In November 1918, the German Revolution exploded into life. Inspired by the victory of the Russian Revolution, German workers and soldiers rose up to end World War 1 and overthrow the hated Kaiser. The working class fought not just to overthrow a hated monarch, but to take control of society into their own hands. Working class power spread like wildfire across Germany. The German Revolution was the most important link in a global wave of working-class radicalisation that responded to the barbarism of war with the fight for socialism. Yet, by late 1919 the movement of workers council had been defeated. The reformist Social Democratic party had shown their true colours and repressed the working class to safeguard the capitalist state.
This session will explore the first phase of the German Revolution from 1918-1919 and what it demonstrates about the possibility of revolution in the West and the counter-revolutionary role of reformism.