Toller, who was also a playwright, described the revolution as the bavarian revolution of love. The german revolution was a period of turmoil and political change that began at the end of world war i and ended with the adoption of the weimar constitution. Without support from the rest of germany and the soviet union, the communist insurgency disintegrated. The beer hall putsch 1923 weimar germany national 5. Within a week, the uprising had spread to towns and military bases across germany. They began at the burgerbrau keller, a beer hall in the bavarian city of munich. The spartacist uprising was quite probably doomed to failure from the start. This attempted coup detat came to be known as the beer hall putsch. The germany revolution and the weimar republic 19181933.
It was started on 23 october 1923 by one of the most militant sections of the hamburg district communist party, the kp wasserkante. Weimar political parties facing history and ourselves. The german revolution or november revolution german. Students complete this with information from independent research. Weimar republic weimar republic years of crisis 192023. It was the freikorps that suppressed the bavarian communists many freikorps members gravitated to rightwing parties like the nazis. Bavarian uprising it was an independant socialist state, led by eberts ally kurt eisner when assassinated bavarians seized chance to declare soviet republic. The revolution of 191819 is one of the most important events in the modern history of germany, yet it is poorly embedded in the historical memory of germans. However on november 4th, the right wing leaders decided to postpone the revolution. The newly formed german republic was governed by the relatively left wing sdp, led by chancellor ebert. In 1918, a year after the bolshevik revolution in russia, kurt eisner, a jew declared a free state in bavaria. The uprising was brutally attacked by freikorps, which consisted mainly of exsoldiers dismissed from the army and who were wellpaid to put down forces.
The nazi party agreed to support this uprising and hitler arranged for his storm troopers to participate in the revolt. Suggestions for group work to make a class display are included in the teaching notes. By 1920, they were called the national socialist german workers party and by 1921. Spartakusaufstand, also known as the january uprising januaraufstand, was a general strike and the armed battles accompanying it in berlin from 5 to 12 january 1919. The new germany faced huge problems, not least those caused by its punishment in. Start studying why was the weimar republic able to overcome threats to its survival 19191923. By autumn 1918 it was clear that germany would lose world war one. Their beliefs were nationalist, antitreaty of versailles and anticommunist. The most prominant freikorps unit was brigade ehrhardt. Challenges to the government of the weimar republic the.
He held an election, lost it, then got murdered as he was on his way to hand in his resignation in february 1919. The spartacists were communists led by karl leibknecht and rosa luxemburg in the weimar republic. From november onwards a series of events occurred which became. Those on the left communists and the like had no respect for the government and the success of lenin in russia had boosted their selfbelief. People were starving, the kaiser had fled and the new republic got off to a troubled start for. The uprising was brutally attacked by freikorps, which consisted mainly of exsoldiers dismissed from the army and who were wellpaid to put down forces of the far left. The freikorps freecorps were paramilitary units that existed in postww1 germany during the early years of the weimar republic. The beer hall putsch of 1923 history learning site. Normal events of the weimar republic and its prehistory. Early problems of weimar germany history learning site. The overall aim of the putsch was to overthrow the weimar republic. Many freikorps members were hostile to the weimar republic, but willing to fight communists and poles.
From a military point of view, the attempt was futile and over within three days. Beer hall putsch munich putsch the holocaust encyclopedia. The weimar coalition of the social democrats, centre, and democrats, which had been the basis of scheidemanns ministry februaryjune 1919, was reestablished by bauer when the democrats joined his government in october 1919 and maintained by hermann muller also a social democrat when he took bauers place as. This timeline stops when hitler establishes the third reich.
Mar 10, 2018 as we all know post ww1 germany was kind of a mess, so today were going to look at how a communist revolution rose out of that chaos in the german state of bavaria and then its eventual downfall. Hitler and the nazis took over the beer hall claiming they had taken over the government and would use the putsch to take berlin and germany. Ebert, the first head of the weimar republic, and his government were in a very difficult position. Originating in a general strike of some half a million workers, this demonstration soon turned into a short but bloody uprising that we now call the spartacist uprising also spelt spartakist. In this video ill be covering the spartacist uprising undertaken by. The friekorps formed from german soldiers returning home from the war. The next day the rebellion spread to kiel when sailors refused to obey orders. The year 1919 was marked by civil unrest across europe, but especially in germany. In september 1923, the chancellor gustav stresemann and president ebert had decided that the only way germany. Feb 10, 2018 the revolution that could have turned germany communist in 1919 the spartacist rising. The spartacist revolt was a leftwing uprising designed to establish a communist state in germany and destroy the weimar republic. The abdication of emperor william ii on november 9, 1918, marked the end of the german empire. In january 1919, 100,000 workers went on strike and demonstrated in the centre of berlin. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
The right wing leaders of the bavarian government, kahr, seisser and lossow, planned an uprising to commence in mid november. The origins of the republic, 191819 the end of world war one. Novemberrevolution 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 most important objective of german politics is the liberation of german territory from foreign occupation. German empire 18711918 weimar republic 19191933 nazi germany 19331945 federal republic of germany 1990present german empire 18711918 conflict combatant 1 combatant 2 result reichskanzler german losses. Sep 14, 2019 the bavarian socialist republic in april 1919, socialists attempted another revolution in southern germany. The hamburg uprising was an insurrection during the weimar republic in germany.
The last days of world war i and the spartacist revolt. The beer hall putsch of november 1923, or the munich putsch, was hitlers attempt to overthrow the weimar government of ebert and establish a right wing nationalistic one in its place. This weimar timeline charts the chronology of the weimar republic, dating the prehistory before the adoption of the actual weimar constitution. The revolution that could have turned germany communist in 1919 the spartacist rising. Against the german army and the freikorps there was probably little doubt of the outcome. The last days of world war i and the spartacist revolt the abdication of emperor william ii on november 9, 1918, marked the end of the german empire. The weimar republic 19181929 defeat in 1918 led to the kaisers abdication, a republic and a new constitution. Why were the spartacists a threat to the weimar republic.
The first challenge to the weimar republic came when a group of communists and anarchists took over the bavarian government in munich and declared the creation of the bavarian soviet republic. The german revolution began with the kiel mutiny, an uprising instigated by disgruntled german sailors in late october. It was led by the spartacist league a group within the communist party led by rosa luxemburg and karl liebknecht. Sep 10, 2019 dr karl liebknecht proclaims a german socialist republic during the german revolution in november 1918. The spartacist revolt weimar germany national 5 history. They lacked military training and equipment, were a coalition of groups with differing visions for the future of germany and had no clear chain of command. The country transformed into a postwar republic with its capital in the city of weimar. Timeline of the weimar republic timetoast timelines.
Feb 28, 2020 weimar republic, the government of germany from 1919 to 1933, so called because the assembly that adopted its constitution met at weimar from february 6 to august 11, 1919. On the 8th november 1923, the leaders of the regional bavarian government were speaking at a beer hall in munich. In the 1930s, hindenburg struggled to uphold the republic in the midst of severe economic depression. Kurt was not a fan of the bolsheviks and seems to have been quite a decent chap. Apr, 2019 leader of the bavarian soviet republic we communists are all corpses on holiday during the bavarian soviet republic in 1919, comrade levine was the organizer of the workers and soldiers soviets. Why was the weimar republic able to overcome threats to its. In the last years of the weimar republic the party moved away from its strong support for the republic. In this video i will explain how and why this conflict took place. Weimar republic wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. As we all know post ww1 germany was kind of a mess, so today were going to look at how a communist revolution rose out of that chaos in the german. The weimar republic was created at a time of confusion and chaos after germany had lost world war one.
The origins of the republic, 191819 the weimar republic. Part ii carl landauer toward the end of the war of i9i4 bavana had become a weak spot in the german home front. Bayerische raterepublik was the shortlived attempt to establish a socialist state in the free state of bavaria during the german revolution. December 1918 a revolt aagainst the goverment resulted in 16 spartikist deaths in response to this they formed the german communist party kpd. Spartakusaufstand, also known as the january uprising januaraufstand, was a general strike and the armed battles accompanying it in germany from 4 to 15 january 1919. Though not lacking in at least passive support among the munich workers, the soviet republic horrified the conservative and catholic peasantry and the notably reactionary middle class of bavaria to the point where they welcomed the joint invasion of government troops and free corps from all over germany including a bavarian free corps. In january 1919, the weimar government led by president friedrich ebert and his social democratic party, was challenged by a group of revolutionaries called the spartacists. Initially, the bavarian soviet republic was ruled by uspd members such as ernst toller, and anarchists like anarchist writer gustav landauer, silvio gesell, and playwright erich muhsam. The peoples party was generally closer to the parties on the right but its leader for most of the weimar years, gustav stresemann, held the party in a supportive role for the republic, often having to struggle against members of his own party. Political unrest, 19191923 weimar germany 19181924. Taking advantage of local disorder, they seized control of the government in bavaria and declared an independent soviet republic. The failure of the weimar republic that this revolution brought into being and the nazi era that followed it obstructed the view of these events for a long time. When the bavarian soviet republic was crushed, he was captured and courtmartialed.
This demonstration was taken over by the spartacist leadership. Rebels stormed 24 police stations, 17 in hamburg and seven in schleswigholstein province in prussia. The weimar republic experienced severe problems from its start. It is true that party truce had been proclaimed on 4 august 1914 in germany, but the same could not be maintained throughout the duration of the world war i. Hitler and the nazi party aimed to seize control of the state government, march on berlin, and overthrow the german federal government. Navy soldiers based in wilhelmshaven, refused to board their ships. The bavarian problem in the weimar republic, 19181923. The briefly communist german state, the bavarian soviet. The weimar republic is the name given to the german government between the end of the imperial period 1918 and the beginning of nazi germany 1933 the weimar republic and period draws its name from the town of weimar in central germany where the constitutional assembly met. Defeat in 1918 led to the kaisers abdication, a republic and a new constitution. Oddly enough the republic nominally continued to exist until 1945, as the constitution was never formally repealed, however, the measures taken by the national socialists in the early part of their rule rendered the constitution irrelevant, thus 1933 is usually seen as the end of the weimar republic and the beginning of hitlers third reich. Germany was in the middle of a postwar revolution, and two of the perceived paths forward were either social democracy or a councilsoviet republic similar to the one which had been. Raterepublik bayern, munchner raterepublik was a shortlived unrecognised socialist state in bavaria during the german revolution of 191819. Weimar republic, the government of germany from 1919 to 1933, so called because the assembly that adopted its constitution met at weimar from february 6 to august 11, 1919.
Uprisings in the weimar republic 19181923 this resource is based around a blank timeline of uprisings 19181923 in weimar. The group emerged from the german social democratic party spd they wanted a communist state. The spartacist uprising 1919 was a communist rebellion in interwar germany. The revolution that could have turned germany communist in. On august 1923, stresemann was appointed chancellor and foreign minister in the weimar republic. The nazi party was formed in the years following world war one.