Chapter 22 Chapter 3 "Delirious with Joy" (8)

Kurt Eisner was seen by many Bavarians as a paragon of revolution, and many believed he was funded by money from Moscow.On the contrary, on that historic day in November, he had only 18 marks in his pocket.In fact, he was the antithesis of the brutal and pragmatic Russian Bolsheviks.He's running the Socialist Republic of Bavaria, but he's still in his favorite café.What Eisner was trying to build was not communism, not even socialism, but a radical democracy of its own.He is a poet among politicians, who desires a beautiful, bright, and rational government.He is more Shelley than Marx.is walking down the forgotten path. Elections in January brought huge victories for middle-class parties and widespread calls for his resignation.

After realizing that his career was hopeless, he drafted a statement announcing his resignation in the early morning of February 21, but was assassinated by Duke Anton Akovali in the middle of submitting his resignation at Lantak on the front line.The Duke of Akovali was a young cavalry officer who was beaten down by an anti-Semitic group because his mother was Jewish.Eisner could have stepped down in an hour, and his rule could have been replaced by a centrist government.The assassination brought about what Akovali feared most, another wave to the left.Eisner, who until recently was despised and opposed by almost everyone, was suddenly a martyr and a saint of the proletariat, and the revolution was awakened.The Central Committee of Workers and Soldiers declared martial law and appointed a fully socialist government headed by Adolf Hoffmann (who was a division member). It also announced a general strike and a curfew at 7 pm.The University of Munich was shut down as students cheered on their hero Akovali.

Two weeks later, the Third International held a congress in Moscow, unanimously adopted a resolution to establish the Communist International.In the ensuing celebrations of victory, Lenin called on workers from all over the world to rise up, force their leaders to withdraw their troops from Russia, restore diplomatic and commercial relations, and send a large number of engineers, technicians and instructors to help rebuild the country. The country of feathers. At that time, Berlin was answering the call of world revolution.The day before, the workers of Berlin disregarded the orders of the Communist Party and marched into the center of the city, carrying out demonstrations and looting.With the participation of the "Red Sailor League" and other radical military groups, they occupied 30 local police stations; sailors surrounded the police headquarters at Alexanderplatz, which was guarded by several infantry companies from the "Free Corps".The next day, 1,500 representatives of the "Workers' Council" voted overwhelmingly in favor of the call for a general strike.The capital is immobilized; no electricity, no transportation.

The revolutionaries all assembled in Dongcheng.They set up machine guns at the main checkpoint.In order to counterattack, Defense Secretary Noske, using the despotic powers newly entrusted to him, sent 30,000 troops from the "Free Corps" into the city on March 5.The rebels were driven away from building to building; bars, dance halls and pubs in Berlin remained open. There is fierce street fighting in Berlin.One side used cannons, machine guns, and aircraft to straf; the other side used rifles and grenades.After four days of fierce fighting, Nosk announced that "anyone who holds arms against the government forces will be shot on the spot." As a result, hundreds of workers stood against the wall and were executed without trial.More than 1,500 revolutionaries were killed and at least 10,000 were injured.However, the spirit of rebellion continued to spread throughout Germany.In Saxony, power is in the hands of radicals; the Ruhr basin is under siege.Ben Hecht, a reporter for the Chicago Daily News agency, tweeted:

"Germany is insane, and there is nothing sane to report." Munich was also on the brink of another revolution.The revolution was inspired by a coup in Budapest. On March 22, news spread that the People's Front for Socialism and Communism, in the name of the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Committees, had seized power in Hungary and established the Hungarian Soviet Republic headed by an unknown person, Bela Kun.Bella Kun himself was Jewish, as were 25 of the 32 committee members.Hence, The Times of London dubbed the regime the "Jewish Mafia".Bella Kun's victory emboldened the left wingers in Munich. On the evening of April 4th, committee representatives walked the streets with difficulty under 20 inches of snow (heavy snow that had not been seen in many years).Their destination was the Rowanbrau building, just two houses away from Hitler's pre-war residence--here, the resolution was read aloud: "Destroy parties, unite the entire proletariat, proclaim a Soviet Republic, The proletariat is fraternized. In this way, no power in the world can prevent us from fully socializing."

This is a café revolution, a childish version of bloody reality.The leader of the revolution was the poet Ernst Thore.His claims included calls for a reform of the art forms of drama, painting, and architecture to free the human spirit.The cabinet is made up of a bunch of weirdos.For example, the housing committee ordered that the living room of each family must be built above the kitchen and bedroom.The jewel in the crown of eccentrics, however, was Frans Ripp - who was picked for foreign affairs (even though he spent some time in a mental institution) on the grounds that he had a neatly trimmed beard and wore a gray The coat is the image of a diplomat.Rip sent an indignant telegram to Moscow attacking Eisner's heirs for stealing the keys to the Ministry's toilets; locomotive."

The revolution came to an end on April 13, Palm Sunday, when the former chancellor, the socialist teacher Hoffmann, tried to take Munich by force.He never got a chance to start a war, even with a soldier with such outstanding military exploits as Hitler and others.One reason for this is that, in order to prevent the redification of the soldiers of the second regiment, he once stood on a chair and shouted: "The people who said that we should remain neutral are right! After all, we are not the guards of the Revolution standing guard for a group of wandering Jews." !” Although Hitler and others had neutralized the Munich garrison.By evening, the "Hoffmann Revolt" was still crushed and power fell into the hands of the Red Professionals - led by Eugène Levine, a native of St. Petersburg, the son of a Jewish merchant.They were sent by the Communist Party to Munich to organize the revolution.Immediately after arresting the poet Tolle, they transformed the regime into a real Soviet.However, in violation of strict party orders to avoid the use of force "even if a partial or temporary victory can be achieved", they sent a considerable part of their forces in the name of the Bavarian Soviet Republic to fight against Hoffmann's hasty recapture of Munich. The assembled 8,000 soldiers confronted each other.At that time, Hoffmann's troops were massing towards Dachau, only 10 miles from the city.

The commander-in-chief of the Red Army happened to be the poet Ernst Toller, who had just been arrested by the Communists.As soon as he came out of prison, he jumped on a borrowed horse and rushed to the battlefield, like the old warrior, determined to "fight for the revolution". On April 18, the red knight commanded troops to attack Hoffmann.But because he was a humanitarian and an individualist, he insisted on disregarding the orders of Munich.First, he refused to bombard Dachau in an attempt to negotiate to avoid conflict.Second, when battles arose, he led his men into battle and won with little bloodshed.Hoffmann's troops retreated hastily.The Soviet leader ordered the shooting of the officers he had captured.Needless to say, he let them go again, and he himself went to prison again.

After the defeat at Dachau, Hoffman was forced to accept the aid of the "Free Corps" of the Minister of Defense Noske.A plan for the conquest of Munich was sketched out with astonishing speed and executed with great success.By April 27, Munich was completely surrounded.In revenge, the besieged Red Army captured the Soviet Republic's enemies throughout Munich.The sailors arrested seven members of the anti-Semitic "Turi Society", including a beautiful female secretary.A total of about 100 hostages were imprisoned at the Lyubold High School. On April 29, the encirclement in Munich continued to tighten, and the revolutionaries in the city panicked.It was falsely reported that the Whites had seized the main railway station, and within moments the Red Army headquarters was evacuated—except Toller (who was released for the last stand) and the Red Army commander.The commander of the Red Army decided to take the final revenge on the White Army.Because not long ago, the "Free Corps" executed 52 Russian prisoners of war and shot dead more than 10 unarmed workers in a quarry.He ordered the execution of all hostages held in the school.Toller was frightened out of his wits, and hurried to stop the massacre.However, when he arrived, at least 20 people had been killed.

A student slipped away from what remained of the Red Army's line and reported the atrocity to the commander of the Free Corps.So they ordered to enter the city at dawn. May 1st was sunny and warm. The "Free Corps" poured into the city from several directions.Apart from some resistance in the Hopbanov and Schhobing districts, they did not take much effort to deal with the scattered revolutionary forces. The troops of the "Free Corps" were everywhere cheered by the freed citizens.A mass meeting was also held at Marienplatz.The red flag was lowered, replaced by the blue and white flag of Bavaria.

Just as Lenin was proclaiming the victory of Communism to a large May Day mass rally in Red Square (“Not only in Soviet Russia, but also in Soviet Hungary and Soviet Bavaria, the emancipated working class was celebrating freely and openly Anniversary Liberation."). The "Free Corps" is destroying the lairs of resistance in Munich and arresting red leaders.The streets and alleys of Munich belonged to the "Free Corps".Soon, they were striding forward on Ludwigstrasse, walking right through the Feldherren Hall.Soldiers of Earhart's brigade, wearing swastika steel helmets, sang "wearing swastika helmets, black, white and red armbands..." By May 3, Munich had been captured, and the price paid by the "Free Corps" was 68 lives.Of course, this revenge must be avenged.Thirty Catholic workers belonging to St. Joseph's Church were arrested while discussing the performance of a play in a hotel. They were escorted into the basement of Whittlebach Palace, and 21 of them were shot or stabbed to death as dangerous red elements.Hundreds were killed in similar circumstances, and thousands were taken to various sections of the Free Corps for public display "as a warning".In addition, a series of harsh notices were issued to continue the suppression.Some proclamations are simply unenforceable, for example, there are proclamations stating that weapons must be surrendered immediately or shot.In the name of law and order, citizens were evicted from their homes, insulted, whipped, or killed. The "Free Corps" rescued Munich from the iron heel of the Soviet Republic. Although the Republic went too far, it pales in comparison with the method of rescue. "A thick book is needed to describe the atrocities of the White Army," the French military attache in Munich reported, "...unscrupulous and organized barbarism...barbarous massacres, indescribable nonsense..." British officials either failed to see or turned a blind eye to these atrocities, sanctioning them "as far as we know as the result of the Munich Soviet episode," reports the British Foreign Office Political Intelligence Service, "intensified throughout Germany." Law and order discredited Badacism and Bolshevism among the masses." About 1,000 so-called "red elements" were executed by the "Free Corps".In Munich, with so many dead bodies piled up in such a short period of time, people's health was threatened.For those unidentifiable corpses, they had to be thrown into the ditch.