The German Revolution as the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of world war I, which resulted in the replacement of Germany’s imperial government with a republic. The revolutionary period lasted from November 1918 until the formal establishment of the Weimar Republic in August 1919.The roots of the revolution lie in the German Empire’s fate in the First World War and the social tensions which came to a head shortly thereafter. The first acts of revolution were triggered by the policy of the Supreme Command and its lack of coordination with the Naval Command which, in the face of defeat, nevertheless insisted on engaging in a climactic battle with the British Royal Navy. The Wilhelmshaven mutiny ensued in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel, and the spirit of rebellion spread across the country and led to the proclamation of a republic on 9 November 1918. Shortly thereafter Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated.
It cannot be denied that the political and ideological state of global affairs inspired the actions that were taken towards the revolution. The Russian revolution that turned Russia into a socialist state occurred in October but the fever was rising months before this and this caused wide spread fear that revolution would spread westwards and Germany was the first target. Though this was simply hearsay and revolution does not spring from gossip thus this can be eradicated as the primary reason for the revolution.
The Essay on To What Extent Do You Agree That a Revolution Happened in Germany at the End of World War I
... to the fact that there was a revolution. A revolutionary situation now existed in Germany in early November 1918 but it wasn’t ... were gaining more power. Bavaria became an independent democratic socialist republic because of the disposition of King Louis III and the ... system. It was called a revolution for numerous reasons. On October 29th 1919, a mutiny started to spread near Kiel because sailors ...
The left wing movement, though a contributory factor to the tension surrounding the prospect of a revolution, was not a united force thus posed no real threat to the government, therefore validating the point that it was the war that was primarily the cause of the revolution. The SPD represented moderate socialist aims and was led by Ebert and Scheidemann. Its fundamental aim was to create a socialist republic, whilst being committed to parliamentary democracy, it rejected anything that was linked to Soviet-style communism whereas, the Spartacists, led by Liebknecht and Luxemburg, were deeply influenced by Soviet-style communism and Bolshevism. They believed that Germany should follow in the footsteps as Russia. Their fundamental aim was to create a soviet based on workers and soldiers councils. Along with these divisions and conflicts another political party was added to the mixture, the USPD. Led by Haase and Kautsky, it wanted radical social and economic change. This serious drift from the largest party’s aims seriously curtailed its confidence. The main disagreement was between those who sympathised with the creation of a parliamentary democracy and those who advocated a more revolutionary democracy based on the workers’ councils. Ergo, it is clear that this cannot be a main reason why revolution occurred because divisions within parties leads to failure if not in the right climate, for example take the Civil War in Russia the Whites were disorganised and divided and therefore could not take power. The only reason why the revolutionaries were not defeated was because the climate of war leads the people to become desperate for change and that is the primary actor the left wing movement offered.
‘I know no parties anymore, only Germans’, the words of the Kaiser which epitomises the state of the Burgfriede; even the Social Democrats, who had been considered ‘enemies of the state’, promised their support to the war. The Burgfriede had successfully blindfolded the public’s opinion of the war until 1916. However as war progressed and the failure to secure a quick victory was obvious the public turned away from the Burgfriede. The onset military stalemate of Christmas 1916 did very little to continue the flame of optimism that was alight in August 1914. The public had been lulled into a false sense of security with the Burgfriede and due to the impact of the war upon the reputation of the Burgfriede spiralled rapidly downwards. This made them touchable, it make them breakable.
The Essay on French American War Revolution Colonies Revolutions
Thousands of years ago many people believed in Ptolemy s geocentric theory that the Earth was the center of the universe. But, not until around 1500 was that theory disproved by the heliocentric theory formed from a great astronomer named Copernicus. His theory proved that the sun is the center of the universe and that celestial objects revolution would orbit around the sun and not the Earth. The ...
Lack of constitutional monarchy was evident during the war and the weakness of the Kaiser was brought to the forefront of the nation. There is no doubt that the Kaiser had no real power of the nation as several past scandals and undermining efforts have proved, such as the Daily Telegraph affair. As a political leader he was little more than a figurehead, which made it easier for people to run the show for him. He did not make an effort to try and use propaganda to portray him as a caring, strong and dominant leader like the rest of the world leaders were doing, instead he spent his time ideally on his estates. This was a good image for the revolutionaries a leader who does not care about the country during war. Ipso facto, the war climate gave the perfect opportunity. It could be said that if there was no war there would have not been a November revolution because all the factors would not have culminates together so seamlessly.
The fact that war began to infiltrate the government in the form of Hindenburg and Ludendorff shows that the war was in all factors of the decline of the government and of the Kaiser. Simply in threatening to resign the Supreme Command was able to exert infinite amounts of power and influence over economics, politics and social aspects. The ‘silent dictatorship’ had begun. Little did they know this would be the beginning of the end for the Kaiser. Due to the silent dictatorship several opportunities of peace were turned down, the Auxiliary Service Law was introduced to militarise society and Hindenburg and Ludendorff forced the unfortunate Bethmann out of office and on their instructions promoted new ministers. The supreme command had made decisions that went against the wishes of the nation, giving them just cause to revolt against a government that was disregarding them, especially working class.
The Term Paper on Explain Why And How Hitler And The Nsdap Began To Attract Some Support From People In Germany Betwe
Explain why and how, Hitler and the NSDAP began to attract some support from people in Germany between 1919 and 1923. There were many reasons why Hitler got into power: the defeat in world war one, Treaty of Versailles, stab in the back theory, weak leadership, fear of communist/revolutions, economic impact of world war one, reparations, hyperinflations of 1923, French invasion of the Ruhr. In ...
Thus if the revolution was a politically driven then the revolution was not purely a cause of the loss of the war, a military and nationalistic factor, but when one considers that the military were the politicians, then the case for the revolution being purely a result of the failure in World War 1 strengthens, because all the factors that build up to the revolution stem from the War. Therefore in this light the argument that the revolution was purely a result of the War is a correct statement.
As in every revolution, economic factors were a fundamental part to the increase in tension that led to the outburst. The economic factors in this case were directly caused because of the war. Between 1913 and 1918 the mark lost 75 per cent of its value. Industry made vast profits from munitions and this led to increased resentment by ordinary Germans. Agriculture production fell, a major source of income for a large proportion of the German people, which was further made worse in December 1916 when Auxiliary Labour Law gave government harsh powers over labour, decreasing not only the income of families but their standard of living. The war itself was financed by simply printing more money and borrowing which led to inflation that began to spiral out of control and only 16 per cent of costs of war met from taxation. The war cost Germany 8,394 million pounds and after the defeat and therefore the forced reparation costs, 6.6 billion pounds, this crippled the German economy and therefore the German people. This would seem good enough cause for a revolutionary to start a revolution.
The living conditions that were brought on because of the war including: real earnings fell from 20-30 per cent. Meat consumption fell to 12 per cent of pre-war level and 1917 was known as the ‘turnip winter’ as turnips were the only successful crop to eat as there were major food shortages. Lack of food and starvation is an obvious trigger for a revolution; one only needs to look to history to see examples of this such as the French Revolution, 1789-99. Disease became a prominent factor in the daily life of the people; thousands were dying every day from a major flu epidemic. In 1916, 121,000 people died from starvation and hypothermia. In, 2 years this number more than doubled to 293,000.
The Term Paper on Did The German People Benefit From Nazi Rule In The 1930's?
The Nazi’s came into power in Germany in March 1933 when they pushed the elections their way by arresting Communist party members and their supporters. Also they had a massive amount of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels was the head of Hitler’s propaganda movement. Also the Nazi’s were aggressive towards their opponents, putting them down to make the Nazi’s look better. Even ...
A key factor of the war that caused revolution and therefore proves that war was the primary cause of the revolution was the signing of the Armistance and in signing it therefore agreeing to the terms in the Armistance. The key terms were: Alsace-Lorraine and invaded lands would be evacuated by Germany, the west bank of the Rhine was to be occupied by the Allies and German troops were to evacuate east bank, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest to be renounced, reparation fees of 6.6 billion pounds and finally and most importantly the war guilt clause claiming that the blame for the world war had all fallen upon Germany’s shoulders. This angered the ordinary German because he had always been told that Germany was fighting a defensive war, so to find out that the global view is that Germany was the aggressive country, Fischer’s controversy, was too much to handle and the people hit back at the ‘November criminals’.
In conclusion, whilst it is a narrow minded statement saying that the November revolution was purely caused by the failure in the war, it is a perfectly plausible and in some senses accurate. Yes, there were underlying tensions within the German society but these existed in all societies over the world and were not enough on their own to start a revolution. However, the war alone brought out so many problems for the revolutionaries and for the government and Kaiser that ‘revolution from below’ occurred. It highlighted, created and exacerbated problems in society, and the revolutionaries were able to use the war climate to their advantage and create a change and a possible utopia for the people. If there had been no war, the revolutionaries would not have had a haven for people to turn to as a haven would not have been need. Therefore, the German revolution was purely a result of the failure in the First World War
