In early and mid-1918, many people in both Russia and Germany expected that Russia would now "return the favor" by helping to foster a communist revolution on German soil. By the evening of 4 November, Kiel was firmly in the hands of about 40,000 rebellious sailors, soldiers and workers, as was Wilhelmshaven two days later. 61–79.See: Ralf Hoffrogge, From Unionism to Workers' Councils – The Revolutionary Shop Stewards in Germany 1914–1918, in: Immanuel Ness and Dario Azzellini(Eds): Ours to Master and to Own: Worker's Control from the Commune to the Present, Chicago 2011On East German historiography of the German Revolution see Mario Keßler: Die Novemberrevolution in der Geschichtswissenschaft der DDR – Die Kontroversen des Jahres 1958 und ihre Folgen im internationalen Kontext, in:

Criticism was aimed at the partially idealised description of the Workers' and Soldiers' Councils which especially was the case in the wake of the With all the differences concerning details, historical researchers agree that in the German Revolution, the chances to put the republic on a firm footing were considerably better than the dangers coming from the extreme left. After the Entente had agreed to truce negotiations on that day, he hoped to return to Germany at the head of the army and to quell the revolution by force. This blow would have been unnecessary anyway, because the convention that took up its work 16 December in the Prussian House of Representatives consisted mainly of SPD followers. On 11 November, the Centre Party deputy Although Ebert had saved the decisive role of the SPD, he was not happy with the results. But in practice, the council's initiative was blocked by internal power struggles. Regulations for the freedom of association, assembly and press were enacted. In the 1960s, they shifted to its revolutionary beginnings, realising that the decisions and developments during the revolution were central to the failure of the first German Republic. Richard Müller, the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and the Origins of the Council Movement, Brill Publications 2014, See Hauptkrankenbuch Festungslazarett Kiel, Nr. In the wake of the United States declaration of war, the SPD in the Reichstag joined the "Interfactional Committee" with the Centre Party and the After the victory in the east, the Supreme Army Command on 21 March 1918 launched its so-called On 29 September, the Supreme Army Command, at army headquarters in As he said to his staff officers on 1 October: "They now must lie on the bed that they have made us.

Karl Liebknecht, just released from prison, had returned to Berlin and re-founded the Spartacist League the previous day. After their experiences with the SPD and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), the Spartacists concluded that their goals could be met only in a party of their own, and they founded the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) at the end of 1918. Richard Müller, the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and the Origins of the Council Movement, Brill Publications 2014, Ralf Hoffrogge, Working-Class Politics in the German Revolution. If it is to last, it must be realised with democratic means.

"In fact, the Imperial Government and the German Army shirked their responsibility for defeat from the very beginning and tried to place the blame for it on the new democratic government. The USPD received only 7.6% of the vote and sent 22 deputies into the parliament. However, a real revolutionary action took place the same evening that would later prove to have been in vain. And weariness, disgust and weariness.Not a chain was broken by the swelling of spirit and will, but a lock merely rusted through. Because of his attempts to organise objectors against the war, he was expelled from the SPD, and in June 1916, he was sentenced on a charge of As the war dragged on and the death tolls rose, more SPD members began to question the adherence to the The German Imperial Government now saw one more chance for victory. Aside from SPD and USPD, the Catholic Centre Party took part, and so did several middle-class parties that had established themselves since November: the left-liberal With 37.4% of the vote, the SPD became the strongest party in the Reichstag and secured 165 out of 423 deputies. The whole SPD leadership mistrusted the councils rather than the old elites in army and administration, and they considerably overestimated the old elite's loyalty to the new republic.

For the first time during these strikes, the so-called Revolutionary Stewards took action.

The news of the abdication came too late to make any impression on the demonstrators. Yesterday afternoon it was all gone.The extreme right had a completely opposite perception.