The German Revolution of 1918

On 28 October 1918, sailors of the German High Seas Fleet disobeyed orders to put to sea and challenge the British Grand Fleet in what they saw as a suicidal gesture. Crews of the battleships at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven let their fires go out, defied their admirals, hoisted the red flag and elected sailors' councils. Troops sent to suppress the mutiny joined it. Thus started the German Revolution. Dr Ryder begins this full-scale treatment of the German Revolution by summarizing the origins and development of German Social Democracy up to the party's historic vote for war credits on 4 August 1914. He then considers the socialists' attitudes to the war, notably in relation to the controversial question of annexations, and traces the growth of a threefold split inside the socialist party. The half-completed revolution is seen and evaluated in relation to the German past - Bismarck - and future - the weakness of Weimar democracy - and to the Marxist ideology of the revolutionary leaders.