>>7934355Because I'm bored, I'll elaborate on why the widely held view of the SPD as innocent victims who tried to stop the Nazis while the KPD naively focused on beating the SPD is completely wrong. Let's run through the pivotal events of the first 5 years of the republic, from 1918-1923. Along the way, I will examine some common myths about Weimar when necessary.
Myth: The SPD was responsible for/supported the November Revolution
Several months before the November revolution, the German high command was well aware that they were going to lose the war. Ludendorff and Hindenburg shocked the Kaiser by suggesting that Germany transition to a constitutional monarchy, with the SPD as the main governing party, in order to make an offer of peace more palatable to the allies. The Kaiser came around to supporting this position, and the SPD leadership, once they were informed of the plan, agreed as well. However, Ludendorff and Hindenburg then reversed course, preferring to put this transition off for several months to try and secure a better negotiating position. It was with this coming transition in mind that the SPD heard news of the sailors' mutiny in Kiel and the formation of councils (soviets) across Germany. The leadership was mortified and sent SPD minister Gustav Noske to Kiel to talk down the mutineers. To Noske's surprise, when he arrived there the workers, incorrectly believing the SPD to be on their side, handed him leadership of the rebellion. He shrewdly accepted and began using his new position to moderate the proceedings. But he was unable to reign in the revolutionary wave, and on November 9th the Kaiser abdicated. SPD deputy Philip Scheideman soon learned that Karl Liebknecht of the breakaway Spartakusbund (soon to become the KPD) planned to declare a socialist republic from the Berliner Stadtschloss. Without authorization, Scheidemann hastily gathered a crowd outside the Reichstag and declared a new German republic, preempting Liebknecht.
