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This article describes the November 1918 revolution in Germany. For the revolution of 1848, see Revolution Of 1848 . For the revolution of 1989, see Berlin Wall#The Fall, 1989 . The German Revolution is a series of events that occurred in 1918 - 1919 , culminating in the overthrow of the Kaiser and the establishment of the weak Weimar Republic . Like the Russian February Revolution , no single political party led the rebellion, and workers' councils similar to the Soviets seized power across the country. However, the events continued to polarise the Left , not least because of the use of the right-wing Freikorps paramilitaries by the Social-Democratic government in order to suppress the Far-left Spartacist revolt. Like the Russian Revolution , the German Revolution occurred in the context of the disastrous consequences of World War I . The concession of defeat in war by the Supreme Command under Erich Ludendorff triggered a political crisis, leading to the assumption of power by the Liberal Prince Max Von Baden . Although the main mass workers' party, the Social-Democratic Party (SPD), participated in the Government , this proved insufficient in preventing rebellion. The uprising began in Kiel from 29 October - 3 November 1918 , when forty thousand sailors and marines took over the port in protest at an order to engage the Royal Navy by German Naval Command, seeing as they considered the attack "suicidal". By November 8 , Workers' and Soldiers' Councils had seized most of Western Germany, laying the foundations for the so-called '' Räterepublik '' ("Council Republic"). Kaiser Wilhelm was forced to abdicate on 9 November , ending the German Monarchy , although monarchial support continued to run strong, especially in the middle- and upper-classes. The SPD were catapulted into power as rulers of the new Republic alongside their more radical counterparts, the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD). Elections were held for workers' councils across the land. Many workers'councils were very moderate because the local population was not socialistic. Max Weber was part of the workers'council of Heidelberg . He was pleasantly surprised that most members were moderate German liberals. However, the united front disintegrated in late December 1918 as the USPD left the coalition in protest at perceived SPD compromises with the (capitalist) status quo. Elections in January 1919 didn't lead to a socialist majority in the parliament. The moderate SPD became the largest political party. A second revolutionary wave swept Germany in January 1919, in which the communist revolutionary Spartacist League were prominent. In response, Social-Democratic leader Friedrich Ebert deployed the nationalist militia, the Freikorps , to suppress the uprising. The two most famous victims of this counter-revolutionary operation were the Spartacist leaders Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg , who were killed on 15 January 1919 . By May 1919, the revolutionary Left were routed. In Munich , the communist revolution was a temporary success, leading to the Bavarian Soviet . The German army and Freikorps started to besiege the city, while the communists were executing 'class enemies.' Bloody war broke out in the streets and the German army and Freikorps were victorious. Afterwards they retaliated by executing many socialists. Right-wing Munich in particular became afraid of everything socialist. It quickly became the bulwark of the Nazis . One of the aims of the revolution was to destroy the old institutions which had supported a fanatic expansionistic nationalism. This was unsuccessful. Teachers, big industrials, the bureaucracy, and judges continued to be right-wing. Judges gave lengthy sentences to left-wing radicals, while right-wing radicals received comparatively lesser punishments (Hitler received a one year jail sentence after his failed ''coup d'état''). Civil war continued in many cities during the 1920s. The German Revolution laid the foundations for the Weimar Republic , which ended with the Nazis rise to power. . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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