The German Revolution and its aftermath, the period of the Workers’ 5ljc :)i It (ji­ and Soldiers’ Councils, was a critical time in German history. Historians have asked whether the revolution could have changed the then existing inequalities. If so, it might have formed a basis for reconstruction which in turn would have nn D MctiuJnttutt arrested the deep division in the German labour movement, a major factor crippling Weimar Germany which contributed to the rise of Nazism. Dr Tampke deals with the revolutionary movement in the Rhenish- Westphalian Industrial Region — the Ruhr as it is commonly called, a part of Germany where the workers’ radicalism The Revolutionary Movement in the was especially pronounced. He seeks to explain why the revolution took such a Rhenish-Westphalian Industrial Region variable course in the Ruhr. 1912-1919 This book moves into urban and regional history, a field that has so far been little studied and is an important contribution to knowledge of European urban and working-class history. Jürgen Tampke ass 8 8 n e a a er The German Revolution and its aftermath, the period of the Workers’ 5ljc :)i It (ji­ and Soldiers’ Councils, was a critical time in German history. Historians have asked whether the revolution could have changed the then existing inequalities. If so, it might have formed a basis for reconstruction which in turn would have nn D MctiuJnttutt arrested the deep division in the German labour movement, a major factor crippling Weimar Germany which contributed to the rise of Nazism. Dr Tampke deals with the revolutionary movement in the Rhenish- Westphalian Industrial Region — the Ruhr as it is commonly called, a part of Germany where the workers’ radicalism The Revolutionary Movement in the was especially pronounced. He seeks to explain why the revolution took such a Rhenish-Westphalian Industrial Region variable course in the Ruhr. 1912-1919 This book moves into urban and regional history, a field that has so far been little studied and is an important contribution to knowledge of European urban and working-class history. Jürgen Tampke ass 8 8 n e a a er This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991. This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press. This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to a global audience under its open-access policy. Zl)cOiiifir ant) fllcxioliittou Sfjc nuD WcUuUttiuu The Revolutionary Movement in the Rhenish-Westphalian Industrial Region 1912-1919 Jürgen Tampke Australian National University Press Canberra, ACT, Norwalk, Conn., 1978 First published in Australia 1978 Printed in Australia at Griffin Press Limited, Netley, South Australia, for the Australian National University Press, Canberra © Jürgen Tampke 1978 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the pur­ pose of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permit­ ted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Tampke, Jürgen. The Ruhr and revolution. Index. Bibliography. ISBN 0 7081 0745 1. 1. Subversive activities—Ruhr district, Germany—1912-1919. 2. Ruhr district, Germany— Politics and government—1912-1919. 3. Ruhr district, Germany—History—1912-1919.1. Title. 322.42’0943 Library of Congress no. 78-52788 North America: Books Australia, Norwalk Conn., USA Southeast Asia: Angus & Robertson (S.E. Asia) Pty Ltd, Singapore Acknowledgments I am grateful to the many friendly people in the libraries and archives1 of both the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Re­ public. Thus I would like to thank the staff of the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Düsseldorf and the Staatsarchiv in Münster, the Zentrales Staatsarchiv in Potsdam and its historical division II in Merseburg, the International Insti- tuut voor Sociale Geschiedenis in Amsterdam, the Westphalian Economic Archive in Dortmund, the archive of the SPD in Bonn (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung), the archive of the DGB in Düsseldorf and the Coal Miners Union archive in Bochum as well as the Stadtarchive in Bochum, Bottrop, Castrop-Rauxel, Dorsten, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Gel­ senkirchen, Hagen, Herne, Lünen, Mülheim, Oberhausen, Remscheid, Solingen, Wanne-Eickel, Witten and Wuppertal. I am thankful to all peo­ ple who gave advice but I am indebted especially to Bruce Kent, Chris Cunneen, Michael McKernan and my wife Jane. 1 The only archive at which I was refused access was the Gute Hoffnungshütte Archiv in Oberhausen. This was regrettable as access might have given me more insight into the policites of the leaders of German heavy industries. On the other hand a number of relevant documents from this archive have been published recently and nothing in these suggested that more thorough research at the Gute Hoffnungshütte would have altered any argument presented in this book (G. D. Feldman, ‘The Origins of the Stinnes-Legien Agreement, I. W.K., Vol. 9, no. 19/20, 1973, pp. 45-103). Contents Page Acknowledgments v Abbreviations ix Note on administrative terms xi Introduction xiii I Seedbed of Revolution: The Ruhr to 1912 Chapter 1 Social and economic background 3 Chapter 2 Working-class politics 19 II The War and the Ripening Revolutionary Situation Chapter 3 Social conditions 33 Chapter 4 The parties of the left 48 III Revolutionary Upsurge, November 1918— January 1919 Chapter 5 Limited revolution: the eastern Ruhr 71 Chapter 6 Radical revolution: in and around Düsseldorf 86 Chapter 7 Revolution from below: Hamborn and the western Ruhr 100 IV The Struggle for Socialisation Chapter 8 The Essen model 117 Chapter 9 General strike and civil war 132 Chapter 10 Disillusionment and defeat 144 Conclusions 159 Notes 165 Bibliography 193 Index 201 Tables 1. Fatalities per thousand miners 8 2. Decline in welfare payments 1875-1902 9 3. Percentage of multi-storied dwellings in 1910 16 Plates Facing page I Miners’ houses at Ickern 44 II Miners’ houses at Dortmund-North 44 III Miners’ houses at Hamborn 45 IV Miners’ houses at Hamborn 45 V A ‘Kolonie’, Bergmannsglück, Hassel 76 VI Poster proclaiming the revolution in Dorsten 77 VII Gutehoffnungshütte in Oberhausen 108 VIII ‘Hammer Fritz’, Krupps, Essen 108 IX Shamrock mine, Herne, 1916 109 X Workers’ meeting, Hamborn Altmarkt [? 1918] 109 XI Workers’ meeting, Hamborn Altmarkt [ ? 1918] 140 XII Food queue in Düsseldorf, 1917 141 Illustrations by courtesy of the Stadtarchiv Dorsten, Essen and Düsseldorf Abbreviations AfS Archiv für Sozialgeschichte AfSS Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik AK Generalkommando des siebten Armeekorps (Supreme Command of the Seventh Army Corps) ASL Auxiliary Service League AZE Arbeiter-Zeitung, Essen BAS Bergische Arbeiterstimme, Solingen BAZ Bergarbeiter-Zeitung, Bochum Bl. Blatt (page) BVS Bergische Volksstimme, Remscheid Diss. Dissertation DMV Deutscher Metallarbeiterverband (German Metal Work­ ers Union) GA Generalanzeiger GAZ Geisenkirebener Allgemeine Zeitung GDK Gewerkschaft (colliery) Deutscher Kaiser HS TAD Hauptstaatsarchiv Düsseldorf IdR Informationsstelle der Reichsregierung (government in­ formation office) IHK Industrie-und Handelskammer (chamber of industry and trade) IISG International Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (Am­ sterdam) IWK Internationale Wissenschaftliche Korrespondenz zur Geschichte der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung JCH Journal of Contemporary History JMH Journal of Modern History KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (German communist party) LA Landratsamt MB Mitteilungsblatt, Berlin OB A Oberbergamt (government mining office) (Dortmund) Rdl Reichsamt des Inneren (office for the interior) Reg. Regierung (government) X ABBREVIATIONS RWZ Rheinisch- Westfälische Zeitung SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands STA Stadtarchiv S T AM Staatsarchiv Münster USP Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Independent German Social Democratic Party) VBB Volksblatt, B ochum VfSW Vierteljahreshefte für Sozial-und Wirtschaftspolitik vol. volum e VZD Volkszeitung, Düsseldorf WAVZ Westfälische-Allgemeine Volkszeitung, D o rtm u n d WWA Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv, Dortmund (Westpha­ lian economic archive) wz Wälder Zeitung Z fG Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft ZStA, Po Zentrales Staatsarchiv, Potsdam ZStA, M ’burg Zentrales Staatsarchiv, Historische Abteilung II, M erse­ burg Note on administrative terms In 1918/19 the Ruhr was part of the Prussian western provinces of Rhineland and Westphalia. At the lowest level of the Prussian administra­ tive system was the Amt, an amalgamation of several parishes the head of which was the Amtsrat, and the town, headed by the Bürgermeister (mayor). Several Ämter and towns combined to form the Kreis (Stadtkreis or Landkreis). The chief administrator of the Kreis was the Landrat. Grosstädte (cities with a population of more than 100,000) were taken out of the Kreis and became self-governing under the leadership of an Oberbür­ germeister (lord mayor). Several Kreis and Grosstädte combined to form the Regierungsbezirk (government district) which was headed by the Regierungspräsident (government president). The latter was responsible to the Oberpräsident (Supreme President) of the province and at the top of the pyramid was the Prussian Minister for the Interior. Parallel to the administration was a system of representative institutions to which delegates were elected