How they killed Spartacists. Bloody suppression of the January Uprising in Berlin
As you know, the initial episode of the November Revolution was the appearance of sailors in Kiel on November 4, 1918. German sailors fleetOutraged by the attempt of the naval command to send ships to attack the British fleet, which would mean the certain death of German ships with crews, they rebelled. At first, the authorities arrested about a thousand disgruntled sailors, but then, when most of the crews rebelled, the arrested were released. Kiel was in the hands of the rebels, who formed the Soviets of sailors, and messengers dispersed throughout Germany, reporting the beginning of revolutionary uprisings in Kiel. This news was gladly received by the Communists from the Spartak group, the left wing of the Social Democrats and the anarchists. In the cities of the country began to create workers' councils. Seeing that the revolution in Germany is inevitable, and fearing that the country could follow the path of Soviet Russia, the country's leadership took a restrained decision. 9 November 1918 announced the Kaiser’s abdication of the Prussian and imperial thrones, a new government was formed headed by Frederick Ebert (pictured) - the leader of the Social Democrats, who were in moderate positions. However, this event did not entail an immediate stabilization of the political situation in the country. In a number of German cities, clashes continued, the most violent of which were the Christmas battles in Berlin 23-25 December 1918.
The end of December 1918 was marked by the creation of the Communist Party of Germany, which was to play a very important role in the political life of the country over the next two decades. The core of the Union of Spartacus, which emerged from the left wing of the Social Democrats, became the core of the Communist Party of Germany. Her main ideologue was Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919, pictured) - a well-known political figure, philosopher and economist who was in anti-war positions during World War I (for which she was persecuted by the German authorities). The Communist Party was destined to lead the "Rise of the Spartacists" that began in the first days of January 1919. The formal reason for the new revolutionary uprising was the decision of 4 of January 1919 by the head of government Friedrich Ebert to dismiss the policeman of Berlin Emil Eichhorn, a representative of the left wing of the Communist journalist and politician from the post. Representatives of the left wing of the Social Democrats and the Communists were very unhappy with the resignation of Eichhorn. January 5 1919 in Berlin began a grand demonstration of independent Social Democrats and Communists, in which about 150 thousands of people participated. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of the Ebert government, which they accused of being a counter-revolutionary.
In the evening of the same day, groups of demonstrators seized the buildings of a number of German newspapers. For the leadership of the speech, the Provisional Revolutionary Committee was formed, which included representatives of the left wing of the Independent Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Germany. The majority in the committee were independent social democrats. The leaders of independent social democrats and communists did not plan to seize power in the country in their own hands these days. They sought to avoid violence during protests. But since the majority of ordinary protesters were much more radical, the leaders had no choice but to proclaim a policy of overthrowing the Ebert government. This slogan was raised by the leaders of the KPD Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Against the anti-government uprising, the Bolshevik emissary Karl Radek came out, who arrived in Berlin in mid-December 1918. He insisted on the fallacy of the KKE’s policy and demanded that the party abandon plans to overthrow the Social Democratic government.
- Demonstration 5 January 1919 g
While the communist and social democratic leaders were arguing about whether or not to demand the overthrow of the government, the Provisional Revolutionary Committee again called on the working people of Berlin to demonstrate. It took place on January 6 and gathered even more participants than the previous performance. Although part of the revolutionary activists were set up for an armed uprising, they did not manage to enlist the support of military units and divisions. Despite the fact that left-wing radical sentiments were also very strong in the troops, the city garrison preferred to maintain neutrality. The soldiers did not suppress the workers who spoke, but they were not going to join them. Even sailors from the People’s Marine Division, known for their radical positions, did not support the performance. Thus, the speech was left without substantial support from the military, and this very moment alone showed that in the near future it would end in failure.
However, the leaders of the speech were in no hurry to show revolutionary determination. For example, the very Emil Eichhorn, whose dismissal started the first demonstration, refused to open weapons warehouses and arm working squads. Negotiations were started with government representatives, and Karl Kautsky, the most famous and oldest political figure of the Social Democratic Party, acted as an intermediary. In the meantime, the Ebert government, after deliberations, decides to suppress a speech threatening his power with military force.
Gustav Noske, a prominent Social Democrat, a veteran of the party, was appointed to lead the uprising. Noske himself was a worker - from the age of fourteen he worked as a basket weaver, in 1884 he joined the Social Democrats, became one of the founders of the trade union of weavers and woodworkers. In 1906, the labor leader Noske was first elected to the Reichstag. In the German parliament, he was responsible for military and colonial issues. During the First World War, supported the patriotic line, like most other right-wing Social Democrats. It was Gustav Noske who managed to establish a dialogue with the rebel sailors in Kiel in November 1918, and to achieve a normalization of the situation in the city. This contributed to the further growth of the influence of Noske in the German government. Ebert instructed him to answer for military questions. Therefore, when mass demonstrations began in Berlin in January 1919, Noske was assigned to assemble military units loyal to the government and prepare them to suppress the uprising.
Subordinate Noske troops were concentrated in Dalem - a suburb of Berlin. It was here that Noske assembled the units that were to become the grave-diggers of the “Spartacist Rebellion”. While the government was preparing punitive forces to suppress the speeches, the revolutionary leaders did not dare to take more radical actions. This gave the government of Ebert a very big advantage. 11 January 1919, a compound of 2-3 numbers of thousands of soldiers under the command of Gustav Noske entered Berlin. The first thing to be done was to release the Forverts newspaper and the Berlin Police Bureau. Revolutionary activists tried to send their representatives to the negotiations with the commanders of the units, but the soldiers of Noske ruthlessly dealt with the parliamentarians. They were beaten to death, captured activists were shot.
The brutality of Gustav Noske, a Social Democrat and a hereditary worker, to his, in essence, class brothers and political ideology, was impressive. The speeches of the independent Social Democrats and the Communists in Berlin were suppressed with such incredible cruelty, which the Kaiser government did not decide at the time. January 15 The uprising leaders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were also in the hands of the punishers. Their detention and interrogation was led by Captain Waldemar Pabst (pictured) - the commander of the volunteer corps, Freikor, known for his right-wing beliefs. A participant in the First World War, since 1919, Pabst served in the Guards Cavalry Rifle Division. When Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht fell into the hands of Pabst and his people, he gathered the officers of the unit and held a meeting where it was decided to deal with the leaders of the Communist Party of Germany. It is known that this massacre was sanctioned by Gustav Noske himself, who could not but be informed about the capture of the highest-ranking communist leaders. He was aware of the impending murder of the leaders of the KKE and the head of government, Friedrich Ebert, with whom Captain Pabst had a telephone conversation.
During the interrogation, both Luxembourg and Liebknecht were severely beaten with a rifle butt. The ex-welder 44-year-old Otto Runge, who served as a private hussar in the Guards Cavalry Rifle Division, directly beaten up. After Liebknecht and Luxembourg were beaten unconscious, they were shot dead. The headshot of Karl Liebknecht was made by Lieutenant Rudolf Lipman - a cavalry officer, before the war - a lawyer, a native of a wealthy family of Jewish origin. Rosa Luxemburg was shot by Lieutenant Hermann Souchon - a naval officer who volunteered to join the frykor Captain Pabst after the war. In addition, it is known that Captain Horst von Pflugk-Hartung and Lieutenants Heinrich Stiege and Kurt Vogel took part in the massacre of Liebknecht and Luxembourg. The murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht put a bloody end to the defeat of the January uprising of the Spartacists.
The defeat of the uprising in Berlin and the death of Liebknecht and Luxembourg were the strongest blows to the communist movement of Germany. By the way, it is worth mentioning the fate of the direct killers of Liebknecht and Luxembourg. Captain Waldemar Pabst (1880-1970) lived a very long and, in a sense, successful life. After the defeat of the Kappa putsch, he left for Austria, where he participated in the creation and development of the Austro-fascist movement, then returned to Germany, where he headed the Society for the Study of Fascism. Pabst never joined the NSDAP, moreover - sometimes clouds "gathered over him", but the captain always managed to get out of the water dry. He even had to emigrate to Switzerland. During the war, he was engaged in organizing the supply of weapons for the Wehrmacht. Pabst returned to his homeland only in the 1955 year and until the end of his life he was engaged in the arms trade. He died at the age of ninety in the year 1970 - half a century after the massacre of Liebknecht and Luxembourg.
Lieutenant Hermann Souchon, who shot Rosa Luxemburg, emigrated to Finland - after the authorities of the Weimar Republic nevertheless tried to bring him to criminal responsibility for the murder of the communist leaders. In 1933, he returned to Germany, served in the Luftwaffe, where he rose to the rank of colonel. Participated in the Second World War, then lived in Germany, led the Protestant social organization. Souchon also lived to a very old age and died in the year 1982 at the age of 87. Almost until the end of his life, he maintained contacts with German neo-Nazis.
Private Otto Runge, who beat Liebknecht and Luxembourg with his butt, was less fortunate. He retired in 1941, and in 1945, he was arrested in Berlin by Soviet troops and soon, on September 1, 1945, died under arrest. Lieutenant Rudolf Lipman, the Third Reich recalled his Jewish origin - the officer was dismissed from the judicial service, despite his military merit and two Iron crosses. Soon he left for the USA, his further traces are lost.
Gustav Noske, who directly led the uprising, was dismissed from public service after Adolf Hitler came to power. But he was regularly paid his pension. In 1944, Noske was arrested for participating in the Social Democratic underground. He came out two weeks before the capture of Berlin. The following year, 1946, the 78-year-old politician passed away. He continued until the last to defend the line accusing Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, as well as the Communists and left-wing Social Democrats in general, being alien to the interests of the German working class.
The main problem of the rebels, which manifested itself already in the first hours of the speech, was the lack of a clear program of action and strong leaders who could lead. Germany did not give its own Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The leaders of the independent social democrats and the communists hesitated, is it worth starting an armed uprising, does it make sense to seize power? These fluctuations played into the hands of the government, which took advantage of the temporary advantage and was able to organize in the suburbs of the capital a camp of loyal to the government troops recruited from frikor fighters who, for the most part, held far-right views.
The most important reason for the defeat of the workers' speeches was the fact that he was not supported even by the left-wing sympathizers who were sympathetic to the left. The total lack of support from the military and doomed the plans of revolutionaries to failure. If in Russia in October 1917, the Bolsheviks came to power with the direct support of the revolutionary soldiers and sailors who played a major role in the revolution, in Berlin, January 1919, the situation developed quite differently. Subsequently, many eyewitnesses to the events said that the rebels had every chance in the evening of January 5 to take power in Berlin into their own hands. Who knows how the turn would turn stories?
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