90th anniversary of the proclamation of the Soviet Republic of Bavaria
Apr 7 2009 09:16
90 years ago in the night from the 6th to the 7th April 1919, the short-lived Soviet Republic of Bavaria - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Soviet_Republic - was proclaimed in Munich, among the members of its first government 7th-13th April were the anarchist philosopher Gustav Landauer (education/culture) and the anarchist poet Erich Mühsam (responsible for relations with other soviet republics), weirdos like Silvio Gesell (finances, physiocratic "free money" theorist with anti-semitic leanings) or Franz Lipp (foreign affairs, was removed from his post after declaring war on Switzerland and sending bizarre philosophical statements to other states) ... the best accounts by eyewitnesses are those of Mühsam (Von Eisner bis Leviné, not available in English), the superb autobiography of the writer and independent socialist Ernst Toller ("I was a German") who was president of the republic, "Leviné: The Life of a Revolutionary" by Rosa Leviné-Meyer, the widow of the murdered leading member of the Munich KPD Eugen Leviné and the account of the KPD-member (expelled later) Paul Frölich/P. Werner "Bayerische Räterepublik. Tatsachen und Kritik" (as far as I know not available in English)
Apr 8 2009 01:30
#2
fascinating stuff!
Apr 8 2009 08:10
#3
Mühsams account is at least available in French: http://www.collectif-smolny.org/article.php3?id_article=995
Apr 8 2009 08:24
#4
Is "Soviet Republic" the generally accepted term in English? It seems strange to use a Russian word, shouldn't the German word "Raterepublik" be translated as "Council Republic" ?
Apr 8 2009 08:49
#5
Soviet Republic is the historically accepted term
Apr 8 2009 08:55
#6
Actually I've heard it called 'Council republic' before.
Apr 8 2009 14:29
#7
nastyned wrote:
Actually I've heard it called 'Council republic' before.
I've read the Council Republic and the Raterepublik.
Another participant was Ret Marut aka B. Traven. He was a member of the commission to establish revolutionary tribunals and the propaganda commission.
Apr 8 2009 14:55
#8
Quote:
Another participant was Ret Marut aka B. Traven. He was a member of the commission to establish revolutionary tribunals and the propaganda commission.
Marut's account here;
http://libcom.org/library/in-freest-state-in-world-b-traven-ret-marut
Apr 8 2009 15:10
#9
There were a number of other local Soviet Republics in this period in Germany, the most important ones in Bremen 10/01/1919-04/02/1919 and the Socialist Republic of Brunswick 10/11/1918-22/02/1919 (with August Merges who was a founding member of the KAPD in 1920 as president)
Apr 8 2009 16:54
#10
Is there anything in English about these other soviet republics?
Apr 9 2009 12:58
#11
don't really know ... there may be some stuff from that period in the press of different revolutionary organizations in Britain or the US or the Comintern
Apr 9 2009 23:54
#12
delegation of the Workers' and Soldiers Council before Braunschweiger Schloss. The third from left is August Merges, the chairman of the Council.
Edit, fortunecity doesn't allow hotlinks. arseholes.
Apr 9 2009 23:23
#13
wait... Landauer decided to ban the teaching of history?
why the hell would he do that??? 
Apr 9 2009 23:31
#14
Would most likely mean the teaching of history we've all known and experienced, which champions oppression for the most part.
Apr 10 2009 00:28
#15
Entdinglichung wrote:
Soviet Republic is the historically accepted term
Could that be an attempt to associate it retrospectively with Bolshevism?
Apr 10 2009 09:07
#16
no1 wrote:
Could that be an attempt to associate it retrospectively with Bolshevism?
I think at the time the working class wanted to associate itself with Bolshevism.
jolly roger wrote:
Is there anything in English about these other soviet republics?
There are some articles by the ICC on the German revolution here:
http://en.internationalism.org/taxonomy/term/108
If I remember correctly Jean Barrot's book on the German Communist left has lots of details about other Soviet republics.
Devrim
Apr 10 2009 09:59
#17
GERMAN REVOLUTION FAKE said Sam Gompers, April 12, 1919
Quite the time of sheer surreal mentalist behaviour from all sides; going from letting the homeless live in expensive high rise apartments, to the slaughter at the hands of the Freikorps.
Lipp's actions always have made me laugh.
Cheers for the book suggestions, albeit the couple that are in English.