Attacks on Weimar Republic.

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Daniel Hoij 10C                                                        6th November 2001

Attacks on Weimar Republic

        The provisional coalition government, called the Weimar Republic was formed in November 1918. It was formed between the moderate Social Democrats under Friedrich Ebert and the more radical Independent Social Democrats, who were hoping for a more fundamental socialist revolution. Friedrich Ebert won the election and became president of the republic in February 1919. Most middle-class citizens of Germany accepted the Weimar Republic, but some working-class Germans did not agree with the republic. These people were extreme left-wing Communists, who pursued a policy of violent opposition to the Weimar Republic.

        These left wing people were known as Spartacists, and were led by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht. The name Spartacists were given to these extreme left-wing communists because Liebknecht signed a series of revolutionary antiwar articles with the name Spartacus; being the name of the leader of a great slave revolt in ancient Rome. These two gathered more and more working classes together, making themselves known as the German Communist Party (KPD). They did not like war and wanted a revolution for Germany, to turn it into a Communist Country, like Russia had done. Their enemies at first were the Weimar Government as they did not like the Spartacists’ views on revolution, but later on they also became the enemy of the extreme right wing, also known as the Nazi Party.

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        The Spartacists were very aggressive and although they had said, “Spare your enemy”, they decided that violence was the way to get through to the country and eventually they hoped to overthrow the government. The first act of violence that the Spartacists committed was in January 5th 1919. The Spartacists formed a strong, armed uprising in Berlin and started to create havoc in the town centre. They had weapons of all sorts and demanded Germany to become Communist. They occupied most of the town centre, taking over shops, newspaper stores and public buildings, holding their post, threatening and shooting any ...

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