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HISTORY On 7 November 1918 , the anniversary of the Russian October Revolution , Kurt Eisner of the USPD declared Bavaria a " Free State " – a declaration which overthrew the Monarchy of the Wittelsbach Dynasty which had ruled for over 700 years. Eisner became Minister-President of Bavaria. Though he advocated a " Socialist Republic ", he distanced himself from the Russia n Bolshevik s, declaring that his government would protect property rights. For a few days, distinguished Munich economist Lujo Brentano served as Minister of Trade (''Volkskommissar für Handel''). After Eisner's USPD had lost the elections, he decided to resign from his office. On 21 February 1919 , as he was on his way to parliament to announce his resignation, he was shot by Anton Graf Arco-Valley , a fanatical Right-wing student, who was rejected from membership in the Thule Society because of Jewish ancestry on his mother`s side. This assassination caused unrest and lawlessness in Bavaria, and the news of a Soviet revolution in Hungary encouraged Communists and Anarchists to seize power. On 6 April , the "Bavarian Soviet Republic" was proclaimed. Initially, it was ruled by USPD members such as Ernst Toller and Gustav Landauer , and anarchists like Erich Mühsam . However, Ernst Toller, a playwright, was not very good at dealing with politics, and his government did little to restore order in the city. His government members were also not always the best pick. For instance, the Foreign Affairs Deputy (who had been admitted several times to , with Eugen Levine , sometimes characterized as a "potential German Lenin" as their leader. Eugene Levine began to enact communist reforms, that included expropriating luxurious apartments and giving them to the Homeless and placing factories under the ownership and control of their workers. Levine also had plans to abolish paper money and reform the education system. However, he never had time to implement them. Levine refused to collaborate with the regular army of the city, and also organized his own army, the Red Army ( Rote Armee ) under Rudolf Egelhofer , similar to the Red Army of Soviet Russia . In order to support the revolutionary government, thousands of unemployed workers volunteered; soon the ranks of the Rote Armee reached 20,000. The Red Guards began arresting suspected counterrevolutionaries and on 29 April 1919 , eight men, including the well-connected Prince von Thurn Und Taxis , were executed as right-wing spies. Soon after, on 3 May 1919 , the Proto-fascist Freikorps (having a force of 30,000 men) together with the "White Guards of Capitalism" (having a force of 9,000) invaded the Bavarian Soviet Republic and defeated the Communists, after bitter street fights in which over 1,000 volunteer supporters of the government were killed. About 800 men and women were arrested and executed by the victorious Freikorps. These included Eugen Levine, who was found guilty for the killing of the eight spies. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS NOTES |