The Spartacist uprising, also known as the January uprising, was a general strike (and the armed battles accompanying it) in Germany from January 5 to January 12, 1919. Its suppression is considered to mark the end of the German Revolution. The name Spartacist uprising is generally used for the event even though neither the Spartacist League nor the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) initiated or led the uprising and only participated after it had already begun. A general strike is a strike action by an entire labour force in a city, region or country. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Karl Liebknecht on 9 November 1918 in the Berliner Tiergarten The German November Revolution was one of many Revolutions across Europe at the end of World War I in 1918-1919. ... The Spartacist League (Spartakusbund in German) was a left-wing Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during and just after the politically volatile years of World War I. It was founded by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg (nicknamed Red Rosa) along with others such as Clara Zetkin. ... 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ...

The uprising began after the January 4 discharge of the Berlin Chief of Police Emil Eichhorn, a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) by the Rat der Volksbeauftragten, whose politics were mainly controlled by Friedrich Ebert from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since the USPD left the committee December 29, 1918. Eichhorn had refused to take up arms against striking workers in the Christmas turmoils on December 24, so that Ebert considered him to be unreliable. January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... For the Independent Social Democratic Party of Romania, see Romanian Social Democratic Party (defunct). ... The Council of the Peoples Deputies (Rat der Volksbeauftragten) was the name given to the government of the November Revolution in Germany from November 1918 until February 1919. ... This is not the Friedrich Ebert involved in the founding of the GDR, but rather his father. ... SPD redirects here. ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ...

Several workers then spontaneously seized the editorial office of a newspaper in the Kochstraße in Berlin and erected barricades on the streets. They were soon joined by more workers and blocked several streets in the newspaper quarter, including the office of the SPD organ Vorwärts. The newspaper had printed articles hostile to the Spartacists since the beginning of September. Vorwärts, central organ of the German Social-Democratic Party published daily in Berlin from 1891 to 1933 by decision of the partys Halle Congress, as the successor of Berliner Volksblatt, founded in 1884. ...

The leaders of the USPD and the KPD soon decided to support the actions of the workers. They appealed for a general strike in Berlin on January 7, which was followed by about 500,000 people, who surged into downtown Berlin on that weekend. In the following two days, however, the strike leadership, the so-called Revolution Committee, was not able to agree on how to proceed. Some called for armed insurgency, others advocated deliberations with Ebert. The workers still squatting in the buildings attained weapons. January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Even within the Communist Party there was dissent on what to do. Karl Liebknecht, unlike Rosa Luxemburg, advocated violently overthrowing the Ebert government, because otherwise the KPD could become too distant from the workers who were planning to do just this. At the same time several KPD leaders tried to pull the regiments stationed in Berlin, especially the Volksmarinedivision, onto their side. Their armed presence was supposed to prevent fighting. This was, however, unsuccessful, because most of the soldiers had already gone home and because of their loyalty to the Rat der Volksbeauftragten. ▶ (help· info) (August 13, 1871 - January 15, 1919) was a German socialist and a co-founder of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. ... Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 – January 15, 1919, in Polish Róża Luksemburg) was a Jewish Polish-born Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ... British regiment A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a variable number of battalions - commanded by a colonel. ...

On January 8, the KPD left the Revolution Committee after USPD representatives had invited Friedrich Ebert for talks. While these took place, the workers found about a flyer of the Vorwärts titled "Die Stunde der Abrechnung naht!" (The hour of vengeance is coming soon!) and about the Freikorps (anti-Republican paramilitary organizations, who fought the Weimar Republic and the November Revolution), whom the SPD administration had hired to suppress the workers. Ebert had ordered defense minister Gustav Noske to do so on January 6. Then the Revolution Committee stopped talks with the SPD. The Spartacist League then called for its members to take part in armed combat. January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps, i. ... It has been suggested that List of Weimar states be merged into this article or section. ... This page contains a List of German defence ministers For pre-1919 Prussian Ministers of War, see Prussian Minister of War. ... Noske and Ebert Gustav Noske (July 9, 1868 - November 30, 1946) was a German administrator. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 359 days (360 in leap years) remaining. ...

On the same day, Ebert ordered the Freikorps to attack the workers. The former soldiers still had weapons and military equipment from World War I, which gave them a formidable advantage. They quickly re-conquered the blocked streets and buildings; many of the workers surrendered, which did not prevent the soldiers from shooting hundreds of them. An unknown number of civilians also died during the fighting. This article is becoming very long. ...

References

• This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of October 18, 2006.