The November 1918 was a busy time for Germany: two new republics were proclaimed, Friedrich Ebert became the Chancellor of Germany and founded the Council of People’s Commissars to act as a provisional government and, of course, the Armistice was signed on the 11th November.
The New Government Ebert, as the new Chancellor, believed that it was his “duty” to turn Germany into a democracy and that only moderate, not revolutionary change should occur within it following the abdication of the Kaiser. In order to ensure this amid the turmoil caused by the 1918 revolution, he made the Ebert-Groener Pact on the 10th November. In this pact, the Chancellor and the Quartermaster General of the army agreed that Bolshevism was the greatest threat to their …show more content…
This was demonstrated in January 1919 when the Spartakists staged a revolt and established a republic in Bremen which was almost immediately put down by the army and freikorps. Without the army, it is possible that the new government wouldn’t even have survived this attack on its power. The pact itself said that Ebert would protect the military as best he could and prevent revolution, which meant that he was beginning the process of creating a New Germany beholden to the army which wasn’t exactly a strong starting position. As well as this, Ebert lost the support of many of his fellow socialists who saw the pact as a betrayal of his and their core values. Another accord was reached just a few days later on the 15th November, albeit on the other side of the end of the First World War, between the trade unions and major German industrialists. This was the Stinnes-Legien Agreement which permitted the formation of workers’ committees, increased the power of trade unions and introduced an eight hour work day as long as trade unions stopped interfering in the free market. While this was a huge step forward in
The New Government Ebert, as the new Chancellor, believed that it was his “duty” to turn Germany into a democracy and that only moderate, not revolutionary change should occur within it following the abdication of the Kaiser. In order to ensure this amid the turmoil caused by the 1918 revolution, he made the Ebert-Groener Pact on the 10th November. In this pact, the Chancellor and the Quartermaster General of the army agreed that Bolshevism was the greatest threat to their …show more content…
This was demonstrated in January 1919 when the Spartakists staged a revolt and established a republic in Bremen which was almost immediately put down by the army and freikorps. Without the army, it is possible that the new government wouldn’t even have survived this attack on its power. The pact itself said that Ebert would protect the military as best he could and prevent revolution, which meant that he was beginning the process of creating a New Germany beholden to the army which wasn’t exactly a strong starting position. As well as this, Ebert lost the support of many of his fellow socialists who saw the pact as a betrayal of his and their core values. Another accord was reached just a few days later on the 15th November, albeit on the other side of the end of the First World War, between the trade unions and major German industrialists. This was the Stinnes-Legien Agreement which permitted the formation of workers’ committees, increased the power of trade unions and introduced an eight hour work day as long as trade unions stopped interfering in the free market. While this was a huge step forward in