Abstract
The German Revolution of 1918/19 is often viewed as underwhelming and disappointing, as a missed opportunity for social and political transformation which hamstrung the Weimar Republican project. This chapter engages with the revolution in more synchronic terms, as a lived event and a conspicuously successful project of civic mobilization. The German Revolution of 1918/19 fulfilled popular aspirations for political participation which had surged during the First World War. It delivered an armistice, a republic, parliamentary democracy, and the first-ever socialist government of an advanced industrial economy. The chapter traces the origins and course of the revolution, focusing on the agency of crowds and activists who led localized insurgencies across Germany. It explores the role of the council (Räte) movement in localities and at Reich level. The chapter concludes by appraising the counter-revolution of 1919. A series of local uprisings by left-wing radicals gave the MSPD regime and its military accomplices a pretext to push back against social revolution and to demonstrate, through extreme violence, the recovered authority of the German state.
| Translated title of the contribution | The German Revolution of 1918/19 |
|---|---|
| Original language | German |
| Title of host publication | Aufbruch und Abgründe |
| Subtitle of host publication | Das Handbuch der Weimarer Republik |
| Editors | Nadine Rossol, Benjamin Ziemann |
| Publisher | WBG |
| Chapter | 1 |
| Pages | 41-65 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-534-74697-2 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-534-27375-1 |
| Publication status | Published - 23 Sept 2021 |