✍ Scribed by Rob Sewell
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Germany 1918-33 was one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Following the revolution in Russia, the German workers and soldiers attempted to seize power in November 1918. Unfortunately, the revolution was betrayed by the Social Democratic leaders.
Further revolutionary convulsions rocked Germany from 1919 to 1923. By this time, a mass Communist Party had been formed, but following advice from Zinoviev and Stalin, a classical revolutionary opportunity in 1923 was missed.
This was a blow, not only in Germany, but internationally. The German defeats served to strengthen the grip of the Stalinist bureaucracy in Russia. This resulted in zig-zags of policy between opportunism and ultra-leftism, which paved the way for the ‘Third Period’ with the Social Democrats regarded as the main enemy.
With the rise of fascism, Leon Trotsky described Germany in 1931 as “the key to the international situation”. “On the direction in which the solution of the German crisis develops will depend not only the fate of Germany herself (and that is already a great deal), but also the fate of Europe, the destiny of the entire world, for many years to come,” he explained.
Trotsky called for a United Front against fascism, but this was rejected by the Stalinists. This paved the way for the victory of the Nazis, leading to the Holocaust and the Second World War with its 55 million dead.
In this book, Rob Sewell argues that all this was not inevitable, and analyses those events, drawing out the lessons for today.
Preface
Introduction
Opening Drama
News From Germany
Dual Power
Emperor With No Clothes
The Armistice
Workers Held Power
Barbarism
Learn From History
Chapter One: The Rise of German Social Democracy
Growth of German Capitalism
Marx and Engels
Engels Distorted
Revisionism
International Response
Karl Kautsky
Differences With Lenin
Lenin and Kautsky
Break With Kautsky
Millerandism
The General Strike
Anti-War Feelings
The Great Betrayal
Epoch of Imperialism
All Eyes on German SPD
Stunning Blow
Zimmerwald
Lenin at Zimmerwald
The Spartacists
Internationale Group
Growing Opposition
Junius Pamphlet
Birth of USPD
February Revolution
Strike Wave
The Russian Revolution
Brest-Litovsk
Luxemburg and the Russian Revolution
Chapter Two: In the throes of Revolution
Prince Von Baden
Talk of Insurrection
Mutiny Spreads
Revolution Spreads
Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils
Hate It Like Sin
Ebert Becomes Chancellor
Long Live the Republic!
Traditional Parties
‘Their Government’
People’s Commissars
New Breed
Ebert and the Generals
What Kind of Democracy?
The Problem of the National Assembly
Renegade Kautsky
National Congress of Councils
Tactical Mistake
Socialisation
Left-Wing Communism
Counter-Revolution Raises Its Head
Peoples’ Naval Division
Witch-Hunt Begins
Communist Party Founded
Rebellious Youth
New Born
Chapter Three: Counter-Revolution Raises its Head
The Spartacist Uprising
Dismissal of Eichhorn
Traitors to the Proletariat
Deliberations
‘Dogs of War’
How Could You?
Luxemburg, Liebknecht Murdered
Friedrichsfelde
Luxemburg’s ‘Error’
National Assembly Election
Freikorps Intervene
‘Schiessbefehl’
Works Councils
Bavarian Soviet Republic
Chapter Four: The Kapp Putsch March 1920
Two Counter-Revolutionary Wings
Learning the Lessons
The Split
Political Polarisation
Building the Comintern
The Halle Conference
School of Communism
New VKPD Leadership
Theory of the Offensive
Unmitigated Disaster
Ecci Supports German ‘Lefts’
Lenin on Germany
Lines Drawn
Third Comintern Congress
The United Front Tactic
The Case of Paul Levi
Battle Lines Drawn
Chapter Five: The Spoils of War
Squeeze until the Pips Squeak
Carthaginian Peace
French Occupation of the Ruhr
Hyperinflation
Revolutionary Situation
Looking the Wrong Way
Anti-Fascist Day
Preparing the Insurrection
October Days
Hamburg Uprising
Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch
The Aftermath of 1923 Defeat
Lessons of October
Chapter Six: The Interregnum
Struggle Sharpens
Socialism in One Country
Stabilisation
Eight-Hour Day Abolished
Economic Revival
Soviet-German Relations
Uprising Still Remains on the Agenda
Fifth World Congress
Removal of Fischer-Maslow
1925 Presidential Election
Open Letter
The 1928 General Election
Young Plan
The Third Period
May Day 1929
The 1929 Crash
Brüning Government
Chapter Seven: Fascism’s Rise to Power
Big Business Turns to Hitler
The Fascist Henry Ford
Reichstag Election in September 1930
Neurosis of the Petty Bourgeoisie
Stalinism and Fascism
Violence Spreads
The ‘Red’ Referendum
Berlin Transport Strike
Critical Situation
Hindenburg Returned
July 1932 Election
November 1932 Election
Repression and Bonapartism
Hitler Becomes Chancellor
‘Legal Means’
The Reichstag Fire
March 1933 Election
Chapter Eight: The Nazi Terror
No Resistance
May Day Appeal
Destroying the Unions
SPD Banned
The Stalinist Response
Defiance
Night of the Long Knives
Stalin and Hitler
‘Left’ Historians
Austrian Uprising
Underground Resistance
Situation Reassessed
Reform or New Party?
Germany Prepares for War
Second World War
General’s Plot
Fourth International
Future Prospects
Appendix One: Hitler’s British Connections
January Club
Royal Family
Appendix Two: The Case of Béla Kun
Glossary
Bibliography
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Published under the Direction of the Department of History
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