Challanges To The Wiemer Republic Flashcards
who were the spartacists
A far-left group of communists and independent socialists.
what did the spartacists want
A system of locally elected workers’ councils (soviets) as in Communist Russia rather than a national elected assembly.
what did spartacists do to the republic
They tried to seize power by violent revolution in Berlin between 5th – 12th Jan 1919.
outcome of the spartacist uprising
It was supported by too few workers and trade unions. The revolutionaries were poorly armed and violence did not spread beyond a few cities – Munich, Bremen, Muhlheim and Halle.
The military and the Freikorps (groups of voluntary former soldiers who acted as a paramilitary unit, right-wing and under the command of senior personnel from the army) crushed it.
The leaders were assassinated. Rosa Luxemburg was interrogated, battered to death with a rifle butt and thrown in the river. Karl Liebkneckt was shot in the back of the head and his body dumped on a motorway
spring 1919 series of strikes and uprest
After the failure of the Spartacist uprising there were waves of strikes in the Ruhr mines, central Germany and Berlin.
The most serious was the Ruhr Uprising of April 1920. It planned to create a Red Army and seize public buildings such as banks, railway stations and post offices.
There was even talk of a German ‘October’ and the Communist Party (KPD) took control of much of the region.
However, these strikes and unrest were uncoordinated, lacking overall leadership, and the numbers of participants quite small.
It was ended by a full-scale offensive from the Freikorps and the German army.
