And the Kaiser abdicates Part 11

"Inst.i.tutions of this kind conflict with the existing state order and endanger the public safety.

"Under paragraph 9b of the law regarding a state of siege I forbid any formation of such a.s.sociations and the partic.i.p.ation therein."

This was the last order issued by the military authorities in Berlin. A counterpiece was the last anti-revolutionary order issued by the old police authorities, which forbade eight ma.s.s meetings which the Independent Socialists proposed to hold Thursday evening, with "The Anniversary of the Russian Revolution" as their theme. The police order, however, was enforced.

The first revolutionary emissaries reached Berlin Thursday evening, in the form of various detachments of armed marines from Hamburg. The military authorities, more resolute than those in the provincial cities, sent troops to the railway station to receive them. The marines suffered themselves to be disarmed and went without resistance to barracks, with the exception of one detachment of about two hundred and fifty men, of whom all but some seventy escaped into the streets with their weapons.

These men formed the nucleus of the revolution in Berlin.

Berlin was still without any but the most meager news of the revolution Friday. The papers complained of an even more narrow-minded and arbitrary censors.h.i.+p by the new government than that under the old regime. The press was on the whole restricted to printing official reports, although some of them added a few paragraphs of explanatory comment. An inspired report that the excesses in the northwest bore no political character was contradicted by the _Vorwarts_, which declared that they had a "liberty seeking socialistic character everywhere." Unimportant disturbances took place during the day in Rosenthalerstra.s.se, in the old city, and a few arrests were made, but the day pa.s.sed quietly on the whole.

Crowds stood in front of the bulletin boards of the various newspapers all day, waiting for news from Grand Headquarters. Would the Kaiser abdicate? The term of the Socialist ultimatum expired. Scheidemann gave notice that the party would wait another twenty-four hours, and a few hours later the term was extended until after the decision regarding the armistice, the terms of which were expected to reach Berlin on Sat.u.r.day.

The government, weak, irresolute, inexperienced, faced a situation which would have confounded stronger men. A day earlier they had consented to summon from Kiel and Hamburg about a thousand marines who were supposed to be devoted to Noske. This attempt to cast out the Devil with Beelzebub indicates in some degree the desperateness of the situation.

More troops were brought to the capital on Friday. They were the Naumburg _Jager_ (sharpshooters) and the Lubben _Jager_, excellent troops, who had been in the Finland contingent, had distinguished themselves by patriotic daring and exemplary discipline, and who were considered absolutely reliable. These men, about four thousand in all, were in part quartered in different large restaurants and in part in the barracks of the Alexander Regiment. It was in these barracks that (ironic coincidence!) Kaiser Wilhelm made his well-known speech on March 28, 1901, in which he a.s.serted his confidence that, if the Berliners should again become "insolent and disobedient" (_frech und unbotma.s.sig_) as in 1848, his troops would know how to protect their imperial master.

In all there were perhaps twenty thousand soldiers in Berlin at this time, including several regiments of the Prussian Guard.

Throughout Thursday and Friday the Independent Socialists were feverishly active. Liebknecht, "Red Rosa" Luxemburg and other Spartacans joined the Independent agitators in revolutionary propaganda among the soldiers and in making preparations for the final coup. The police, loyal and alert to the last, arrested Daumig on a charge of high treason and closed the central bureau of the Independent Socialist party. Again too late! There were plenty left to carry on the work. The Majority Socialists, or at least their leaders, knew in a general way of the activities of these revolutionary forces, but they were still ignorant of the details.

Prince Max telegraphed the Kaiser, offering to resign. The Kaiser asked him to remain in office for the time being at least.

Friday night the Berlin Workmen's and Soldiers' Council was organized at a meeting summoned by Barth, Haase and other Independents. In addition to the Independents and Spartacans at the meeting, there were a number of more or less well-known men who had not theretofore been identified with these parties. One of them, a man who was to play a prominent role in the events of Sat.u.r.day, the day of the real revolution, was Lieutenant Colin Ross, a prominent journalist and war correspondent.

Another was Captain von Beerfelde. It was von Beerfelde who, at that time a member of the General Staff, betrayed a friend's confidence by making public the Lichnowsky memorandum. This resulted, quite naturally, in his arrest and imprisonment. The government could not have acted otherwise, but there is no doubt that von Beerfelde was subjected to unnecessary indignities during his arrest, and these, in connection with the arrest itself, transformed the somewhat unbalanced and egotistic man into a bitter enemy of all existing inst.i.tutions. The General Staff was further represented at Friday night's meeting by First Lieutenant Tibertius, a man of no particular prominence or importance, who came to the meeting in company with the Independent leaders. Barth had bought some sixteen hundred revolvers with money given him by Joffe, and these were distributed at the meeting and outside, to soldiers and civilians alike. Barth presided at the meeting, which was held in the Reichstag chamber.

The Majority Socialists now saw the hopelessness of keeping apart from the movement. They declared their solidarity with the Independents, and, in the few hours that remained, set about trying to save whatever could be saved out of the wreck which was plainly coming.

Friday night, despite these occurrences, pa.s.sed quietly. The streets were unusually crowded until after midnight, but it was mainly a curious crowd, awaiting further news, particularly of the Kaiser's expected abdication. The royal palace was strongly cordoned by steel-helmeted troops, a searchlight played from the tower of the city hall and the streets of the old city were well patrolled by troops and policemen. The police chiefs of various munic.i.p.alities of Greater Berlin conferred with General von Linsingen on ways and means of meeting eventual disturbances. They decided that further military forces were not needed.

Sat.u.r.day, revolution day, dawned with the great ma.s.s of the inhabitants still ignorant of the events of the preceding days. The coming events nevertheless cast their shadows before. The morning papers reported that the Kaiser's son-in-law, Duke Ernest August of Brunswick, had abdicated after an eleventh-hour attempt to stem the tide by a decree for franchise reform. It was also evident that the Kaiser must go, for the Clericals, National Liberals and Progressives in the government permitted it to be reported that, while they were still supporters of a monarchical form of government, they had, in view of the extraordinary circ.u.mstances, decided that personal considerations must be disregarded.

The Wolff Bureau was forced to admit that the revolt that started at Kiel had extended to many other places in the Empire. The report said:

"A certain carefully planned procedure is now disclosing itself.

Everywhere the same picture: from the chief centers, Kiel and Hamburg, trains carrying armed marines and agitators are being sent out into the country. These men endeavor to seize the centers of communication and abolish the military commands. They then attach to themselves criminal elements, among whom there are great numbers of deserters, and endeavor to corrupt the troops by representing to them that it is not a question of a revolutionary movement, but one to secure military reforms. The attempt has been successful with many troops, but it has met energetic resistance from others. The whole movement plainly proceeds from Russia, and it is proved that the former members of the Berlin representation of the Soviet republic have cooperated in it. As the Russian Government has itself admitted, it hopes by this means to cause Bolshevist ideas to spring into new life here in Germany and thereafter in all Europe."

This was the first open admission that the Kiel revolt had developed into a revolution. The newspapers were permitted also to publish reports from various water-front cities, showing that the Workmen's and Soldiers' Councils were in power in Bremen, Hamburg, Lubeck, Kiel and other places, and that these councils "are in charge of the government in nearly all garrisons in the province of Holstein." They were also permitted to report the proclamation of the republic in Bavaria, and the complete text of Kurt Eisner's bombastic address to the people. It was reported from Frankfort-on-Main that General von Studnitz, commander in that city, had ordered all garrisons there to hold meetings on Friday evening for the formation of soldiers' councils. This action followed representations from Frankfort's Majority Socialists, acting in concert with the Progressives.

Nowhere, however, was any mention made of Friday night's events in Berlin itself. The papers published articles couched in general terms, warning all citizens to preserve order, and reminding them that the city's provisioning would be gravely disturbed by disorders. In fact, the daily supply of milk had already dropped ninety thousand liters as a result of the "sudden interruption of railway traffic."

The Majority Socialists had summoned a meeting for the early morning of Sat.u.r.day in the Reichstag building. They had been in session only a short time when the news came that a large parade of workingmen was proceeding down the Chausseestra.s.se. This was about 9:00 A.M. The parade was largely made up of employees from the Schwartzkopff works, which had been for two years a hotbed of discontent, of radical socialism and Bolshevism. The marchers entered the barracks of the Fusilier Guards--known in Berlin and North Germany generally as the _Maikafer_--and demanded that the soldiers surrender their weapons. A captain, the first officer encountered, shot down four of the rioters before he was himself killed. He was the only officer in Berlin rash, brave and loyal enough to give his life deliberately for his monarch and for the old system. The soldiers then meekly surrendered their rifles and the parade moved on, reinforced in every street with deserters, criminals, hooligans and other undesirable elements such as are to be found in all large cities.

The Majority Socialists realized that their only hope was to try to lead the movement and direct it into comparatively orderly channels. They appointed Scheidemann, Ebert and David to confer with the Independent Socialist delegates Dittmann, Vogtherr and Ledebour, regarding the organization of a new government.

Further reports came of street demonstrations. Bloodshed appeared imminent. Colin Ross went to the palace of the Chancellor and found Prince Max. The Prince was nervous and all but entirely unstrung. Ross told him the Majority Socialists had decided that there must be no firing on the people, and asked him to issue an order to that effect.

Max said he would do so. Ross thereupon went to Minister of War Scheuch and told him that the Chancellor had ordered that the troops should not fire on the citizens. The order was communicated to the various garrisons and also to police headquarters.

What would have occurred if this order had not been issued is a matter of conjecture. a.s.suredly there would have been bloodshed. Quite apart from the question of the reliability or unreliability of the troops there were the Berlin police to deal with. Their ranks had been thinned by calls to the front, but those still on duty were no inconsiderable factor. The force was made up entirely of veteran non-commissioned officers, who must have served twelve years in the army. They were, moreover, like all great city police forces, picked men, above the average physically, and far above the average in bravery, resoluteness and loyalty. Only a negligible number of them had been perverted by red doctrines, and they were well armed and fully prepared for the day's events. High police officials a.s.sured the author that they could have put down the revolution in its very beginnings if the order had not come forbidding them to offer resistance.

Viewed in the light of subsequent events, this statement must be rejected. The police could and would have put up a brave battle, but there were too few of them for one thing, and for another, the revolution had too great momentum to be stopped by any force available to the authorities. One military defection had already occurred when Sat.u.r.day dawned. A corporal of the Naumburg _Jager_, who were quartered in the Alexander barracks, had been arrested for making an incendiary speech to some comrades, and when the troops were alarmed at 3:00 A.M.

and ordered to be ready to go into action they refused to obey. Major Ott, commander of the battalion directly affected, came and told the men that the Kaiser had already abdicated. They sent a delegation to the _Vorwarts_, where they learned that the major's statement was not true.

The delegation thereupon announced that the battalion would place itself on the side of the workingmen. The Kaiser Alexander Guards followed the _Jager's_ example.

There were some good troops in Berlin--such as the _Jager_ already mentioned--but the great majority of the men were by no means of the highest standard. The best troops were naturally at the front, and those at home were in large part made up of men who had been away from the firing-line for some weeks or even longer, and who had been subjected to a violent campaign of what the Socialists call _Aufklarung_, literally, clearing up, or enlightenment. The word is generally used as part of a phrase, _Aufklarung im sozial-demokratischen Sinne_, that is, "enlightenment in the social-democratic sense." The great majority of any army is made up of men who work with their hands. A great part of the others consists of small shopkeepers, clerks and others whose a.s.sociations in civilian life are mainly with the workingmen. An appeal not to shoot one's "proletarian brother" is, in the nature of things, an appeal which strikes home to these people. The Kaiser was still nominally occupying the throne, but it was certain that he would abdicate. This was a further element of weakness for the government, since such of the troops as were still _kaisertreu_ (loyal to the Kaiser) saw themselves about to be deprived of their monarch, who, however they may have regarded him personally, nevertheless represented for them the majesty and unity of the German State. Hence, even before the order came not to fire on the people, the troops had begun to place themselves on the side of the revolutionaries and were everywhere permitting themselves to be disarmed. Otto Wels, a Majority Socialist member of the Reichstag, and others of his colleagues made the round of the barracks, appealing to the soldiers not to shed their brothers'

blood. And then came the no-resistance order.

The streets filled with marching crowds, civilians and soldiers, arm in arm, cheering and singing. Hawkers appeared everywhere with small red flags, red rosettes, red ribbons, red flowers. The red flag of revolution began breaking out on various buildings. Soldiers tore off their regimental insignia and removed the c.o.c.kades from their caps.

Factories were deserted.

The revolution had come!

CHAPTER XI.

The Kaiser Abdicates.

Events moved with lightning rapidity. All that has been related in the foregoing chapter concerning the developments of November 9th had happened before 11:00 A.M. The Majority Socialists, still in session in the Reichstag and now in complete fellows.h.i.+p with the Independents and members of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council, decided that the republic must be proclaimed. Some enterprising individuals prepared an Article reporting the Kaiser's abdication. Ross took it to the _Vorwarts_, which published it in an extra edition, nearly two hours before the abdication actually took place. The paper was fairly torn from the hands of the venders in the streets, and processions of red-ribboned marchers became more frequent.

The cabinet had meanwhile been in almost constant telephonic communication with the Kaiser. It had been repeatedly represented to him that only his abdication could prevent rioting and bloodshed. But the decision which he was called upon to make was not an easy one, and it cannot be wondered that he hesitated. He was particularly insistent that, while he could consider abdicating as German Emperor, he could not and would not abdicate as King of Prussia. The decision had still not been reached at noon. The cabinet, fearing to delay longer, had the following report sent out by the Wolff Bureau:

"The Kaiser and King has decided to surrender the throne (_dem Throne zu entsagen_). The Imperial Chancellor will remain in office until the questions connected with the abdication of the Kaiser, the abandoning by the Crown Prince of the German Empire and Prussia of his rights to the throne, and the installation of a regency shall have been adjusted. It is his intention to propose to the regent the appointment of Deputy Ebert as Imperial Chancellor and to submit to him a draft of a measure regarding the immediate calling of general elections for a const.i.tuent German national a.s.sembly, which shall finally determine the future form of government of the German people, and also of those peoples that may desire to be included within the borders of the Empire.

(signed) "The Imperial Chancellor, "Max, Prince of Baden."

It will be observed that this, so far from being the proclamation of a republic, clearly contemplated the continued existence of the monarchy.

The question of the future form of government was, it is true, to be left to the national a.s.sembly, but if the events of Sat.u.r.day afternoon and Sunday had not occurred it is probable that this a.s.sembly would have decided upon a const.i.tutional monarchy. Speculations along this line are of merely academic interest, but for a better understanding of the extent of the reversal of these two days it may be pointed out that a clear majority of the German people was undoubtedly monarchic in principle. The only body of republican opinion was represented by the Social-Democrats of both wings, who composed less than forty per cent of the total population, and even among them, as we have seen, there were men who felt that the time had not yet come for a republic.

Prince Max's proclamation antic.i.p.ated by a full hour the Kaiser's actual abdication. It was furthermore erroneous in its a.s.sertion that "the King" had abdicated. The Kaiser's first abdication did not include the royal throne of Prussia. Only when all hope was definitely lost did he surrender this.

A detachment of _Jager_ occupied the Reichstag, and a great crowd gathered outside. Scheidemann, in an address from the Reichstag steps, told the crowd that the dynasty had been overthrown, and that Ebert had been appointed to form a new government on republican lines and with the partic.i.p.ation of all political parties.[29] Scheidemann, like Max, also antic.i.p.ated events, for the republic had not yet been authoritatively proclaimed, nor had Ebert been appointed Chancellor.

[29] The Majority Socialists honestly intended to form a people's government representing all parties. That only Socialists were eventually admitted was due to the flat refusal of the Independents to let the despised _bourgeoisie_ have any voice whatever in the governmental affairs.

Two hours later, shortly after 2:00 P.M., Ebert, Scheidemann, Braun and two members of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Council, Prolat and Hiller, went to the palace of the Chancellor in an automobile carrying a red flag and guarded by armed soldiers. They informed Prince Max that they considered it absolutely necessary to form a socialistic government,[30]

since this alone could save Germany. The Prince thereupon requested Ebert to accept the chancellors.h.i.+p. Ebert complied and thus became for one day "Imperial Chancellor," the possessor of an office which did not exist in an empire which no longer existed.

[30] "Socialistic" in a non-partisan sense; a republic based on the Socialist party's tenets, but not necessarily conducted exclusively by them. The exclusion of the _bourgeoisie_ was a later idea.

Ebert's first act was to proclaim the republic officially. He did this in an address to a crowd which filled Wilhelmstra.s.se and Wilhelmplatz in front of the Chancellor's official residence. Hysteric cheering followed the announcement that the German Empire had become history.

The greatest revolution of all times was an accomplished fact before three o'clock on Sat.u.r.day afternoon, November 9th. The old system, with its tens of thousands of trained and specialized officials; with armies that had successfully fought for years against the combined resources of the rest of the world; with citizens trained from their very infancy to reverence the Kaiser and to obey those in authority; with the moral support of the monarchic Germans, who far outnumbered the republican--this system fell as a rotten tree falls before a gale. The simile lacks in perfection because the tree falls with a crash, whereas the old German governmental system made less noise in its collapse than did the Kingdom of Portugal some years earlier. It simply disappeared.

_Fuit Germania_.

Up to this time the Majority Socialists, by stealing the thunder of the Independents and acting with a good deal of resolution, had kept themselves in the center of the stage. The real makers of the revolution, the Independents and Spartacans, had been confined to off-stage work. It was Liebknecht, with his instinct for the theatrical and dramatic, who now came to the front. A vast crowd had gathered around the royal palace. It was made up in part of the "cla.s.s-conscious proletariat," but in large part also of the merely curious. Liebknecht, accompanied by Adolf Hoffmann[31] and another left wing Socialist, entered the palace and proceeded to a balcony in the second story, where, lacking a red flag, he hung a red bed-blanket over the rail of the balcony and then delivered an impa.s.sioned harangue to the crowd below. The real revolution, he declared, had only begun, and attempts at counter-revolution could be met only by the vigilance of an armed proletariat. The working-cla.s.ses must arm themselves, the _bourgeoisie_ must be disarmed. Hoffmann, who spoke briefly, said that he was enjoying the happiest and proudest moment of his life. While he was still speaking a red flag was hoisted over the palace, to the cheers of the people gathered around the building.

[31] Hoffman was for several years a member of the Prussian Diet and prominent in the councils of the Social-Democratic party.

Although a professed atheist and unable to write a sentence of his mother-tongue without an error in spelling or grammar, he became under the first revolutionary government Prussian Minister of Education (_Kultusminister_), with charge over the church and schools. Hoffman left the old party at the time of the split in 1915, and has since been an abusive and virulent enemy of his former colleagues. He distinguished himself in the Diet chiefly by disregard of the ordinary amenities of civilized intercourse and parliamentary forms.

Speaking from the speaker's rostrum in the Diet, with his back to the presiding-officer--after the usual European custom--he would utter some insult to the royal house, the authorities in general, one of the _bourgeois_ parties of the house or one of the members. He appeared to know instinctively whenever his remarks were inadmissible, for he would pause, hunch up his shoulders like one expecting to be struck from behind, and wait for the presiding-officer to ring his bell and call him to order. A few minutes later the same scene would be reenacted.