The Ebert–Groener pact was an agreement between the Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert , at the time the Chancellor of Germany , and Wilhelm Groener , Quartermaster General of the German Army , on November 10, 1918. This occurred on the day after the German Revolution had brought Ebert to power.
131-436: Groener assured Ebert of the loyalty of the armed forces. In return, Ebert promised that the government would take prompt action against leftist uprisings, that he would call a national assembly and most importantly that military command would remain with the professional officer corps. The agreement gave the government the means to defeat the challenge posed to its authority by those on the political left. However, it also drove
262-457: A German chemical works. Bismarck stubbornly refused to listen to Georg Herbert Münster , ambassador to France, who reported back that the French were not seeking a revanchist war and were desperate for peace at all costs. Bismarck and most of his contemporaries were conservative-minded and focused their foreign policy attention on Germany's neighboring states. In 1914, 60% of German foreign investment
393-651: A crucial force in organizing the January Strike of 1918 , which was centred on Berlin , the Ruhr , Saxony , Hamburg and Kiel and in which strikers demanded the end of the war through a negotiated peace and a democratisation of the empire. They were in part inspired by the success achieved by the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky in the Russian October Revolution only a few months earlier. For this reason,
524-575: A degree, still exist in Germany today. Bismarck's paternalistic programs won the support of German industry because its goals were to win the support of the working classes for the Empire and reduce the outflow of immigrants to America, where wages were higher but welfare did not exist. Bismarck further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by his high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from American competition, although they alienated
655-507: A government body controlled by Protestants. Nearly all German bishops, clergy, and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws, and were defiant in the face of heavier and heavier penalties and imprisonments imposed by Bismarck's government. By 1876, all the Prussian bishops were imprisoned or in exile, and a third of the Catholic parishes were without a priest. In the face of systematic defiance,
786-521: A great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory and tried to emulate his policies. Bismarck's post-1871 foreign policy was conservative and sought to preserve the balance of power in Europe. British historian Eric Hobsbawm concludes that he "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [devoting] himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between
917-526: A million people gathered at a mass demonstration in Berlin. Armed demonstrators stormed the Berlin newspaper quarter, where they occupied the editorial office of the SPD paper Vorwärts as well as other publishing buildings. The main railway stations were also seized. The force of the popular response caught the organizers by surprise. At a meeting at the police headquarters attended by Eichhorn, 70 Stewards, ten members of
1048-470: A multi-ethnic Empire with a considerable German-speaking population, would remain outside of the German nation state. Bismarck's policy was to pursue a solution diplomatically. The effective alliance between Germany and Austria played a major role in Germany's decision to enter World War I in 1914. Bismarck announced there would be no more territorial additions to Germany in Europe, and his diplomacy after 1871
1179-608: A parliamentary democracy, they rejected the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), founded on 30/31 December 1918, which pursued the same goal. This was because the KPD was not ready to accept the five conditions set by Richard Müller on behalf of the Revolutionary Stewards: withdrawal of the anti-voting decision , a program committee with equal representation, condemnation of "putschism", taking part in party publicity and abandonment of
1310-414: A population of 41 million people; by 1913, this had increased to 68 million. A heavily rural collection of states in 1815, the now united Germany became predominantly urban. The success of German industrialization manifested itself in two ways in the early 20th century; German factories were often larger and more modern than many of their British and French counterparts, but the preindustrial sector
1441-466: A proclamation demanding the toppling of Ebert's government. They wanted to prevent elections to the National Assembly and to continue with the revolution. A "provisionary revolutionary committee" was set up. It numbered 53 members, including Scholze, Liebknecht and Ledebour, and declared that it had taken over the government. Its only action, though, was to issue a call for another demonstration on
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#17328447456801572-497: A relatively smooth economic and political revolution from above that pushed them along the way towards becoming the world's leading industrial power of the time. Bismarck's "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the Junker elite—more loyal to the throne and empire. According to Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was: granting social rights to enhance
1703-483: A secret line between the Reichskanzlei in Berlin and the headquarters (first at Spa, then at Kassel ) as Groener wrote in his memoirs "about the necessary measures". As a direct result of the pact, which initially remained secret, the government was not threatened by anti-democratic forces on the right and in the military, at least for the time being. Instead, it was able to focus on the challenges to its authority from
1834-637: A solid majority for the democratic parties (SPD, Centre and DDP ), Ebert felt that the revolutionary forces had no legitimacy left. In Bavaria, the Bavarian Soviet Republic was ended in May 1919. The individual workers' and soldiers' councils across Germany had dissolved by late in the autumn of 1919. Since Groener saw no point in resuming the fight against the Allies, he advised the government in June 1919 to accept
1965-400: A substantial part of the country over the next week. On November 9, as the striking masses were marching on Berlin, Prince Max unilaterally and untruthfully declared that Emperor Wilhelm II had abdicated. He then resigned himself and unconstitutionally handed his office over to Ebert, who thus became Minister President of Prussia and Chancellor of Germany . Ebert's first action as Chancellor
2096-571: A wedge between Ebert's Social Democratic Party and other socialist groups, who accused him of allying himself with the enemy of the revolution. It kept the military, which had been the true power in the German Empire during World War I , as a largely self-governing institution that operated outside of civilian control. Future governments of the Weimar Republic would thus be dependent on the goodwill or lack thereof of its leadership. Historically,
2227-451: The Bundesrat , the federal council of deputies from the 27 states. Executive power was vested in the emperor, or Kaiser , who was assisted by a chancellor responsible only to him. The emperor was given extensive powers by the constitution. He alone appointed and dismissed the chancellor (so in practice, the emperor ruled the empire through the chancellor), was supreme commander-in-chief of
2358-573: The Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and Prussia and its allies on the other. The war resulted in the partial replacement of the Confederation in 1867 by a North German Confederation , comprising the 22 states north of the river Main . The patriotic fervor generated by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 overwhelmed the remaining opposition to a unified Germany (aside from Austria) in
2489-647: The Great Depression , as well as humiliation and outrage experienced by the German population are considered leading factors in the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism . The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars , after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris . The liberal Revolutions of 1848 were crushed after
2620-595: The North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force on 16 April, changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introducing the title of German Emperor for Wilhelm I , King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern . Berlin remained its capital, and Otto von Bismarck , Minister President of Prussia , became chancellor , the head of government. As these events occurred,
2751-493: The Prussian -led North German Confederation and its southern German allies, such as Baden , Bavaria , Württemberg , and Hesse , were still engaged in the Franco-Prussian War . The German Empire consisted of 25 states , each with its own nobility , four constituent kingdoms , six grand duchies , five duchies (six before 1876), seven principalities , three free Hanseatic cities , and one imperial territory . While Prussia
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#17328447456802882-707: The Second Reich or simply Germany , was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic . The empire was founded on 18 January 1871 at the Palace of Versailles , outside Paris , France , where the south German states, except for Austria and Liechtenstein , joined
3013-596: The Supreme Army Command ( Oberste Heeresleitung ) and the imperial government of Chancellor Georg von Hertling . The strike was ended when the Oberste Heeresleitung declared an aggravated state of siege, put some factories under military protection and conscripted many of the striking workers for military service. In the early days of November 1918, the Revolutionary Stewards were one of
3144-614: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk . The German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 contributed to bringing the United States into the war. In October 1918, after the failed Spring Offensive , the German armies were in retreat , allies Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, and Bulgaria had surrendered. The empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution with
3275-603: The Treaty of Versailles . Not much later he resigned from the army, as had his superior, Hindenburg on June 29, 1919. Groener is considered the most loyal of the military leaders of the Weimar Republic. His successor, Hans von Seeckt , who, from October 1, 1919, held the new position of chief of the Truppenamt (as the Treaty of Versailles did not allow Germany to have a general staff) was unwilling to follow every order given to him by
3406-848: The Triple Alliance (1882) , would exist up until 1915, when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Despite Germany, and especially Austria's, lack of faith in the Russian alliance, the Reinsurance Treaty would be first signed in 1887, and renewed up until 1890, when the Bismarckian system collapsed upon Bismarck's resignation. Meanwhile, the chancellor remained wary of any foreign policy developments that looked even remotely warlike. In 1886, he moved to stop an attempted sale of horses to France because they might be used for cavalry and also ordered an investigation into large Russian purchases of medicine from
3537-531: The Weimar Constitution which came into force in August 1919, the republic became a pluralistic parliamentary democracy. After the defeat of the council movement, the Revolutionary Stewards still had influence and called for and helped execute a general strike against the right-wing nationalist and anti-democratic Kapp Putsch of March 1920. The strike brought the economy to a virtual stand-still and, together with
3668-513: The welfare state . German workers enjoyed health, accident and maternity benefits, canteens, changing rooms, and a national pension scheme. Industrialisation progressed dynamically in Germany, and German manufacturers began to capture domestic markets from British imports, and also to compete with British industry abroad, particularly in the U.S. The German textile and metal industries had by 1870 surpassed those of Britain in organisation and technical efficiency and superseded British manufacturers in
3799-505: The Baghdad Railway was resolved in June 1914. Many consider Bismarck's foreign policy as a coherent system and partly responsible for the preservation of Europe's stability. It was also marked by the need to balance circumspect defensiveness and the desire to be free from the constraints of its position as a major European power. Bismarck's successors did not pursue his foreign policy legacy. For instance, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who dismissed
3930-475: The Berlin police headquarters and the publishing building of Vorwärts in which a reported 165 people lost their lives. The dead included several prisoners who were summarily executed, some after they had approached the government forces under a flag of truce. The January uprising led to the dissolution of the Revolutionary Stewards' network, because many of its members took part in the uprising while others such as Richard Müller opposed it. The organization of
4061-512: The Bismarck government increased the penalties and its attacks, and were challenged in 1875 when a papal encyclical declared the whole ecclesiastical legislation of Prussia was invalid, and threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who obeyed. There was no violence, but the Catholics mobilized their support, set up numerous civic organizations, raised money to pay fines, and rallied behind their church and
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4192-544: The Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and educational affairs, depriving Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strict government supervision of schools was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone. Much more serious were the May laws of 1873. One made the appointment of any priest dependent on his attendance at a German university, as opposed to
4323-638: The Centre Party showed signs of gaining support among dissident elements such as the Polish Catholics in Silesia . A powerful intellectual force of the time was anti-Catholicism , led by the liberal intellectuals who formed a vital part of Bismarck's coalition. They saw the Catholic Church as a powerful force of reaction and anti-modernity, especially after the proclamation of papal infallibility in 1870, and
4454-505: The Centre Party. The "Old Catholic Church", which rejected the First Vatican Council, attracted only a few thousand members. Bismarck, a devout pietistic Protestant, realized his Kulturkampf was backfiring when secular and socialist elements used the opportunity to attack all religion. In the long run, the most significant result was the mobilization of the Catholic voters, and their insistence on protecting their religious identity. In
4585-573: The Council of the People's Deputies and that would be under the control of the Stewards. Its powers were to be left deliberately vague. Emil Barth, who was presiding over the assembly, then made a tactical error by giving a long-winded speech rather than moving directly to the vote. Listeners, including Ebert, were able to deduce the Stewards' intentions from what Barth said. Ebert made another speech, declaring that
4716-557: The French lacked the strength to defeat Germany by themselves, they sought an alliance with Russia, or perhaps even the newly reformed empire of Austria-Hungary, which would envelope Germany completely. Bismarck wanted to prevent this at all costs and maintain friendly relations with the Austrians and the Russians, signing the Dual Alliance (1879) with Austria-Hungary in 1879. The Dual Aliance
4847-758: The German civil government and the Army supreme command had remained independent of one another with the military only responsible to the Kaiser, not the Chancellor. During the course of World War I , the military high command (OHL) and, in particular, Erich Ludendorff , the First Quartermaster General of the German Army, had become the de facto ruler of Germany. Although Paul von Hindenburg and Emperor Wilhelm II were both nominally Ludendorff's superiors, Ludendorff
4978-506: The German steel and pig iron output reached one quarter of total global production. German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts. By 1913, the German electricity production was higher than the combined electricity production of Britain, France, Italy and Sweden. By 1900, the German chemical industry dominated the world market for synthetic dyes . The three major firms BASF , Bayer and Hoechst produced several hundred different dyes, along with
5109-611: The KPD and USPD under Karl Liebknecht and Georg Ledebour tried to topple the Ebert government. From January 9 to 12, regular troops and Freikorps bloodily suppressed the uprising. On January 15, members of the Freikorps "Garde-Kavallerie-Schützendivision" led by Waldemar Pabst , murdered Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg . Since the January 19 elections to the National Assembly returned
5240-851: The Pacific ( Jiaozhou Bay and Tianjin in China, the Marianas , the Caroline Islands , Samoa) led to frictions with the UK, Russia, Japan, and the US. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa, where the Herero Wars in what is now Namibia in 1906–1907 resulted in the Herero and Nama genocide . By 1900, Germany became the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in
5371-578: The Revolutionary Stewards dissolved, though many of its members continued to work in the council structures. The struggles, at times approaching the level of civil war, which took place in some regions of Germany in the following months put the council movement increasingly on the defensive. Various calls for regional council republics, for example in Bremen or, more famously, the Bavarian Soviet Republic , were suppressed with military force by regular armed forces and right-wing Freikorps troops by mid-1919. Under
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5502-421: The Russian nation, because of its climate, its desert, and its frugality, and having but one frontier to defend", and because it would leave Germany with another bitter, resentful neighbor. Despite this, another alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy would be signed in 1882, preying on the fears of the German and Austro-Hungarian militaries of the untrustworthiness of Russia itself. This alliance, named
5633-541: The SPD, about 100 from the USPD (of which ten were Spartacists ) and the rest were liberals, not associated with any party or members of independent revolutionary groups. The Congress took some important decisions (in each case with a broad majority): However, the Congress also passed two resolutions that went against the interests of the SPD leadership. First, it called on the Council of the People's Deputies to begin immediately with
5764-576: The Stewards occupied the Reichstag and held an impromptu debate. They called for the election of soldiers' and workers' councils the next day (one per battalion or 1,000 workers). They were to assemble at "Zirkus Busch" and elect a provisional revolutionary government, the Council of the People's Deputies ( Rat der Volksbeauftragten ). In order to keep control of events and against his own anti-revolutionary convictions, Ebert decided that he needed to preempt
5895-513: The USPD led by Georg Ledebour , three representatives of the soldiers, and Liebknecht and Wilhelm Pieck for the KDP, the men were caught up in the momentum of the hour and lost sight of the real situation, overestimating the support for their actions from the military in the Berlin area. They voted 80 to six to topple the government. The Stewards' representative Paul Scholze [ de ] , Karl Liebknecht (KPD) and Georg Ledebour (USPD) now signed
6026-483: The abdication of Wilhelm II, which left the post-war federal republic to govern a devastated populace. The Treaty of Versailles imposed post-war reparation costs of 132 billion gold marks (around US$ 269 billion or €240 billion in 2019, or roughly US$ 32 billion in 1921), as well as limiting the army to 100,000 men and disallowing conscription, armored vehicles, submarines, aircraft, and more than six battleships. The consequential economic devastation, later exacerbated by
6157-574: The additional name "Spartacus League". In the atmosphere of outrage created on the left by the military action against the Volksmarinedivision —which Liebknecht called "Ebert's bloody Christmas"—the Stewards were among the initiators of the Spartacus Uprising ( Spartakusaufstand ) in January 1919. Emil Eichhorn , a member of the USPD and head of the Berlin police, had refused to act against
6288-419: The alliance and the Ottoman Empire formally allied with Germany . In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in the autumn of 1914 failed, and the war on the Western Front became a stalemate. The Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food and supplements. However, Imperial Germany had success on the Eastern Front ; it occupied a large amount of territory to its east following
6419-544: The anti-Catholic Kulturkampf and systematic repression of Polish people marked his period in the office. Despite his hatred of liberalism and socialism – he called liberals and socialists "enemies of the Reich" – social programs introduced by Bismarck included old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance, all aspects of the modern European welfare state . Late in Bismarck's chancellorship and in spite of his earlier personal opposition, Germany became involved in colonialism . Claiming much of
6550-434: The armed forces, and final arbiter of all foreign affairs, and could also disband the Reichstag to call for new elections. Officially, the chancellor was a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, the State Secretaries (top bureaucratic officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) functioned much like ministers in other monarchies. The Reichstag had
6681-464: The army against the revolutionaries at home and with Max von Baden and Ebert about the abdication of the Emperor. Groener was mainly interested in preventing the more extreme demands of the revolutionary left regarding the military from being implemented: supreme command to be vested in the Rat der Volksbeauftragen , disciplinary power to be with the soldiers' councils, free election of officers, no rank insignia and no respect for rank off-duty. Late on
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#17328447456806812-407: The basis for conservative modernization in Imperial Japan under Emperor Meiji and the preservation of an authoritarian political structure under the tsars in the Russian Empire . One factor in the social anatomy of these governments was the retention of a very substantial share in political power by the landed elite , the Junkers , resulting from the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by
6943-399: The basis of the modern European welfare state . He came to realize that this sort of policy was very appealing, since it bound workers to the state, and also fit in very well with his authoritarian nature. The social security systems installed by Bismarck (health care in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889) at the time were the largest in the world and, to
7074-446: The chancellor in 1890, let the treaty with Russia lapse in favor of Germany's alliance with Austria, which finally led to a stronger coalition-building between Russia and France. Germans had dreamed of colonial imperialism since 1848. Although Bismarck had little interest in acquiring overseas possessions, most Germans were enthusiastic, and by 1884 he had acquired German New Guinea . By the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and
7205-418: The civilian government. During the right-wing Kapp Putsch , which involved numerous Freikorps members in 1920, the Reichswehr under von Seeckt refused to help the government. Another consequence was that many former supporters of the SPD saw Ebert's cooperation with the military, which was essentially the same institution as under the Emperor, as a betrayal and turned to the USPD or KPD. That contributed to
7336-433: The committee was superfluous, but if it was to be set up, it must be made up equally of SPD and USPD just like the Council of the People's Deputies. When Barth said that no SPD delegate must sit on the committee, the assembly exploded with protest, in particular from the soldiers' councils. After an interruption, the session continued and Barth announced an Executive Committee of 20 members: ten soldiers and ten workers. Half of
7467-408: The cooperation between SPD and USPD to several thousand representatives of the councils assembled at Zirkus Busch . Eager for a unified socialist front, they approved the parity of three members of the new government each from SPD and USPD. Ebert was one of those three SPD members and was thus at that stage both the head of government and a leader of the revolution. However, he remained concerned that
7598-526: The country's population. The imperial crown was hereditary in the ruling house of Prussia, the House of Hohenzollern . With the exception of 1872–1873 and 1892–1894, the chancellor was always simultaneously the prime minister of Prussia. With 17 out of 58 votes in the Bundesrat , Berlin needed only a few votes from the smaller states to exercise effective control. The other states retained their own governments but had only limited aspects of sovereignty. For example, both postage stamps and currency were issued for
7729-410: The day, the committee had relocated to the Marstall, the barracks of the Volksmarinedivision , but had been asked to leave and thus returned to the police headquarters. There they remained, when Ebert accepted mediation by those of the USPD who had left the Council of the People's Deputies in late December. Ebert had just one condition: the occupation of the newspaper buildings must end. On 7 January,
7860-413: The domestic market. Germany became the dominant economic power on the continent and was the second-largest exporting nation after Britain. Technological progress during German industrialisation occurred in four waves: the railway wave (1877–1886), the dye wave (1887–1896), the chemical wave (1897–1902), and the wave of electrical engineering (1903–1918). Since Germany industrialised later than Britain, it
7991-443: The election of soldiers' and workers' councils the next day with an eye to naming a provisional government, the Council of the People's Deputies . On November 10, the SPD, led by Ebert, managed to ensure that a majority of the newly elected workers' and soldiers' councils came from among their own supporters. Meanwhile, the USPD agreed to work with him to share power in the Rat der Volksbeauftragten . That afternoon, Ebert announced
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#17328447456808122-498: The elections of 1874, the Centre party doubled its popular vote, and became the second-largest party in the national parliament—and remained a powerful force for the next 60 years, so that after Bismarck it became difficult to form a government without their support. Bismarck built on a tradition of welfare programs in Prussia and Saxony that began as early as in the 1840s. In the 1880s he introduced old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance that formed
8253-403: The emerging Social Democratic Party . Prussia in 1871 included 16,000,000 Protestants, both Reformed and Lutheran, and 8,000,000 Catholics. Most people were generally segregated into their own religious worlds, living in rural districts or city neighbourhoods that were overwhelmingly of the same religion, and sending their children to separate public schools where their religion was taught. There
8384-417: The empire as a whole. Coins through one mark were also minted in the name of the empire, while higher-valued pieces were issued by the states. However, these larger gold and silver issues were virtually commemorative coins and had limited circulation. While the states issued their own decorations and some had their own armies, the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. Those of
8515-413: The evening of November 10, Groener telephoned Ebert at the Reichskanzlei using a secret line, the existence of which had been unknown to Ebert until that time. Groener was at Spa, Belgium at the forward-deployed headquarters of the Oberste Heeresleitung . Ebert never talked about what was said, so the only information for posterity on what was discussed is from Groener. According to him, he offered Ebert
8646-414: The events of the Christmas crisis ( Weihnachtskämpfe ), in which government troops were deployed against the Volksmarinedivision , a unit of leftist revolutionary soldiers established on 11 November 1918. The fighting caused many on the left to accuse the leadership of the SPD of having betrayed the revolution. Although the Revolutionary Stewards supported the idea of a council republic rather than
8777-502: The eventual erosion of support for the Weimar Coalition and the resulting political polarisation between extremists on the left and right. Most importantly, the military's "state within the state" status and its refusal to accept the democratic Weimar Republic led the military under the leadership of General Kurt von Schleicher to undermine democracy in the early 1930s. German Empire The German Empire (German: Deutsches Reich ), also referred to as Imperial Germany ,
8908-417: The exchange of diplomatic notes to be ended. However, when he threatened to resign, a successful bluff several times before, this time, on October 26, his resignation was accepted. Ludendorff's successor was Wilhelm Groener. On October 30, a confrontation between officers and crews on board the German fleet at Kiel set in motion a train of events that would result in the German Revolution , which spread over
9039-461: The few political groups demanding an end to the monarchy. In addition, unlike the Majority SPD led by Friedrich Ebert , they were also in favour of " socialisation " of industries and government by workers' and soldiers' councils rather than a parliamentary system. On 2 November 1918 there was a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Stewards, also attended by Liebknecht, which voted 21 to 19 against initiating revolutionary action on 4 November as
9170-582: The five smaller firms. Imperial Germany built up the world's largest chemical industry, the production of German chemical industry was 60% higher than that of the United States. In 1913, these eight firms produced almost 90% of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80% of their production abroad. The three major firms had also integrated upstream into the production of essential raw materials and they began to expand into other areas of chemistry such as pharmaceuticals , photographic film , agricultural chemicals and electrochemicals . Top-level decision-making
9301-406: The former Stewards did not play a notable role in the German labour movement any more. Many former activists became members of the KPD, especially after the left wing of the USPD merged with the KPD when the USPD split at the end of 1920. Occasionally it operated under the alternate name "United Communist Party of Germany" (VKPD). Other Stewards remained in the USPD and future related groups, or joined
9432-470: The former resigned. In early October, the Emperor appointed a liberal, Prince Maximilian of Baden , as chancellor to lead peace negotiations with the Allies. The request for a ceasefire went out on October 4. As US President Woodrow Wilson did not agree immediately to ceasefire negotiations, there was a delay of several weeks. Now, Ludendorff again changed tack and argued in favour of continued fighting and for
9563-722: The four states south of the Main, and during November 1870, they joined the North German Confederation by treaty. On 10 December 1870, the North German Confederation Reichstag renamed the Confederation the "German Empire" and gave the title of German Emperor to William I , the King of Prussia , as Bundespräsidium of the Confederation. The new constitution ( Constitution of the German Confederation ) and
9694-445: The front and the growing social need at home. Their most important speakers were Richard Müller and Emil Barth . The Revolutionary Stewards were especially strongly represented in the Berlin armament industry. They had already had experience with strikes, including the protest strike against the trial of Karl Liebknecht in summer 1916 and the wave of strikes centered on Braunschweig and Leipzig in January 1917. The Stewards were
9825-415: The headquarters of police was occupied and hundreds of thousands of demonstrators converged on the city centre. Imperial Chancellor Max of Baden announced prematurely that Emperor Wilhelm II had abdicated and handed over his office to Friedrich Ebert. In the afternoon Ebert grudgingly asked the USPD to nominate three ministers for the future government. That evening a group of several hundred followers of
9956-505: The implementation of the last two points, causing increasing resentment and anger among the labour movement and its more radical representatives like the Spartacists and the Stewards. On 29 December, the only representative of the Revolutionary Stewards, Emil Barth (also a member of the USPD), and two further representatives of the USPD left the Council of the People's Deputies in protest against
10087-421: The integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to maintain traditional relations of authority between social and status groups, and to provide a countervailing power against the modernist forces of liberalism and socialism. Bismarck created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s and enacted universal male suffrage in 1871. He became
10218-500: The larger states, such as the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, were coordinated along Prussian principles and would, in wartime, be controlled by the federal government. The evolution of the German Empire is somewhat in line with parallel developments in Italy, which became a united nation-state a decade earlier. Some key elements of the German Empire's authoritarian political structure were also
10349-613: The latter would be supporters of the SPD, half supporters of the Stewards. The soldiers's delegates were to be elected on 11 November. The Stewards had lost. From 16 to 21 December 1918, the Reich Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils ( Reichsrätekongress or Reichsversammlung der Arbeiter- und Soldatenräte ) met in Berlin inside the Prussian Landtag building. There was one delegate for every 200,000 citizens and 100,000 soldiers. Out of 514 delegates, around 300 came from
10480-627: The left that he despised, the Spartacists and the Independents of the USPD . On the afternoon of November 9, he asked the USPD to nominate three ministers for the future government, but they were slow to respond. That evening, a group of several hundred followers of labour leaders from Berlin known as the Revolutionary Stewards occupied the Reichstag and held an impromptu debate. They called for
10611-627: The leftover territory that was not yet conquered by Europeans in the Scramble for Africa , it managed to build the third-largest colonial empire at the time, after the British and the French ones. As a colonial state, it sometimes clashed with the interests of other European powers, especially the British Empire. During its colonial expansion, the German Empire committed the Herero and Nama genocide . After
10742-551: The liberal intellectuals who wanted free trade. As it was throughout Europe at the time, antisemitism was endemic in Germany during the period. Before Napoleon 's decrees ended the ghettos in Confederation of the Rhine , it had been religiously motivated, but by the 19th century, it was a factor in German nationalism . In the popular mind, Jews became a symbol of capitalism and wealth. On
10873-467: The loyalty and cooperation of the armed forces in return for some demands: a fight against Bolshevism, a speedy end to the soldiers' councils and restoration of the sole authority of the officers corps, a national assembly and a return to law and order. Ebert seemed still unsettled from the stormy meeting he had just attended and at the end of the conversation, he thanked Groener. Following the initial telephone call, Ebert and Groener talked each evening over
11004-406: The major ports of Hamburg and Bremen . By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France. The total length of German railroad tracks expanded from 21,000 km (13,000 mi) in 1871 to 63,000 km (39,000 mi) by 1913, establishing the largest rail network in the world after the United States. The German rail network
11135-492: The next day. The masses reassembled on Sunday, 6 January. However, no orders came from the revolutionary leaders. In isolated actions, the government printing office and a telegraph office were seized. No one occupied the government buildings—whilst some armed supporters of the Ebert government gathered around the Reich Chancellery. The masses started to disperse and by midnight the centre of Berlin had been vacated. During
11266-557: The official unions and freely chosen by workers in various German industries. They rejected the war policies of the German Empire and the support which parliamentary representatives of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) gave to the policies. They also played a role during the German Revolution of 1918–19 . Their leader, Richard Müller , stated that their goal was a " council republic in the Russian style”. The SPD, at
11397-644: The other hand, the constitution and legal system protected the rights of Jews as German citizens. Antisemitic parties were formed but soon collapsed. But after the Treaty of Versailles , and Adolf Hitler 's rise to power in Germany , antisemitism in Germany would increase. Revolutionary Stewards During the First World War (1914–1918), the Revolutionary Stewards (German: Revolutionäre Obleute ) were shop stewards who were independent from
11528-400: The peasants in combination with urban areas. Although authoritarian in many respects, the empire had some democratic features. Besides universal manhood suffrage, it permitted the development of political parties. Bismarck intended to create a constitutional façade that would mask the continuation of authoritarian policies. However, in the process, he created a system with a serious flaw. There
11659-563: The politicians of the majority parties. On September 29, 1918, Ludendorff suddenly informed the civilian government that the Western Front could collapse at any moment and that a ceasefire had to be negotiated without delay. However, he suggested that the request for the ceasefire should come from a new government, based on the Reichstag majority. A "revolution from above" was needed. Chancellor Georg von Hertling and Emperor Wilhelm II agreed, but
11790-435: The power to pass, amend, or reject bills and to initiate legislation. However, as mentioned above, in practice, the real power was vested in the emperor, who exercised it through his chancellor. Although nominally a federal empire and league of equals, in practice, the empire was dominated by the largest and most powerful state, Prussia. It stretched across the northern two-thirds of the new Reich and contained three-fifths of
11921-402: The powers". This was a departure from his adventurous foreign policy for Prussia, where he favored strength and expansion, punctuating this by saying, "The great questions of the age are not settled by speeches and majority votes – this was the error of 1848–49 – but by iron and blood." Bismarck's chief concern was that France would plot revenge after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War . As
12052-598: The refusal of the bureaucracy to cooperate with the new government, caused the putsch to fail in a matter of days. However, in some parts of Germany, the striking workers refused to return to work and offered armed resistance to the legitimate government of President Ebert and Chancellor Bauer . The most significant of these events was the Ruhr Uprising , which was crushed by the Reichswehr and Freikorps in April 1920. After 1920,
12183-430: The regular officer corps. The last two decisions of the Congress underscored a division regarding short-term changes to the economy, the bureaucracy and the military between a broad-based consensus across party lines of the democratic-socialist movement on the one hand and the leadership of the SPD and the military on the other. The SPD members of the Council of the People's Deputies consequently dragged their feet over
12314-418: The relations between the educated, well-off middle-class liberals and the urban artisans broke down; Otto von Bismarck 's pragmatic Realpolitik , which appealed to peasants as well as the aristocracy, took its place. Bismarck sought to extend Hohenzollern hegemony throughout the German states; to do so meant unification of the German states and the exclusion of Prussia 's main German rival, Austria , from
12445-431: The resignation of Otto von Bismarck in 1890, and Wilhelm II 's refusal to recall him to office, the empire embarked on Weltpolitik ("world politics") – a bellicose new course that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Bismarck's successors were incapable of maintaining their predecessor's complex, shifting, and overlapping alliances which had kept Germany from being diplomatically isolated. This period
12576-588: The revolting sailors during the Christmas crisis. Some of his men from the Security Police ( Sicherheitspolizei ) had even actively supported the uprising. Paul Hirsch , Prussian Minister of the Interior, therefore dismissed Eichhorn on 4 January. Notwithstanding their differences, the Stewards, the USPD and the Spartacists called for a protest demonstration in support of Eichhorn. On 5 January 1919, around half
12707-484: The revolutionary committee declined. Whilst negotiations continued, Ebert prepared for a military response. He made Gustav Noske , since the withdrawal of the USPD a member of the Council of the People's Deputies, the military commander-in-chief and rallied the regular troops of the Berlin area to his cause. On the orders of Ebert, government forces commanded by Noske crushed the uprising between 9 and 12 January. Its defeat came after intense struggles, especially around
12838-465: The revolutionary left. That led to several armed confrontations, the first of which occurred only a few weeks after the pact. On December 24, on Ebert's request regular troops attacked the Reichsmarinedivision , a division that had rebelled over outstanding pay and the quality of their accommodation. In January 1919, during the so-called Spartakuswoche , the masses again gathered in Berlin and
12969-450: The same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag , which was elected by universal male suffrage . However, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas. As a result, by the time of the great expansion of German cities in the 1890s and 1900s, rural areas were grossly over-represented . The legislation also required the consent of
13100-506: The seminaries that the Catholics typically used. Furthermore, all candidates for the ministry had to pass an examination in German culture before a state board which weeded out intransigent Catholics. Another provision gave the government a veto power over most church activities. A second law abolished the jurisdiction of the Vatican over the Catholic Church in Prussia; its authority was transferred to
13231-578: The situation might get out of control and that the democratic system that he was trying to establish might be swept away by a more radical dictatorship, as had happened in Russia in October 1917. With the outbreak of the revolt in early November, Groener had been busy trying to keep the Western Front intact until the ceasefire could be agreed on. He had also been involved in discussions with Wilhelm II about using
13362-460: The socialisation of all "suitable" industries, especially mining. Secondly, it approved the Hamburg Points, which called for the election of officers, for disciplinary power to lie with the soldiers' councils, no insignia of rank and no rank off-duty. However, the demands were anathema to the leadership of the military, in particular those relating to the position of the soldiers' councils vis-à-vis
13493-478: The strikes were also directed against plans of annexation, which Central Powers Germany and Austria-Hungary were pursuing in ongoing peace negotiations with Soviet Russia in Brest-Litovsk . The strikers demanded fundamental political changes within Germany as well as a just peace agreement with Russia that did not include territorial claims by the German Empire against the "New Russia". The demands were not met by
13624-563: The subsequent German Empire. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. The Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871 sparked a growing pan-German ideal and contributed to the formation of the German state. The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the constituent Confederation entities of
13755-461: The synthesis of materials that were subject to import restrictions and for chemical weapons and war supplies. Lacking a technological base at first, the Germans imported their engineering and hardware from Britain but quickly learned the skills needed to operate and expand the railways. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centers of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany
13886-462: The tightening control of the Vatican over the local bishops. The Kulturkampf launched by Bismarck 1871–1880 affected Prussia; although there were similar movements in Baden and Hesse, the rest of Germany was not affected. According to the new imperial constitution, the states were in charge of religious and educational affairs; they funded the Protestant and Catholic schools. In July 1871 Bismarck abolished
14017-510: The time the largest workers' party in Europe, voted for war bonds for the imperial government in 1914. Karl Liebknecht was initially the only SPD member of the Reichstag who publicly rejected the measure. After having followed party discipline and voting for the bonds in August, he voted against the measure in December 1914. With the split between the USPD and the Majority SPD (MSPD), there
14148-456: The title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871. During the siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William was proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles . The second German Constitution , adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, was substantially based upon Bismarck's North German Constitution . The political system remained
14279-442: The two socialist parties to the assembled councils who were eager for a unified socialist front and approved the parity of three members each coming from SPD and USPD. However, the Stewards had anticipated that they would fail to prevent the SPD from dominating the Council of the People's Deputies. They therefore called for an Executive Committee ( Aktionsausschuss ) of the workers' and soldiers' councils to be set up in parallel to
14410-419: The workers were not yet disposed to act. They settled on 11 November. In Berlin, the Stewards numbered around 80 to 100. The core group numbered only about a dozen. On 8 November, driven by events to accelerate their plan, the Stewards called for a general strike in Berlin on the next day. The Spartacists, the SPD and the unions supported the call. On 9 November, workers' and soldiers' councils were formed,
14541-401: The workers' councils and thus—whilst the formal head of government—also become the leader of the revolution. On 10 November, the SPD managed to ensure that a majority of the newly elected workers' and (especially) soldiers' councils came from among their own supporters. Meanwhile, the USPD agreed to work with him and share power in the new revolutionary government. Ebert announced the pact between
14672-538: The world behind the United States and the British Empire , which were also its main economic rivals. Throughout its existence, it experienced economic growth and modernization led by heavy industry. In 1871, it had a largely rural population of 41 million, while by 1913, this had increased to a predominantly urban population of 68 million. For 30 years, Germany struggled against Britain to be Europe's leading industrial power. Representative of Germany's industry
14803-468: The world. Germany also became a great power , building the longest railway network of Europe, the world's strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. Starting very small in 1871, in a decade, the navy became second only to Britain 's Royal Navy . From 1871 to 1890, Otto von Bismarck's tenure as the first and to this day longest-serving chancellor was marked by relative liberalism at its start, but in time grew more conservative. Broad reforms,
14934-654: Was a defensive alliance that was established against Russia, and by association France, in the event alliance did not work out with the state. However, an alliance with Russia would come not long after the signing of the Dual Alliance with Austria, the Dreikaiserbund (League of Three Emperors), in 1881. During this period, individuals within the German military were advocating a preemptive strike against Russia, but Bismarck knew that such ideas were foolhardy. He once wrote that "the most brilliant victories would not avail against
15065-486: Was a party in the Reichstag opposing the policy of "party truce" ( Burgfriedenspolitik ) between the various political parties. The Stewards supported the USPD's outright opposition to the war. Since most of the union functionaries supported the political truce, the Stewards created an opposition of industrial workers against the First World War in Germany. This was in part a reaction to the growing number of deaths on
15196-473: Was a significant disparity between the Prussian and German electoral systems. Prussia used a three-class voting system which weighted votes based on the amount of taxes paid, all but assuring a conservative majority. The king and (with two exceptions) the prime minister of Prussia were also the emperor and chancellor of the empire – meaning that the same rulers had to seek majorities from legislatures elected from completely different franchises. Universal suffrage
15327-436: Was able to make more efficient use of capital. Germany was not weighted down with an expensive worldwide empire that needed defense. Following Germany's annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, it absorbed parts of what had been France's industrial base. Germany overtook British steel production in 1893 and pig iron production in 1903. The German steel and pig iron production continued its rapid expansion: Between 1911 and 1913,
15458-551: Was able to model its factories after those of Britain, thus making more efficient use of its capital and avoiding legacy methods in its leap to the envelope of technology. Germany invested more heavily than the British in research, especially in chemistry, ICE engines and electricity. Germany's dominance in physics and chemistry was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. The German cartel system (known as Konzerne ), being significantly concentrated,
15589-560: Was focused on stabilizing the European system and preventing any wars. He succeeded, and only after his departure from office in 1890 did the diplomatic tensions start rising again. After achieving formal unification in 1871, Bismarck devoted much of his attention to the cause of national unity. He opposed Catholic civil rights and emancipation, especially the influence of the Vatican under Pope Pius IX , and working-class radicalism, represented by
15720-555: Was followed by Austria-Hungary (43,280 km; 26,890 mi), France (40,770 km; 25,330 mi), the United Kingdom (32,623 km; 20,271 mi), Italy (18,873 km; 11,727 mi) and Spain (15,088 km; 9,375 mi). The creation of the Empire under Prussian leadership was a victory for the concept of Kleindeutschland (Smaller Germany) over the Großdeutschland concept. This meant that Austria-Hungary,
15851-558: Was in Europe, as opposed to just 5% of British investment. Most of the money went to developing nations such as Russia that lacked the capital or technical knowledge to industrialize on their own. The construction of the Berlin–Baghdad railway , financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Gulf , but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. Conflict over
15982-468: Was in the hands of professional salaried managers; leading Chandler to call the German dye companies "the world's first truly managerial industrial enterprises". There were many spinoffs from research—such as the pharmaceutical industry, which emerged from chemical research. By the start of World War I (1914–1918), German industry switched to war production. The heaviest demands were on coal and steel for artillery and shell production, and on chemicals for
16113-577: Was little interaction or intermarriage. On the whole, the Protestants had a higher social status, and the Catholics were more likely to be peasant farmers or unskilled or semiskilled industrial workers. In 1870, the Catholics formed their own political party, the Centre Party , which generally supported unification and most of Bismarck's policies. However, Bismarck distrusted parliamentary democracy in general and opposition parties in particular, especially when
16244-499: Was marked by increased oppression of Polish people and various factors influencing the Emperor's decisions, which were often perceived as contradictory or unpredictable by the public. In 1879, the German Empire consolidated the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary , followed by the Triple Alliance with Italy in 1882. It also retained strong diplomatic ties to the Ottoman Empire . When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, Italy left
16375-413: Was more backward. The success of the German Empire in the natural sciences, especially in physics and chemistry, was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire became an industrial, technological, and scientific power in Europe, and by 1913, Germany was the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in
16506-528: Was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds of the Empire's population and territory, and Prussian dominance was also constitutionally established, since the King of Prussia was also the German Emperor ( Deutscher Kaiser ). After 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals, and railways. In 1871, Germany had
16637-502: Was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialisation, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the Ruhr and other industrial districts and provided good connections to
16768-571: Was significantly diluted by gross over-representation of rural areas from the 1890s onward. By the turn of the century, the urban-rural population balance was completely reversed from 1871; more than two-thirds of the empire's people lived in cities and towns. Bismarck's domestic policies played an important role in forging the authoritarian political culture of the Kaiserreich . Less preoccupied with continental power politics following unification in 1871, Germany's semi-parliamentary government carried out
16899-453: Was taking the important decisions. When it became clear that the war was lost in late summer/fall of 1918, Ludendorff started to favour the "parliamentisation" of the Empire, a constitutional transfer of power to those parties that held the majority in the Reichstag : Social Democrats ( SPD ), Center Party and Progress Party . The goal was to shift the blame for the military defeat from the OHL to
17030-473: Was the steel giant Krupp , whose first factory was built in Essen . By 1902, the factory alone became "A great city with its own streets, its own police force, fire department and traffic laws. There are 150 kilometers of rail, 60 different factory buildings, 8,500 machine tools, seven electrical stations, 140 kilometers of underground cable, and 46 overhead." Under Bismarck, Germany was a world innovator in building
17161-420: Was to issue a proclamation, asking the people to remain calm, get off the streets and to restore peace and order. It failed to work. Ebert found himself in a quandary. He had succeeded in bringing the SPD to power and was now in a position to put into law social reforms and improve the lot of the working class. However, as a result of the revolution, his party (and he himself) was forced to share power with those on
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