THREATS FROM THE LEFT

-Spartacists were led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
-Argued against Ebert's wish for Germany to be democratic
-Wanted Germany ruled by worker's councils or soviets
-In 1919, rebel soldiers and sailers teamed up with Spartacists to set up soviets in many towns
-Some communist ex-soldiers formed a group called Freikorps
-Two groups and Ebert decided to put down rebellion
-Following this, Freikorps and spartacists began to fight and the Freikorps won
-Liebknecht and Luxemburg were murdered and the revolution failed
-However, another one followed
-Emerged in Bavaria - South of Germany
-Bavaria was led by Kurt Eisner - Ebert's ally
-February 1919 - he was murdered by political opponents
-Freikorps moved in to crush revolt in May 1919. Around 600 communists were killed
-1920 - more communist agitation in Ruhr industrial area
-Again, police, army and Freikorps clashed with communists. 2000 casualties.
-Lasting bitterness between Freikorps and them due to Ebert's ruthless measures
-Before war, Germany had no real democracy. Kaiser was virtually a dictator.
-Weimar Constitution, on the other hand, attempted to set up probably the most democratic system in world, where no individual could gain too much power
-All Germans over 20 could vote
-There was system of proportional representation - if party gained 20 percent of votes, they gained 20 percent of seats in Reichstag
-Chancellor was responsible for day-to-day government, but he needed support of half the Reichstag
-Head of state was president. President stayed out of day-to-day government. In crisis, he could rule country directly through Article 48 of constitution. This gave him emergency powers, which meant he didn't have to consult Reichstag.

	Created by abikj18 over 9 years ago

communists and capitalists