1918 Revolution, roles of Ebert, Scheidemann and Rosa Luxemburg

After the war, food shortages in Germany were prevalent. Many civilians were on the brink of starvation, as with most men drafted into the military and others moved into industry, there were insufficient labourers in agriculture. Around 750,000 people died of flu, other diseases, and starvation after the war. German soldiers who returned from the war felt betrayed because of the country's unexpected loss. As a result, those who were armed became sources of chaos. With about 2 million war casualties, the workforce could not recover.

Lasting from November 1918 to August 1919, the German Revolution emerged at the end of WWI. It resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliamentary republic.

Also known as the November Revolution, the German Revolution gave way to creation of the Weimar Republic. The revolution was ignited by the economic and social impacts of WWI. The majority of the German people lost morale after the defeat by the Allies. Moreover, the earlier Russian Revolution inspired the Germans to do the same.

Brief timeline of significant events (1918-1919)

1918 January

Strikes in Berlin and other cities

1918 October

• (3) Baden appointed chancellor

• (4) SPD leaders join the government

• (27) Naval mutinies in Kiel 1918 November

• (7) uprisings of workers, sailors and soldiers throughout Germany

• (8) Collapse of the Bavarian monarchy

• (9) Declaration of the Republic and SPD's Ebert as chancellor

• (10) Formation of the government of the Council of People's Representatives

• (11) Signing of the armistice 1918 December

• Strikes in Saxony and the Ruhr

• First national Congress of Workers and Soldiers Councils in Berlin

• Founding of KPD 1919 January

• Spartacist Uprising

• Election of National Assembly 1919 February

• (6) National Assembly at Weimar

• (11) Ebert elected as president 1919 June

Treaty of Versailles

Philipp Scheidemann and Friedrich Ebert

When WWI broke out, Scheidemann was the most popular German Social Democrat. Despite supporting the war, he rejected the idea of annexation. In 1917, the split within the SPD created the USPD (Independent Social Democratic Party). In the same year, Scheidemann was elected as chairman of the SPD, members were then called Scheidemänner. In June 1918, he became vice president of the Reichstag. When Prince Max von Baden was appointed as chancellor, Scheidemann supported its transitional government.

On 9 November 1918, Scheidemann proclaimed the birth of the German republic from a window of the Reichstag building.

Scheidemann from a window of the Reichstag building

On 13 February 1919, Scheidemann was appointed as first head of the government of the Weimar Republic by newly elected President Ebert. Scheidemann's refusal to sign the Treaty of Versailles on 20 June 1919 resulted in his resignation.

Scheidemann in 1918

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Friedrich Ebert

In 1913, Friedrich Ebert along with Hugo Haase were elected as chairmen of the SPD. After the split of the party in 1917, Ebert co-chaired the SPD along with Scheidemann. Regarded as a moderate and pragmatist, Prince Max von Baden chose him to take over the chancellorship on 9 November 1918, which he gave up a day after to be part of the revolutionary transition government. The Council of People's Representatives was created from the Workers' and Soldiers' Council. Ebert pushed for a coalition of government rather than a socialist regime.

Through the Black-Red-Gold coalition (Social Democratic Party, German Democratic Party and Christian Democratic Centre Party), which composed 85% of the Reichstag, Ebert was elected as the first president of the Weimar Republic. A new constitution, the Weimar Constitution was also adopted in January 1919.

On 6 June 1920, the tripartite coalition designed by Ebert lost its popularity among the people. As a result, party members faced electoral defeat which also affected the stability of the Weimar Republic. Moreover, Ebert's presidency faced political unrest from radical nationalists and communists.

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Rosa Luxemburg

Born in Poland in 1871, Rosa Luxemburg was a German revolutionary leader who was influential in the founding of the Polish Social Democratic Party and the Spartacus League. In 1898, she obtained German citizenship after marrying Gustav Lübeck. While in Berlin, Luxemburg acquainted herself with the Social Democratic Party. Despite being exposed to the idea of revisionism (socialism through gradualist approach), she defended Marxist orthodoxy and the necessity of a revolution similar to Russia in 1904. Luxembourg particularly believed in mass strike and natural emergence of party structure.

Between 1907 and 1917, she taught at the Social Democratic Party School in Berlin. It was during this time that her proletarian radicalisation view was opposed by August Bebel, leader of the SPD. When WWI broke out, Luxemburg opposed the party's pro-war stance. With another radical, Karl Liebknecht, Luxemburg formed the Spartacus League or Spartakusbund. They believed that the war could be ended with a revolution from within and a new government composed of proletariats should emerge.

Under the pseudonym Junius, Luxemburg wrote a pamphlet entitled Die Krise der Sozialdemokratie (The Crisis in the German Social Democracy) in 1916. In her writing, she agreed with Lenin's idea of overthrowing the existing regime and establishment of new order.

During the 1918 German Revolution, she was nicknamed by the bourgeois press as 'Bloody Rosa' for igniting armed clashes in Berlin. Similar to the Bolsheviks, the group of Luxemburg and Liebknecht sought to grab political power for the workers and soldiers. By December 1918, they founded the German Communist Party.

Rosa Luxemburg speaks outside a congress of the Second International in 1907

Despite being a believer of Lenin, Luxemburg was indifferent about pushing democracy. On 15 January 1919, she and Liebknecht were arrested and murdered in Berlin by the Freikorps for organising the Spartacus Revolt.

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