The ‘revolution from below’ was the next stage and was used to stop the war. The German people had been promised a great victory before the war but when it was clear that the war was lost the country erupted. This was known as the ‘revolution from below’. It started when sailors at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven refused orders to try and restore Germany’s hopes and salvage the war. They did their best to stop the ships going out and it worked, they then took over Kiel. This was very significant because it justifies the views of the whole country and many things followed. There were sailors, soldiers and workers councils created and they challenged the state governments. This led to the abdication of the Kaiser and Friedrich Ebert took over the chancellorship. The workers voted overwhelmingly in support of the new process brought in and industrialists did the same thing. There was a new wage restructure and everybody seemed to be pleased with the outcome of the whole situation. There were a few negatives against the new system. These were that the Weimar Republic probably didn’t have the support that is thought and this could lead to a short long term future.
The army was the next stage of the setting up and this was a very important stage. The army were to be a very strong part of the new system and possessed a lot of power. The army had been blamed by the majority of Germany for the loss of the war and the army wanted to get this demon off of their back. They were going to be more involved in the running of the country than they were before and they wanted more power. They wanted more favours from the government and in return agreed to stay away from any negotiations. The new socialist government made an agreement with General Wilhelm Groener to gain the support of the army. The government obviously saw the army as very important and thought they were vital if the Weimar Republic was to be a success. In the agreement it was said that the government in return would oppose revolutionary uprising. Both sides to the partnership had their own way and this meant that they could meet in the middle and try to be successful.
The next stage was the armistice. An armistice is a cease of fire but not surrender. The armistice was signed on the 11th of November at 11am in 1918. It effectively ended military operations between the Allies and Germany amd ended WW1 on the western front. There were many terms that were agreed to throught the armistice. All land envaded by Germany had to be evacuated. Most geman transport had to be handed over as did any prisoners of war held by the germans. Finally the naval blockade of Germany would continue until complete peace terms could be agreed upon. The armistice was agreed at a German High Command meeting. They agreed that it was necessary to stop germany from facing humiliation.
The next stage was the suppression of the revolution which took place in January 1919. It was led by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht and casued a huge panic. Several workers attacked an editorial office of a newspaper in Berlin and were joined by more workers because the newspaper had printed articles criticing the Spartacists. The leaders of the USPD and the KPD soon decided to support the actions of the workers. They appealed for a general strike in Berlin on January 7, which was followed by about 500,000 people, who surged into downtown Berlin on that weekend. The Spartacist League then called for its members to take part in armed combat. On the same day, Ebert ordered the Freikorps to attack the workers. The former soldiers still had weapons and military equipment from WW1, which gave them a formidable advantage. They quickly re-conquered the blocked streets and buildings; many of the workers surrendered, which did not prevent the soldiers from shooting hundreds of them. An unknown number of civilians also died during the fighting. Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured by Freikorps and murdered. The time between the attacking of the newspaper to the murdering of Liebknecht and Luxembourg was only 7 days. After the happenings of the revolt by the KPD Ebert was seen as a traitor and had the left wing had lost two of its best leaders through Luxembourg and Liebknecht. After this the left wing of politics was divided and would never really recover.
The Final stage was the establishment of the new regime. A new elected National Assembly met at Weimar and agreed a new constitution. After the actions of the KPD (spartacists) the government fled to Weimar. From then on it was associated with betrayal, anarchy and selling out from both sides of the political spectrum. From November 1918 to January 1919, Germany was governed dictatorially by the Council of People's Commissioners. In those three months, it issued a large number of orders. At the same time, its main activities were confined to certain things. For example the eight-hour workday, important national health insurance and the re-instatement of demobilised workers. Occasionally the name "Die Deutsche Sozialdemokratische Republik" (The German Social-Democratic Republic) appeared in leaflets and on posters from this era, although this was never the official name of the country.
The establishment of the Weimar republic had a lot of ups and downs and didn’t turn out to be as simple as it could have been. Not all of the country agreed with the new regime and made their opinions known, especially the KPD. The six different stages all had their own significance. The elites had their part, the sailors and soldiers had their part, the army had heir part and the political parties had their part.
