The German Revolution, 1917-1923

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On 12 October 1923, Grigory Zinoviev, president of the Communist International wrote the following in Pravda: The German events are developing with the inexorability of fate. The path which it took the Russian Revolution twelve years to cover, from 1906 to 1917, will have taken the German Revolution five years, from 1918 to 1923. The proletarian revolution is knocking at Germany s door; you would have to be blind not to see it. Very soon, everyone will see that this autumn of 1923 is a turning-point, not just for the history of Germany, but for the history of the whole world. In fact, far from being on the point of triumphing, the German Revolution was on the verge of an irredeemable disaster which would soon inflict terrible consequences on Germany and the world. In this magisterial work, first published 1971 and still unsurpassed, Pierre Broue meticulously reconstitutes the six decisive years during which between ultra-leftism and opportunism, sectarianism and revisionism, activism and passivity the German revolutionaries attempted to begin a new chapter in the history of the proletariat." Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms Foreword to the English Edition Preface Chapter One: The Battlefield Chapter Two: Social Democracy Before 1914 Chapter Three: The Lefts in German Social Democracy PART ONE: FROM WAR TO REVOLUTION: THE VICTORY AND DEFEAT OF ULTRA-LEFTISM Chapter Four: The War and the Crisis of Social Democracy Chapter Five: The Foundation of the Independent Social-Democratic Party Chapter Six: The Rise of the Revolutionary Movement Chapter Seven: Problems of the World Revolution Chapter Eight: The November Revolution Chapter Nine: The Period of Dual Power Chapter Ten: The Crisis in the Socialist Movement Chapter Eleven: The Foundation of the Communist Party of Germany Chapter Twelve: The Uprising of January 1919 PART TWO: THE ATTEMPT TO DEFINE THE ROLE OF A COMMUNIST PARTY Chapter Thirteen: The Noske Period Chapter Fourteen: Stabilisation in Germany and World Revolution Chapter Fifteen: The Communist Party After January 1919 Chapter Sixteen: The Ultra-Left Opposition and the Split Chapter Seventeen: The Problem of Centrism Chapter Eighteen: The Kapp Putsch Chapter Nineteen: The Communist Party at the Crossroads Chapter Twenty: Moscow and the German Revolutionaries Chapter Twenty-One: The Great Hopes of 1920 Chapter Twenty-Two: Paul Levi: A German Conception of Communism Chapter Twenty-Three: The First Steps of the Unified Communist Party Chapter Twenty-Four: The Split in the Italian Socialist Party Chapter Twenty-Five: The March Action Chapter Twenty-Six: Aftermath of a Defeat Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Moscow Compromise PART THREE: FROM THE CONQUEST OF THE MASSES TO A DEFEAT WITHOUT A FIGHT Chapter Twenty-Eight: Unity Preserved With Difficulty Chapter Twenty-Nine: A New Start Chapter Thirty: The Rapallo Turn Chapter Thirty-One: For the United Front Against Poverty and Reaction Chapter Thirty-Two: The 'Mass Communist Party' Chapter Thirty-Three: The Workers' Government Chapter Thirty-Four: The Development of the Tactic Chapter Thirty-Five: The Occupation of the Ruhr Chapter Thirty-Six: Crisis in the KPD Chapter Thirty-Seven: An Unprecedented Pre-Revolutionary Situation Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Overthrow of the Cuno Government Chapter Thirty-Nine: Preparing the Insurrection Chapter Forty: Moscow's View of the German Revolution Chapter Forty-One: The German October Chapter Forty-Two: Aftermath of Another Defeat PART FOUR: AN UNDERTAKING CONDEMNED BY HISTORY? Chapter Forty-Three: History and Politics Chapter Forty-Four: Grafting Bolshevism onto German Stock Chapter Forty-Five: Paul Levi: The Lost Opportunity? Chapter Forty-Six: Karl Radek: The Confusion of Styles? Chapter Forty-Seven: Balance Sheet of a Defeat Chronology Bibliography Biographical Details