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The Spartacus Revolt January 1919

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The Spartacus Revolt January 1919 The Spartacus Revolt January 1919 The war was over, Kaiser Wilhelm had fled and revolutionaries were roaming the streets. The people of Germany now had to decide what kind of Republic the new Germany would be. Would Germany become a peaceful law-abiding democracy like Britain, with power shared between the upper, middle and working classes? Or would a violent revolution sweep away the past and create a communist country completely dominated by the workers? What were the options? The Social Democrats, led by Ebert, wanted Germany to become a law-abiding parliamentary democracy like Britain, where every German - rich or poor - would be entitled to a say in how the country was run, by voting in elections for a parliament (Reichstag) which would make the laws. The Spartacus League - (Spartacists aka communists) - on the other hand wanted Germany to become a communist country run by, and for, the workers; they wanted power and wealth to be taken away from the old ruling elite in a violent revolution and for Germany to then be run by Workers Councils - or Soviets. The Spartacists wanted a new kind of political system - communism, a system where the country would be run for and on behalf of the workers, with all wealth and power being removed from the previous rulers. Ebert of the SPD Spartacus League Freecorps Soldier . 1 After the Kaiser had gone… With revolutionary workers and armed ex-soldiers on the loose all over Germany, Ebert and the Social Democrats were scared. He wanted to make sure that the people of Germany understood what the Social Democrats would give them if they were in charge of Germany. So, just two days after the Kaiser abdicated, and a day after the Armistice had been agreed, Ebert issued a statement. In this statement he promised: ● There would be no more censorship - people would be free to say whatever they wanted, even it wasn’t what the government wanted to hear. ● People would be free to follow whatever religion they wanted and to be a member of whatever political party they believed in, without the fear of being arrested. ● Future German governments would be elected in free and fair elections and all Germans would be allowed to vote for whoever they wanted in these elections. ● Workers would only have to work for eight hours a day so more jobs would be created; benefits would be provided for unemployed workers; extra houses would be built so that every German could have a roof over their head; enough food would be available, so that the starvation rations that people had been surviving on during the war would be brought to an end. These promises - work, support, freedom, shelter and food - appealed to most German workers and so Ebert won the support of the majority of workers, who might otherwise have support the more extreme communist Spartacus League. He also announced that there would be a General Election in January to elect on a new, national Reichstag (parliament). The Spartacus League was not happy with Ebert’s ideas; they wanted Germany to be run by the workers directly through the Worker and Soldier Councils which had started the revolution. A parliament, they said, would be manipulated by the upper and middle classed Germans. The Spartacists believed that only the workers should have any power, because it was they who did all the work. 2 The rich and middle classes had supported the Kaiser, they said, and it was this that had led to the disaster that was the First World War. As far as the Spartacists were concerned, getting rid of the Kaiser was only the start of the revolution; now it was time to take the power and wealth away from the rich and middle class Germans. A violent revolution was needed they believed, to sweep away the old ruling classes and give total power to the workers. They believed that this was democratic, because over 70% of the population were workers. By December, the two groups had begun to clash on the streets and President Ebert became very scared that the Social Democrats would be unable to maintain law and order - and prevent a violent revolution - unless they had help. Ebert decided that his new government needed the support of the very people that the Spartacists wanted to get rid of - industrialists, Army Generals, lawyers, judges and the civil service. He wanted their support because these people were used to being in power; they knew how to maintain law and order. President Ebert was therefore very relieved when General Groener, a high up leader of the German Army, promised that he would create a volunteer army which would support the Social Democrats in maintaining law and order inside Germany. This army would stop the revolutionary socialists (now known as Spartacists and Communists) from taking over. The leaders of the Spartacus League were called Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. They wanted councils of workers, called soviets, to run Germany and for all rich and powerful Germans to lose all of their wealth and power. Rosa Luxemburg was known as Red Rosa. She was intelligent, well respected and was a brilliant public speaker and writer. She had left the Social Democrats in 1914 because she was totally against the war. During the war, she had been imprisoned for spreading anti-war propaganda. When the war ended she had been released from prison and had returned to Berlin to lead the Spartacus League. With the Kaiser gone, her new ‘enemies’ were her old friends in the Social Democrat led government. 3 The Spartacus Revolt January 1919 Throughout December there had been regular clashes between the government and the Spartacists. On New Year’s Eve the Spartacus League renamed itself the German Communist Party (KPD). Then on 5 January 1919, their revolt began as they tried to seize power in Berlin. They managed to capture the headquarters of the government’s newspaper and the telegraph bureau. They then tried to organise a general strike. Groups of them roamed the streets of Berlin, firing guns and putting up red flags, the symbol of Communism. This poster says “Bolshevism ​ (communism) means drowning in a world of blood”. The Spartacists said ​ they were fighting for the workers but the majority of workers supported Ebert when the Revolt happened.. Why? The Spartacus League had modelled itself on the Russian Bolsheviks. When the Bolsheviks had taken over Russia they had seized land from the landowners and given it to the peasants; they had put banks and factories under government of control; they had carried out a campaign of terror against their opponents, killing and torturing thousands of political opponents and murdering the Russian royal family. The idea that this type of chaos might in Germany caused great alarm amongst most ordinary Germans, so naturally they supported Ebert against the Spartacists. The majority of German workers and farmers had seen that the Ebert and the Social Democrats were prepared to make big changes which would greatly improve their lives. They didn’t need the chaos, violence, murder and mayhem that a violent revolution would cause. The Social Democrats played on the fears of the German people in propaganda designed to turn people against the communists. 4 This warning about the dangers posed by the communists was released by Ebert’s government during the revolt: “Fellow Citizens. The government, which wants the people to ​ decide their own future freely, by voting in the election, is to be overthrown by force. The people are not to be allowed to speak. Where Spartacus rules, all personal freedom and security is abolished. The newspapers are suppressed. Traffic is at a standstill. Parts of Berlin are the scene of bloody battles. Others are already without water and light. Food warehouses are being attacked. Food supplies are being stopped.” ​ Despite the enthusiasm of the revolutionaries, the Spartacus Revolt was. doomed to fail. This was because Ebert’s government had done enough to win the support of the majority of the workers. It also had a plan to crush the Spartacists with military force using the volunteer army that had been set up be General Groener. Known as the Freecorps, these were ex-soldiers who were united by a hatred of Communism and a love of fighting. These were men who believed the stabbed in the back myth and blamed the communist for Germany’s defeat. Unlike the Spartacists, they were well disciplined and fully equipped—it was a bit like setting a pit-bull terrier loose on a poodle 5 On the 10 January , 2000 Freecorps attacked the Spartacists in Berlin. Up to 500 communists were killed. Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were arrested, savagely beaten and then murdered. Luxemburg’s body was dumped in a canal, while the body of Liebknecht was left on the street where he had been shot in the back. What were the consequences of the Spartacus Revolt? After the events of January 1919, the Social Democrats and the Spartacists - now called the Communist Party or KPD - became the most bitter of enemies. This was a very sad situation because they had once been on the same side - the side of the German workers. Because of the lasting bitterness, they would never be able to trust each other and would never agree to work together. Because of this, the working classes became divided. The majority of workers supported the law-abiding Social Democrats but a small hard-core of workers remained loyal to the KPD. In the late 1920s, when a certain Herr Adolf Hitler became a big threat, if the supporters of the Social Democrats and the KPD had united, they might have been able to stop Hitler coming to power.
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