The Left and Right at the Birth of Weimar Germany

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The Left and Right at the Birth of Weimar Germany

From the general chaos and unrest that followed the Kiel Mutiny in

late 1918, the centre-left emerged to lead Germany into a new era of

democracy. Philipp Scheidemann, a key figure in the moderate SDP,

declared a Democratic Socialist Republic from a balcony in Berlin on 9th

November 1918. However, the whole of Germany was not behind him, since

simultaneously, and from a different Berlin balcony, Karl Liebknecht,

leader of the communist Spartacists (KPD), declared a Soviet Republic.

Furthermore, the right-wing German autocrats, beaurocrats and elites

slowly grew in their opposition to the left-wing moderates they dubbed

the "November Criminals".

The moderate Socialist SDP was the largest German party with

approximately 1 million members. It had been founded in 1875, and in

1918 was led by Scheidemann and Friedrich Ebert. Following the

conflicting declarations of the Republic in November 1918, Ebert

visited Prince Max of Baden, leader of the civilian government set up

b...

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