jan 12, 1919 - Spartacist Uprising

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In January 1919, 100,000 workers went on strike and demonstrated in the centre of Berlin. This demonstration was taken over by the Spartacist leadership. Newspaper and communication buildings were seized and the demonstrators armed themselves. However, many protesters returned home frustrated at the lack of planning by the Spartacists.

The Government, which had moved to Weimar to avoid the violence, employed the Freikorps to put down the rising. The Freikorps were ex-army soldiers who hated the communists. Over 100 workers were killed, even those who surrendered, during what became known as ‘Bloody Week’.

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg were arrested and brutally murdered by the Freikorps.
The communists and many of Germany’s working class developed a hatred of the Social Democrats.
The Spartacist Revolt had serious repercussions for the Weimar Government. When its power was threatened by a growing Nazi Party, the Communist and Social Democrat parties could not set aside their differences. 

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