'Soviet' Bavaria

So this is one of those short historical essays that I occasionally write on German history.

Few people ever grasp this, and it's certainly not in most German history classes in US universities.   But for roughly a hundred days at the conclusion of WW I, things were in chaos.....then as bad as you might think it was going to get....around the beginning of April of 1919....the city government of Munich fell apart, and for roughly 30 days, it was 'Soviet' Bavaria and 'Soviet' Munich.

Toward the first week of November of 1918 (the war is over), the King of Bavaria has determined that a major conflict is about to break out, and he's left the region.  Kurt Eisner (head of the SPD Party in Bavaria) has assumed the leadership role (for better or worse).

The region of Bavaria?  It's been renamed to the People's State of Bavaria.  If it sounds socialistic.....it is.

The bulk of Eisner's life?  Journalist.  For a brief period, he'd insulted the Kaiser and spent some time in jail.

As the war was in it's final year....Kurt had been in the middle of things.....attempting strikes, and trying sow enough negativity....that it's not only the national government falling apart....it's the Bavarian government, and that around Munich.

From the fall of 1918, to 21 Feb 1919....Kurt ran the government.  Then on 21 Feb, Kurt was assassinated by a right-wing anarchist.    Most historians looking over this period will say that things were pretty bad already, but this situation really split up everybody in Munich and created a chaotic mess.

So enters Erhard Auer (the Interior Minister under Eisner).  I suspect that Auer was going to lay down the various reasons for his need to step up and take charge.  But an odd thing happened.  A rumor got out that Auer had arranged for the assassination of Kurt  Eisner.  This rumor (for the telling of this story) has never been proven and is unlikely.  But most people on the streets of Bavaria believed that Auer had done something.

So an assassination attempt occurs on Auer (and fails).  There's at least one person killed in this chaos, with a number of folks disappearing, and historians say that at least two of the city officials had some kind of nervous breakdown.

In this two week period in Munich....it's safe to say that no one is in charge, and it's a fairly big mess.  Then there's this meeting, where Johannes Hoffman steps up and is appointed by the Party to lead things.

Hoffman is a fairly weird character.  For a brief period, he was a school teacher.  He was also a anti-war activist.  Things might have been OK in this rebuilding of confidence stage, but roughly four weeks into this new leadership.....Hungary goes through an overnight revolution.  The head of this Hungarian revolution then calls upon an imaginary Bavarian 'Soviet' or 'Red' Army to take charge.

Hoffman?  He has no idea who this 'Red' Army is, but the fear is there, and in a matter of hours, he's packed up and run off to Bamberg (roughly a 3-hour ride by train, north of Munich).

The new boss of Munich?  Well, this is the curious part of the story....a playwright by the name of Ernst Toller. Left-wing radical?  Yes, to the far extreme.

Toller's description of this period?  The Bavarian Revolution of Love.  Yeah, it's a catchy title for a musical or opera.

Toller is selecting people who are probably borderline 'nutcases' (my term).  The head of the Bavarian military?  A former butler.  The new head of Bavaria's police?  A guy known for convictions (mostly for breaking into houses).

The length of the Toller 'regime'?  Well....six days.  On 19 March 1919, the Toller period comes to an end.  At this point, the Communist Party in Munich has a meeting and seizes power on the 12th of April.

Eugene Levine now becomes the sixth 'boss' of Munich in six months.  At this point, reforms start occuring on an hour by hour basis....like the seizing of cash from banks, and the seizure of food from any community grocery or products shop.

Oddly enough, there's an order given that all factory and industry workers in Bavaria will need to receive military training (means weapons training).

Somewhere in the mix of this short period, an order is given (handed down by Lenin) to arrest and detain anyone having status or wealth.  You can imagine the effect of this order and the immediate fear that starts up in Munich.

So by the afternoon of the 13th (roughly 36 hours into this new extreme government)....some members of Munich's society, along with the police, attempt a coup. It fails (at least 20 dead and scores wounded).

There's a major battle (combined, near 38,000 men shooting) five days later at Dachau (a suburb of Munich).  The counter-communists folks are out-numbered on this day. With a day or two after this battle, 20,000 Freikorps troops arrive from the federal government. 

The Communists are now having issues, and the 'war' is coming to a close.

Executions on the street?  Historians argue over this, but most agree that a minimum of 1,000 pro-Communists were executed.

Several months pass, and on 14 August 1919....the Bamberg Constitution is written into form, and the Weimar Republic comes to exist.

Had this counter-attempt failed?  Well....Soviet Bavaria would have existed, and likely flipped the other states of Germany into a revolution.  All of Germany a Soviet state?  Yes.

The story worth a major epic movie?  Yes, if you bring up most of this....even most Germans (unless you grew up in Munich) haven't heard much of this period, or the executions done on the streets of Munich in 1919.