The elections of 19 January were another disappointment for the radical left after the KPD as well as the USPD had been further incensed against the government by the bloody suppression of the "Januaraufstand" (January Uprising). Between February and May 1919 numerous "wild" (i.e. without union authorization) strikes, armed uprisings and occupation of plants (especially in the mining industry around Halle and in the Ruhr) took place. The workers and their leaders demanded preservation and expansion of the council system, the socialisation of key industries, democratisation of the military via soldiers' councils, higher wages and better working conditions. The government used paramilitary Freikorps and regular troops to crush left-wing uprisings and "Räterepubliken". In February, government forces occupied the North Sea ports. Also in February, "Freikorps" and regular units moved into "Mitteldeutschland" and subsequently occupied Gotha and Halle. In April, Magdeburg, Helmstadt and Braunschweig were taken, followed by Leipzig and Eisenach in May and Erfurt in June.