'Revolution from below'

• • military defeat was accompanied by economic collapse
  • prices for everyday goods was rising and people were dying from starvation and hypothermia
  • 293,000 died in 1918
• • shock of defeat and the economic crisis led to a mutiny in the German fleet at the North German port of Kiel
  • mutiny quickly spread and soldiers joined workers in establishing revolutionary councils in Germany's major cities
  • rebels demanded the abdication of the kaiser, who was blamed for starting the war and not trusted to negotiate a fair peace
• • November 9 - the king abdicates
  • brought an end to the German monarchy and therefore caused a more radical change than the 'revolution from above'
  • it led to a creation of a republican government led by a l/w coalition
  • Friedrich Ebert, leader of SPD, established a provisional coalition government until elections could be held for a National Constituent Assembly - their job was to create a new constitution