alternatehistory.com

‘Whilst Liebknecht and Luxemburg crafted their image of a new society, those in the newly formed republican establishment hurried to ensure that their dreams would be strangled in the cradle. The SPD leaders Friedrich Ebert and Gustav Noske were very much the principal actors in this suppression. Though both believed in socialism they maintained that capitalist society would have to transition towards a socialist economy gradually and legislatively to ensure the greatest possibly strength for the new society. To this effect they gave reassurances to the old aristocratic establishment and the industrial magnates that there would be no sudden seizures of industry or land by the new state.

At the same time they were allying themselves not only with the regular army but also the increasingly large numbers of Freikorps militia, discharged soldiers who had kept their weapons and remained active under increasingly reactionary leadership. Though the Freikorps incoherent political stances were almost always anathema to the social democrats and their formations were anything but disciplined both Ebert and Noske viewed them as the lesser evil, or at least a faction that would have to be temporarily brought on side.

Both men were broadly successful in their efforts, a reactionary counter-revolution was nipped in the bud and temporary stability had been assured for Germany’s new institutions to grow and for a coherent stance to be made towards the victorious entente but their strength was reliant on actors who were largely ambivalent or actively opposed to the republican project. In forging these alliances they had also alienated the far-left, who now took the fatal decision to take matters into their own hands.

Rosa Luxemburg had become somewhat disaffected by Lenin’s actions by January 1919 despite rhetorically advocating many of the measures that the Bolsheviks had implemented in those portions of Russia that they controlled, Liebknecht took a separate conclusion from events to the east and began to push for a workers uprising to topple the new republic and the old establishment. Said action took place in the German capital with the intention of spreading the revolution across the country yet little real success was achieved in this objective before the uprising was brutally crushed.

Ebert had been expecting such a move since Liebknecht’s declaration from the Royal Palace and having safely evacuated their provisional government to Weimar the Freikorps were ordered into Berlin to suppress the revolution. Though Social Democrats would later distance themselves from the atrocities that took place in their name at the time the leadership was ardent in their belief that the Spartacists had to be made an example of.

Gustav Noske, who had previously gone to Kiel in October to try to prevent an armed confrontation, now issued a decree that “everyone found fighting with arms in the hand against government troops is to be immediately shot”. No quarter was to be given in the ensuing bloodbath.’

~ Geoffrey Corbett, Hitler’s First Revolution

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“Looks like this is it!” The man’s voice sounded frantic and as Gerda also peaked over the barrels and sandbags she realised why.

“Oh well, never did want to live forever”, the voice behind her was full of brevity but she could also hear the fear under it as well, they were all afraid. The sight coming down the street had assured that.

Gerda had heard stories about the metallic monsters that had dominated the battlefields of France but she had never expected to see one on the streets of Berlin, let alone gradually advancing against her and her friends but, then again, it had been an odd couple of weeks.

She had met many of those already dead or about to die shortly after that first KPD meeting on the day of her arrival in Berlin. It had turned out that Christina was happy to go along with her and they had both joined the new party shortly after. Initially they did very little, Christina had got her a job at a textiles factory that was still employing women and outside of work they had spent much of their free time making the most of the capital with its numerous bars, parks, and cabarets. There seemed to be meetings all the time and they had attended as many as they could, many were related to their work in the textile factory and although Gerda didn’t consider herself much of a speaker she found many of her colleagues willing to see what the party was about.

There was a political atmosphere in the air and even outside of the party their participation in the workers council at the textile factory left her wanting to know more about what the realities of what the party promised, the liberation of women in society with better working conditions and shorter hours for all. In the practical side of this she had made a name for herself on the council and in a matter of weeks found herself earning extra money in organising for the party, helping to make banners and flags for what she assumed would be some sort of mass protest. She had already heard weaponry being discussed and had seen a few rifles but she had thought little of it. Given that so many soldiers had come back with their rifles it was no longer a surprise to see people carrying them about.

It was in the middle of the night that Christina and herself were woken up with a knock on the door and one of their comrades standing there informing her that the revolution was moving on to a more assertive stage, the communists were seizing control of Berlin and both women were now expected to be a part of it.

She wasn't quite able to enjoy those few initial days of peace, she had barely slept in doing party work trying to help the new administrators of those parts of the city that were in their hands, nonetheless she was motivated. The Socialist Republic of Germany would soon be a reality, something she had continued to reassure herself of when the first sounds of gunfire could be heard in the outskirts of the city.

As the tank rolled onto Leipzigstrasse where she had helped build the temporary barricade she noticed that it had a large skull and crossbones on its side, like an old pirate ship out of a book of stories, the large numbers of men huddled behind her wore their helmets and uniforms from the front, as many of them ran out to find cover in the alleys and the broken shopfronts. A few shots barked out from her comrade's small collection of rifles but none of them hit anything important. It was clear that these men knew what they were doing, Gerda wouldn’t have said the same for those on her side and she couldn’t escape the dread that they had badly misjudged this situation. She lacked a rifle of her own as she had no experience in firing one though she feared that that was the same for those bearing them.

It was ironic to think that only a few months beforehand she was helping to make sure the men advancing up the steeet had a ready supply of ammunition, now they were advancing alongside the giant machine to murder her and everyone else. She couldn’t help pondering whether or not it would be a bullet that she had pressed that would kill her, it was a thought she had to cut short as several bullets slammed into the sandbags and the stone wall behind her.

She shook the dust off her coat and reached for the kitchen knife she had brought from Christina’s flat, she didn’t know where her friend was in the city or even if she was still alive but Gerda had resolved that if she had to die it wouldn’t be out of a lack of being able to defend herself. If the barricade was going to be stormed then she would go out trying to stab something important.

As the firing ended she tried to peak out of the barricade again, only her a large hand to force her head down. She turned to see one of her comrades, a man named Friedrich staring at her with a determined look in his eyes.

“These bastards have got us outgunned, they’ll cut us to pieces if we try to run now but you should go, you don’t have a weapon and you’re no good to us without one.”

She protested as more bullets ricocheted off the wall behind them. She lost her words as one of her comrades was sent flying backwards, one had gone straight through his eye. Gerda had seen several people die in the last few days and she couldn’t help feel more annoyed that the man didn’t at least have a rifle for her to take. Friedrich didn’t even seem to notice.

“The movement won’t die today, not if there are still comrades left alive to avenge us, there’ll be other opportunities, believe me!"

He tried to laugh only to cough on the mist of dust. Everyone seemed to be shouting now, Gerda couldn’t see but it appeared the monster's cannon was beginning to move.

Friedrich told her to run and without thinking she did, ducking as more bullets surely aimed at her screamed over her head. She ran down in alleyway into a small street where civilians huddled together waiting for the nightmare to end, they beckoned her to come inside though their calls were drowned out by a nearby explosion.

Glass shattered, a smoke plume began to appear behind and Gerda only began to run again when the screams of her comrades began to fill the air.

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Youtube have unfortunately taken down kampflier.de and Ernst Busch's english version of Das Einheitsfrontlied with it but the German ones nice to listen to as well.

The painting depicts the crushing of the Chicago commune in Jack London's The Iron Heel, unfortunately I couldn't find an artist but it's not too uncommon for it to be used as the book's cover art so I'm going to keep trying.