Bolsheviks, whereas in February, it had been oriented toward parliamentary democracy.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Impact of the Russian Revolution, concluded ...
In early and mid-1918, many people in both Russia and Germany expected that Russia would now "return the favor" by helping to foster a communist revolution on German soil.
European communists had long looked forward to a time when Germany, the homeland of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, would undergo such a revolution.
The success of the Russian proletariat and peasantry in overthrowing their ruling classes raised fears among the German bourgeoisie that such a revolution could take place in Germany as well.
Furthermore, the proletarian internationalism of Marx and Engels was still very influential in both Western Europe and Russia at the time, and Marx and Engels had predicted that for a communist revolution to succeed in Russia, there would probably need to be a Western European communist revolution earlier or at least simultaneously.
Lenin had high hopes for world revolution in 1917 and 1918.
The communism of Marx and Engels had had a sizable following among German workers for decades, and there were quite a few German revolutionaries eager to see revolutionary success in Russia and have help from Russian colleagues in a German revolution.
The moderate SPD leadership noted that a determined and well-managed group of the Bolshevik type might well try to seize power in Germany, quite possibly with Bolshevik help, and they moved their behavior towards the left as the German Revolution approached.
Otto Braun clarified the position of his party in a leading article in Vorwärts under the title "The Bolsheviks and Us":
Socialism cannot be erected on bayonets and machine guns.
If it is to last, it must be realised with democratic means.
Therefore of course it is a necessary prerequisite that the economic and social conditions for socializing society are ripe.
If this was the case in Russia, the Bolsheviks no doubt could rely on the majority of the people.
As this is not the case, they established a reign of the sword that could not have been more brutal and reckless under the disgraceful regime of the Tzar....
Therefore we must draw a thick, visible dividing line between us and the Bolsheviks.
In the same month in which Otto Braun's article appeared (October 1918), another series of strikes swept through Germany with the participation of over 1 million workers.
For the first time during these strikes, the so-called Revolutionary Stewards took action.
They were to play an important part in further developments.
They called themselves "Councils" (Räte) after the Russian "Soviets".
To weaken their influence, Ebert joined the Berlin strike leadership and achieved an early termination of the strike.
On 3 March 1918, the newly established Soviet government agreed to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk negotiated with the Germans by Leon Trotsky.
The settlement arguably contained harsher terms for the Russians than the later Treaty of Versailles would demand of the Germans.
The Bolsheviks' principal motivation for acceding to so many of Germany's demands was to stay in power at any cost amid the backdrop of the Russian Civil War.
Lenin and Trotsky also believed at the time that all of Europe would soon see world revolution and proletarian internationalism, and bourgeois nationalistic interests as a framework to judge the treaty would become irrelevant.
With Russia knocked out of the war, the German Supreme Command could now move part of the eastern armies to the Western Front.
Most Germans believed that victory in the west was now at hand.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Impact of the Russian Revolution, concluded ...
In early and mid-1918, many people in both Russia and Germany expected that Russia would now "return the favor" by helping to foster a communist revolution on German soil.
European communists had long looked forward to a time when Germany, the homeland of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, would undergo such a revolution.
The success of the Russian proletariat and peasantry in overthrowing their ruling classes raised fears among the German bourgeoisie that such a revolution could take place in Germany as well.
Furthermore, the proletarian internationalism of Marx and Engels was still very influential in both Western Europe and Russia at the time, and Marx and Engels had predicted that for a communist revolution to succeed in Russia, there would probably need to be a Western European communist revolution earlier or at least simultaneously.
Lenin had high hopes for world revolution in 1917 and 1918.
The communism of Marx and Engels had had a sizable following among German workers for decades, and there were quite a few German revolutionaries eager to see revolutionary success in Russia and have help from Russian colleagues in a German revolution.
The moderate SPD leadership noted that a determined and well-managed group of the Bolshevik type might well try to seize power in Germany, quite possibly with Bolshevik help, and they moved their behavior towards the left as the German Revolution approached.
Otto Braun clarified the position of his party in a leading article in Vorwärts under the title "The Bolsheviks and Us":
Socialism cannot be erected on bayonets and machine guns.
If it is to last, it must be realised with democratic means.
Therefore of course it is a necessary prerequisite that the economic and social conditions for socializing society are ripe.
If this was the case in Russia, the Bolsheviks no doubt could rely on the majority of the people.
As this is not the case, they established a reign of the sword that could not have been more brutal and reckless under the disgraceful regime of the Tzar....
Therefore we must draw a thick, visible dividing line between us and the Bolsheviks.
In the same month in which Otto Braun's article appeared (October 1918), another series of strikes swept through Germany with the participation of over 1 million workers.
For the first time during these strikes, the so-called Revolutionary Stewards took action.
They were to play an important part in further developments.
They called themselves "Councils" (Räte) after the Russian "Soviets".
To weaken their influence, Ebert joined the Berlin strike leadership and achieved an early termination of the strike.
On 3 March 1918, the newly established Soviet government agreed to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk negotiated with the Germans by Leon Trotsky.
The settlement arguably contained harsher terms for the Russians than the later Treaty of Versailles would demand of the Germans.
The Bolsheviks' principal motivation for acceding to so many of Germany's demands was to stay in power at any cost amid the backdrop of the Russian Civil War.
Lenin and Trotsky also believed at the time that all of Europe would soon see world revolution and proletarian internationalism, and bourgeois nationalistic interests as a framework to judge the treaty would become irrelevant.
With Russia knocked out of the war, the German Supreme Command could now move part of the eastern armies to the Western Front.
Most Germans believed that victory in the west was now at hand.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Request for ceasefire and change of constitution
After the victory in the east, the Supreme Army Command on 21 March 1918 launched its so-called Spring Offensive in the west to turn the war decisively in Germany's favour, but by July 1918, their last reserves were used up, and Germany's military defeat became certain.
The Allied forces scored numerous successive victories in the Hundred Days Offensive between August and November 1918 that yielded huge territorial gains at the expense of Germany.
The arrival of large numbers of fresh troops from the United States was a decisive factor.
In mid-September, the Balkan Front collapsed.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria, an ally of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, capitulated on 27 September.
The political collapse of Austria-Hungary itself was now only a matter of days away.
On 29 September, the Supreme Army Command, at army headquarters in Spa, Belgium, informed Emperor Wilhelm II and the Imperial Chancellor Count Georg von Hertling that the military situation was hopeless.
Ludendorff said that he could not guarantee to hold the front for another 24 hours and demanded a request to the Entente powers for an immediate ceasefire.
In addition, he recommended the acceptance of the main demand of Wilson to put the Imperial Government on a democratic footing in hopes of more favourable peace terms.
This enabled him to protect the reputation of the Imperial Army and put the responsibility for the capitulation and its consequences squarely at the feet of the democratic parties and the Reichstag.
As he said to his staff officers on 1 October: "They now must lie on the bed that they have made us."
Thus, the so-called "stab-in-the-back legend" (German: Dolchstoßlegende) was born, according to which the revolutionaries had attacked the undefeated army from the rear and turned an almost-certain victory into a defeat.
In fact, the Imperial Government and the German Army shirked their responsibility for defeat from the very beginning and tried to place the blame for it on the new democratic government.
The motivation behind it is verified by the following citation in the autobiography of Wilhelm Groener, Ludendorff's successor:
It was just fine with me when Army and Army Command remained as guiltless as possible in these wretched truce negotiations, from which nothing good could be expected.
In nationalist circles, the myth fell on fertile ground.
The nationalists soon defamed the revolutionaries (and even politicians like Ebert who never wanted a revolution and did everything to prevent it) as "November Criminals" (Novemberverbrecher [de]).
When Adolf Hitler planned his attempted coup d'état of 1923 in collaboration with Ludendorff, the heavily symbolic date of 9 November (the anniversary of the proclamation of the republic he was trying to overthrow) was chosen for its launch.
Although shocked by Ludendorff's report and the news of the defeat, the majority parties in the Reichstag, especially the SPD, were willing to take on the responsibility of government at the eleventh hour.
As a convinced royalist, Hertling objected to handing over the reins to the Reichstag, thus Emperor Wilhelm II appointed Prince Maximilian of Baden as the new Imperial Chancellor on 3 October.
The prince was considered a liberal, but at the same time a representative of the royal family.
In his cabinet, Social Democrats dominated.
The most prominent and highest-ranking one was Philipp Scheidemann, as under-secretary without portfolio.
The following day, the new government offered to the Allies the truce that Ludendorff had demanded.
It was only on 5 October that the German public was informed of the dismal situation that it faced.
In the general state of shock about the defeat, which now had become obvious, the constitutional changes, formally decided by the Reichstag on 28 October, went almost unnoticed.
From then on, the Imperial Chancellor and his ministers depended on the confidence of the parliamentary majority.
After the Supreme Command had passed from the emperor to the Imperial Government, the German Empire changed from a constitutional to a parliamentary monarchy.
As far as the Social Democrats were concerned, the so-called October Constitution met all the important constitutional objectives of the party.
Ebert already regarded 5 October as the birthday of German democracy since the emperor voluntarily ceded power and so he considered a revolution unnecessary.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Request for ceasefire and change of constitution
After the victory in the east, the Supreme Army Command on 21 March 1918 launched its so-called Spring Offensive in the west to turn the war decisively in Germany's favour, but by July 1918, their last reserves were used up, and Germany's military defeat became certain.
The Allied forces scored numerous successive victories in the Hundred Days Offensive between August and November 1918 that yielded huge territorial gains at the expense of Germany.
The arrival of large numbers of fresh troops from the United States was a decisive factor.
In mid-September, the Balkan Front collapsed.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria, an ally of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, capitulated on 27 September.
The political collapse of Austria-Hungary itself was now only a matter of days away.
On 29 September, the Supreme Army Command, at army headquarters in Spa, Belgium, informed Emperor Wilhelm II and the Imperial Chancellor Count Georg von Hertling that the military situation was hopeless.
Ludendorff said that he could not guarantee to hold the front for another 24 hours and demanded a request to the Entente powers for an immediate ceasefire.
In addition, he recommended the acceptance of the main demand of Wilson to put the Imperial Government on a democratic footing in hopes of more favourable peace terms.
This enabled him to protect the reputation of the Imperial Army and put the responsibility for the capitulation and its consequences squarely at the feet of the democratic parties and the Reichstag.
As he said to his staff officers on 1 October: "They now must lie on the bed that they have made us."
Thus, the so-called "stab-in-the-back legend" (German: Dolchstoßlegende) was born, according to which the revolutionaries had attacked the undefeated army from the rear and turned an almost-certain victory into a defeat.
In fact, the Imperial Government and the German Army shirked their responsibility for defeat from the very beginning and tried to place the blame for it on the new democratic government.
The motivation behind it is verified by the following citation in the autobiography of Wilhelm Groener, Ludendorff's successor:
It was just fine with me when Army and Army Command remained as guiltless as possible in these wretched truce negotiations, from which nothing good could be expected.
In nationalist circles, the myth fell on fertile ground.
The nationalists soon defamed the revolutionaries (and even politicians like Ebert who never wanted a revolution and did everything to prevent it) as "November Criminals" (Novemberverbrecher [de]).
When Adolf Hitler planned his attempted coup d'état of 1923 in collaboration with Ludendorff, the heavily symbolic date of 9 November (the anniversary of the proclamation of the republic he was trying to overthrow) was chosen for its launch.
Although shocked by Ludendorff's report and the news of the defeat, the majority parties in the Reichstag, especially the SPD, were willing to take on the responsibility of government at the eleventh hour.
As a convinced royalist, Hertling objected to handing over the reins to the Reichstag, thus Emperor Wilhelm II appointed Prince Maximilian of Baden as the new Imperial Chancellor on 3 October.
The prince was considered a liberal, but at the same time a representative of the royal family.
In his cabinet, Social Democrats dominated.
The most prominent and highest-ranking one was Philipp Scheidemann, as under-secretary without portfolio.
The following day, the new government offered to the Allies the truce that Ludendorff had demanded.
It was only on 5 October that the German public was informed of the dismal situation that it faced.
In the general state of shock about the defeat, which now had become obvious, the constitutional changes, formally decided by the Reichstag on 28 October, went almost unnoticed.
From then on, the Imperial Chancellor and his ministers depended on the confidence of the parliamentary majority.
After the Supreme Command had passed from the emperor to the Imperial Government, the German Empire changed from a constitutional to a parliamentary monarchy.
As far as the Social Democrats were concerned, the so-called October Constitution met all the important constitutional objectives of the party.
Ebert already regarded 5 October as the birthday of German democracy since the emperor voluntarily ceded power and so he considered a revolution unnecessary.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Third Wilson note and Ludendorff's dismissal
In the following three weeks, American President Woodrow Wilson responded to the request for a truce with three diplomatic notes.
As a precondition for negotiations, he demanded the retreat of Germany from all occupied territories, the cessation of submarine activities and (implicitly) the emperor's abdication.
This last demand was intended to render the process of democratisation irreversible.
After the third note of 24 October, General Ludendorff changed his mind and declared the conditions of the Allies to be unacceptable.
He now demanded the resumption of the war that he had declared lost only one month earlier.
While the request for a truce was being processed, the Allies came to realise Germany's military weakness.
The German troops had come to expect the war to end and were anxious to return home.
They were scarcely willing to fight more battles, and desertions were increasing.
For the time being, the Imperial government stayed on course and replaced Ludendorff as First General Quartermaster with General Groener.
Ludendorff fled with false papers to neutral Sweden.
On 5 November, the Entente Powers agreed to take up negotiations for a truce, but after the third note, many soldiers and the general population believed that the emperor had to abdicate to achieve peace.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Third Wilson note and Ludendorff's dismissal
In the following three weeks, American President Woodrow Wilson responded to the request for a truce with three diplomatic notes.
As a precondition for negotiations, he demanded the retreat of Germany from all occupied territories, the cessation of submarine activities and (implicitly) the emperor's abdication.
This last demand was intended to render the process of democratisation irreversible.
After the third note of 24 October, General Ludendorff changed his mind and declared the conditions of the Allies to be unacceptable.
He now demanded the resumption of the war that he had declared lost only one month earlier.
While the request for a truce was being processed, the Allies came to realise Germany's military weakness.
The German troops had come to expect the war to end and were anxious to return home.
They were scarcely willing to fight more battles, and desertions were increasing.
For the time being, the Imperial government stayed on course and replaced Ludendorff as First General Quartermaster with General Groener.
Ludendorff fled with false papers to neutral Sweden.
On 5 November, the Entente Powers agreed to take up negotiations for a truce, but after the third note, many soldiers and the general population believed that the emperor had to abdicate to achieve peace.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sailors' revolt
While the war-weary troops and general population of Germany awaited the speedy end of the war, the Imperial Naval Command in Kiel under Admiral Franz von Hipper and Admiral Reinhard Scheer planned to dispatch the Imperial Fleet for a last battle against the Royal Navy in the southern North Sea.
The two admirals sought to lead this military action on their own initiative, without authorization.
The naval order of 24 October 1918 and the preparations to sail triggered a mutiny among the affected sailors.
The revolt soon precipitated a general revolution in Germany that would sweep aside the monarchy within a few days.
The mutinous sailors had no intention of risking their lives so close to the end of the war.
They were also convinced that the credibility of the new democratic government, engaged as it was in seeking an armistice with the victorious Entente, would have been compromised by a naval attack at such a crucial point in negotiations.
The sailors' revolt started in the Schillig Roads off Wilhelmshaven, where the German fleet had anchored in expectation of battle.
During the night of 29–30 October 1918, some crews refused to obey orders.
Sailors on board three ships of the Third Navy Squadron refused to weigh anchor.
Part of the crew of SMS Thüringen and SMS Helgoland, two battleships of the I Battle Squadron, committed outright mutiny and sabotage.
However, when some torpedo boats directed their guns onto these ships a day later, the mutineers gave up and were led away without any resistance.
Nonetheless, the Naval Command had to drop its plans for a naval engagement with British naval forces since it was felt that the loyalty of the crews could not be relied upon any more.
The III Battle Squadron was ordered back to Kiel.
The squadron commander Vice-Admiral Kraft carried out a maneuver with his battleships in Heligoland Bight.
The maneuver was successful, and he believed that he had regained control of his crews.
While moving through the Kiel Canal, he had 47 of the crew of SMS Markgraf, who were seen as the ringleaders, imprisoned.
In Holtenau (the end of the canal in Kiel), they were taken to the Arrestanstalt (military prison) in Kiel and to Fort Herwarth in the north of Kiel.
The sailors and stokers were now pulling out all the stops to prevent the fleet setting sail again and to achieve the release of their comrades.
Some 250 met in the evening of 1 November in the Union House in Kiel.
Delegations sent to their officers requesting the mutineers' release were not heard.
The sailors were now looking for closer ties to the unions, the USPD and the SPD.
Then, the Union House was closed by police, leading to an even larger joint open air meeting on 2 November.
Led by the sailor Karl Artelt, who worked in the torpedo workshop in Kiel-Friedrichsort, and by the mobilised shipyard worker Lothar Popp, both USPD members, the sailors called for a mass meeting the following day at the same place: the Großer Exerzierplatz (large drill ground).
This call was heeded by several thousand people on the afternoon of 3 November, with workers' representatives also present.
The slogan "Peace and Bread" (Frieden und Brot) was raised, showing that the sailors and workers demanded not only the release of the prisoners but also the end of the war and the improvement of food provisions.
Eventually, the people supported Artelt's call to free the prisoners, and they moved towards the military prison.
Sub-Lieutenant Steinhäuser, in order to stop the demonstrators, ordered his patrol to fire warning shots and then to shoot directly into the demonstration; 7 people were killed and 29 severely injured.
Some demonstrators also opened fire.
Steinhäuser himself was seriously injured by rifle-butt blows and shots, but contrary to later statements, he was not killed.
After this eruption, the demonstrators and the patrol dispersed.
Nevertheless, the mass protest turned into a general revolt.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sailors' revolt
While the war-weary troops and general population of Germany awaited the speedy end of the war, the Imperial Naval Command in Kiel under Admiral Franz von Hipper and Admiral Reinhard Scheer planned to dispatch the Imperial Fleet for a last battle against the Royal Navy in the southern North Sea.
The two admirals sought to lead this military action on their own initiative, without authorization.
The naval order of 24 October 1918 and the preparations to sail triggered a mutiny among the affected sailors.
The revolt soon precipitated a general revolution in Germany that would sweep aside the monarchy within a few days.
The mutinous sailors had no intention of risking their lives so close to the end of the war.
They were also convinced that the credibility of the new democratic government, engaged as it was in seeking an armistice with the victorious Entente, would have been compromised by a naval attack at such a crucial point in negotiations.
The sailors' revolt started in the Schillig Roads off Wilhelmshaven, where the German fleet had anchored in expectation of battle.
During the night of 29–30 October 1918, some crews refused to obey orders.
Sailors on board three ships of the Third Navy Squadron refused to weigh anchor.
Part of the crew of SMS Thüringen and SMS Helgoland, two battleships of the I Battle Squadron, committed outright mutiny and sabotage.
However, when some torpedo boats directed their guns onto these ships a day later, the mutineers gave up and were led away without any resistance.
Nonetheless, the Naval Command had to drop its plans for a naval engagement with British naval forces since it was felt that the loyalty of the crews could not be relied upon any more.
The III Battle Squadron was ordered back to Kiel.
The squadron commander Vice-Admiral Kraft carried out a maneuver with his battleships in Heligoland Bight.
The maneuver was successful, and he believed that he had regained control of his crews.
While moving through the Kiel Canal, he had 47 of the crew of SMS Markgraf, who were seen as the ringleaders, imprisoned.
In Holtenau (the end of the canal in Kiel), they were taken to the Arrestanstalt (military prison) in Kiel and to Fort Herwarth in the north of Kiel.
The sailors and stokers were now pulling out all the stops to prevent the fleet setting sail again and to achieve the release of their comrades.
Some 250 met in the evening of 1 November in the Union House in Kiel.
Delegations sent to their officers requesting the mutineers' release were not heard.
The sailors were now looking for closer ties to the unions, the USPD and the SPD.
Then, the Union House was closed by police, leading to an even larger joint open air meeting on 2 November.
Led by the sailor Karl Artelt, who worked in the torpedo workshop in Kiel-Friedrichsort, and by the mobilised shipyard worker Lothar Popp, both USPD members, the sailors called for a mass meeting the following day at the same place: the Großer Exerzierplatz (large drill ground).
This call was heeded by several thousand people on the afternoon of 3 November, with workers' representatives also present.
The slogan "Peace and Bread" (Frieden und Brot) was raised, showing that the sailors and workers demanded not only the release of the prisoners but also the end of the war and the improvement of food provisions.
Eventually, the people supported Artelt's call to free the prisoners, and they moved towards the military prison.
Sub-Lieutenant Steinhäuser, in order to stop the demonstrators, ordered his patrol to fire warning shots and then to shoot directly into the demonstration; 7 people were killed and 29 severely injured.
Some demonstrators also opened fire.
Steinhäuser himself was seriously injured by rifle-butt blows and shots, but contrary to later statements, he was not killed.
After this eruption, the demonstrators and the patrol dispersed.
Nevertheless, the mass protest turned into a general revolt.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1918-1919
German Revolution of 1918–1919, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sailors' revolt, concluded ...
On the morning of 4 November, groups of mutineers moved through the town of Kiel.
Sailors in a large barracks compound in a northern district mutinied: after a divisional inspection by the commander, spontaneous demonstrations took place.
Karl Artelt organised the first soldiers' council and soon many more were set up.
The governor of the naval station, Wilhelm Souchon, was compelled to negotiate.
The imprisoned sailors and stokers were freed, and soldiers and workers brought public and military institutions under their control.
In breach of Souchon's promise, separate troops advanced to end the rebellion but were intercepted by the mutineers and sent back or decided to join the sailors and workers.
By the evening of 4 November, Kiel was firmly in the hands of about 40,000 rebellious sailors, soldiers and workers, as was Wilhelmshaven two days later.
On the same evening, the SPD deputy Gustav Noske arrived in Kiel and was welcomed enthusiastically, but he had orders from the new government and the SPD leadership to bring the uprising under control.
He had himself elected chairman of the soldiers' council and reinstated peace and order.
Some days later he took over the governor's post, and Lothar Popp of the USPD became chairman of the overall soldiers' council.
During the following weeks, Noske succeeded in reducing the influence of the councils in Kiel, but he could not prevent the spread of the revolution throughout Germany.
The events had already spread far beyond Kiel.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sailors' revolt, concluded ...
On the morning of 4 November, groups of mutineers moved through the town of Kiel.
Sailors in a large barracks compound in a northern district mutinied: after a divisional inspection by the commander, spontaneous demonstrations took place.
Karl Artelt organised the first soldiers' council and soon many more were set up.
The governor of the naval station, Wilhelm Souchon, was compelled to negotiate.
The imprisoned sailors and stokers were freed, and soldiers and workers brought public and military institutions under their control.
In breach of Souchon's promise, separate troops advanced to end the rebellion but were intercepted by the mutineers and sent back or decided to join the sailors and workers.
By the evening of 4 November, Kiel was firmly in the hands of about 40,000 rebellious sailors, soldiers and workers, as was Wilhelmshaven two days later.
On the same evening, the SPD deputy Gustav Noske arrived in Kiel and was welcomed enthusiastically, but he had orders from the new government and the SPD leadership to bring the uprising under control.
He had himself elected chairman of the soldiers' council and reinstated peace and order.
Some days later he took over the governor's post, and Lothar Popp of the USPD became chairman of the overall soldiers' council.
During the following weeks, Noske succeeded in reducing the influence of the councils in Kiel, but he could not prevent the spread of the revolution throughout Germany.
The events had already spread far beyond Kiel.
TO BE CONTINUED ...