German October

The German October (German: Deutscher Oktober) was a plan of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) to attempt a communist revolution in the Weimar Republic in October 1923, amidst acute political and economic crises in the country. The Communist Party of Germany (KPD), under the United Front strategy, was directed to enter into coalition governments with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the states of Thuringia and Saxony and utilise their resources to assist the revolution.^[1] Despite their efforts, the KPD and ECCI leadership found no support and the plan was called off on 21 October. However, local branches of the KPD in Hamburg and Bremen launched their own insurrections, which were suppressed by the local police.

The entry of the KPD into government in Saxony and Thuringia sparked a crisis in itself. The Reichswehr under Otto Gessler, with the support of the Stresemann cabinet and Reich President Friedrich Ebert, issued an ultimatum demanding the reorganisation of these governments to exclude the Communists. While the Thuringian government agreed, the Saxon government under Erich Zeigner refused, prompting Gessler to deploy the Reichswehr and appoint a Reichskommissar, who deposed Zeigner and occupied the state parliament. The crisis ended with the formation of a new SPD-only government two days later. Pryce (1977) posits that the Reich cabinet did not see Saxony or the Communists as a serious threat, but agreed to depose the government in order to appease the Reichswehr and prevent a coup against Berlin assisted by the rogue Bavarian government.^[2]