The New York Times/1918/11/11/Germany Transformed Within a Week
Germany Transformed Within a Week; Socialist Deputies Leading Revolt
By GEORGE RENWICK.
Copright, 1918, by The New York Times Company.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
AMSTERDAM, Nov. 10.—From all parts of the Kaiserless Empire come reports of the astonishingly rapid spread of the Socialistic revolution. It is in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, that matters appear to have moved with the greatest speed. There a Socialist Government, with Herr Kurt Eisner, a well-known Socialist at its head, has been formed, a republic has been proclaimed and the garrison has placed itself under the orders of the new powers that be.
The movement was rapidly successful at Hanover, where all the trains bound for the front were stopped and the soldiers and their officers were disarmed. The movement completely conquered Oldenburg, and at Schwerin the Grand Duke received the members of the Soldiers' and Workers' Council, who informed him that the whole province of Mecklenburg has gone over to the Socialist revolution.
Throughout the Rhine industrial region the movement is now spreading like wildfire. From Essen and many other places many people in their alarm are trekking toward Holland. At the Krupp Works many thousands of foreign workers have been dismissed and thousands of others have stopped work. A council has also been formed there, and Socialist patrols are said to be surrounding the Krupp Works with a machine gun detachment.
At Crefeld a great Socialist meeting demanded that all munition factories immediately suspend work.
Sudden End to Autocracy.
An astounding week in Germany is ending in a remarkable blaze of historic events. In seven short days the German people have effectively burst the fetters of the tyrannous, autocratic rule which had bound them for so many generations.
The Socialist revolution has swept with extraordinary success and remarkable rapidity through practically the whole country. That Germany which plunged Europe into war has, in short, been beaten far more thoroughly than even the most optimistic ever hoped would be the case. As this historic week ends it may be said to have been wiped out.
Kaiserism is dead. Today its great champion, Kaiser William II., abdicated, together with the Crown Prince. Prince Max of Baden will be Regent, and Herr Ebert will be the new Chancellor. An immediate general election will be held in order to bring together a national gathering to decide upon the future constitution of the country. There can be little doubt that a German republic will be called into existence.
The Socialist leader Sollman declared that a Soldiers' and Workers' Council had been formed and had established itself in the City Hall. He proclaimed the Council's demands to be as follows:
1. The immediate ending of the war.
2. A German Social Democratic Republic.
3. The release of all political and military prisoners.
4. The abolition of the military salute.
5. The army to be made a real people's army.
6. The abdication of the Hohenzollerns and all the German Princes.
Solcialist Council's Demands.
Some speakers, amid a good deal of applause, advocated Bolshevist methods.
While the meeting was being held disorders took place in various parts of the city, especially in the markets, where a great deal of food was carried off by the crowds.
In the afternoon the whole garrison announced its adhesion to the movement.
During the afternoon strong measures were taken to restore order, and these were successful. The Law Courts were shut down. Deputations from other cities arrived in the course of the day and had a tremendous popular reception.
The city presents a curious aspect, lavishly decked as it is with red flags and streamers. Soldiers and civilians have their caps and hats decked with red. Wherever crowds gather together loud cheers are raised for a Socialist republic.
The Chief Burgomaster has announced his agreement with the Council's demands.
In Hamburg the movement is reported to have taken one peculiar feature, in that very considerable enmity is now being shown against the more moderate Socialist elements.
The Fed Flag, formerly the Hamburger Echo, organ of the Soldiers' and Workers' Council, prints an order issued by the Council warning people against adhering to what appears to be a countermovement by the Moderates. The Bourgeos press has been forbidden to print appeals from that quarter, which seems to consist mainly of trade union elements.
The Cologne Volks-Zeitung hints that it is probable that the extremists may be overcome by the older Socialist Party and by the trade unions, and the movement will have less revolutionary character.
In all other ports the movement continues in being.
Hamburg Crowds Cheer Wilson.
Nov. 8.—Germany is in the throes of a revolutionary movement, which began early this week and which has spread and is still spreading with great rapidity, becoming more and more openly revolutionary in character. Both the Socialist parties have now been drawn into it. Berlin was quiet today, but action by the Socialists there is expected at any time.
A traveler arriving from Hamburg tells me that the movement there is frankly revolutionary. He heard the crowds cheering the Entente and President Wilson.
That the Socialist Majority Party has placed itself at the head of the German revolution is shown by a manifesto published this morning in Vorwärts. In the early hours this manifesto created a tremendous sensation throughout the capital, and the excitement is reported to have grown with every hour since. It is as follows:
"Workers and Party Comrades: Peace is assured. Within a few hours the armistice will begin, so let there be no thoughtless actions which may cause the bloodshed, now stopping at the front, to begin again at home. The Socialist Party is putting all its strength into the work of securing the speediest concession to its demands. To that end the executives of the Socialist Party and of the Reichstag faction of the Socialist Party have placed the following demands before the Imperial Chancellor:
"1. Permission to be given for holding those gatherings today which had been prohibited.
"2. Instructions to be given to the police and military authorities that they must exercise the greatest circumspection.
"3. Abdication of the Kaiser and the Crown Prince before midday of Friday.
"4. Strengthening of the Socialist influence in the Government.
"5. Reorganization of the Prussian Cabinet according to the policy of the Reichstag majority parties.
"If before Friday, Nov. 8, at noon, no satisfactory answer has been received the Socialist members of the Government will resign.
"Workers, wait for further announcement from us in the course of Friday afternoon."
The manifesto is signed by the executives of the Socialist Party and the Reichstag faction of the party.
I believe the Socialist terms were handed to the Chancellor yesterday afternoon about 4 o'clock, so that Prince Max had twenty hours in which to concede the demands.
At meetings all over the country resolutions have been passes demanding the Kaiser's abdication, and these resolutions have been pouring in upon the Government. Especially in South Germany has the demand for his going been of a particularly clamant nature, and press utterances on the matter became increasingly plain spoken. As far as can be gathered, a majority of the people favor a regency. But it cannot be denied that the demand for a republic is growing, especially since the ports burst into revolution. The Kaiserin is said to have been keenly in favor of abdication.
"Kiel is in the hands of German terrorists," says the Bremen Weser Zeitung, and the latest news showns that the statement is not exaggerated. A message dated yesterday says that the house of Captain Heine, Town Commandant, was entered at night by a naval patrol. The sailors demanded that the Captain should come with them. When he refused he was shot dead on the spot. The Soldiers' Council expressed regret for the incident, for which it disclaims responsibility.
The general strike which began Tuesday still continued yesterday. The patrols in the town have been strengthened and the red flag has been hoisted on the City Hall. Kiel is entirely cut off from the rest of Germany. The telegraph, telephone, and railway services of the town have been suspended. No letters are being delivered.
The Soldiers' Council issued another proclamation yesterday, reporting acceptance by State Secretary Haussmann, on behalf of the Government, of a large number of conditions. Some of them I have already reported, while others are that the fleet must not leave Kiel under any circumstances; that there must be complete freedom of speech; that the censorship of letters must be abolished, and that there shall be no more superior officers. There are several other terms by which apparently all power in Kiel passes into the hands of the Soldiers' Council.
Similar events have taken place at Hamburg, Lübeck, Flensburg, near Kiel, and Cuxhaven.
The trouble began on Tuesday in Hamburg with the arrival there of a torpedo boat, flying the red flag. Shortly afterward thousands of workers of numerous firms laid down their tools and began to demonstrate in the streets. At the stations they prevented the departure of soldiers whose leaves had expired, and many of these soldiers joined the demonstrators.
While this was going on a Soldiers' and Workers' Council was formed, patrols were placed on the streets, and guards put over the public buildings. Here and there fights took place, and altogether, it appears, about twelve people were killed and twenty wounded during the day.
In the afternoon all the ships in port were ordered to hoist the red flag, after which all the sailors left the ships. By this time the demonstrators numbered about 15,000, among them being a large number of women. Their next act was to disarm all the police and take possession of the barracks. At the infantry barracks there was a warm exchange of shots for a considerable time. Eventually the officers came out and surrendered the building.
In Altona, adjoining Hamburg, a Soldiers' Council also was formed, and the two councils entered into negotiations with the local military command, which, as at Kiel, agreed to the demonstrators' demands. The councils then took possession of the military command offices.
All military and naval prisoners in Hamburg and Altona have been set at liberty. The well-known Independent Socialist Deputy, William Dittman, is acting with the demonstrators there, while at Kiel Herr Noake placed himself at the head of the Soldiers' Council.
How Bremen Rising Started.
Nov. 7—(Midnight.)—News late tonight from Hamburg shows that Hamburg and its suburb, Altona, are completely in the hands of the revolutionaries. Military posts, with red flags, hold all the important points with machine guns and all the soldiers wear red bands on their arms. It is reckoned that there are 18,000 soldiers in Hamburg along, who placed themselves under orders of the Soldiers' Council.
So far the reports from Bremen are brief, but it is not thought that the revolutionaries there have the situation fully in their control. Matters did not move there until Tuesday. On that day a train brought 500 marine who were going to Wilhelmshaven to escord prisoners to a camp at Münster. They left the train at Bremen, however, and marched into the city in large numbers.
The people joined them on their march to the barracks where the guards were disarmed. While this was being done, another crowd marched to the City Hall, and there from a balcony speeches were delivered, the burden of which was a demand for a Socialist Republic. A Soldiers' and Workers' Council was then formed, and the commander of the garrison was told that this body was assuming entire control of the city.
Yet another crowd marched to the prison with the intention of releasing all military and civilian prisoners, but these had been set at libery before the revolutionaries arrived. Not many workers appear to have gone on strike, but discussions are reported to be proceeding between employers and workmen in Bremen.
Liebknecht is directing matters and the whole Independent Socialist Party appears to have linked itself up definitely with the movement. In the evening the revolutionaries had the city bells rung in token of the dawn of the new freedom.
Small demonstrations are just reported from the northern districts of Berlin.