On October 28th there came an order from the Admiralty at Berlin that

the fleet was to be prepared for a cruise into the North Sea. Just what

this cruise was intended to accomplish is not clear. High naval officers

have assured the writer that it was to have been primarily a

reconnaissance, and that no naval battle was intended or desired. The

report circulated among the crews, however, that a last desperate stand

was to be made, in which the whole fleet would be sacrificed, but in

which as great losses as possible were to be inflicted on the British

Fleet. This was not at all to the liking of men demoralized by long

idleness--an idleness, moreover, in which Bolshevist Satans had found

much work for them to do.

Just at this time, too, came a gruesome story which further unfavorably

affected the crews' morale. A submarine cruiser, it was reported, had

become entangled in a net, but had freed itself and reached port,

dragging the net with it. When the net was pulled ashore, it was

declared, three small U-boats were found fast in it, their crews dead of

suffocation. The story was probably false, but it increased the men's

opposition to the cruise ordered. They were also disquieted by the fact

that large numbers of floating mines were being brought aboard the

speedier cruisers.

Rumblings of the coming storm were heard first on board the battleships

_Thueringen_ and _Helgoland_, a part of whose crews flatly refused to

obey orders to carry out the cruise ordered by the Admiralty. The mutiny

was not general even aboard these ships, and it was quickly quelled. The

embers, however, smouldered for three days and then burst into flame.

Alone among the great revolutions of the world, the German revolution

was the work of the humblest of the proletariat, unplanned and unguided

by _bourgeois_ elements. It came from below not only in the figurative

but also in the literal sense of the word, for it came from the very

hold of a battleship. It was the stokers of the _Markgraf_ at Kiel who

set rolling the stone which became the avalanche of revolution.

The crews of the _Markgraf_ and of some of the other ships in the Kiel

squadron demanded that the mines be taken ashore and the projected

cruise abandoned. The officers refused their demands. Thereupon the

stokers of the _Markgraf_ left the ship and went ashore. This was on

Sunday morning, November 3d. The stokers were joined by members of other

ships' crews ashore at the time, and a meeting was held. When the

stokers returned to the _Markgraf_ they found her guarded by marines and

they were not permitted to come aboard. They boarded another ship nearby

and demanded their dinner. Messtime had passed while they were holding

their meeting ashore, and their demand was refused. The stokers broke

into the provision-rooms and helped themselves. Thereupon the mutineers,

about one hundred and fifty in number, were arrested and taken to the

military prison in the center of the city. All the small boats of the

_Markgraf_ were taken ashore to prevent the rest of the crew from

reaching land.

When the arrest of the mutinous stokers became known aboard their

battleship there was an outburst of indignation. The officers, in

sending the boats ashore, had overlooked an old barge which lay

alongside the ship. As many of the crew as the barge could carry

clambered into it and rowed ashore, using boards as paddles. Then they

sent the small boats back to bring ashore the rest of their comrades. At

four o'clock in the afternoon practically the entire crew of the

_Markgraf_ held a meeting on the large promenade and maneuver grounds

near the harbor. A great many members of other ships' crews attended

this meeting. Violent speeches were made and it was decided to demand

the immediate release of the _Markgraf's_ stokers. Shortly before six

o'clock the inflamed mob--it was already little else--went to the

Waldwiese (city park), where a company of the First Marine Division was

quartered. The mutineers demolished the barracks, released several men

who were locked up for minor military offenses, and stole all the arms

and ammunition in the place.

An ordered procession then started toward the center of the city. It

grew steadily in size as it went through accretions from sailors,

marines and other members of war-vessels' crews, and also from the

riotous and criminal elements common to all larger cities and especially

to harbor-cities.

The military authorities had meanwhile made preparations to deal with

the mutineers. As early as four o'clock _erhoehte Alarmbereitschaft_

(literally, "increased readiness to respond to an alarm") had been

ordered. Buglers and drummers passed through the streets, proclaiming

the order and warning against demonstrations.

The mutineers' procession reached the central railway station about 7

P.M., and proceeded, its numbers increasing steadily, through the

Holsteinstrasse to the Market Place. It passed through the Daenische

Strasse and Brunswigerstrasse toward Feldstrasse, in which was situated

the military prison where the _Markgraf_ stokers were confined. The

procession had by this time become a howling, whistling, singing mob,

whose progress could be heard many blocks away. Passers-by were

compelled to join the procession. The entrances to the Hospitalstrasse

and to the Karlstrasse at the so-called _Hoffnung_, near the prison,

were guarded by strong military forces, and the prison itself was

protected by a machine-gun detachment. Firemen were also ready to turn

their hoses on the mob.

The procession reached the _Hoffnung_ and prepared to force its way into

the Karlstrasse. The commander of the troops stationed there ordered the

mob to halt. His order was disregarded. The troops fired a blind volley

over the heads of the mutineers, who nevertheless forged steadily ahead.

The next volley was poured into the ranks of the marchers. It was

followed by shrieks of rage, by scattering shots from the mutineers and

by some stone-throwing. There was a sharp conflict for two or three

minutes, and then the mob, howling and cursing, scattered

panic-stricken.[23] Eight of them lay dead on the street, and

twenty-nine were wounded. The officer in command of the troops and one

lieutenant were also fatally injured, the former by knife-thrusts and

stones.

[23] In all the clashes that marked the subsequent course of the

German revolution not one instance can be found where the

enemies of authority failed to run like sheep before loyal

troops and determined officers. The "martyrs of the

revolution" were mainly killed by stray bullets or overtaken

by bullets while they were running away.

An hour later the street was quiet, and the night passed without further

disturbances. The city was strongly patrolled, but otherwise there was

nothing to indicate that the curtain had gone up on the world's greatest

and most tragic revolution.

The leaders of the mutineers spent most of Sunday night and Monday

morning in conference. A Soldiers' Council was formed--the first in

Germany. The military governor of Kiel issued a proclamation, calling

upon the mutineers to formulate and present their demands. They

complied. Their demands were: The release of all persons arrested for

breach of discipline; recognition of the Soldiers' Council; abolishing

of the duty to salute superiors;[24] officers and men to have the same

rations; the proposed expedition of the fleet to be abandoned, and, in

general, better treatment of the ships' crews. The governor accepted all

these demands, and announcement was made to that effect by wireless to

all ships in the Kiel squadron. The mutineers declared themselves

satisfied, and promised to resume their duties, to obey orders and to

preserve order in the city and board their ships.

[24] It is difficult to understand why Socialists attach such

importance to this question. It will be remembered that the

very first decree issued by Kerensky was his famous (and

fatal) "Prikaz No. 1," abolishing the salute. The Socialists,

it is true, hate authority as embodied in a state, yet they

voluntarily submit to a party authority quite as rigid as

that of Prussian militarism.

In circumstances at all approaching the normal this would have marked

the end of the revolt. But all the circumstances were abnormal. The men

of the navy had, indeed, suffered fewer actual privations and hardships

than those of the land forces, but even they had been underfed. Their

families, in common with all Germans at home, had endured bitter want,

and had written thousands of complaining letters to their relatives

afloat.[25] The Socialist contagion--particularly of the Independent

brand--had affected wide circles among sailors and marines. Indeed, the

chief field of operations of the Ruehles, Haases, Cohns and their Russian

helpers had been the navy, where idle hands invited the finding of

mischief for them to do. The morale of the members of the navy had also,

in common with the morale of the land troops and of the whole German

people, been badly shaken by the reverses that began in July, 1918, and

by the desertion of Germany by her allies.

[25] Complaining letters from home to the men in the trenches

were early recognized by the authorities as a source of

danger for the spirit of the troops.

In addition to and above all this there were two fatal factors:

authority, the corner stone of all civilized governments, had been

shaken, and the mutineers had learned their own strength. If horses were

sentient beings with means of communicating their thoughts, and if all

the horses of a certain community suddenly discovered that they were

really immeasurably stronger than their masters, it would require no

great effort of imagination to realize that few horses in that community

would thereafter suffer themselves to be harnessed. The only ones that

would submit would be a small number of especially intelligent animals

who could look ahead to the winter, with deep snow covering the

pastures, with no straw-bedded stalls and walls set up against the cold

winds.

So it was in Kiel. The mutineers had made their first kill; they had

tasted blood. From all the ships of the squadron they streamed into the

city. Patrols, established to maintain order, began going over to the

revolting seamen. The mutineers secured more arms and ammunition from

the barracks at the shipyards and the soldiers stationed there joined

them. In the afternoon (Monday) the mutineers joined for a giant

demonstration. A procession numbering possibly twenty thousand sailors,

marines and soldiers, with a band at the head, marched to the different

civil and military prisons and lockups and released the prisoners, who

joined the procession. The civil and military authorities of Kiel,

gravely disquieted, had meanwhile communicated with the government at

Berlin and asked for help. The government replied that it would send

Conrad Haussmann and Gustav Noske. Haussmann, who had for many years

been one of the leaders of the Clerical (Catholic) party in the

Reichstag, was a member of Prince Max's cabinet. He was chosen as the

government's official representative. Noske, who was later to

demonstrate himself to be one of the few really able and forceful men of

Germany, had been for some years a member of the Reichstag as Majority

Socialist. A woodworker by trade, he had as a youth lifted himself out

of the ruck of his party by energy, ambition, hard work and

straightforwardness. He became a party secretary and later editor of a

Socialist paper in Chemnitz.[26] Although not so widely known as many

other Socialist leaders in the Reichstag, he nevertheless played a

prominent part in his party's councils and was highly regarded and

respected. He enjoyed also a wide popularity among members of the fleet,

and it was confidently expected that he would be able to calm the unruly

troublemakers and restore order.

[26] The typical career of a German Socialist leader. It is not

far afield to estimate that seven of every ten of the

Socialist leaders and government officials in Germany have

been or still are members of the editorial staffs of

Socialist newspapers or magazines. Most of the others are

lawyers; proletarians who earn their bread by the actual

sweat of their brows are rare in the party leadership.

Haussmann and Noske reached Kiel late Monday afternoon. The parading

mutineers met them at the station. Noske, speaking from the top of an

automobile, addressed the crowd, appealing to their patriotism and to

the German instinct for orderly procedure. Their main demands, he

pointed out, had already been granted. The government, representing all

parties of the empire, promised that all grievances should be heard and

redressed. The speech appeared to have some effect. Isolated

demonstrations took place until into the evening, but there were no

serious clashes anywhere.

The situation seemed somewhat more hopeful. The leaders on both sides

either could not or did not realize what powerful and pernicious

influences were working against them. The Governor felt his hand

strengthened by the presence of Haussmann, the Minister; the Workmen's

and Soldiers' Council was both calmed and encouraged by the presence of

Noske, the party leader. The members of the council and the men

representing the Kiel government began a joint session in the evening.

Four delegates of the Social-Democratic party of Kiel also attended the

conference, although their party had already, at a meeting a few hours

earlier, virtually decided to order a general sympathy strike.

The deliberations of the conference showed that the situation had

suddenly assumed the aspect of a strike, a mere labor and party

question. The soldier and sailor delegates left the debate largely to

the party leaders. Both sides, government and strikers alike, showed

themselves honestly desirous of finding a peaceful settlement. The

difficulties proved, however, to be very great. At 1:00 A.M., on

Tuesday, the conference took a recess. Noske telegraphed to Berlin:

"Situation serious. Send me another man." But despite all difficulties

both sides were hopeful.

Of the many thousands of mutineers, however, there were many who were

not disposed to await an orderly adjustment of the situation. Already

potential masters of the squadron, they set about transmuting

potentiality into actuality. On one ship after another the red flag of

sedition, the emblem of the negation of loyalty to native land, replaced

the proud imperial standard. It is an amazing thing that in all Germany

not a dozen of the thousands of officers whose forefathers had for two

centuries enjoyed the privileges of an exclusive and loyal caste gave

their lives for their King in an effort to oppose revolt and revolution.

At Kiel, and later at Hamburg, Swinemuende, Berlin--in fact,

everywhere--the mutineers and revolutionaries met no resistance from the

very men of whom one might have expected that they would die, even in a

forlorn cause, in obedience to the old principle of _noblesse oblige_.

At Kiel there were but three of this heroic mold. These men, whose names

deserve to be remembered and honored wherever bravery and loyalty are

prized, were Commander Weniger, Captain Heinemann and Lieutenant Zenker

of the battleship _Koenig_, who were shot down as, revolver in hand, they

defended the imperial standard and killed several of the men who were

trying to replace it with the red rag of revolution. Captain Heine,

commandant of the city of Kiel, was shot down in the hallway of his home

Tuesday evening by sailors who had come to arrest him. These four men

were the only officers deliberately shot in Kiel, except the two fatally

wounded in Sunday night's fighting at the military prison.

Admiral Krafft, commander of the Kiel squadron, finally decided to leave

port with his ships. But it was too late. Some of the ships had to be

left behind, for the mutineers, coming alongside in small

fishing-steamers and other craft, had compelled the loyal remnants of

the crews to refuse to obey the order to accompany the squadron. Even on

the ships least affected by the mutiny, hundreds of the crews refused to

come aboard. Word of the revolt had moreover reached other coast cities,

and when the ships reached Luebeck, Flensburg, Swinemuende and other

ports, it proved impossible to keep the missionaries of mutiny ashore

and on shipboard from communicating with each other. Thus the contagion

was spread further.

Tuesday was a day of tense excitement at Kiel. There was some shooting,

due--as was also the case later in Berlin--to false reports that

officers had fired from houses on the mutineers. The streets were filled

with automobiles carrying red flags, and red flags began to appear over

various buildings. Noske, feverishly active, devoting all his iron

energy to restoring order and finding a peaceful solution of the revolt,

conferred continuously with representatives of the city government, with

military and naval authorities and with the strikers. The movement still

had outwardly only the aspect of a strike, serious indeed, but still a

strike. He succeeded in having countermanded an order bringing troops to

the city. Despite this, the suspicious mutineers compelled the Governor

to go with them to the railway station in order to send the troops back

if it should prove that the counterorder had not reached them in time.

At the request of the mutineers--who treated the Governor with all

courtesy--he remained at the station until the troop train arrived

empty.

The situation on Tuesday was adversely affected by the flight of Prince

Heinrich, brother of the Kaiser. He was not unpopular with the men of

the navy and he was never even remotely in danger. Yet he fled from Kiel

in an automobile and, fleeing, destroyed the remnant of authority which

his government still enjoyed. The flight itself rendered the strikers

nervous, and the fact that the death of a marine, who was shot while

standing on the step of the Prince's automobile, was at first ascribed

to him, enraged the mutineers and was a further big factor in rendering

nugatory the efforts of Noske and all others who were honestly striving

to find a way out of the situation. Autopsy showed that the marine had

been shot in the back by one of the bullets fired after the fleeing

automobile by the victim's own comrades. This disclosure, however, came

a day later, and then it was too late to undo the mischief caused by the

first report.

A "non-resistance" order, the first one of many that helped make the

revolution possible, was also issued on Tuesday by the military

authorities. Officers were commanded not to use force against the

strikers. "Only mutual understanding of the demands of the moment can

restore orderly conditions," said the decree.

Wednesday, the fourth day of the revolt at Kiel, was the critical and,

as it proved, the decisive day. When night came the mutineers were

crowned with victory, and the forces of orderly government had lost the

day. And yet, strangely enough, neither side realized this. The strikers

believed themselves isolated in the corner of an undisturbed empire. The

more conservative among them began to consider their situation in a

different light. There was an undercurrent of feeling that no help could

be looked for from other quarters and that a reconciliation with the

authorities should be sought. Noske shared this feeling. Speaking to the

striker's delegates late on Wednesday evening, he advised them to

compromise. Seek an agreement with the government, he said in effect.

The government is ready and even eager to reach a fair compromise. We

stand alone, isolated.

Neither Noske nor the bulk of the mutineers yet knew what had been going

on elsewhere in northwestern Germany. The Independent Socialist and

Spartacan plotters for revolution at Berlin saw in the Kiel events the

opportunity for which they had been waiting for more than three years,

and they struck promptly. Haase and some of his followers went

immediately to Hamburg, and other revolutionary agents proceeded to the

other coast cities to incite strikes and revolts. The ground had been so

well prepared that their efforts were everywhere speedily successful. In

the few cities where the people were not already ripe for revolution,

the supineness of the authorities made the revolutionaries' task a light

one. Leaders of the Kiel mutineers met the Berlin agitators in different

cities and cooperated with them.

The procedure was everywhere the same. Workmen's and soldiers' councils

were formed, policemen and loyal troops were disarmed and the city

government was taken over by the soviets. By Thursday evening soviet

governments had been established in Hamburg, Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven,

Bremen, Hanover, Rostock, Oldenburg and other places. The soviets in

virtually all these places were controlled by Independent

Socialists--even then only a slight remove from Bolsheviki--and their

spirit was hostile not alone to the existing government, but equally to

the Majority Socialists. At Hamburg, for instance, the Workmen's and

Soldiers' Council, which had forcibly taken over the Majority Socialist

organ _Hamburger Echo_ and rechristened it _Die rote Fahne_, published a

proclamation forbidding the press to take any notice whatever of

proclamations issued by the Majority Socialists or the leaders of

trade-unions. The proclamation declared that "these elements will be

permitted to cooperate in the government, but they will not be permitted

to present any demands." Any attempt to interfere with the soviet was

declared to be counter-revolutionary, and it was threatened that such

attempts would "be met with the severest repressive measures."

The revolution at Hamburg was marked by much shooting and general

looting. A semblance of order was restored on November 8th, but it was

order only by comparison with the preceding day, and life and property

were for many days unsafe in the presence of the vicious elements in

control of the city. Prisoners were promiscuously released. Russian

prisoners of war, proudly bearing red ribbons and flags, marched with

their "brothers" in the demonstrations. A detachment of marines went to

Harburg, near by, and liberated all the prisoners confined in the jail

there.

The cowardice, supineness and lack of decision of the authorities

generally have already been referred to. A striking and characteristic

illustration is furnished by the story of the revolution at Swinemuende,

on the Baltic Sea. Two warships, the _Dresden_ and _Augsburg_, were in

the harbor when news came of the Kiel mutiny. The admiral was Count

Schwerin and one of his officers was Prince Adalbert, the sailor-son of

the Kaiser. The crews of the ships were loyal, and the Prince was

especially popular with them. The garrison at Swinemuende was composed of

fifteen hundred coast artillerists and some three hundred marines. The

artillerists were all men of the better class, technically educated and

thoroughly loyal. At a word from their commanding-officer they would

have blown any mutinous ship out of the water with their heavy coast

guns. And yet Admiral Count Schwerin and Prince Adalbert donned civilian

clothing and took refuge with civilian friends ashore.

Thirty-six submarines arrived at five o'clock in the afternoon, but left

two hours later because there was no food to be had at Swinemuende. The

coast artillerists begged to be allowed to wipe out the mutineers. The

mayor of Swinemuende protested. Shells from the sea, he said, might fall

into the city and damage it. And so, under the guns of loyal men, the

sailors looted the ships completely during the evening and night.

A committee of three marines called on Major Grunewald, commander of the

fortress, and insolently ordered him to direct the garrison to appoint a

soldiers' council. The artillerists were dumfounded when the major

complied. The council appointed consisted of three marines, one

artillerist and one infantryman, of whom there were about a hundred in

the garrison. One of the members was an officer, Major Grunewald having

been ordered to direct the appointment of one. When the council had been

formed the troops were drawn up to listen to a speech by a sergeant of

marines. The major, his head bared, listened obediently.

"We are the masters here now," said the sergeant. "It is ours to

command, yours to obey. The salute is abolished. When we meet a decent

officer we may possibly say 'good day, major,' to him, but when we meet

some little runt (_Schnoesel_) of a lieutenant we shan't recognize him.

The officers may now go to their quarters. We don't need them. If we

should need them later we shall tell them."[27]

[27] The flight of Prince Heinrich and later of the Kaiser made a

painful impression in Germany, especially among Germans of

the better class, and did much to alienate sympathy from

them. It had been thought that, whatever other faults the

Hohenzollerns might possess, they were at least not cowards.

The flight of Prince Adalbert is even today not generally

known.

The government at Berlin and the Majority Socialists endeavored, even

after the events already recorded, to stem the tide, or at least to

lead the movement into more orderly channels. Stolten and Quarck,

Socialist Reichstag deputies, and Blunck, Progressive deputy, and

Stubbe and Schumann, Socialists, representing the executive committee

of the central labor federation, went to Hamburg. But Haase, Ledebour

and the other agitators had done their work too well. Thursday morning

brought the reports of the successes of the uprisings to the mutineers

at Kiel, who were on the point of returning to their ships. A

Workmen's and Soldiers' Council was formed for the whole province of

Schleswig-Holstein. The revolt had already become revolution. The

revolutionaries seized the railway running from Hamburg to Berlin, and

also took charge of telephonic and telegraphic communication. Their

emissaries started for Berlin.

It has been set forth in a previous chapter that the promise of

President Wilson to give the Germans a just peace on the basis of his

fourteen points and the supplementary points, and his declaration that

the war was against a system and not against the German people

themselves had played a very considerable part in making the revolution

possible. This appears clearly in the report of the events at Bremen. On

November 7th a procession, estimated at thirty thousand persons, passed

through the city and halted at the market place. A number of speeches

were made. One of the chief speakers, a soldier, reminded his hearers

that Wilson had said that a peace of justice was possible for the

Germans only if they would take the government into their own hands.

This had now been done, and nobody could reproach the revolutionaries

with being unpatriotic, since their acts had made a just peace possible.

A similar address was made at a meeting of the revolutionaries in

Hanover, where the speaker told his hearers that the salvation of

Germany depended upon their loyal support of the revolution, which had

placed all power in the hands of the people and fulfilled the conditions

precedent entitling them to such a peace as the President had promised

them.

At the request of the government Noske assumed the post of Governor of

Kiel. Order was restored. The relations between the mutineers and their

former officers were strikingly good. The spirit of the Majority

Socialists prevailed. Not until the Berlin revolution had put the seal

upon their work did the mutineers of Kiel realize that it was they who

had started the revolution.

CHAPTER X.

The Revolution Reaches Berlin.

The first news of the Kiel revolt reached Berlin on November 5th, when

the morning papers published a half-column article giving a fairly

accurate story of the happenings of Sunday, November 3d. The report

ended:

"By eight o'clock the street" (Karlstrasse, where the firing

occurred) "was clear. Only a few pools of blood and numerous

shattered windows in the nearby buildings gave evidence that

there had been sad happenings here. The late evening and the

night were quiet. Excited groups stood about the street corners

until midnight, but they remained passive. Reinforced patrols

passed through the city, which otherwise appeared as usual. All

public places are open and the performances in the theaters were

not interrupted."

The papers of the following day announced that "official reports

concerning the further course of events in Kiel and other cities in

North Germany had not been made public here up to noon. We are thus for

the moment unable to give a report concerning them."

This was but half the truth. The capital was already filled with

reports, and the government was by this time fully informed of what was

going on. Rumors and travelers' tales passed from mouth to mouth, but

even yet the movement was not considered directly revolutionary, nor,

indeed, was it revolutionary, although it became so within the next

twenty-four hours. The executive committee of the German Federation of

Labor published a declaration regarding "the recent spreading of

anonymous handbills summoning laborers to strikes and disorders for

political ends." It was also reported by the press that Kurt Eisner, who

had been released from prison by the October amnesty, had made a violent

revolutionary speech at a meeting of the Independent Socialists in

Munich. A further significant newspaper item complained of the

distribution in Germany of vast quantities of revolutionary literature

printed in Sweden and Denmark and smuggled across the Danish border.

Joffe, convicted of abusing his privileges as a diplomat and of lying,

had been escorted to a special train, together with his staff, and

headed for Russia. With him went the Berlin representatives of the Rosta

Telegraph Agency. But it was too late. Not only had the mischief already

been done, but the loyalist Germans had also been disgusted with the

government's timorous failure to grasp this nettle earlier and the

Independent Socialists and their Spartacan soul-brothers were still

further enraged, if possible, by the expulsion and the manner in which

it was carried out.

It is doubtful whether the government even yet realized that it had an

embryo revolution to deal with. A more homogeneous government, composed

of men with executive as well as legislative experience, would have

realized it, but homogeneity and executive experience were sadly lacking

in this cabinet. It is significant that the experienced men at the head

of the political police had already begun preparations to crush any

uprising and had burned certain archives which they did not desire to

have fall into the hands of revolutionary elements. The government was

also embarrassed by the uncertain attitude of the Majority Socialists.

Ostensibly these did not desire the overthrow of the monarchy, but

merely of the Kaiser; Scheidemann had declared in so many words that his

party, despite the fact that it had always striven for an eventual

republic, was willing to wait for such a development and was for the

present not opposed to the maintaining of a constitutional monarchy. As

late as November 8th Scheidemann told von Payer that the Socialists did

not insist on the abolition of the monarchy.

There were even Socialists who did not desire the Kaiser's abdication.

Herr Marum, a Socialist member of the Baden Diet, in a speech at the end

of October, had warned his hearers that any attempt to depose the Kaiser

would bring chaos and imperil the state. He declared that the

overwhelming majority of Germans were still monarchists, and although

the Socialists were advocates of a republic, that question was now

subordinate. The Kaiser, said Marum, had, in common with all Germans,

learned much, and it would be a great risk to try to force a republic

upon an unwilling majority. Dr. Dietz, a Socialist city councillor,

seconded Marum, and expressed indignation at any efforts to make a

scapegoat of the Kaiser.

The Wednesday evening papers published a note from Lansing, wherein it

was stated that the allied nations accepted Wilson's fourteen points of

January 8, 1918, and the supplementary points enunciated in the Mount

Vernon speech, except that relating to the freedom of the seas. The

German delegation "for the conclusion of an armistice and to begin peace

negotiations" left Berlin for the west. It was composed of General von

Guendell, General von Winterfeldt, Admiral Meurer and Admiral von Hintze.

Thursday, November 7th, brought more reassuring news from Kiel. The

official Wolff Bureau reported:

"The military protection of the Baltic by the marine is

completely reestablished. All departing warships carry the

war-flag. The movement among the sailors and workmen has taken a

quieter course. The soldiers of the garrison are endeavoring to

take measures against violations of order. A gradual general

surrender of weapons is proceeding. Private houses and business

places, as well as lazarets and hospitals, are unmolested.

Nearly all banks are doing business. The provisioning in the

barracks and on the ships is being carried out in the usual

manner. The furnishing of provisions to the civilian population

has not been interfered with. The strike at the factories

continues. The people are quiet."

Reports from other coast cities were less favorable. Wolff reported:

"In Hamburg there is a strike in the factories. Breaches of

discipline and violent excesses have occurred. The same is

reported from Luebeck. Except for excesses in certain works,

private property has not been damaged nor touched. The

population is in no danger."

Chancellor Prince Max issued a proclamation, declaring that Germany's

enemies had accepted Wilson's program, except as to the freedom of the

seas. "This," he said, "forms the necessary preliminary condition for

peace negotiations and at the same time for armistice negotiations." He

declared that a delegation had already been sent to the west front, but

"the successful conduct of negotiations is gravely jeopardized by

disturbances and undisciplined conduct." The Chancellor recalled the

privations endured by the people for more than four years and appealed

to them to hold out a little longer and maintain order.

The situation was, however, already lost. If Scheidemann, Ebert and

their fellow members in the central committee of the Majority Socialist

organization had had their followers in hand the revolution could

probably still have been prevented, or at least transformed into an

orderly dethroning of the Kaiser and institution of parliamentary

reforms. But they did not have them in hand, and the result was that

_Vorwaerts_, the party's central organ, published in its morning issue a

further demand for the Kaiser's abdication. _Vorwaerts_ declared that his

sufferings could not be compared to those of most German fathers and

that the sacrifice he was called upon to make was comparatively small.

The appearance of this article was followed a few hours later by an

ultimatum to the government, demanding that the Kaiser abdicate within

twenty-four hours and declaring that if he failed to do so, the

Socialists would withdraw from the government. It is probable that

Scheidemann, Ebert and some of the other leaders of the party presented

the ultimatum with reluctance, realizing what it would involve, but they

were helpless in the face of the sentiment of the mass of their party

and of the attitude of the Independent Socialists.

The attitude of the Kaiser toward abdication was already known to them.

Following Scheidemann's demand a week earlier, Dr. Drews, the Minister

of the Interior, had submitted the demand to the Kaiser. Scheidemann had

declared that, if the Kaiser did not abdicate, the Independent

Socialists would demand the introduction of a republic, in which case

the Majority Socialists would be compelled to make common cause with

them. The Kaiser, doubtless still convinced of the loyalty of the

troops, was not moved by Drews's report. He declared that his abdication

would mean complete anarchy and the delivering of Germany into the hands

of the Bolsheviki. He could not accept the responsibility for such a

step. That Scheidemann and Ebert, although they were cognizant of the

Kaiser's attitude, consented to Thursday's ultimatum gives color to a

report that informal negotiations had in the meantime been carried on

between them and certain Independent leaders.[28]

[28] These negotiations had nothing to do with a revolution as

such, nor with the formation of soviets. It must be

emphasized that the Majority Socialists still had no part in

these plans and were themselves surprised by the events of

Friday evening and Saturday.

Revolution was now fairly on the march. The Independent Socialists and

Liebknecht's Spartacans were already endeavoring to form a Workmen's and

Soldiers' Council for Greater Berlin. General von Linsingen, commander

in the Marches, made a last desperate attempt to forbid the revolution

by issuing the following decree:

"In certain quarters there exists the purpose to form Workmen's

and Soldiers' Councils after the Russian pattern, in disregard

of the provisions of the laws.

"Institutions of this kind conflict with the existing state

order and endanger the public safety.

"Under paragraph 9b of the law regarding a state of siege I

forbid any formation of such associations and the participation

therein."

This was the last order issued by the military authorities in Berlin. A

counterpiece was the last anti-revolutionary order issued by the old

police authorities, which forbade eight mass meetings which the

Independent Socialists proposed to hold Thursday evening, with "The

Anniversary of the Russian Revolution" as their theme. The police order,

however, was enforced.

The first revolutionary emissaries reached Berlin Thursday evening, in

the form of various detachments of armed marines from Hamburg. The

military authorities, more resolute than those in the provincial cities,

sent troops to the railway station to receive them. The marines suffered

themselves to be disarmed and went without resistance to barracks, with

the exception of one detachment of about two hundred and fifty men, of

whom all but some seventy escaped into the streets with their weapons.

These men formed the nucleus of the revolution in Berlin.

Berlin was still without any but the most meager news of the

revolution Friday. The papers complained of an even more

narrow-minded and arbitrary censorship by the new government than

that under the old regime. The press was on the whole restricted

to printing official reports, although some of them added a few

paragraphs of explanatory comment. An inspired report that the

excesses in the northwest bore no political character was contradicted

by the _Vorwaerts_, which declared that they had a "liberty seeking

socialistic character everywhere." Unimportant disturbances took place

during the day in Rosenthalerstrasse, in the old city, and a few arrests

were made, but the day passed quietly on the whole.

Crowds stood in front of the bulletin boards of the various newspapers

all day, waiting for news from Grand Headquarters. Would the Kaiser

abdicate? The term of the Socialist ultimatum expired. Scheidemann gave

notice that the party would wait another twenty-four hours, and a few

hours later the term was extended until after the decision regarding the

armistice, the terms of which were expected to reach Berlin on Saturday.

The government, weak, irresolute, inexperienced, faced a situation which

would have confounded stronger men. A day earlier they had consented to

summon from Kiel and Hamburg about a thousand marines who were supposed

to be devoted to Noske. This attempt to cast out the Devil with

Beelzebub indicates in some degree the desperateness of the situation.

More troops were brought to the capital on Friday. They were the

Naumburg _Jaeger_ (sharpshooters) and the Luebben _Jaeger_, excellent

troops, who had been in the Finland contingent, had distinguished

themselves by patriotic daring and exemplary discipline, and who were

considered absolutely reliable. These men, about four thousand in all,

were in part quartered in different large restaurants and in part in the

barracks of the Alexander Regiment. It was in these barracks that

(ironic coincidence!) Kaiser Wilhelm made his well-known speech on March

28, 1901, in which he asserted his confidence that, if the Berliners

should again become "insolent and disobedient" (_frech und unbotmaessig_)

as in 1848, his troops would know how to protect their imperial master.

In all there were perhaps twenty thousand soldiers in Berlin at this

time, including several regiments of the Prussian Guard.

Throughout Thursday and Friday the Independent Socialists were

feverishly active. Liebknecht, "Red Rosa" Luxemburg and other Spartacans

joined the Independent agitators in revolutionary propaganda among the

soldiers and in making preparations for the final coup. The police,

loyal and alert to the last, arrested Daeumig on a charge of high treason

and closed the central bureau of the Independent Socialist party. Again

too late! There were plenty left to carry on the work. The Majority

Socialists, or at least their leaders, knew in a general way of the

activities of these revolutionary forces, but they were still ignorant

of the details.

Prince Max telegraphed the Kaiser, offering to resign. The Kaiser asked

him to remain in office for the time being at least.

Friday night the Berlin Workmen's and Soldiers' Council was organized at

a meeting summoned by Barth, Haase and other Independents. In addition

to the Independents and Spartacans at the meeting, there were a number

of more or less well-known men who had not theretofore been identified

with these parties. One of them, a man who was to play a prominent role

in the events of Saturday, the day of the real revolution, was

Lieutenant Colin Ross, a prominent journalist and war correspondent.

Another was Captain von Beerfelde. It was von Beerfelde who, at that

time a member of the General Staff, betrayed a friend's confidence by

making public the Lichnowsky memorandum. This resulted, quite naturally,

in his arrest and imprisonment. The government could not have acted

otherwise, but there is no doubt that von Beerfelde was subjected to

unnecessary indignities during his arrest, and these, in connection with

the arrest itself, transformed the somewhat unbalanced and egotistic man

into a bitter enemy of all existing institutions. The General Staff was

further represented at Friday night's meeting by First Lieutenant

Tibertius, a man of no particular prominence or importance, who came to

the meeting in company with the Independent leaders. Barth had bought

some sixteen hundred revolvers with money given him by Joffe, and these

were distributed at the meeting and outside, to soldiers and civilians

alike. Barth presided at the meeting, which was held in the Reichstag

chamber.

The Majority Socialists now saw the hopelessness of keeping apart from

the movement. They declared their solidarity with the Independents, and,

in the few hours that remained, set about trying to save whatever could

be saved out of the wreck which was plainly coming.

Friday night, despite these occurrences, passed quietly. The streets

were unusually crowded until after midnight, but it was mainly a curious

crowd, awaiting further news, particularly of the Kaiser's expected

abdication. The royal palace was strongly cordoned by steel-helmeted

troops, a searchlight played from the tower of the city hall and the

streets of the old city were well patrolled by troops and policemen. The

police chiefs of various municipalities of Greater Berlin conferred with

General von Linsingen on ways and means of meeting eventual

disturbances. They decided that further military forces were not needed.

Saturday, revolution day, dawned with the great mass of the inhabitants

still ignorant of the events of the preceding days. The coming events

nevertheless cast their shadows before. The morning papers reported that

the Kaiser's son-in-law, Duke Ernest August of Brunswick, had abdicated

after an eleventh-hour attempt to stem the tide by a decree for

franchise reform. It was also evident that the Kaiser must go, for the

Clericals, National Liberals and Progressives in the government

permitted it to be reported that, while they were still supporters of a

monarchical form of government, they had, in view of the extraordinary

circumstances, decided that personal considerations must be disregarded.

The Wolff Bureau was forced to admit that the revolt that started at

Kiel had extended to many other places in the Empire. The report said:

"A certain carefully planned procedure is now disclosing itself.

Everywhere the same picture: from the chief centers, Kiel and

Hamburg, trains carrying armed marines and agitators are being

sent out into the country. These men endeavor to seize the

centers of communication and abolish the military commands. They

then attach to themselves criminal elements, among whom there

are great numbers of deserters, and endeavor to corrupt the

troops by representing to them that it is not a question of a

revolutionary movement, but one to secure military reforms. The

attempt has been successful with many troops, but it has met

energetic resistance from others. The whole movement plainly

proceeds from Russia, and it is proved that the former members

of the Berlin representation of the Soviet republic have

cooperated in it. As the Russian Government has itself admitted,

it hopes by this means to cause Bolshevist ideas to spring into

new life here in Germany and thereafter in all Europe."

This was the first open admission that the Kiel revolt had developed

into a revolution. The newspapers were permitted also to publish reports

from various water-front cities, showing that the Workmen's and

Soldiers' Councils were in power in Bremen, Hamburg, Luebeck, Kiel and

other places, and that these councils "are in charge of the government

in nearly all garrisons in the province of Holstein." They were also

permitted to report the proclamation of the republic in Bavaria, and the

complete text of Kurt Eisner's bombastic address to the people. It was

reported from Frankfort-on-Main that General von Studnitz, commander in

that city, had ordered all garrisons there to hold meetings on Friday

evening for the formation of soldiers' councils. This action followed

representations from Frankfort's Majority Socialists, acting in concert

with the Progressives.

Nowhere, however, was any mention made of Friday night's events in

Berlin itself. The papers published articles couched in general terms,

warning all citizens to preserve order, and reminding them that the

city's provisioning would be gravely disturbed by disorders. In fact,

the daily supply of milk had already dropped ninety thousand liters as a

result of the "sudden interruption of railway traffic."

The Majority Socialists had summoned a meeting for the early morning of

Saturday in the Reichstag building. They had been in session only a

short time when the news came that a large parade of workingmen was

proceeding down the Chausseestrasse. This was about 9:00 A.M. The parade

was largely made up of employees from the Schwartzkopff works, which had

been for two years a hotbed of discontent, of radical socialism and

Bolshevism. The marchers entered the barracks of the Fusilier

Guards--known in Berlin and North Germany generally as the

_Maikaefer_--and demanded that the soldiers surrender their weapons. A

captain, the first officer encountered, shot down four of the rioters

before he was himself killed. He was the only officer in Berlin rash,

brave and loyal enough to give his life deliberately for his monarch and

for the old system. The soldiers then meekly surrendered their rifles

and the parade moved on, reinforced in every street with deserters,

criminals, hooligans and other undesirable elements such as are to be

found in all large cities.

The Majority Socialists realized that their only hope was to try to lead

the movement and direct it into comparatively orderly channels. They

appointed Scheidemann, Ebert and David to confer with the Independent

Socialist delegates Dittmann, Vogtherr and Ledebour, regarding the

organization of a new government.

Further reports came of street demonstrations. Bloodshed appeared

imminent. Colin Ross went to the palace of the Chancellor and found

Prince Max. The Prince was nervous and all but entirely unstrung. Ross

told him the Majority Socialists had decided that there must be no

firing on the people, and asked him to issue an order to that effect.

Max said he would do so. Ross thereupon went to Minister of War Scheuch

and told him that the Chancellor had ordered that the troops should not

fire on the citizens. The order was communicated to the various

garrisons and also to police headquarters.

What would have occurred if this order had not been issued is a matter

of conjecture. Assuredly there would have been bloodshed. Quite apart

from the question of the reliability or unreliability of the troops

there were the Berlin police to deal with. Their ranks had been thinned

by calls to the front, but those still on duty were no inconsiderable

factor. The force was made up entirely of veteran non-commissioned

officers, who must have served twelve years in the army. They were,

moreover, like all great city police forces, picked men, above the

average physically, and far above the average in bravery, resoluteness

and loyalty. Only a negligible number of them had been perverted by red

doctrines, and they were well armed and fully prepared for the day's

events. High police officials assured the author that they could have

put down the revolution in its very beginnings if the order had not come

forbidding them to offer resistance.

Viewed in the light of subsequent events, this statement must be

rejected. The police could and would have put up a brave battle, but

there were too few of them for one thing, and for another, the

revolution had too great momentum to be stopped by any force available

to the authorities. One military defection had already occurred when

Saturday dawned. A corporal of the Naumburg _Jaeger_, who were quartered

in the Alexander barracks, had been arrested for making an incendiary

speech to some comrades, and when the troops were alarmed at 3:00 A.M.

and ordered to be ready to go into action they refused to obey. Major

Ott, commander of the battalion directly affected, came and told the men

that the Kaiser had already abdicated. They sent a delegation to the

_Vorwaerts_, where they learned that the major's statement was not true.

The delegation thereupon announced that the battalion would place itself

on the side of the workingmen. The Kaiser Alexander Guards followed the

_Jaeger's_ example.

There were some good troops in Berlin--such as the _Jaeger_ already

mentioned--but the great majority of the men were by no means of the

highest standard. The best troops were naturally at the front, and those

at home were in large part made up of men who had been away from the

firing-line for some weeks or even longer, and who had been subjected to

a violent campaign of what the Socialists call _Aufklaerung_, literally,

clearing up, or enlightenment. The word is generally used as part of a

phrase, _Aufklaerung im sozial-demokratischen Sinne_, that is,

"enlightenment in the social-democratic sense." The great majority of

any army is made up of men who work with their hands. A great part of

the others consists of small shopkeepers, clerks and others whose

associations in civilian life are mainly with the workingmen. An appeal

not to shoot one's "proletarian brother" is, in the nature of things, an

appeal which strikes home to these people. The Kaiser was still

nominally occupying the throne, but it was certain that he would

abdicate. This was a further element of weakness for the government,

since such of the troops as were still _kaisertreu_ (loyal to the

Kaiser) saw themselves about to be deprived of their monarch, who,

however they may have regarded him personally, nevertheless represented

for them the majesty and unity of the German State. Hence, even before

the order came not to fire on the people, the troops had begun to place

themselves on the side of the revolutionaries and were everywhere

permitting themselves to be disarmed. Otto Wels, a Majority Socialist

member of the Reichstag, and others of his colleagues made the round of

the barracks, appealing to the soldiers not to shed their brothers'

blood. And then came the no-resistance order.

The streets filled with marching crowds, civilians and soldiers, arm in

arm, cheering and singing. Hawkers appeared everywhere with small red

flags, red rosettes, red ribbons, red flowers. The red flag of

revolution began breaking out on various buildings. Soldiers tore off

their regimental insignia and removed the cockades from their caps.

Factories were deserted.

The revolution had come!

CHAPTER XI.

The Kaiser Abdicates.

Events moved with lightning rapidity. All that has been related in the

foregoing chapter concerning the developments of November 9th had

happened before 11:00 A.M. The Majority Socialists, still in session in

the Reichstag and now in complete fellowship with the Independents and

members of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council, decided that the

republic must be proclaimed. Some enterprising individuals prepared an

Article reporting the Kaiser's abdication. Ross took it to the

_Vorwaerts_, which published it in an extra edition, nearly two hours

before the abdication actually took place. The paper was fairly torn

from the hands of the venders in the streets, and processions of

red-ribboned marchers became more frequent.

The cabinet had meanwhile been in almost constant telephonic

communication with the Kaiser. It had been repeatedly represented to him

that only his abdication could prevent rioting and bloodshed. But the

decision which he was called upon to make was not an easy one, and it

cannot be wondered that he hesitated. He was particularly insistent

that, while he could consider abdicating as German Emperor, he could not

and would not abdicate as King of Prussia. The decision had still not

been reached at noon. The cabinet, fearing to delay longer, had the

following report sent out by the Wolff Bureau:

"The Kaiser and King has decided to surrender the throne (_dem

Throne zu entsagen_). The Imperial Chancellor will remain in

office until the questions connected with the abdication of the

Kaiser, the abandoning by the Crown Prince of the German Empire

and Prussia of his rights to the throne, and the installation of

a regency shall have been adjusted. It is his intention to

propose to the regent the appointment of Deputy Ebert as

Imperial Chancellor and to submit to him a draft of a measure

regarding the immediate calling of general elections for a

constituent German national assembly, which shall finally

determine the future form of government of the German people,

and also of those peoples that may desire to be included within

the borders of the Empire.

(signed) "The Imperial Chancellor,

"Max, Prince of Baden."

It will be observed that this, so far from being the proclamation of a

republic, clearly contemplated the continued existence of the monarchy.

The question of the future form of government was, it is true, to be

left to the national assembly, but if the events of Saturday afternoon

and Sunday had not occurred it is probable that this assembly would have

decided upon a constitutional monarchy. Speculations along this line are

of merely academic interest, but for a better understanding of the

extent of the reversal of these two days it may be pointed out that a

clear majority of the German people was undoubtedly monarchic in

principle. The only body of republican opinion was represented by the

Social-Democrats of both wings, who composed less than forty per cent of

the total population, and even among them, as we have seen, there were

men who felt that the time had not yet come for a republic.

Prince Max's proclamation anticipated by a full hour the Kaiser's actual

abdication. It was furthermore erroneous in its assertion that "the

King" had abdicated. The Kaiser's first abdication did not include the

royal throne of Prussia. Only when all hope was definitely lost did he

surrender this.

A detachment of _Jaeger_ occupied the Reichstag, and a great crowd

gathered outside. Scheidemann, in an address from the Reichstag steps,

told the crowd that the dynasty had been overthrown, and that Ebert had

been appointed to form a new government on republican lines and with the

participation of all political parties.[29] Scheidemann, like Max, also

anticipated events, for the republic had not yet been authoritatively

proclaimed, nor had Ebert been appointed Chancellor.

[29] The Majority Socialists honestly intended to form a people's

government representing all parties. That only Socialists

were eventually admitted was due to the flat refusal of the

Independents to let the despised _bourgeoisie_ have any voice

whatever in the governmental affairs.

Two hours later, shortly after 2:00 P.M., Ebert, Scheidemann, Braun and

two members of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council, Prolat and Hiller,

went to the palace of the Chancellor in an automobile carrying a red

flag and guarded by armed soldiers. They informed Prince Max that they

considered it absolutely necessary to form a socialistic government,[30]

since this alone could save Germany. The Prince thereupon requested

Ebert to accept the chancellorship. Ebert complied and thus became for

one day "Imperial Chancellor," the possessor of an office which did not

exist in an empire which no longer existed.

[30] "Socialistic" in a non-partisan sense; a republic based on

the Socialist party's tenets, but not necessarily conducted

exclusively by them. The exclusion of the _bourgeoisie_ was a

later idea.

Ebert's first act was to proclaim the republic officially. He did this

in an address to a crowd which filled Wilhelmstrasse and Wilhelmplatz in

front of the Chancellor's official residence. Hysteric cheering followed

the announcement that the German Empire had become history.

The greatest revolution of all times was an accomplished fact before

three o'clock on Saturday afternoon, November 9th. The old system, with

its tens of thousands of trained and specialized officials; with armies

that had successfully fought for years against the combined resources of

the rest of the world; with citizens trained from their very infancy to

reverence the Kaiser and to obey those in authority; with the moral

support of the monarchic Germans, who far outnumbered the

republican--this system fell as a rotten tree falls before a gale. The

simile lacks in perfection because the tree falls with a crash, whereas

the old German governmental system made less noise in its collapse than

did the Kingdom of Portugal some years earlier. It simply disappeared.

_Fuit Germania_.

Up to this time the Majority Socialists, by stealing the thunder of the

Independents and acting with a good deal of resolution, had kept

themselves in the center of the stage. The real makers of the

revolution, the Independents and Spartacans, had been confined to

off-stage work. It was Liebknecht, with his instinct for the theatrical

and dramatic, who now came to the front. A vast crowd had gathered

around the royal palace. It was made up in part of the "class-conscious

proletariat," but in large part also of the merely curious. Liebknecht,

accompanied by Adolf Hoffmann[31] and another left wing Socialist,

entered the palace and proceeded to a balcony in the second story,

where, lacking a red flag, he hung a red bed-blanket over the rail of

the balcony and then delivered an impassioned harangue to the crowd

below. The real revolution, he declared, had only begun, and attempts at

counter-revolution could be met only by the vigilance of an armed

proletariat. The working-classes must arm themselves, the _bourgeoisie_

must be disarmed. Hoffmann, who spoke briefly, said that he was enjoying

the happiest and proudest moment of his life. While he was still

speaking a red flag was hoisted over the palace, to the cheers of the

people gathered around the building.

[31] Hoffman was for several years a member of the Prussian Diet

and prominent in the councils of the Social-Democratic party.

Although a professed atheist and unable to write a sentence

of his mother-tongue without an error in spelling or grammar,

he became under the first revolutionary government Prussian

Minister of Education (_Kultusminister_), with charge over

the church and schools. Hoffman left the old party at the

time of the split in 1915, and has since been an abusive and

virulent enemy of his former colleagues. He distinguished

himself in the Diet chiefly by disregard of the ordinary

amenities of civilized intercourse and parliamentary forms.

Speaking from the speaker's rostrum in the Diet, with his

back to the presiding-officer--after the usual European

custom--he would utter some insult to the royal house, the

authorities in general, one of the _bourgeois_ parties of the

house or one of the members. He appeared to know

instinctively whenever his remarks were inadmissible, for he

would pause, hunch up his shoulders like one expecting to be

struck from behind, and wait for the presiding-officer to

ring his bell and call him to order. A few minutes later the

same scene would be reenacted.

Some of the palace guard had given up their rifles and left their posts.

Others had joined the revolutionaries. The looting of the palace began.

It did not assume great proportions on this first day, but many valuable

Articles had disappeared when night came. Government property of all

kinds was sold openly in the streets by soldiers and civilians. Rifles

could be had for a few marks, and even army automobiles were sold for

from three to five hundred marks. Processions kept moving about the

city, made up in part of soldiers and in part of armed civilians.

Persons without red badges were often molested or mishandled. Cockades

in the imperial or some state's colors were torn from soldiers' caps,

their shoulder insignia were ripped off and their belts taken away by

the embryo and self-constituted "red guard." The patriotic cockades

inflamed their revolutionary hearts; the belts, being of good leather--a

rare article--could be used for repairing the shoes of the faithful.

Officers were hunted down, their shoulder-straps torn off and their

swords and revolvers taken from them. Many officers were roughly

handled. Hundreds escaped a like fate by a quick change into civilian

clothing. The _mobile vulgus_ had forgotten that forty per cent of

Germany's active officer corps had been killed in fighting for their

country, and that a great part of those left were crippled by wounds. It

saw in these men only the representatives of an iron discipline and of

authority--and authority is hated by all truly class-conscious

_Genossen_. It was this same feeling that led, on the following day, to

the disarming of the police--a measure which so quickly avenged itself

in an increase of crime from which even the proletariat suffered that

their sabers and revolvers were restored to the police within a month.

Thus far the revolution had been all but bloodless. The brave officer of

the _Maikaefer_ and the four revolutionaries who fell before him were the

only victims. But about 6:00 P.M., as an automobile ambulance turned

into the palace courtyard, a single shot was heard. Observers thought

they saw the smoke of the shot in the central entrance to the royal

stables, which are situated across the street just south of the palace.

While the source of the shot was being investigated a second shot was

fired. Almost immediately machine guns began firing from the cellar

windows and the first and second stories of the stables.[32] The crowd

filling the square melted away. Members of the Soldiers' Council

returned the fire. The shooting continued until late into the night,

when members of the Soldiers' Council entered the stables. They found

nobody there.

[32] This story of the origin of Saturday evening's shooting

comes from the Soldiers' Council, and is undoubtedly

exaggerated. No other report of the incident is, however,

available.

By whom or with what intention the first shots were fired is not

known. The most radical of the revolutionaries, and especially the

Liebknecht followers, saw in them the beginning of the dreaded

"counter-revolution." The stables were at the time occupied by some of

the marines who had been brought to Berlin two days earlier. These men,

who were later to cause the new government so much trouble,[33] were in

large part what is so aptly expressed by the slang term "roughnecks."

Their leader was a degraded officer named Heinrich Dorrenbach.[34]

Viewed in the light of their subsequent conduct it is impossible that

they could have been won for any counter-revolutionary movement. The

revolutionaries, however, who knew that they had been summoned by Prince

Max's government, concluded that the shots had been fired by them. There

were few casualties from the encounter.

[33] It was these men who surrounded the imperial chancellery on

December 24th, held the cabinet members there _incommunicado_

by severing the telephone wires, and compelled the government

to grant their wage demands and to permit them to retain the

royal stables as barracks. They also helped loot the palace.

The government had to disarm them during the second

"Bolshevik week" in Berlin early in March, when twenty-four

of them were summarily executed.

[34] Dorrenbach was afterward indicted in Brunswick for bribery

and looting.

The Majority Socialists' three delegates conferred again with Dittmann,

Vogtherr and Ledebour, the Independents' representatives. They were

unable to come to an agreement, and the Independents withdrew to confer

with their party's executive committee. This committee debated the

question for some hours with the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council.[35]

Liebknecht, still nominally an Independent, for the _Spartacus Bund_ had

not yet been formally organized as a separate party; Ledebour, Dittmann,

and Barth, who was chairman of the council, took a leading part in the

debate that ensued. It was finally decided to make the Independents'

participation in the government conditional upon the granting of certain

demands. First of all, the new government must be only a _provisorium_

for the conclusion of the armistice, and its existence was to be limited

to three days. Before the expiration of that term the Soviet was to

decide what course should then be taken. The republic must be a

socialistic republic,[36] and all legislative, executive and judicial

power must rest in the hands of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Councils,

who were to be elected by "the laboring population _under the exclusion

of all bourgeois elements_."[37]

[35] That the radical wing of the German Socialists conferred in

a party matter with this council, which was supposed to

represent Socialists of both parties, is significant. As a

matter of fact, the real power in the council was from the

beginning in the hands of the Independent and Spartacan

members, and their ascendancy grew steadily.

[36] Here, as the demands show, "socialistic" in the most rigid

and "class-conscious" partisan sense.

[37] The italics are those of the Independents themselves, as

used in publishing their demands in their party organ.

These demands were communicated to the Majority Socialist delegates,

who, after a conference with their party's executive committee, rejected

them. They especially opposed the exclusion of all _bourgeois_ statesmen

from the government, declaring that this would make the provisioning of

the people impossible. They demanded cooperation of the two parties

until the convening of a constituent assembly, and rejected the

three-day limitation upon the existence of the government to be formed.

Further negotiations between the two sets of delegates were agreed on

for Sunday morning.

The German Socialists have always had a keen appreciation of the

influence of the press. No other country has such an extensive,

well-edited and influential array of Socialist newspapers and

periodicals as Germany, and in no other country are the Socialists so

carefully disciplined into taking their political views from their party

organs. As the parent party, the Majority Socialists already had their

press. The Independents had no organ of any importance in Berlin, and

Liebknecht's Spartacans had none at all. This, for persons who, if not

in abstract theory, nevertheless in actual practice refuse to admit that

the _bourgeoisie_ has any rights whatever, was a matter easily remedied.

Liebknecht, at the head of a group of armed soldiers, went in the

evening to the plant of the Conservative _Lokal-Anzeiger_, turned out

the whole staff and took possession. The paper appeared Sunday morning

as _Die rote Fahne_ (The Red Flag). Independent Socialists and members

of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council at the same time took violent

possession of the venerable _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_, which

they published Sunday morning as _Die Internationale_.

The Wolff Bureau had already been occupied by members of the Workmen's

and Soldiers' Council. It was compelled to send out any articles coming

from that council, and its other news dispatches were subjected to a

censorship quite as rigid and _tendencieuse_ and even less intelligent

than that prevailing under the old regime. The committee put in charge

of the Wolff Bureau was nominally composed of an equal number of

Majority and Independent Socialists, but the latter, by dint of their

rabid energy and resolution, were able for a long time to put their

imprint on all news issuing from the bureau.

_Die rote Fahne_ of Sunday morning published on the first page a leading

Article which undoubtedly was written by Liebknecht himself. It began:

"Proudly the red flag floats over the imperial capital. Berlin

has tardily followed the glorious example of the Kiel sailors,

the Hamburg shipyard laborers and the soldiers and workingmen of

various other states."

The article glorified the revolution and declared that it must sweep

away "the remains and ruins of feudalism." There must be not merely a

republic, but a socialistic republic, and its flag must not be "the

black, red and gold flag of the _bourgeois_ Republic of 1848, but the

red flag of the international socialistic proletariat, the red flag of

the Commune of 1871 and of the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1912.

**** The revolutionary, triumphant proletariat must erect a new order

out of the ruins of the World War. **** The first tasks in this

direction are speedy peace, genuine proletarian domination, reshaping of

economic life from the pseudo-socialism of the war to the real socialism

of peace."

The article closed with an appeal to workingmen and soldiers to retain

their weapons and go forward "under the victorious emblem of the red

flag."

On the third page of the same issue appeared another article, also

probably from Liebknecht's pen. It was an appeal to the "workmen and

soldiers in Berlin" to fortify the power already won by them. "The red

flag floats over Berlin,"[38] wrote Liebknecht again. But this was only

a beginning. "The work is not finished with the abdication of a couple

of Hohenzollerns. Still less is it accomplished by the entrance into the

government of a couple more government Socialists. These have supported

the _bourgeoisie_ for four years and they cannot do otherwise now."

[38] No one can long study objectively the manifestations of

partisan Social-Democracy without feeling that there is

something pathological about the fetichistic worship of the

red flag by the radical elements among the Socialists.

"Mistrust is the first democratic virtue," declared Liebknecht. The

government must be completely reorganized. He then set forth the demands

that must be presented. They are of interest as the first formulation of

the program of those who afterward became the supporters of Bolshevist

ideals in Germany. Except for certain points designed only to meet then

existing conditions this program is still in essentials that of the

German Communists, as the Spartacans now term themselves. It follows:

1. Disarming of the whole police force, of all officers and

also of such soldiers as do not stand on the base of the new

order; arming of the people;[39] all soldiers and

proletarians who are armed to retain their weapons.

[39] _Bewaffnung des Volkes_; "people" used as a synonym for

the proletarian section of it. The _Bourgeoisie_ are not

_das Volk_ (the people) to the extreme Socialist.

2. Taking over of all military and civil offices and commands

by representatives (_Vertrauensmaenner_) of the Workmen's and

Soldiers' Council.

3. Surrender of all weapons and stores of munitions, as well

as of all other armaments, to the Workmen's and Soldiers'

Council.

4. Control by the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council of all

means of traffic.

5. Abolishment of courts-martial; corpse-like obedience

(_Kadavergehorsam_) to be replaced by voluntary discipline of

the soldiers under control of the Workmen's and Soldiers'

Council.

6. Abolishment of the Reichstag and of all parliaments,[40]

as well as of the existing national government; taking over

of the government by the Berlin Workmen's and Soldiers'

Council until the formation of a national workmen's and

soldiers' council.

[40] Americans inclined to extend sympathy to Liebknecht (or

his memory) are again reminded that he and his followers are

violent opponents of democracy. The same is true of the real

leaders of the Independent Socialists.

7. Election throughout Germany of workmen's and soldiers'

councils, in whose hands exclusively the lawgiving and

administrative power shall rest.

8. Abolishment of dynasties[41] and separate states; our

parole is: United Socialistic Republic of Germany.

[41] Several of the German dynasties were still in existence

on the morning of November 10th. King Friedrich August of

Saxony, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and Grand Duke

Friedrich August of Oldenburg were deposed on November 10th,

and Prince Heinrich XXVII of Reuss (younger line) abdicated

on the same day. The King of Saxony accepted his deposition

by a formal act of abdication two days later. Duke Karl

Eduard of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Grand Duke Friedrich Franz

of Mecklenburg-Schwerin abdicated on November 13th. King

Ludwig of Bavaria, whom Kurt Eisner had already declared

deposed, issued a statement on November 13th liberating all

officials from their oath of allegiance, "since I am no

longer in a position to direct the government." The Munich

Soviet acknowledged this as an act of abdication. Prince

Friedrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont, refusing to abdicate, was

deposed on the same day. Grand Duke Friedrich of Baden and

Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe did not leave their thrones

until November 15th.

9. The immediate establishing of relations with all workmen's

and soldiers' councils existing in Germany, and with the

socialistic brother parties of foreign countries.

10. The immediate recall to Berlin of the Russian Embassy.

This proclamation closed by declaring that no real Socialist must enter

the government as long as a single "government" Socialist (Majority)

belonged to it. "There can be no cooperation with those who have

betrayed us for four years," said the proclamation.

This item followed: "_Die rote Fahne_ sends its first and warmest

greeting to the Federative Socialistic Soviet Republic (Russia) and begs

that government to tell our Russian brethren that the Berlin

laboring-class has celebrated the first anniversary of the Russian

revolution by bringing about the German revolution."

_Die Internationale_ also published a leader glorifying the revolution

and declaring that "the red flag floats over the capital." It called on

its readers to be on their guard and closed with a _lebe hoch_![42] for

the German Socialistic Republic and the _Internationale_.

[42] Literally, "may it live high!" The French _vive_ and the

English "hurrah for--!"

All the Sunday morning papers published a proclamation and an appeal by

the "Imperial Chancellor," Ebert. The proclamation was addressed to

"Fellow Citizens,"[43] and was a formal notice that Ebert had taken over

his office from Prince Max and was about to form a new government. He

requested the aid of all good citizens and warned especially against any

acts calculated to interfere with supplying food to the people. The

appeal was a summons to all officials throughout the country to place

themselves at the disposition of the new government.[44] "I know it will

be hard for many to work with the new men who have undertaken the

conduct of the government," said the appeal, "but I appeal to their love

for our people."

[43] _Mitbuerger._ Subsequent proclamations were, with few

exceptions, addressed to _Genossen_. The government could not

shake off its party fetters.

[44] It is not possible to withhold admiration from the tens of

thousands of officials throughout Germany who, hating and

despising party Socialism, and themselves monarchic in

principle by tradition and training, nevertheless stayed at

their posts and did what they could to prevent utter chaos.

The choice was especially hard for the men in higher

positions, since most of these not only had to carry out

orders of a revolutionary red government, but also had to

submit to having their daily acts controlled and their orders

altered and countersigned by a _Genosse_ who was often an

unskilled manual laborer. The best traditions of German

officialdom were honorably upheld by these men, and it is to

them, rather than to those at the head of the government,

that credit is due for even the small measure of order that

was preserved.

Sunday was ushered in with the crack of rifle fire and the rattle of

machine-guns. Nervous _Genossen_, incited by fanatics or irresponsible

agitators saw the specter of counterrevolution on every hand and

circulated wild tales of officers firing on the people from various

buildings, chiefly the Victoria Cafe and the Bauer Cafe at the corner of

Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse, some buildings near the

Friedrichstrasse railway station, other buildings farther down Unter den

Linden, and the Engineers' Society building and the official home of the

Reichstag president, the two last-named buildings situated across the

street to the east of the Reichstag. While it is barely possible that

some loyal cadets may have fired on a crowd in one or two places, it has

never been definitely proved. The talk of resistance by officers is

absurd. The only occupant of the residence of the Reichstag president,

which was fired at with machine guns from the roof of the Reichstag, was

one frightened old woman, who spent the day crouching in a corner of the

cellar. There was nobody in the Engineers' building. The day's victims

were all killed to no purpose by the wild shooting of persons--mainly

youths--who lost their heads. The shooting continued on Monday, but

gradually died out. The stories sent to the outside world through the

soviet-controlled Wolff Bureau of officers firing on the revolutionaries

and then escaping by subterranean passages were the inventions of

excited and untrained minds.

It had been decided at Saturday night's conference to hold an election

on Sunday morning for district workmen's and soldiers' councils, and to

hold a meeting at the Circus Busch at five o'clock Sunday afternoon to

form the government. Sunday morning's papers published the summons for

the election. The larger factories were directed to elect one delegate

for every thousand employees. Factories employing fewer than five

hundred persons were directed to unite for the election of delegates.

Each battalion of soldiers was also to choose one delegate. These

delegates were directed to meet at Circus Busch for the election of a

provisional government.

The Majority Socialists were in a difficult position. The Independents

claimed--and with right--that they had "made the revolution." The

preponderance of brute force was probably, so far as Berlin alone was

concerned, on their side. In any event they had a support formidable

enough to compel Scheidemann and his followers to make concessions to

them. The three delegates from each party met again. The result of

their deliberations was concessions on both sides. The Majority

Socialists agreed to exclude _bourgeois_ elements from the cabinet,

but the Independents agreed that this should not apply to those

ministers (war, navy, etc.), whose posts required men of special

training--the so-called _Fachminister_. The Independents consented to

enter the government without placing a time-limit on their stay or on

its existence. Each party was to designate three "people's

commissioners" (_Volksbeauftragte_), who were to have equal rights.

The Independents stipulated further in their conditions (which were

accepted):

"The political power shall be in the hands of the workmen's and

soldiers' councils, which shall be summoned shortly from all

parts of the empire for a plenary session.

"The question of a constituent assembly will not become a live

issue until after a consolidation of the conditions created by

the revolution, and shall therefore be reserved for later

consideration."

The Independents announced that, these conditions being accepted, their

party had named as members of the government Hugo Haase, Wilhelm

Dittmann and Emil Barth. Dittmann had but recently been released from

jail, where he was serving a short sentence for revolutionary and

anti-war propaganda. He was secretary of the Independent Socialist

party's executive committee, an honest fanatic and but one step removed

from a communist. Barth was in every way unfit to be a member of any

government. There were grave stories afloat, some of them well founded,

of his moral derelictions, and he was a man of no particular ability.

Some months later, and several weeks after he had resigned from the

cabinet, he was found riding about Southern Germany on the pass issued

to him as a cabinet member and agitating for the overthrow of the

government of which he had been a part.

The Majority Socialists selected as their representatives in the

government Friedrich (Fritz) Ebert, Phillip Scheidemann and Otto

Landsberg, the last named an able and respected lawyer and one of the

intellectual leaders of the Berlin Socialists.

When, at 5:00 P.M., the combined workmen's and soldiers' councils of

Greater Berlin met in the Circus Busch, Ebert was able to announce that

the differences between the two Socialist parties had been adjusted. The

announcement was greeted with hearty applause. The meeting had a

somewhat stormy character, but was more orderly than might have been

expected. A considerable number of front-soldiers were present, and the

meeting was dominated throughout by them. They demonstrated at the

outset that they had no sympathy with fanatic and ultraradical agitators

and measures, and Liebknecht, who delivered a characteristic passionate

harangue, demanding the exclusion of the Majority Socialists from any

participation in the government, had great difficulty in getting a

hearing. The choice of the six "people's commissioners" was ratified by

the meeting.

It is a striking thing, explainable probably only by mass-psychology,

that although the meeting was openly hostile to Liebknecht and his

followers, it nevertheless voted by an overwhelming majority, to "send

the Russian Workmen's and Soldiers' government our fraternal greetings,"

and decided that the new German government should "immediately resume

relations with the Russian government, whose representative in Berlin it

awaits."

The meeting adopted a proclamation declaring that the first task for the

new government should be the conclusion of an armistice. "An immediate

peace," said this proclamation, "is the revolution's parole. However

this peace may be, it will be better than a continuation of the

unprecedented slaughter."[45] The proclamation declared that the

socialization of capitalistic means of production was feasible and

necessary, and that the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council was "convinced

that an upheaval along the same lines is being prepared throughout the

whole world. It expects confidently that the proletariat of other

countries will devote its entire might to prevent injustice being done

to the German people at the end of the war."[46] Following the adoption

of this proclamation, the meeting elected a _Vollzugsrat_ or executive

council from the membership of the workmen's and soldiers' councils

present. It was made up of twenty-eight men, fourteen workmen and

fourteen soldiers, and the Majority and Independent Socialists were

represented on each branch of the council with seven members. The

twenty-eight men chosen were Emil Barth, Captain von Beerfelde,

Bergmann, Felix Bernhagen, Otto Braun, Franz Buchel, Max Cohen (Reuss),

Erich Daeumig, Heinrich Denecke, Paul Eckert, Christian Finzel, Gelberg,

Gustav Gerhardt, Gierth, Gustav Heller, Ernst Juelich, Georg Ledebour,

Maynitz, Brutus Molkenbuhr, Richard Mueller, Paul Neuendorf, Hans

Paasche, Walter Portner, Colin Ross, Otto Strobel, Waltz and P. Wegmann.

Captain von Beerfelde was made chairman of the soldiers' branch and

Mueller of the workmen's representatives on this council. Mueller, a

metal-worker by trade, was a rabid Independent Socialist, a fiery

agitator and bitter opponent of a constituent assembly. It was largely

due to his leadership and to the support accorded him by Ledebour and

certain other radical members of the _Vollzugsrat_ that this council

steadily drifted farther and farther toward the Independent and

Spartacan side and ultimately became one of the greatest hindrances to

honest government until its teeth were drawn in December.

[45] Germany would have accepted almost any kind of peace in

November. This is but one of many things indicating it.

[46] There is something both characteristic and pathetic in the

German Socialists' confidence that the proletariat in the

enemy countries would follow their example. The wish was, of

course, father to the thought, but it exhibited that same

striking inability to comprehend other peoples' psychology

that characterized the Germans throughout the war.

The council, however, started out well. Its first act, following the

Circus Busch meeting, was to order the _Lokal-Anzeiger_ and the

_Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ restored to their lawful owners, and

this was done. The council formally confirmed the choice of the six

_Volksbeauftragte_ and established rules for their guidance. Neither the

council nor the people's commissioners could claim to have their mandate

from the whole Empire, but they assumed it. Revolutionary governments

cannot be particular, and Berlin was, after all, the capital and most

important city. There was, furthermore, no time to wait for general

elections. The Circus Busch meeting had good revolutionary precedents,

and some sort of central government was urgently necessary.

There was still some scattered firing in Berlin on Monday, but

comparative order was established. The six-man cabinet was in almost

uninterrupted session, and the first result of its deliberation was an

edict, issued on Tuesday, making many fundamental changes in existing

laws. The edict lifted the "state of siege," which had existed since the

outbreak of the war. All limitations upon the right of assembly were

removed, and it was especially provided that state employees and

officials should enjoy the right freely to assemble. The censorship was

abolished, including also the censorship of theaters.[47] "Expression of

opinion in word and print" was declared free.[48] The free exercise of

religion was guaranteed. Amnesty was granted all political prisoners,

and pending prosecutions for political offenses were annulled.[49] The

Domestic Servants law was declared repealed.[50] It was promised that a

general eight-hour law should become effective not later than January 1,

1919. Other sociological reforms were promised, and woman's suffrage was

introduced with the provision that "all elections for public offices

shall hereafter be conducted under equal, secret, general and direct

vote on the proportional system by all males and females twenty years

old or over."[51] The same system, it was decreed, should be followed in

the elections for the national assembly.

[47] Consistent efforts were made by those interested in

discrediting all news sent from Germany after the revolution

to make the general public believe that a rigid censorship of

outgoing letters and news telegrams was still maintained. The

American so-called Military Intelligence--which is

responsible for an appalling amount of

misinformation--reported in January that the censorship was

stricter than during the war. This was untrue. The author, at

that time a working journalist in Berlin, was repeatedly

entrusted with the censor's stamp and told to stamp his own

messages when they were ready, since the censor desired to

leave his office. The only reason for maintaining even the

formality of a censorship was to prevent the illegitimate

transfer of securities or money out of the country. There was

no censorship whatever on news messages.

[48] The immediate result of this was a flood of new papers,

periodicals and pamphlets, some of them pornographic and many

of them marked by the grossness which unfortunately

characterizes much of the German humor. Some of the

publishers fouled their own nests in a manner difficult to

understand. One pamphlet sold on the streets was _Die

franzoesischen Liebschaften des deutschen Kronprinzen waehrend

des Krieges_.

[49] This principle was to make much trouble later for the

government, for the radical Socialists consider murder a

"political crime" if the victim be a _bourgeois_ politician.

There are also extremists for whom any prisoner is a victim

of capitalism, and hundreds of dangerous criminals were

released in Berlin and various other cities in raids on jails

and prisons.

[50] Domestic servants, particularly those in hotels, were real

gainers by the revolution. Chambermaids, for example, who had

always been on duty from 6 A.M. until 11 or 12 P.M., suddenly

found themselves able, for the first time in their lives, to

get enough sleep and to have some time at their own disposal.

[51] Twenty-five years had formerly been the age entitling one to

vote. The reduction undoubtedly operated primarily in favor

of the Socialists, for youth is inclined to radicalism

everywhere.

_Vorwaerts_, in a leader on the same day, spoke of the constituent

assembly as of a thing assured. A good impression was made by the report

that Hindenburg had remained at his post and placed himself at the

disposition of the new government. Prince Leopold of Prussia also

assured the government of his support.

The revolution had started well. Reports that the Poles were plundering

in Posen and Upper Silesia made little impression. The proletariat was

intoxicated with its new liberty. The saner _bourgeoisie_ were

differently minded: "_Das Boese sind wir los; die Boesen sind

geblieben_."[52]

[52] We have shaken off the great evil; the evil-doers have

remained.

CHAPTER XII.

"The German Socialistic Republic."

The character and completeness of the revolution were even yet not

realized in all parts of Germany. Rulers of various states, in some

places aided by Majority Socialists, made desperate eleventh-hour

attempts to save their thrones. Prince Regent Aribert of Anhalt received

a deputation of National Liberals, Progressives and Socialists, who

presented a program for parliamentarization. The Socialists,

Progressives, Clericals and Guelphs in Brunswick coalesced "to further a

policy of peace and progress and to spare our people severe internal

disorders." The two Reuss principalities amalgamated, and a reformed

franchise and parliamentarization were promised. The government in

Hesse-Darmstadt ordered thorough parliamentary reforms. The Wuerttemburg

ministry resigned and the Progressive Reichstag Deputy Liesching was

appointed Minister-President. Grand Duke Ernst Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar

renounced the right of exemption from taxation enjoyed not only by him

personally, but by all his family and court officials. Grand Duke

Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin received a deputation to discuss

parliamentary reforms. A Socialist meeting in Breslau broke up in

disorder because the Majority Socialists opposed the Independent

Socialists' demand that force be employed to secure the fulfillment of

their demands.

But dynasties could not longer be saved. When night came on Monday, the

revolution in Germany was to all practical intents an accomplished fact.

Fourteen of the twenty-five states, including all four kingdoms and all

the other really important states, were already securely in the

revolutionaries' hands. The red flag waved over the historic royal

palace in Berlin. King Ludwig of Bavaria had been declared deposed and

had fled from his capital. King Friedrich August of Saxony was still

nominally occupying his throne, but soldiers' councils had taken over

the government both in Dresden and Leipsic, and were considering the

King's abdication. Wuerttemberg had been declared a republic and the King

had announced that he would not be an obstacle to any movement demanded

by the majority of his people. The free cities of Hamburg, Bremen and

Luebeck were being ruled by Socialists. In the grand duchies of

Oldenburg, Baden, Hesse and the Mecklenburgs the rulers' power was gone

and their thrones were tottering. Grand Duke Ernst August of Brunswick,

the Kaiser's son-in-law, abdicated.

And the Kaiser and King of Prussia fled.

Nothing more vividly illustrates the physical, mental and moral

exhaustion of the German people at this time than the fact that the

former ruler's flight hardly evoked more than passing interest. Many

newspapers published it with no more display than they gave to orders by

Germany's new rulers, and none "played it up" as a great news item.

The clearest picture of the occurrences at the Kaiser's headquarters on

the fatal November 9th has been given by General Count von Schulenberg,

chief of the General Staff of the Crown Prince's army. Von Schulenberg

was present also on November 1st, when Minister of the Interior Drews

presented the government's request that the Kaiser abdicate. Drews had

hardly finished speaking, reports von Schulenberg, before the Kaiser

exclaimed:

"You, a Prussian official, who have sworn the oath of fealty to

your king, how can you venture to come before me with such a

proposal?

"Have you considered what chaos would follow? Think of it! I

abdicate for my person and my house! All the dynasties in

Germany collapse in an instant. The army has no leader, the

front disintegrates, the soldiers stream in disorder across the

Rhine. The revolutionaries join hands, murder, incendiarism and

plundering follow, and the enemy assists. I have no idea of

abdicating. The King of Prussia may not be false to Germany,

least of all at a time like this. I, too, have sworn an oath,

and I will keep it."

Hindenburg and Groener (Ludendorff's successor) shared the Kaiser's

opinion at this time that abdication was not to be thought of. The

situation, however, altered rapidly in the next few days. Von

Schulenburg declares that Scheidemann[53] was the chief factor in the

movement to compel the monarch to go. Early on the morning of November

9th, when von Schulenberg reached headquarters building in Spa, he found

general depression. "Everybody appeared to have lost his head." The

various army chiefs were present to report on the feeling among their

men. Hindenburg had reported to them that revolution had broken out in

Germany, that railways, telegraphs and provision depots were in the

revolutionaries' hands, and that some of the bridges across the Rhine

had been occupied by them. The armies were thus threatened with being

cut off from the homeland. Von Schulenberg continues:

"I met Generals von Plessen and Marschall, who told me that the

Field Marshall (Hindenburg) and General Groener were on the way

to tell the Kaiser that his immediate abdication was necessary.

I answered: 'You're mad. The army is on the Kaiser's side.' The

two took me with them to the Kaiser. The conference began by

Hindenburg's saying to the Kaiser that he must beg to be

permitted to resign, since he could not, as a Prussian officer,

give his King the message which he must give. The Kaiser

answered: 'Well, let us hear the message first.' Thereupon

Groener gave a long description of the situation, the homeland

in the hands of revolutionists, revolution to be expected in

Berlin at any minute, and the army not to be depended on. To

attempt with the enemy in the rear to turn the army about and

set it in march for civil warfare was not to be thought of. The

only salvation for the Fatherland lay in the Kaiser's immediate

abdication. Hindenburg, the general intendant and chief of

military railways agreed with Groener."

[53] Cf. Scheidemann's statement to von Payer, chapter viii.

The Kaiser asked von Schulenberg's opinion. He disagreed with the

others, and counseled resistance. He agreed that it would be impossible

to invade all Germany with united front, but advocated an attack on a

few places, such as Cologne and Aachen, with picked troops, and an

appeal to the people to rise against the marines, who had been "incited

to action by the Jews, who had made great profits in the war, and by

persons who had escaped doing their duty in the war and were now trying

to knife the army in the back."

The Kaiser approved this counsel. He would not abdicate, he declared,

nor would he have any part in bringing about civil warfare, but Cologne,

Aachen and Verviers must be attacked immediately.

Groener was unconvinced. He declared that the revolution had gone too

far and was too well organized throughout Germany to make it possible to

put it down by force of arms. Moreover, he said, several army chiefs had

reported that the army could no longer be depended on. The Kaiser

thereupon asked for a report from every army chief on the army's

dependability. A summons to this effect was sent out, and Groener,

Hindenburg and von Schulenberg remained with the Kaiser.

One calamitous report after another began coming from Berlin. The

military governor reported that he had no longer any dependable troops.

The Chancellor telephoned that civil war was inevitable unless the

Kaiser's abdication was received within a few minutes. The Kaiser and

the Crown Prince conferred together. Another report came from the

Chancellor that the situation in Berlin was steadily becoming graver.

Admiral von Hintze, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had joined the

little group in the Kaiser's rooms, declared that the monarchy could not

be saved unless the Kaiser abdicated at once.

Von Schulenberg continues:

"His Majesty thereupon told Excellency von Hintze to telephone

to the Chancellor that, in order to prevent bloodshed, he would

abdicate as Kaiser, but that he would remain as King of Prussia

and not leave his army. I declared that His Majesty's decision

should be formulated in writing and telephoned to the Chancellor

only when it bore the Kaiser's signature. His Majesty thereupon

commissioned Excellency von Hintze, Generals von Pless and

Marschall and myself to draw up the declaration. While we were

at work on it, the chief of the Imperial Chancellery, Excellency

von Wahnschaffe, telephoned. I talked with him myself, and when

he said that the abdication must be in Berlin within a few

minutes, answered that such an important matter as the Kaiser's

abdication could not be completed in a few minutes. The decision

was made and was now being put into form; the government must be

patient for the half-hour that would be required to place the

abdication in its hands. The declaration had the following form:

"'1. His Majesty is prepared to abdicate as Kaiser if

further bloodshed can be hindered thereby.

"'2. His Majesty desires that there be no civil war.

"'3. His Majesty remains as King of Prussia and will

lead his army back to the homeland in disciplined order.'

"This declaration was approved and signed by His Majesty, and

was telephoned by Excellency von Hintze to the Chancellery. At

8:10 o'clock in the evening His Majesty received from the office

of the Imperial Chancellor a report of the announcement made

public through the Wolff Bureau, in which the Imperial

Chancellor, without waiting for the Kaiser's answer, had

reported the Kaiser's abdication as Kaiser and King. His Majesty

received the news with the deepest seriousness and with royal

dignity. He asked my views on the situation. I answered:

"'It is a coup d'etat, an abuse of power to which your

Majesty must not submit. Your Majesty is King of

Prussia, and there is now more than ever a pressing

necessity for Your Majesty to remain with the army as

supreme commander. I guarantee that it will be true to

Your Majesty.'

"His Majesty replied that he was and would remain King of

Prussia, and that he would not abandon the army. Thereupon he

commissioned Generals von Pless and Marschall and Excellency von

Hintze to report to the Field Marshal what had happened. He then

took leave of the Crown Prince and of me. After I had left, he

called me back, thanked me once more and said:

"'I remain King of Prussia and I remain with the troops.'

"I answered:

"'Come to the front troops in my section. Your Majesty

will be in absolute safety there. Promise me to remain

with the army in all events.'

"His Majesty took leave of me with the words:

"'I remain with the army.'

"I took leave of him and have not seen him again."

In the general condemnation of the Kaiser, his flight to Holland has

been construed as due to cowardice. His motives are unimportant, but

this construction appears to be unjust. He was convinced that he had

nothing to fear from his people, nor is there any reason to suppose that

he would for a moment have been in danger if he had remained. It is also

probable that he entertained hopes of leading a successful

counter-revolutionary movement. But his protests were overruled by men

in whom he had great confidence. Hindenburg and Groener, following an

unfavorable report from nearly all the army chiefs regarding the feeling

in their commands, told the Kaiser that they could not guarantee his

safety for a single night. They declared even that the picked

storm-battalion guarding his headquarters at Spa was not to be depended

on.

Others added their entreaties, and finally, unwillingly and

protestingly, the Kaiser consented to go.

With him went the Crown Prince. There was no one left in Germany to

whom adherents of a counter-revolution could rally. Scheming

politicians for months afterward painted on every wall the spectre of

counter-revolution, and it proved a powerful weapon of agitation against

the more conservative and democratic men in charge of the country's

affairs, but counter-revolution from above--and that was what these

leaders falsely or ignorantly pretended to fear--was never possible from

the time the armistice was signed until the peace was made at

Versailles. Counter-revolution ever threatened the stability of the

government, but it was the gory counter-revolution of Bolshevism.

The Kaiser's flight had the double effect of encouraging the Socialists

and discouraging the Conservatives, the right wing of the National

Liberals and the few prominent men of other _bourgeois_ parties from

whom at least a passive resistance might otherwise have been expected.

The Junkers disappeared from view, and, disappearing, took with them the

ablest administrative capacities of Germany, men whose ability was

unquestioned, but who were now so severely compromised that any

participation by them in a democratic government was impossible. "The

German People's Republic" as it had been termed for a brief two days,

became the "German Socialistic Republic." Numerically the strongest

party in the land, the Socialists of all wings insisted upon putting the

red stamp upon the remains of Imperial Germany.

In their rejoicing at the revolution and the end of the war, the great

mass of the people forgot for the moment that they were living in a

conquered land. Those that did remember it were lulled into a feeling of

over-optimistic security by the recollection of President Wilson's

repeated declarations that the war was being waged against the German

governmental system and not against the German people, and by the

declaration in Secretary Lansing's note of the previous week that the

Allies had accepted the President's peace points with the exception of

the second.

The Soldiers' and Workmen's Councils held plenary sessions on Monday and

ratified the proceedings of Sunday. The spirit of the proceedings,

especially in the Soldiers' Council, was markedly moderate. Ledebour,

one of the most radical of the Independent Socialists, was all but

howled down when he tried to address the soldiers' meeting in the

Reichstag. Colin Ross, appealing for harmonious action by all factions

of Social-Democracy, was received with applause. The _Vollzugsrat_,

which was now in theory the supreme governing body of Germany, also took

charge of the affairs of Prussia and Berlin. Two Majority and two

Independent Socialists were appointed "people's commissioners" in

Berlin. It is worthy of note that all four of these men were Jews.

Almost exactly one per cent of the total population of Germany was made

up of Jews, but here, as in Russia, they played a part out of all

proportion to their numbers. In all the revolutionary governmental

bodies formed under the German Socialistic Republic it would be

difficult to find a single one in which they did not occupy from a

quarter to a half of all the seats, and they preponderated in many

places.

The _Vollzugsrat_ made a fairly clean sweep among the Prussian

ministers, filling the majority of posts with _Genossen_. Many of the

old ministers, however, were retained in the national government,

including Dr. Solf as Foreign Minister and General Scheuch as Minister

of War, but each of the _bourgeois_ ministers retained was placed under

the supervision of two Socialists, one from each party, and he could

issue no valid decrees without their counter-signature. The same plan

was followed by the revolutionary governments of the various federal

states. Some of the controllers selected were men of considerable

ability, but even these were largely impractical theorists without any

experience in administration. For the greater part, however, they were

men who had no qualifications for their important posts except

membership in one of the Socialist parties and a deep distrust of all

_bourgeois_ officials. The Majority Socialist controllers, even when

they inclined to agree with their _bourgeois_ department chiefs on

matters of policy, rarely dared do so because of the shibboleth of

solidarity still uniting to some degree both branches of the party.

Later, when the responsibilities of power had sobered them and rendered

them more conservative, and when they found themselves more bitterly

attacked than the _bourgeoisie_ by their former _Genossen_, they shook

off in some degree the thralldom of old ideas, but meanwhile great and

perhaps irreparable damage had been done.

The revolutionary government faced at the very outset a more difficult

task than had ever confronted a similar government at any time in the

world's history. The people, starving, their physical, mental and moral

powers of resistance gone, were ready to follow the demagogue who made

the most glowing promises. The ablest men of the Empire were sulking in

their tents, or had been driven into an enforced seclusion, and the men

in charge of the government were without any practical experience in

governing or any knowledge of constructive statecraft. Every one knew

that the war was practically ended, but thousands of men were

nevertheless being slaughtered daily to no end.

In all the Empire's greater cities the revolutionaries, putting into

disastrous effect their muddled theories of the "brotherhood of man,"

had opened the jails and prisons and flooded the country with criminals.

What this meant is dimly indicated by the occurrences in Berlin ten days

later, when Spartacans raided Police Headquarters and liberated the

prisoners confined there. Among the forty-nine persons thus set free

were twenty-eight thieves and burglars and five blackmailers and

deserters; most of the others were old offenders with long criminal

records. This was but the grist from one jail in a sporadic raid and the

first ten days of November had resulted in wholesale prison-releases of

the same kind. The situation thus created would have been threatening

enough in any event, but the new masters of the German cities, many of

whom had good personal reasons for hating all guardians of law and

order, disarmed the police and further crippled their efficiency by

placing them under the control of "class-conscious" soldiers who, at a

time when every able-bodied fighting man was needed on the west front,

filled the streets of the greater cities and especially of Berlin.

The result was what might have been expected. Many of the new guardians

of law and order were themselves members of the criminal classes, and

those who were not had neither any acquaintance with criminals and their

ways nor with methods of preventing or detecting crime. The police,

deprived of their weapons and--more fatal still--of their authority,

were helpless. And this occurred in the face of a steadily increasing

epidemic of criminality, and especially juvenile criminality, which had

been observed in all belligerent countries as one of the concomitants of

war and attained greater proportions in Germany than anywhere else.

Nor was this the only encouragement of crime officially offered. In

ante-bellum days, when German cities were orderly and efficient police

and _gendarmerie_ carefully watched the comings and goings of every

inhabitant or visitor in the land, every person coming into Germany or

changing his residence was compelled to register at the police-station

in his district. But now, when the retention and enforcement of this

requirement would have been of inestimable value to the government, it

was generally abolished. The writer, reaching Berlin a week after the

revolution, went directly to the nearest police-station to report his

arrival.

"You are no longer required to report to the police," said the _Beamter_

in charge.

And thus the bars were thrown down for criminals and--what was

worse--for the propagandists and agents of the Russian Soviet Republic.

_Die neue Freiheit_ (the new freedom) was interpreted in a manner

justifying Goethe's famous dictum of a hundred years earlier that

"equality and freedom can be enjoyed only in the delirium of insanity"

(_Gleichheit und Freiheit koennen nur im Taumel des Wahnsinns genossen

werden_).

The _Vollzugsrat_, from whose composition better things had been

expected, immediately laid plans for the formation of a Red Guard on the

Russian pattern. On November 13th it called a meeting of representatives

of garrisons in Greater Berlin and of the First Corps of Koenigsberg to

discuss the functions of the Soldiers' Council. It laid before the

meeting its plan to equip a force of two thousand "socialistically

schooled and politically organized workingmen with military training" to

guard against the danger of a counterrevolution. It redounds to the

credit of the soldiers that they immediately saw the cloven hoof of the

proposal. "Why do we need two thousand Red Guards in Berlin?" was the

cry that arose. Opposition to the plan was practically unanimous, and

the meeting adopted the following resolution:

"Greater Berlin's garrison, represented by its duly elected

Soldiers' Council, will view with distrust the weaponing of

workingmen as long as the government which they are intended to

protect does not expressly declare itself in favor of summoning

a national assembly as the only basis for the adoption of a

constitution."

The meeting took a decided stand against Bolshevism and, in general,

against sweeping radicalism. All speakers condemned terrorism from

whatever side it might be attempted, and declared that plundering and

murder should be summarily punished. The destructive plans of the

Spartacus group found universal condemnation, and nearly all speakers

emphasized that the Soldiers' Council had no political role to play. Its

task was merely to preserve order, protect the people and assist in

bringing about an orderly administration of the government's affairs.

The council adopted a resolution calling for the speediest possible

holding of elections for a constituent assembly.

On the following day the _Vollzugsrat_ announced that, in view of the

garrisons' opposition, orders for the formation of the Red Guard had

been rescinded. The Soldiers' Council deposed Captain von Beerfelde, one

of their fourteen representatives on the executive council, "because he

was endeavoring to lead the revolution into the course of the radicals."

It was von Beerfelde who, supporting the fourteen workmen's

representatives on the _Vollzugsrat_, had been largely instrumental in

the original decision to place the capital at the mercy of an armed

rabble.

The steadfast attitude of the soldiers was the more astonishing in view

of the great number of deserters in Greater Berlin at this time. Their

number has been variously estimated, but it is probable that it reached

nearly sixty thousand. With an impudent shamelessness impossible to

understand, even when one realizes what they had suffered, these

self-confessed cowards and betrayers of honest men now had the

effrontery to form a "Council of Deserters, Stragglers and Furloughed

Soldiers," and to demand equal representation on all government bodies

and in the Soviets. Liebknecht played the chief role in organizing these

men, but Ledebour, already so radical that he was out of sympathy even

with the reddest Independent Socialists, and certain other Independents

and Spartacans assisted. This was too much for even the revolutionary

and class-conscious soldiers under arms, and nearly a month later at

least one Berlin regiment still retained enough martial pride to fire on

a procession of these traitors.

In these deserters and stragglers, and in the thousands of criminals of

every big city, including those liberated from jails and prisons by the

revolution, Liebknecht and his lieutenants found tools admirably adapted

to their ends. The Spartacans had already been indirectly recognized as

a separate political party in an announcement made by the Workmen's and

Soldiers' Council on November 11th, which, referring to the seizure of

the _Lokal-Anzeiger_ by the Spartacans and of the _Norddeutsche

Allgemeine Zeitung_ by the Independents, pointed out that "all the

Socialist factions in Berlin now have their daily paper." The Spartacans

now organized. Ledebour, an aged fanatic, temperamental, never able to

agree with the tenets or members of any existing party, organized an

"Association of Revolutionary Foremen," which was recruited from the

factories and made up of violent opponents of democratic government. To

all intents and purposes this association must be reckoned as a wing of

the Spartacus group. It played a large part in the January and March

uprisings against the government, and throughout strengthened the hands

of the opponents of democracy and the advocates of soviet rule in

Germany.

Despite all its initial extravagances, the _bona fides_ of the

Ebert-Haase government at this time cannot fairly be questioned. It

honestly desired to restore order in Germany and to institute a

democratic government. With the exception of Barth, the least able and

least consequential member of the cabinet, all were agreed that a

constituent assembly must be summoned. Haase and Dittmann, the two

other Independent Socialist members, had not yet begun to coquet with

the idea of soviet government, although, in the matter of a

constituent assembly, they were already trying to hunt with the hounds

and run with the hares by favoring its summoning, but demanding that

the elections therefor be postponed until the people could be

"enlightened in the Social-Democratic sense." This meant, of course,

"in the Independent Social-Democratic sense," which, as we shall see,

eventually degenerated into open advocacy of the domination of the

proletariat.