Political FOCUS

• The USPD members opposed Ebert's new government and broke away. USPD police chief in Berlin opposed an order to crush a sailor's pay demonstration by force.
• Liebknecht and Luxembourg:

  • gave out speeches
  • occupied SPD newspaper offices
  • Ebert called on Noske who used freikorps units to crush them. Fighting broke out, 100 killed including the leaders.
• Spartacist Uprising:

  • Wave of strikes in Halle and Ruhr area. They demanded workers' control over industry. Freikorps crushed them. 1,200 killed in Berlin and 700 in Bavaria
  • Red army of 50,000 formed. Occupied the Ruhr creating civil war against the Freikorps and general army
  • USDP voted to join KPD, increasing their membership by 400,000
  • of 22 political assassins, 10 were sentenced to death
• Following the Kapp Putsch, they organised themselves into Patriotic Leagues. 354 political assassinations, one was Haase who was killed infront of the Reichstag. Law for Protection of the Republic' was passed to place severe penalties on murderers. However due to the right-wing sympathies of the judges, 326 went unpunished.
• Following Stresemann's end to passive resistance, state governor of Bavaria and Commander in chief of the Bavarian army, Kahr and Lossow, considered overthrowing the government.
• Hitler turned the German Worker's Party into the NSDAP, which had a membership of 55,000. Lossow and Kahr were unconvinced by this and used the police to crush his Beer Hall Putsch. He filled the hall with SA men, there was a gun battle with the police but the Nazis lost. The Nazi Party was banned and Hitler was imprisoned for 9 months.