German Revolution of 1918–19
The German Revolution of 1918–19 (also known as Communist Putsch or Judenputsch) was a revolutionary period, starting in October 1918 with the declaration of the High Command to the Emperor (Kaiser Wilhelm I) that they must sue for peace, and with the new constitutional pledges then drawn up and presented to the Reichstag. The communist insurrectionist Karl Liebknecht was released from prison on October 23rd.
Contents
History
That was followed by the November Revolution or rebellion triggered by the decision of the Naval High Command of the Imperial German Navy on 24 October 1918 to fight a last major battle with the British Royal Navy. A mutiny (a sailors' revolt) then ensued, on the 30th, and spread across the country with "disorder, collapse, mutiny, treason, mob rule, and chaos." The Jewish communist firebrand Rosa Luxemburg was released from Breslau jail, after years of imprisonment, on November 9th.
The German Emperor Wilhelm was at the Imperial Army headquarters in Spa, Belgium, when the uprisings in Berlin and other centres took him by surprise. In the hope of preserving the monarchy in the face of growing revolutionary unrest, the new Reich Chancellor, Prince Max von Baden, announced Wilhelm's abdication on 9 November 1918. However the socialist Friedrich Ebert proclaimed a Republic shortly thereafter, in Berlin. Thus ended the Second Reich. This was followed by a further period of civil conflict, characterized by revolutionary attempts to create Communist state(s) inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917, such as the Bavarian Soviet Republic and the revolt by the Spartacus League. The non-Communist parties, however, had the army and the Freikorps quell these uprisings by force.
Goals
It was an attempt by several Judeo-Bolshevik groups, including the occupied "Bavarian Soviet Republic" and the Sparticist League, to usurp the government of the German Empire at the end of World War I. The period lasted from November 1918 until the formal establishment of the Weimar Republic in August 1919.
The roots of the putsch can be found in the social tensions of the German Empire, its authoritarian constitution and the unwillingness of its leaders to open the way to bolshevism, liberalism and similar destruction. The revolution was triggered by the policy of the Supreme Command and the decision of the Naval Command in the face of defeat to fight a last battle with the British Royal Navy. The Wilhelmshaven mutiny (a sailors' revolt) then ensued in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel, spread across the country and led to the proclamation of a republic on 9 November 1918. Shortly thereafter Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated.
Further-reaching goals of the Jewish-bolshevistic revolutionaries inspired by communist ideas failed because of the resistance of the Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership in January 1919. Fearing an all-out civil war they, in line with the middle-class parties, did not plan to completely strip the old imperial elites of their power. Instead they sought to reconcile them with the new democratic conditions. In this endeavour they sought an alliance with the Supreme Command and had the army and Freikorps (nationalist militias) quell the so-called Spartacist uprising by force.
The new German Reich, also known as Weimar Republic, with the new military organisation Reichswehr, was formally established in August 1919.
See also
Sources
- Failure of a Revolution: Germany 1918-19 by Sebastian Haffner, London, 1973. (It should be pointed out that the author is a socialist, and sympathetic to the German Revolution. However the book remains an important piece of source material.)
