Choose your PODs TL: Main Thread

This post comprises a rough outline of the initial events of this TL. Further posts will flesh out the details of these events. Events in bold are more or less OTL.

1918:

October 24th: Orders from the Kaiserlichemarine command to prepare for one last glorious battle result in mass mutinies amoung the sailors. The sailors, it seems, do not want to be sacrificed as part of a last glorious gesture in a war that their commanders already admit is lost. However, it is only when the actual orders to sail are given that real rebellion begins.

October 29th - 30th: Many crews refuse to leave port, or to obey orders.

This revolt continues, and indeed takes on some violent dimensions as enlisted sailors attack their officers on one of the war ships, the Thüringen. The mutiny, which will later be refered to as the Sailor's Revolt, is only suppressed when torpedo boats point their guns at the rebellious ships, and actually fire warning shots.

With the revolt suppressed, ring leaders are sent to the military prison in Kiel, and new preperations are made for the last glorious battle of the Kaiserlichemarnie. However, the sailors still do not want to be sacrificed for nothing but honor. So, they begin to revolt again.

November 1st: Hundreds of sailors assemble, demanding an end to the insane offensive being planned, and the release of the arrested "ring leaders."

When the officers refuse to listen to the demands of the new mutineers, they begin seeking out connections with the socialists. On November 3rd, representatives of the socialists join the sailors at their meeting.

Finally, sailors and socialist workers in Kiel move on the military prison where the mutineers were being held. A patrol attempts to stop them, and indeed opens fire on them - but too little, too late. The socialists return fire - many of them were armed - and in the resulting struggle, the officer commanding the patrol was killed, as were seven of the socialists and one of the patrol soldiers. Filled with rage, the socialists continue on to the prison as the patrol flees, and attempts to storm it - only when 27 of their number are killed by the guards does the mob disperse. (Four guards were also killed.)

Realizing that the new mutiny could become something serious, the officers any available troops into the city, hoping that the revolt might be supressed.

However, such preperations are mostly counter-productive. When the socialists move through the town on the fourth, many of the soldiers sent in to oppose them seem to come over to their side, or at least refuse to fight against them. However, some - indeed, nearly two thirds of the troops present - obey orders. The result is street fighting in Kiel. Dozens are killed, and scores are injured in the fighting.

By the end of the sixth of November, Kiel, Wilhelmshafen and the Kaiserlichmarine naval yards were all in the hands of the mutineers, with an organized force of about 40,000 organized sailors, socialist workers and socialist soldiers standing ready. Ready for what, seemed the question. By this time, about three hundred people had been killed, and the imprisoned mutineers freed. The government forces were in panic, and had largely withdrawn from the urban areas affected by the revolt.

On November 7th, as the socialists came to the decision to attempt to spread the revolt to the rest of northern Germany, Kiel is visited by the Social Democratic Party official Gustav Noske, who is very well recieved. However, when he begins attempting to convince the socialist leadership in Kiel that a military revolt along the lines of the Russian Bolsheviks is not the answer, he is no longer listened to. As he attempts to convince a fairly angry assembly, the mob turns against him, and stones are thrown - one strikes him on the head, killing him.

Without Noske's moderating influence, the revolt continues to spread through northern Germany, facing increasingly determined resistance from soldiers who remain loyal to the government - or at least anti-communist.

On the 9th, as the Reds continued to gain support with the urban working class, and Red delegations of sailors and socialist workers visited the industrial cities of Germany, spreading their message, the German Army became increasingly concerned with the problem of the socialist revolt. At this point, General Ludendorf is supposed to have said that the Reds were now more of an enemy than the French. In a way, he was right.

In Bavaria, on the ninth the last king of Bavaria was forced to abdicate, and the Bavarian Socialist Republic was established in Munich.

In Berlin, the Kaiser abdicates under pressure from both Socialists and conservatives who fear that Revolution is inevitable unless the Kaiser steps down from power.

On the tenth, the German government approached the Entente, asking for terms. At noon on November 10th, a cease-fire came into effect. (Twenty three hours earlier than OTL.)

At noon, the Socialist Republic is declared by Karl Liebknecht to a jubilant crowd in Berlin. The conservative response is disorganized and unsure - in some areas, mostly rural areas, Red delegations are being ignored or, in rare cases, attacked - but in the industrial cities the Reds seem to be winning out.

Under the atmosphere of the times, compromise seems impossible - the Reds are certain that they are going to go on to victory, establishing socialism in Germany as it exists in Russia. Increasingly, the Reichstag, even the Social Democratic members of the Reichstag, are being ignored in favor of the worker councils.

As the Reds continue to become more and more radical, they increasingly alienate centrist elements that had previously been more or less on their side - and increasingly radicalize the still-disorganized conservative factions.

As time goes by, the situation becomes more and more chaotic. As December comes around, the Reds announce that a "General Convention of Worker's and Soldier's Councils" will be held in Berlin (which by that point was totally under Red control) on the 16th. Conservative elements, including the Army, prepare to take action. Under the command of Friedrich Ebert, a member of the Reichstag who was in favor of a more reasonable, democratic, form of a republic and General Groener, a conservative, troops advance on Berlin on the 15th. Acting with good coordination, they secure the element of suprise, and catch the Reds unaware, decimating their opposition. Additionally, many Red leaders are in the city already, preparing for the General Convention.

What follows is a full-scale massacre, as government troops and Reds clash in the streets. The government forces are much better equipped, and tend to be better led since almost all Army officers have sided with the conservatives. Thousands of Reds are killed in the fighting, as well as hundreds of loyalists. When Ebert, horrified at the slaughter (the specific incident seems to have been the mass execution of thirty Red leaders in the street, something he witnessed), he attempts to convince General Groener to use less severe methods - as a result, he is arrested by troops loyal to the General. Increasingly, it becomes clear - Groener is not interested in a centrist government, or a Republic - he is interested in the destruction of the Reds and the restoration of the status quo. On the 20th, as troops returned from the frontlines as the war halted, Groener hoped to use them against the Reds. However, most simply went home as it was near Christmas time and they were largely exhausted from the war.

Following what became known as the Battle of Berlin, the Reds became even more radicalized. It didn't help that most of the most moderate leaders of the Reds were amoung the dead - indeed, had the conservatives simply allowed the meeting to occur, it would likely have had a moderating effect on the Reds, rather than any other, feared, result. However, after the massacre, the Reds became only more extreme.

This extremism in turn prompted a conservative backlash - many of the soldiers who had simply gone home for Christmas now found themselves facing Red activity that they did not necessarily agree with. As a result, some local conservative groups were formed to combat the Reds - these groups were somewhat effective, but the larger result was to provoke an increase in total violence, as Reds retaliated and struck against other conservative organizations. (Including, in some cases, the churches.)

On the 23rd of December, a Red force comprised mostly of former sailors attempts to move on Berlin, apparently assuming that, as the population of the city was very pro-Red, they would have an easy time removing the forces of General Groener. Initially, their actions are succesful - most of the troops Groener used had by this point returned to their homes, apparently thinking that the threat had receeded from the level where their presence was needed. Or rather, in many cases, because they were more concerned with what was going on in their homes than they were with what was occuring in Berlin.

On the 23rd, the Red Volksmarinedivision (People's Navy Division) moves on Berlin from Kiel, occupying the Imperial Chancellery and cutting phone lines. Initially, they met little resistance.

However, on the 24th they began a Red Terror directed against government officials - which resulted in a backlash, damaging their popularity with the people of Berlin. Still, hundreds were executed, in what was often a seeming redircted repetition of the previous conservative purges.

On Christmas day, a force of government troops attempted to retake Berlin and protect the civil servants who were being targeted by the Reds. This failed, resulting in the "Bloody Christmas," where thirty Reds were killed as well as a few soldiers. As the government troops withdrew, General Groener moved in with anti-communist Freikorp troops, actually incorporating the government troops into those units. This effectively robbed the supposed government of any of its remaining authority - indeed, what was called the Weimar Republic but that had more or less never really governed died that day.

What followed was a short lull, but as 1919 began, on January 4th, the Freikorps stormed Berlin, engaging in fierce street fighting with the Reds. The Reds were forced back, and another White Terror was unleashed on the city. About 1,000 people were killed, mostly Reds and civilians. By the 6th, Berlin was back in conservative hands, this time more strongly than before.

Of course, the Reds still held much of Germany...

(More to follow.)
 
Top