The German Revolution

1. Using the documents in Chapter 1 as evidence, list the ways in which conditions in Germany worsened during the war.

• Woman complaining of high price of food (large inflation) & want 'their men' back from the trenches
• Lack of food - ships couldn't get through
• "Turnip Winter" - no coal, gas, light, food
• Little to no glory in the soldiers making the battles weaker

2. Give two reasons why the war caused such bad conditions for German civilians.

• Food shortages - blockades from cargo ships and the fact that the army needed the food so they took it from the civilians (malnutrition from the number of calories they were receiving)
• There was a large inflation causing prices of everyday items to heighten

3. After reading Chapter 2, give two reasons why Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on November 10, 1918.

• Revolutions that he couldn't control started to take place
• Army stopped supporting him

4. Using the information you have read in this chapter, give evidence to support the statement that there was "revolution all over Germany."

The is a lot of support to the statement that there was "revolution all over Germany". One example is that the people that are supposed to be fighting for the country, the navy, are now revolting and protesting against it. They start to move to the land with mutiny all over Germany.

5. Study the information about the German Socialists in Chapter 2, page 5. What did the three Socialist groups have in common?

All three socialist groups had aimed to improve workers' conditions and to give democratic rights to the citizens of Germany.

6. In what ways were the Socialist groups different.

The socialist groups had different methods.

Social Democratic Party - support government & make reforms by acts of parliament

The Independent Socialists - oppose government & make reforms with strikes

The Spartacists - overthrow government in revolution & workers would make reforms

7. After reading Chapter 3 make a time chart of the events of the German Revolution from Nov. 10, 1918 to Jan. 15, 1919. You should be able to find six events.

November 10, 1918

Early/Mid December - Social Democrats shot into the crowd of a Spartacist gathering/demonstration killing 16

Late December (23?) - Underpaid sailors hold Elbert hostage at gunpoint demanding for more pay

January 1 - Spartacists changed their name to Communist Party of Germany

January 6 - Communist Party of Germany (Spartacists) start revolution

January 10 - Ebert's Free Corps fighters attacked back in the streets of Berlin for three days

January 15, 1919 - Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht arrested, tortured, and killed by Ebert's fighters

8. At what time would you say the Communists had their best chance of seizing power? Explain your answer.

I would say that the Communists had their best chance at seizing power right when the civilians were paying for the war. With the ideas of Communism that would have probably been very appealing to the people having to live in the conditions of Germany at the time of the war. Mostly because of the high costs and poor amounts of food that were circulating to most of the civilians.