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Why did workers’ and soldiers’ councils form across Germany in 1918?

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Birth of the Weimar Republic — Weimar Republic Learn about Germany's fledgling Weimar Republic and the challenges it faced.

Workers’ and soldiers’ councils (Räte) formed across Germany in 1918 primarily as a response to the collapse of the imperial system following Germany's defeat in World War I.123

The movement was catalyzed by several converging factors:

Military Mutiny: The revolution began in early November 1918 with a naval mutiny at Kiel, which quickly spread to port cities along the North Sea and Baltic Sea as sailors, soldiers, and workers organized into councils.12
Social Discontent: Years of futile combat, severe shortages of food and fuel, and the influenza epidemic had left the population exhausted and bitter, creating a climate ripe for revolutionary change.12
Political Ideology: Radical groups, such as the Spartacus League led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, sought to transform Germany into a socialist republic modeled after the Bolshevik soviet system.12
Political Strategy: The Independent Socialists also supported the council movement, hoping these bodies would establish the foundation for a socialist republic, even as they participated in the provisional government alongside the more moderate Social Democratic Party.12