Free Socialist Republic of Germany
Free Socialist Republic of Germany Freie Sozialistische Republik Deutschland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918–1919 | |||||||||
| Motto: "Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch!" "Workers of the world, unite!" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Die Internationale The Internationale | |||||||||
| Status | Unrecognized state | ||||||||
| Capital | Berlin | ||||||||
| Common languages | German | ||||||||
| Government | Soviet Republic | ||||||||
| Karl Liebknecht | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | November 9 1918 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1919 | ||||||||
| Currency | German paper mark (ℳ) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of |  Germany | ||||||||
The Free Socialist Republic of Germany (German: Freie Sozialistische Republik Deutschland) was a Socialist State established in Berlin in November of 1918 and it was ended in 1919.
History
[change | change source]
In the afternoon of 9 November 1918 at about 4 p.m., Karl Liebknecht proclaimed the "Free Socialist Republic of Germany" in the Lustgarten in front of the Berlin Palace. Standing on the roof of a vehicle, he said:
The day of revolution has come. We have compelled the peace. At this moment peace is concluded. The old is no more. The rule of the Hohenzollerns, who for centuries lived in this palace, is over. In this hour we proclaim the Free Socialist Republic of Germany. We salute our Russian brothers who four days ago were shamefully chased away[1] ... Through this gate will enter the new socialist freedom of workers and soldiers. We want to raise the red flag of the Free Republic of Germany on the site where the emperor's standard flew![2]
After the troops surrounding the Palace had abandoned their posts in the face of the growing crowd, Liebknecht spoke a second time from the large window of Portal IV directly above the gate.[3] The speech was reproduced in the Vossische Zeitung as follows:
"Party comrades, ... the day of freedom has dawned. Never again will a Hohenzollern set foot on this square. Seventy years ago, Frederick William IV stood here on the same spot and had to take off his cap in the face of the procession of those who had fallen on the barricades of Berlin for the cause of freedom, in the face of fifty blood-covered corpses. Another procession is passing by here today. They are the ghosts of the millions who gave their lives for the sacred cause of the proletariat. With split skulls, bathed in blood, these victims of tyranny stagger by, and they are followed by the ghosts of millions of women and children who perished in grief and misery for the cause of the proletariat. And millions and millions of blood sacrifices to the world war follow them. Today an immense crowd of enthusiastic proletarians stands in the same place to pay homage to the new freedom. Party comrades, I proclaim the Free Socialist Republic of Germany, which shall embrace all communities, in which there will be no more servants, in which every honest worker will find the honest reward for his labor. The rule of capitalism, which has turned Europe into a field of corpses, is broken. We call back our Russian brothers.[1] They said to us when they left: 'If you have not achieved in a month what we have achieved, we will turn our backs on you.' And now it has taken barely four days. Even though the old has been torn down, ... we must not believe that our task is done. We must exert all our forces to build the government of the workers and soldiers and create a new state order of the proletariat, an order of peace, happiness and freedom for our German brothers and our brothers throughout the world. We extend our hands to them and call upon them to complete the world revolution. Whoever among you wants to see the Free Socialist Republic of Germany and the world revolution fulfilled, raise his hand in oath."
All hands rose and shouts resounded: "Hail the Republic!" After the applause died away, a soldier standing next to Liebknecht ... shouted: "Long live its first president, Liebknecht!" Liebknecht then concluded:
"We are not there yet. President or not, we must all stand together to realize the ideal of the republic. Hail to freedom and happiness and peace!"[4][2]
The Berlin newspapers reported on Liebknecht's proclamation even more extensively than on Scheidemann's speech.[5] His words, however, did not have a lasting effect since the left wing of the revolutionaries did not have a sufficient power base and continued to lose influence after the suppression of the Spartacist uprising in January 1919. It was not until the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was founded in 1949 that Liebknecht's proclamation was included in one part of Germany's tradition-building. Portal IV of the Berlin Palace was salvaged during the building's post-war demolition and integrated into the new State Council building as the "Liebknecht Portal".[3]
References
[change | change source]- 1 2 On 5 November the German government broke off diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia.
- 1 2 "Liebknecht an das Volk 9. November 1918" [Liebknecht to the People 9 November 1918]. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- 1 2 Juhnke, Dominik; Prokasky, Judith; Sabrow, Martin (2018). Mythos der Revolution. Karl Liebknecht, das Berliner Schloss und der 9. November 1918 [Myth of the Revolution. Karl Liebknecht, the Berlin Palace and 9 November 1918] (in German). Munich: Hanser Verlag. pp. 83–89, 121–125. ISBN 978-3-446-26089-4.
- ↑ Ritter, Gerhard A.; Miller, Susanne, eds. (1968). Die deutsche Revolution 1918–1919. Dokumente [The German Revolution 1918–1919. Documents] (in German) (2nd ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer.
- ↑ Jessen-Klingenberg 1968, p. 652.