Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
by the autumn of 1918. Knowing the Allies would refuse to negotiate with the old
absolutist system, he declared (on September 9) a democratic,
constitutional monarchy
,
whose chancellor would be responsible to the Reichstag and not the Kaiser. A government
was formed under Prince Max von Baden, and extensive reforms agreed. But it was too
little, too late for the bitter sailors and soldiers on the home front, where the contrast
between privilege and poverty was most obvious. At the beginning of November the Kiel
Garrison led a
naval mutiny
and revolutionary
Workers' and Soldiers' Soviets
mushroomed
across Germany. Elements of this revolutionary unrest were mirrored in the Dada art
movement, which put down firm roots in the city in 1919, while the fresh, functional
Bauhaus
design movement (see p.61) began to tidy some of the chaos.
Caught up in this wave of unrest, Berliners took to the streets on November 8-9,
where they were joined by soldiers stationed in the capital. Realizing that the game was
up,
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated
, producing a situation of dual power: almost at the same
time as Philipp Scheidemann of the SPD declared a “
German Republic
” from the
Reichstag's balcony, Karl Liebknecht was proclaiming a “Free Socialist Republic” from
a balcony of the royal palace just 2km away. In the face of increasing confusion, SPD
leader Friedrich Ebert took over as head of the government. A deal was struck with the
army, which promised to protect the republic if Ebert forestalled a full-blooded socialist
revolution by the Spartacists. Ebert ruled Berlin for nearly three months but many of
the revolutionary soldiers, sailors and workers who controlled the streets favoured a
Soviet-style government and refused to obey his orders. hings came to a head with
the
Spartacist uprising
in Berlin during the first half of January 1919. his inspired
lasting dread among the bourgeoisie, who applauded when the Spartacists were
eventually crushed by the militarily superior
Freikorps
: armed bands of right-wing
o
cers and NCOs from the old Imperial army, dedicated to protecting Germany from
“Bolshevism”. he torture and
murder of Liebknecht and Luxemburg
by Freikorps
o
cers (who threw their bodies in the Landwehrkanal) remained unpunished once the
fighting was over. his hardly augured well for the future of the
new republic
, whose
National Assembly elections were held on January 19.
The Weimar Republic
he elections gave the SPD 38 percent of the vote and confirmed them the new
political leaders of the country. Ebert was made president, Scheidemann chancellor.
Weimar
, the small country town that had seen the most glorious flowering of the
German Enlightenment, was chosen in preference to Berlin as the place to draft a
national constitution, which was tinged by monarchic and military associations.
he
constitution
drawn up was hailed as the most liberal, democratic and progressive
in the world. While it incorporated a highly complex system of checks and balances to
prevent power becoming too concentrated in either particular parts of government or
regions, it crucially lacked clauses outlawing parties hostile to the system. his opened
the way for savage attacks on the republic by extremists at both ends of the political
spectrum. With public opinion divided between a plethora of parties promoting
sectional interests, all Weimar-era governments became unwieldy coalitions that often
pursued contradictory policies in different ministries and had an average life of only
about eight months, providing a weak framework that later readily allowed the Nazis
to take control.
1740
1745-47
Friedrich II - known as Frederick the Great - comes to power and
rules until 1786. He turns Berlin into a centre of Enlightenment.
Schloss Sanssouci is built as the
summer palace of Frederick the Great.
