German revolution: The last kaiser
Civil unrest and revolution breaking out in the face of Germany's imminent defeat in World War I and the abdication of William II, 1918.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 183-18483-0001; Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
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Transcript
NARRATOR: Autumn 1918 - the First World War has gone on for four long years, millions of soldiers are dying on the battlefield, or are wounded, many crippled. For the German people, the situation on the front and at home is hopeless. Kaiser Wilhelm II had once promised his people glorious times. In October 1918, shortly before the war's end, the head of the Imperial fleet suddenly orders a last great battle in the name of honor. Not wanting to die a meaningless death, the sailors mutiny. They demand an end to the war, the abdication of the Emperor, and the disarming of officers.
ERNST FELDMANN: "The revolutionary-minded crews had a rallying cry: Lights out, knife out, rough him up. Of course, they meant the officers."
NARRATOR: Within a few days, the revolution spreads like wildfire across Germany. In most major cities, so-called workers' and soldiers' councils take power. Their model is the Russian Revolution. On the ninth of November, 1918, the uprising reaches Berlin. The Reich's government fears a red revolution, and petitions the emperor to abdicate. But Wilhelm II refuses to the last to renounce the throne. At noon on the ninth of November, under pressure from the people, the chancellor finally announces to the world the arbitrary abdication of the Kaiser. Wilhelm II spends the rest of his life in exile in Holland. The war is lost. The defeated and disillusioned army returns home.
KÄTHE RODDE: "We children were let out of school to welcome the soldiers. It was terrible to see them, and these were the ones who could walk, who were in one piece. The faces, they were lifeless, like masks."
NARRATOR: On the ninth of November, Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the republic from the Reichstag in Berlin. Around two hours later, the leader of the far left Spartacus League, Karl Liebknecht, also proclaims the republic, but this time a socialist republic. The next weeks and months would decide which of the two forms of government would prevail. Civil unrest is widespread. But in the first elections, the vast majority of Germans vote for a democratic republic.