Independent Social Democratic And The Spartacus League example essay topic

On the 9th of November 1918 the Army High Command informed Wilhelm that the army could no longer support him; without an army Wilhelm could not stop the revolution. Wilhelm was forced to give up his throne. Friedrich Ebert. Leader of the Social democratic party soon replaced Wilhelm as head of government.

The socialists, with the Kaiser gone, now began to argue amongst themselves. They were constantly disagreeing over which type of government Germany should have. The three parties involved in this fray were, The Social Democratic Party, The Independent Social Democratic and the Spartacus League. Although they all did have some similarities. They all agreed that Germany should be a republic, that people should have right to free speech and that that there should be benefit for workers e.g. unemployment benefit and sickness benefit. However they did not agree on everything and all had there own methods of achieving their aims.

The Social Democrats believed that the best way to achieve their aims was to; hold elections for a national parliament and to allow the elected parliament to decide the future of Germany. The Independent Social Democrats believed that the best way to achieve their aims was by; Strikes, Trade Union action in factories and co-operation with Ebert until a parliament was elected. The Spartacus League believed in a more aggressive method of achieving their aims, they believed in; Street demonstrations and rallies, strikes, sabotage and assassination as well as no cooperation with Ebert and no support for the elected parliament. As well as different methods the parties also had quite different aims. The Social Democrats wanted Germany to be governed by a national government elected by all Germans over eighteen years old, they also wanted the army to continue as Germany main force and the authority of officers to be maintained, the existing local government, law courts, police and civil services to continue to run and the country. ; the key industries and companies are to be gradually nationalised, the people are to have free right of speech and the right to join trade unions etc. ; there are also to be benefits for workers e.g. sickness and unemployment benefit.

The Independent Social Democrats believed that Germany was to be governed by workers' and soldiers' councils elected in each town which worked with the national parliament. That the army should be reformed and that there should be Independent nationalism of key industries and companies. They proposed that large estates should be broken up and sold. The Spartacus League proposed that Germany should be governed by workers' and soldiers' councils in each town, thereby precluding the need for a national government! They believed that police and army officers should be disarmed and the army disbanded.

Local workers' militants would be set up to take their place. Mines, factories and large estates of land were to be nationalised immediately and controlled by the workers. Of the three democratic parties, The Social Democratic Party, led by Friedrich Ebert, was the strongest after the November rebellion. This was mainly due to Ebert being head of government and using his powers to make the party stronger. His policies resulted in better living conditions for people and the end of censorship. Most importantly, he increased food supplies.

In January 1919 Ebert held elections for a new national parliament. The Spartacus League opposed everything Ebert did. On the last day of 1918 they renamed themselves the German Communist Party and began to make plans to seize power from Ebert. On the 5th January 1919, The Spartacus League, or the German Communist Party, tried to seize power. They occupied public buildings, organised a general strike and formed a revolutionary committee.

Large groups of them roamed the streets placing red flags as a symbol of communism. Unfortunately for the GCP, a day before they began their attack on parliament Ebert created a volunteer force of 4000 soldiers known as the Free Corps. They were hard men who hated communists and wanted to fight. On the 10th January the Free Corps attacked. By the second day they had captured all the GCP in central Berlin. Another two days later they caught and murdered the GCP leaders: - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.

On the 19th January, 30 million Germans went to the polls to elect a new parliament. The most votes went to the three parties that supported Ebert. These were The Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the Democrats. The new parliament met on the 6th February in Weimar.

Ebert was once again president of Germany. The new parliament then made a constitution which was published in August 1919. The constitution summed up all the original beliefs of The Social Democrat Party. The following five years of the Weimar republic were full of difficulties. The problems began when the government was forced to sign a some-what harsh peace treaty. This resulted in the loss of huge amounts of land, equipment and money to the Allies.

The treaty was deeply hated by all Germans. In 1923 France invaded Germany due to a failure to keep up terms, this also lead to a collapse in the German economy. These problems were some of the main threats to democracy in 1919. The Germans believed the Socialist politicians who had made peace in 1918 had betrayed them.

They were called the 'November criminals' and were said to have 'stabbed the army in the back'. They also believed that they could have one the war if the politicians hadn't signed the treaty. Over the next five years extremists carried out a series of armed risings, or patches, against the government. The first rising nearly succeeded!

It took place in March 1920 when 5,000 of the Free Corps marched into Berlin. The government abandoned the city. An extreme nationalist, Doctor Kapp, set himself as head of the government. He wanted to re-build Germany's military strength and re-take the land they lost due to the treaty.

Unfortunately for Kapp he was quickly defeated in Berlin. As a result the workers organised a general strike and Berlin ground to a halt. Without transport, power and no money Kapp was forced to abandon his plans. On the 18th of March Kapp and his supporters fled to Sweden and government once again returned to Berlin.