As the November revolution unfolded, the proclamation of the German republic by the leading SPD politician Philipp Scheidemann on 9 November 1918,was an important moment for Ella Kay, by this time ages twenty-three. She herself had joined the textile workers' trades union in 1917, and towards the end of 1919, following her father's example, she became a member of the &lt;a href="Social%20Democratic%20Party%20of%20Germany"&gt;Social Democratic Party ("Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands" / SPD)&lt;/a&gt;. She joined the newly founded organisation at the same time, quickly becoming actively involved in both. For many commentators the early 1920s in Germany were dominated by political unrest driven by economic austerity and hunger, topped off by currency collapse, but there were also some positive developments. A long-standing demand from labour activists for an Eight-hour working day to be signed into law was enacted for heavy industries and munitions factories in November 1918 and was quickly implemented across industry. The benefit for Ella Kay, as a factory worker, was immediate: she now had her evenings free to pursue her own further education.