German Revolution

[Harold]

I have many questions about the German Revolution of 1918. But first, to my knowledge no one came to the support of the various monarchs. They were all toppled fairly easy. I know that there was street fighting among the left and right, but not necessarily to preserve the monarchs. Am I correct in this? If so, why did no one come to the aid of the Habsburgs, Hohenzollern, Wittelsbachs, etc.?

[fearghas]

Originally Posted by Harold

I have many questions about the German Revolution of 1918. But first, to my knowledge no one came to the support of the various monarchs. They were all toppled fairly easy. I know that there was street fighting among the left and right, but not necessarily to preserve the monarchs. Am I correct in this? If so, why did no one come to the aid of the Habsburgs, Hohenzollern, Wittelsbachs, etc.?

A fairly simple answer is that the Americans were against the monarchs. I kknow it is more complex than that but it was a large part of the equation. What I often wonder is why didn't the monarchs themselves fight more to stay? The Duke of Brunswick simply gave it away with out a fight.
The Grand Duke of Oldenburg thought he was safe and so rather suprised when he was toppled.
I think that the Bavarians were personally under threat of their lives.
Wasn't the Wurttemberg King the last to go? He was the one who resisted the longest anyway.
. There was thought of making the Kaisers grandson the new emperor, under a regency but BUt the US President simply refused to countenance that the monarchs should stay

[Harold]

I thought that the US was oppossed to the Kaiser in particular and to the monarchs having any actual power but not to figurehead monarchs in general?

I have also always wondered why the Wittelsbachs were the first to go and why under threat to their lives. They are so popular even to this day. Maybe there was just a minority revolutionary clique?

Thanks for the reply.

[Dierna23]

Originally Posted by Harold

I know that there was street fighting among the left and right, but not necessarily to preserve the monarchs. Am I correct in this? If so, why did no one come to the aid of the Habsburgs, Hohenzollern, Wittelsbachs, etc.?

Well, who did come to save the Romanovs? At this time I think people were fed up with monarchy after the horrible war and Wilhelm's disastrous warfare and policy. There was so much poverty and suffering in Germany at that time...

[fearghas]

And yet their popularity continued. When the King of Saxony visited Dresden sometime in the twenties he was so suprised at the raptourous welcome he received from 10s of thousands of people lining the raillines that he was heard to exclaim, "What a wonderful bunch of republicans you are".
As well, as with most revolutions, a small group of revolutionists got control for a little while and put through what they wanted, in the name of the people of course, even though the majority of people didn't really want it. After the initial emotional reaction tothe loss of the war and the human need to blame someone, I suspect that the majority of people woke up and thought, "my god what have we done?" by that time it was too late.

[Dierna23]

Originally Posted by fearghas

And yet their popularity continued. When the King of Saxony visited Dresden sometime in the twenties he was so suprised at the raptourous welcome he received from 10s of thousands of people lining the raillines that he was heard to exclaim, "What a wonderful bunch of republicans you are".

I can imagine that very well, the german people went through a identity crisis after the abdication of the Kaiser...

As well, as with most revolutions, a small group of revolutionists got control for a little while and put through what they wanted, in the name of the people of course, even though the majority of people didn't really want it. After the initial emotional reaction tothe loss of the war and the human need to blame someone, I suspect that the majority of people woke up and thought, "my god what have we done?" by that time it was too late.

Well, it wasn't really a bunch of revolutionists who got control over Germany after the abdication - further-reaching goals of the revolutionaries inspired by communist ideas failed because of the resistance of the Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership in January 1919. We got a democracy in Germany.

Kaiser Wilhelm II. was really popular until 1914, then he was despised and after 1918 and the abdication he just was forgotten. I've never heard my grandparents or great-grandparents speaking about him and I was always interested in history.

[fearghas]

Originally Posted by Dierna23

Well, it wasn't really a bunch of revolutionists who got control over Germany after the abdication - further-reaching goals of the revolutionaries inspired by communist ideas failed because of the resistance of the Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership in January 1919. We got a democracy in Germany.

No they didn't last long did they. It was communists in Bavaria that forced the King there to flee for his life during the initial revolution. Afterwards the Bavarian Royal family were able to come back and remain popular and respected, to the extent that there was a very real possibility that Rupprecht could have been reinstated during the thirties, as opposition to Hitler. Apparently there was a lot of very real support for the idea, including Rupprecht himself, yet the Bavarian Premier(?) could quite muster the courage to do it. (Not sure if that was because he was afraid of reprisals from Hitler or if he was a determined Republican who couldn't quite accept the idea.)

Kaiser Wilhelm II. was really popular until 1914, then he was despised and after 1918 and the abdication he just was forgotten. I've never heard my grandparents or great-grandparents speaking about him and I was always interested in history. [/QUOTE]
My Aunt from Bavaria knew very little about the Kaiser, and several people from other areas that I know were the same, though they did know of their particular Royal family. (Wurrtemberg, Hesse).

[DSR]

To understand the events of 1918 it may be necessary to revisit the Revolution of 1848 that put into motion forces that came to fruition after WWI. Certainly the struggle between Marxism and the monarchy can be traced to that period.