1916 Berlin strike

A labour strike took place in Germany on 28 June 1916. This was the first industrial action of national significance in Germany during the First World War. It was held to protest the trial of anti-war socialist campaigner Karl Liebknecht. The strike was not supported by the leadership of the German trade unions, who had agreed not to strike during the war as part of the Burgfriedenspolitik, but was organised by a number of junior officials who later became known as the Revolutionary Stewards. The strike was joined by 55,000 Berlin workers from at least 35 factories and several thousand workers from Stuttgart, Bremen, Braunschweig and Essen. Following the strike, wages fell and support for the Stewards declined. Later in the war, the Stewards organised larger strikes, in protest at the continuation of the conflict and cuts in food rations.