Executive council of the workers and soldiers council of Greater Berlin

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In the November Revolution of 1918, the Executive Council of the Workers 'and Soldiers' Council in Greater Berlin claimed the role of a provisional central instance of the Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils in Greater Berlin , Prussia and the Reich . His task was to control the provisional governments, the Council of People's Representatives under Friedrich Ebert at the national level and that under Paul Hirsch in Prussia, until the first Reichsräte Congress met in December 1918 . From December 1918 until its dissolution in the summer of 1919, the Executive Council continued to function as the highest instance of the Berlin councils.

Executive council meeting

prehistory

Already during the January strike of 1918, there was with the acting as strike committee action committee made up of representatives of USPD and MSPD a forerunner of the Executive Council.

At the end of October 1918, the term Executive Committee of the Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils appeared for the first time in an appeal. In this secretly acting body, the revolutionary chairmen , supplemented by Karl Liebknecht, who had just been released from prison, and politicians from the left wing of the USPD such as B. Georg Ledebour, set the tone. This illegally operating workers' council had set itself the goal of planning a revolutionary action for Berlin, so the MSPD was not represented here. However, there were also considerable differences of opinion within the left-wing socialists involved between the Spartacus supporters on the one hand and the USPD members Hugo Haase and Wilhelm Dittmann and the revolutionary stewards Richard Müller and Emil Barth on the other. There was mainly a dispute about the tactics and the date of the planned uprising. The ideas for a post-revolutionary order were also unclear.

November Revolution

On November 8th, the illegal law enforcement committee began to go public with leaflets and called a general strike. But the actual political decisions were made on November 9 and 10, 1918 by the party leaderships of the MSPD and USPD. The MSPD prevailed and with the formation of the Council of People's Representatives as a revolutionary government , the slogan "All power to the councils" was de facto rejected, because the top of the parties actually ruled here, only Emil Barth can be regarded as a representative of the actual council movement . However, when forming a government, the USPD pushed through the formulation: "The political power lies in the hands of the workers 'and soldiers' councils, which are soon called together for a general assembly from all over the Reich."

The revolutionary chairmen, who were rooted in Berlin's industrial companies, were surprised by the developments. Actually they didn't want to call for a general strike until the 11th, but the naval revolt and the revolution in Kiel had forced them to act. On November 9, two of their leaders, Emil Barth and Richard Müller, pushed through the resolution during a rather disorderly meeting of the soldiers' councils in the Reichstag that new councils should be elected the next day in the factories and barracks of the capital, which would close in the evening should meet at an assembly. These should elect a provisional government. There should be one delegate for every 1000 workers, the same applied to the military units.

The MSPD politician Otto Wels managed to get the soldiers' representatives on the line of the party. The party campaigned for workers' representatives with the slogan “No fratricidal struggle.” Conversely, Spartacus and revolutionaries called on representatives not to elect any representatives of the MSPD.

Formation of the executive council

Reich Congress of Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils in the Prussian House of Representatives in Berlin on December 16, 1918 during the opening speech of the Executive Council member and representative of the Revolutionary Obleute , Richard Müller

On the evening of November 10th, around 3,000 workers and soldiers' councils met in the Busch Circus . A legitimation check did not take place. The majority of them supported the policy of the MSPD and the formation of the Council of the People's Representative under Friedrich Ebert, which had already been decided by the parties the day before.

In the assembly something like the formation of a faction SPD, USPD, Left USPD and revolutionary Obleute / Spartakus became clear. Emil Barth requested the formation of an action committee of the general assembly and proposed representatives of the Revolutionary Obleute and the Spartakusbund as members. The aim was to create a revolutionary body to counterbalance the Council of People's Representatives and to regain the initiative for the radical left that had prepared the revolution. Instead, Ebert asked for a committee made up of members from both the USPD and the MSPD. After violent disputes, a joint committee was decided, mainly under pressure from the soldiers' representatives. The designation was different - one version was: “ Executive Council of the Workers and Soldiers Council in Berlin ”, another “ The Executive Council of the Workers and Soldiers Council of Greater Berlin .” The most common variant was “ The Executive Council of the Workers' and Soldiers Council of Greater Berlin . "

composition

The workers' committee consisted of 14 members. Of these, seven each belonged to the MSPD and the USPD. The members of the USPD were initially Emil Barth , Paul Eckert , Georg Ledebour , Richard Müller , Paul Neuendorf and Paul Wegmann . Except for Ledebour, they came from the ranks of the revolutionary chairmen. The members of the MSPD were Franz Büchel , Gustav Heller , Ernst Jülich , Max Maynz , Otto Hiob (?) And Oskar Rusch . Most of them were shop stewards close to the union. The majority of the 14 soldiers' representatives did not belong to any party. Later, Max Cohen-Reuss , a Social Democratic member of the Reichstag, joined the committee as a soldier's representative . Ernst Däumig later joined the USPD . Together the workers 'and soldiers' commissions formed the "People's Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils Greater Berlin." Richard Müller became its chairman.

The criticism of the bourgeois and social democratic press was directed against the claim of the Executive Council to speak for the whole of Germany, although it consisted only of Berliners. Therefore, on November 23, the Executive Council decided to add members from all over the Reich. In the course of time, further delegates from the various countries and military units joined. Women were initially not represented. The outstanding personalities were Max Cohen, Ernst Däumig, Georg Ledebour and especially Richard Müller.

organization

The seat of the Executive Council was the Prussian House of Representatives

The Executive Council met in plenary sessions initially every day, later on average every two days. At its first meeting on November 11th, the Executive Committee met in the Reich Chancellor's Palace . After that he had his seat in the building of the Prussian House of Representatives . Parts of the offices were housed in the former Prussian mansion . On November 12th, a secretariat was established for administrative purposes. It was headed by Paul Blumenthal from the Revolutionary Obleuten. The lawyer Dr. James Broh (USPD). A short time later, different departments were set up and representatives for certain tasks were named. Felix Stössinger became the head of the press, propaganda and news office . However, there was no clear structure overall. Despite various efforts, such as the establishment of four committees, each with an associated main office, the organization remained ineffective. Also because of the internal contradictions there could be no question of a politically and organizationally closed institution, because the MSPD representatives were fundamentally averse to the council system and worked towards a parliamentary order, the executive council was for them at most provisional. The USPD and the Obleute, on the other hand, saw the Executive Council as the head and nucleus of a soviet republic to be realized through the revolution .

Claim and Reality

ID for the member of the Executive Council Emil Barth , signed by Richard Müller and Brutus Molkenbuhr as chairmen of the council

The Provisional Government was confirmed at the first meeting of the Council. A day later, on November 12, the same thing happened to the Prussian provisional government. In the Executive Council, the representatives of the Revolutionary Obleute and the USPD, in particular Richard Müller and Ernst Däumig as masterminds, tried to implement council democratic elements for the design of the republic. The Executive Council claimed the highest authority first for the city of Berlin and then, from November 11th, that all activities of the municipalities, the states and the Reich had to be carried out “on behalf of the Executive Council of the Workers 'and Soldiers' Council”. Claims to dictatorial power and legislative and executive powers were even raised. However, in view of the Ebert-Groener Alliance , the council did not have the ability to enforce these claims . The establishment of a Red Guard soon had to be given up again in view of the resistance from the SPD and soldiers' representatives. The Council of People's Representatives has never recognized the Executive Council's comprehensive claim to competence. Executive powers were not granted to him, on the contrary, from the government's point of view, he represented something like a transitional parliament. Even within the Executive Council, the comprehensive claim could hardly be enforced because of the political contradictions: the MSPD blocked the enforcement of the Executive Council's claims to power against the Council of the People's Representative.

In many areas, however, there was agreement between the various camps of the Executive Council. There was agreement on eliminating militarism and creating a peaceful, democratic and socialist Germany. In which way this should be done, however, was controversial. Some saw a way to socialism in the creation of a parliamentary-democratic republic , others advocated the goals of the council movement and some saw Soviet Russia as a model. The disputes in the Executive Council thus reflected the unclear idea of ​​the path to be taken in the entire council movement.

Opposing forces

The executive board was not recognized by all forces. This applies first of all to the counter-revolutionary forces. At the beginning of December, high officials and officers planned to persuade Ebert to exercise a temporary dictatorship by military means in order to eliminate the councils and especially the executive council. But the Executive Council was also rejected by parts of the supporters of the MSPD. On December 6th, a group of soldiers marched to the Reich Chancellery and proclaimed Ebert president. Ebert was waiting. The demonstrators then tried to arrest the Executive Council, but unsuccessfully. As a result of the attempted coup, there were shootings on Chausseestrasse in Berlin between the soldiers, who (since November 1918) had been formed into a free corps , and demonstrating workers. 16 people were killed and twelve seriously injured in the fighting. It was the first violent confrontation between monarchist and right-wing conservative free corpse soldiers, who mainly held anti-revolutionary and anti-democratic views, and revolutionary workers since November 9th. With the Bloody Christmas 1918, the January uprising and the suppression of the March strikes, this pattern was to be repeated several times: Freikorps fought in alliance with the Social Democratic government against all attempts to accelerate or radicalize the course of the revolution. During the Christmas battles on Berlin's Schloßplatz alone , 56 soldiers from the government troops and eleven red sailors died.

Decline

The actual importance of the Executive Council as a control body of the government ended with the first Reichsräte Congress (December 16-21, 1918) and the formation of a Central Council of the German Socialist Republic .

With this, the Executive Council lost its importance throughout the empire. Its effect has since been limited to the area of ​​Berlin and the surrounding area (roughly within the boundaries of Greater Berlin, which was formed in 1920 ). The Central Council was elected for the Reich and took over the powers of the Executive Council. This, however, was boycotted by the USPD. Therefore, it consisted only of majority Social Democrats and could not counterbalance the Council of People's Representatives. Only when the importance of the Executive Council was limited, at the end of January 1919, the council-democratic tendencies could largely prevail in it. The cause was not least the introduction of proportional representation in favor of parity, which ensured a left majority. In particular, as a strike leader during the March strike of 1919, the council once again gained in importance. The strikes demanded the speedy implementation of the long-promised socialization and the anchoring of the councils in the Weimar constitution, but could not prevail. In Berlin, around 1200 people were killed in the violent suppression of the March strikes under the command of Gustav Noske. In June / August 1919, the Executive Council and the Berlin Council Movement split into supporters of the MSPD on the one hand and the USPD / KPD on the other. The MSPD Executive Council quickly fell asleep, while the Red Executive Council continued to strive to coordinate the workers 'councils (the soldiers' councils had effectively collapsed at the turn of the year). The Red Executive Council was finally dissolved by force in the summer of 1919. The Berlin works council headquarters then exhibited considerable personal, political and organizational continuity with the Executive Council . It existed until the end of 1920.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ralf Hoffrogge, Richard Müller - The Man Behind the November Revolution, Berlin 2008, p. 63ff.
  2. ↑ Ralf Hoffrogge, Richard Müller - The Man Behind the November Revolution, Berlin 2008, p. 74, p. 76ff.
  3. ↑ On Müller's role as chairman, cf. Ralf Hoffrogge, Richard Müller - The Man Behind the November Revolution, Berlin 2008, pp. 80–90ff, on Müller's criticism cf. also Materna, executive councilor, passim.
  4. ↑ http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/weimar/gewalt/freikorps/index.html
  5. ↑ http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/weimar/revolution/weihnachtskaempfe/index.html
  6. ↑ Axel Weipert: The Second Revolution. Council movement in Berlin 1919/1920.
  7. ↑ On the strike and the role of the Executive Council see in detail: Axel Weipert: The Second Revolution. Council movement in Berlin 1919/1920. Berlin 2015, pp. 41–159.
  8. ↑ For the resolution cf. Engel / Holtz / Materna, Greater Berlin Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils, Foreword Volume I and Foreword Volume III.
  9. ↑ Axel Weipert: The Second Revolution. Council movement in Berlin 1919/1920. Berlin 2015, pp. 235–255.

literature

  • Ingo Materna : The executive council of the Berlin workers 'and soldiers' councils 1918/19 . Dietz-Verlag, Berlin 1978.
  • Gerhard Engel , Bärbel Holtz, Ingo Materna (eds.): Great Berlin workers and soldiers councils in the revolution 1918/19. Documents from the General Assembly and the Executive Council. 3 volumes ,. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1993, 1997, 2003, ISBN 3-05-002247-7 , partially digitized .
  • Gerhard Engel: The "Free Democratic Fraction" in the Greater Berlin Council Movement. Left liberalism in the revolution 1918/1919, in IWK 40 (2004), no. 2, pp. 150–202.
  • Axel Weipert: The Second Revolution. Council movement in Berlin 1919/1920. Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-95410-062-0 .
  • Ralf Hoffrogge : Richard Müller. The man behind the November Revolution . Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-320-02148-1 .
  • Richard Müller : 'A History of the November Revolution', Die Buchmacherei Verlag, October 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-035400-7 . New edition of the volumes "From the Empire to the Republic", "The November Revolution", "The Civil War in Germany"
  • Erich Matthias: Between councilors and privy councilors. The German revolutionary government 1918/19, Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1970.
  • Heinrich August Winkler : Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. License issue. Book guild Gutenberg, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1993. ISBN 3-7632-4233-3 .