Part 1 - Revolution
With the end of 'The Great War' in 1918 came the wrath of the Great Powers who were far from being magnanimous to a defeated Germany. Germany signed the 'Treaty Of Versailles', and the terms were very severe. All of Germany's colonies were taken, they were forced to submit to militarisation of the Rhineland for 15 years and were forced to pay heavy reparations to those countries over-run in the four years of war.
For the army, the loss of pride was devastating. They were reduced to a puny 100,000 men. There was to be no General Staff, no conscription, no tanks, no heavy artillery, no poison-gas, no aircraft. No vessels of the German fleet were to exceed 10,000 tons. There was to be no submarines and no airforce.
The emasculation could not continue, many believed. So, every German street became a battlefield. The Communists (with groups such as the Spartacists) did battle with the Reichswehr and the Freikorps. The aim was to destroy democracy in Germany as soon as possible. To destroy the 'Diktat' of Versaille, and to restore German pride.
In Bavaria the communists took over and established a soviet-style regime, introducing land reform, worker's control and popular participation in goverment. Combined forces of the Reichswehr and Freikorps attempted to defeat it with savagery - and failed.
Poster of the Communist Party of Germany
The Communists in Bavaria had recieved help from an outside source - the USSR, led by Leon Trotsky. Guns, ammuniation, and even volunteers from the Red army were sent to help the rise of communism in Germany. With their victory against the Reichswehr and the Freikorps they grew even stronger, gaining more followers and young German men willing to fight for their cause.
More uprisings took place all across Germany. With it more help was sent from the east and soon southern Germany was entirely in the control of the communist revolutionaries. Their leader was Ernst Thälmann. He was persuaded by the Weimar parliment to agree to a ceasefire and in return was made Chancellor.
On August 2, 1934, President Hindenburg died, and with him went German democracy. The communists seized power, disbanding parliment, banning all political parties other than the KPD and throwing dissidents and fascists into prison.
The German revolution had finally come.
With the end of 'The Great War' in 1918 came the wrath of the Great Powers who were far from being magnanimous to a defeated Germany. Germany signed the 'Treaty Of Versailles', and the terms were very severe. All of Germany's colonies were taken, they were forced to submit to militarisation of the Rhineland for 15 years and were forced to pay heavy reparations to those countries over-run in the four years of war.
For the army, the loss of pride was devastating. They were reduced to a puny 100,000 men. There was to be no General Staff, no conscription, no tanks, no heavy artillery, no poison-gas, no aircraft. No vessels of the German fleet were to exceed 10,000 tons. There was to be no submarines and no airforce.
The emasculation could not continue, many believed. So, every German street became a battlefield. The Communists (with groups such as the Spartacists) did battle with the Reichswehr and the Freikorps. The aim was to destroy democracy in Germany as soon as possible. To destroy the 'Diktat' of Versaille, and to restore German pride.
In Bavaria the communists took over and established a soviet-style regime, introducing land reform, worker's control and popular participation in goverment. Combined forces of the Reichswehr and Freikorps attempted to defeat it with savagery - and failed.
Poster of the Communist Party of Germany
The Communists in Bavaria had recieved help from an outside source - the USSR, led by Leon Trotsky. Guns, ammuniation, and even volunteers from the Red army were sent to help the rise of communism in Germany. With their victory against the Reichswehr and the Freikorps they grew even stronger, gaining more followers and young German men willing to fight for their cause.
More uprisings took place all across Germany. With it more help was sent from the east and soon southern Germany was entirely in the control of the communist revolutionaries. Their leader was Ernst Thälmann. He was persuaded by the Weimar parliment to agree to a ceasefire and in return was made Chancellor.
On August 2, 1934, President Hindenburg died, and with him went German democracy. The communists seized power, disbanding parliment, banning all political parties other than the KPD and throwing dissidents and fascists into prison.
The German revolution had finally come.
