Berlin March Battles

Berlin March Battles
Berlin March Battles
Part of the German revolution of 1918–1919
	Revolutionaries executed by the Freikorps
Date	3–16 March 1919
Location	Berlin, Germany
Caused by	Absence of soviet/council democracy and the democratization of the military
Resulted in	Government victory The German revolution of 1918–1919 draws to an end;
Parties
Weimar Republic Freikorps; MSPD;	Berlin strikers KPD; USPD;
Lead figures
	Friedrich Ebert; Gustav Noske; Wilhelm Reinhard; Waldemar Pabst; Walther von Lüttwitz Richard Müller; Leo Jogiches
Units involved
	Freikorps Reinhard; Freikorps Lützow; Freikorps Hülsen; Guards Cavalry Rifle Division; German Protection Division Volksmarinedivision; Republican Soldiers' Army (breakaway group); Informal units of USPD and KPD
Casualties and losses
75 killed
	Total: 1,200–3,000 killed, including civilians

The Berlin March Battles of 1919 (German: Berliner Märzkämpfe), also known as Bloody Week^[1] (German: Berliner Blutwoche^[2]^[3]), were the final major event of the German revolution of 1918–1919. The fighting grew out of a general strike by Berlin workers who wanted to implement the revolution's major radical-left demands, including the socialization of key industries, the legal safeguarding of workers' and soldiers' councils and the democratization of the military.

The general strike, which began on 3 March 1919, was supported by the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) and, more reservedly, the Majority Social Democratic Party (MSPD). The government responded with the imposition of a state of siege on Berlin and orders for the deployment of the paramilitary Freikorps. After fierce fighting, the strike leadership ordered on 8 March that the general strike be ended. Estimates of the number killed in the violence ranged from 1,200 to 3,000; many of them were civilians.

The Berlin March Battles contributed to the Majority Social Democratic Party losing influence both locally and nationally. Relations between it and the Communist Party were left permanently in tatters.

^ Storer, Colin (2013). A Short History of the Weimar Republic. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-85772-384-0.
^ Möller, Horst (1985). Weimar : die unvollendete Demokratie (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. p. 121. ISBN 978-3-423-04512-4.
^ Pfändtner, Bernhard; Schell, Reiner (2000). Weimarer Republik und NS-Staat (in German). Bamberg: Buchner. p. 25. ISBN 978-3-7661-4681-6.

[1] Storer, Colin (2013). A Short History of the Weimar Republic. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-85772-384-0.

[2] Möller, Horst (1985). Weimar : die unvollendete Demokratie (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. p. 121. ISBN 978-3-423-04512-4.

[3] Pfändtner, Bernhard; Schell, Reiner (2000). Weimarer Republik und NS-Staat (in German). Bamberg: Buchner. p. 25. ISBN 978-3-7661-4681-6.

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