Another cause to consider, lead more immediately to break out of revolution. After the outbreak of World War One, the overwhelming majority of Germans supported the war seeing it as an opportunity for German expansionism. However after a prolonged war on two fronts and the allies naval block, there were severe shortages of food and raw materials. People became increasingly divided over the war. Many socialists questioned why Germany was still fighting. General Ludendorf and Field Marshell Hindenburg demanded a ‘victorious peace’. By the autumn of 1917, Germany faced a growing economic and military crisis and the people were close to starvation. However, Russia signed a treaty of Brest-Litovsk where Germany made many territorial gains from Russia. Even though Germany was now only fighting on one front, fresh enemy troops weakened her allies who eventually sought peace. Their troops began a gradual retreat and defeat was inevitable. At home, civilian and in places, military morale was disintegrating and there was the danger of Revolution. Due to the fact that the Kaiser controlled foreign policy and the armed forces the people were destined to blame him for Germany’s military defeats and the eventual loss of the war itself. There was growing opposition to the current government due to these reasons discussed above and revolution was inevitable.
The first revolutionary movements came from above and were instituted by the high command/conservatives (hostile to “revolutionary” socialists), hence the term ‘Revolution from above’. With the blame being directed to the government, High command persuaded the Kaiser to transform the 2nd Reich from an authoritarian/undemocratic regime, into a virtual parliamentary democracy to try to avoid a communist revolution. Military leadership declined this change in Government and so Lundendorff resigned, meaning the new government were to be involved in the peace negotiations with the allies (actively redirecting the blame). The inclusion of socialists in the new government of Germany which had the support and backing of the Reichstag was a truly ‘revolutionary’ move for the German Reich to make. Emergence of a Parliamentary Democracy where the government was chosen from the Reichstag was a certain achievement gained from the revolutionary event of 1918.
Events initiated from high command were closely followed by a ‘Revolution from below’, during which Germany appeared to drift violently to the left with demands for political change and socialism. The people embarked on a wave of unrest/demonstrations often describe as the ‘German Revolution’. In late October and early November 1918 widespread revolts took place in the German army and navy at Kiel. Wilhelmshaven, Hamberg and Cologne. News of this unrest/mutiny in the armed forces led to a wave of strikes throughout Germany workers seized control of factories Soviets sprang up all over Germany, thus confirming the support behind action to reform the government. Germany was on the verge of a communist revolution and to try to avoid further chaos; a German republic was declared, the Kaiser was forced to abdicate and Ebert replaced Prince Max as the leader of the SPD. Again the removal/Abdication of the Kaiser and other members of the aristocracy was another achievement of the German Revolution, along with the collapse of the Authoritarian Government of the 2nd Reich. Two days later the armistice was signed which signalled the end of suffering and was therefore seen as an achievement gained from the Revolution.
However the armistice gave rise to the ‘Stab in back theory’ which undermined support for the new democracy (blamed for military defeat). This could therefore be seen as a factor, which limited the achievements, made from the revolution. This theory was created by Lundendorff to shift blame of military defeat away from High command. He claimed that support for the army had been undermined by the democratic Reichstag who demanded peace and that the German army would eventually have been victorious if left alone. This idea culminated in the revolution of November 1918. The motivation for such a theory being proposed undermines the validity of the theory itself. The theory was quickly used to criticise the democratic Weimar Republic. Together with its links to the humiliation of the peace treaty, the association this theory provoked weakened the prospects of success for the Weimar democracy especially as it was widely believed and reinforced despite its falsity.
After the revolution from above and below, the provisional government set up by Ebert was subjected to a communist/spartakist revolution in January 1919 which began to compromise the success of the main revolution of November 1918. The SPD were attacked from both the communist left and the conservative right. This period of Civil war was to establish the true government of Germany. The two main groups trying to gain power were the communists and the SPD. Once the Armistice had been, Ebert aimed to secure a democracy and so made an uneasy deal with General Groener (Army leader). The Communist Revolution was crushed by the army, who were in support of the SPD in the sense that they were also terrified of the communists. The appointment of Ebert was an achievement gained from the revolution as he was a passionate democrat and was appointed as chancellor until free and democratic elections could be held. Also as a result of the revolution Ebert and the working class won concessions. Trade unions were given negotiating rights with employers on pay and working conditions and an 8 hour working day. This was clearly an achievement gained a result of the revolution of 1918. However in return for the support of the conservatives against the communists Ebert compromised the strength and democracy of the new republic by agreeing that existing Civil servants and Judge (symbolic of the old government) were to remain in their jobs/positions. The SPD had a strong and passionate belief in democracy but they failed to understand that for a genuine democracy to exist the structure of German society also had to be democratised eg. the Army, the Judiciary, the Civil Service and Big-Business. These conservative groups which were allowed to continue were hostile to democracy and would undermine it any chance they got. Also the deal between Ebert and Groener gave increased confidence to the forces of the right and they realised that the democracy to some extent depended upon them for its survival. Ebert’s moderate line aroused left-wing opposition. The communists believed that Ebert’s government had betrayed the revolution and sold out to conservative forces. The forces for radical change (extreme left) were destroyed in the brutal suppression of the Communist/Spartakist revolt. Surely eradicating opposition was anti-democratic idea and compromised how democratic this new form of government truly was. Also the socialists (SPD and communists) were deeply split after January and would never trust each other in order to unite against the Right, which weakened the chances of the survival of the new democracy in the long run.
The result the German election in January 1919, showed that although the SDP was the largest party in the new Reichstag, they failed to secure an absolute majority and so support was not strong enough. The coalition formed from this minority was strong because it was made up of the top three parties in the election. However, the USPD did not join and a coalition government would depend on all three parties getting along (a rarity in politics).
The revolution in Germany in 1918/19 developed as a result of the undemocratic nature of the 2nd Reich and the economic hardships and military defeat resulting from the German involvement in the First World War. The old aristocratic order was swept away and replaced by a new democracy, the Weimar republic which prevented a Communist seizure of power in 1919. The democratic nature of the new Republic was to be applauded. The democratically elected Reichstag now held political power in Germany and many concessions were gained by the working class, with Ebert a passionate democrat at the helm. However there were many aspects which questioned the democratic strength that this new republic would achieve by the time revolution had come to an end in 1919. The conservative forces played their hand very well. They instigated the First Revolution or ‘Revolution from Above’ before military defeat took place. They also developed the ‘Stab in the Back’ theory shifting the blame and the responsibility for signing the armistice. This would help to prevent a more radical revolution. They still had great power in the new republic but were not committed to its success or survival in the longer term and in some respects the democracy still relied upon them. The communists however must take some blame for the failure/limitations of the German revolution. They convinced themselves that Germany too was ripe for a radical working-class revolution (they had badly miscalculated). Due to the fact that the majority of the Germans supported Parliamentary democracy, their attempted revolt in January 1919 forced Ebert to do a deal with Groener and played right into the hands of the conservative forces (claiming that they were protecting Germany from the threat of Communism).
In the end there was little real change. The removal of the Kaiser and the German monarch was seen by some as more symbolic than significant and for many Germans the spirit of Imperial Germany lived on. The majority of Germans were quite conservative and did not want a communist revolution. Most Germans favoured a shift to a Parliamentary Democracy not full-blooded socialism. Therefore any support for a communist/spartakist revolution was limited. There were also arguments that the revolution ran away with itself. The sustainability of the government and democratic control was questioned, as institutional centres of the old ruling classes remained intact. Many saw the republic as originating in a revolution and therefore, illegitimate or ‘the convenient means of filling a void left by collapse of Monarchy’. While the forces of the left also posed a threat for the new democracy, the more powerful forces of the right served to remind the new democracy that the revolution was far from secure in 1919.
