1st German Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils

The **1st German Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils** was held between 16–21 December 1918.

## Election

The election to the congress was organized on 23 November by the Berlin Executive Council. The number of delegates from each region was decided based on the 1910 census and was organized along the borders of the old imperial districts. Delegate elections were conducted indirectly by councils in each district with no consistent process. Suffrage in said elections was not universal or secret. Out of 489 delegates, 405 were elected by the workers' councils and 84 by the soldiers' councils. Only 179 delegates from the workers' councils were factory and office workers, with the rest being an assortment of intellectuals, journalists, party activists and others.

288 delegates were aligned with the MSPD, in contrast with 90 for the USPD. The USPD group included 10 Spartacists. There was a small group of 11 "United Revolutionaries" led by Heinrich Laufenberg, with one member being from a radical Bavarian organization. Additionally, there were 28 soldiers unaffiliated with parties, 25 "Democrats" from liberal parties, and 47 independents.

In Berlin, only factory workers and members of military units were eligible for election, leaving Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg ineligible. The matter caused a rift in the congress, with the discussion eventually being suppressed. The Spartacists, having been largely prevented from directly participating, turned to commanding influence from the outside.

## Conduct

The Spartacists, allied with the revolutionary delegates in the congress, organized a 250,000 strong demonstration in protest of the conduct of the congress. The leader of the demonstrators, Paul Weyer, delivered a series of radical demands to the congress, which were largely rejected outright by the MSPD majority. The Spartacists then organized a large delegation of soldiers representing seventeen units, who delivered demands to the congress regarding command reform. This was particularly damaging for MSPD leader Friedrich Ebert, who had promised his allies in the army command that the topic would not be discussed. However, the delegates from the soldiers' councils, including those affiliated with the MSPD, overwhelmingly supported the army reform proposals. Although this triggered yet another rift in the congress, the soldiers were outvoted. The Spartacists could do little more than continue the protests, which occured in the form of a strike on 18 December.

With the army reform question sidelined and the congress largely subservient to the MSPD, the only question left to the debate was the date of the elections to the National Assembly. Although the revolutionary government of the MSPD and USPD had agreed on 16 February, the matter was once again debated. The radicals around Laufenberg proposed 16 March, arguing 16 February would be too early. His proposal received about 50 votes. In contrast, the proposal to uphold the original compromise date of 16 February received an overwhelming 400 votes. The last vote was over a proposal from Ernst Däumig, in which the councils would be reaffirmed as the supreme authority and another congress would be scheduled for the purposes of drafting a constitution. His proposal was defeated 344 votes to 98, after which he labelled the congress "a suicide club".

## Aftermath

After the conclusion of the congress on 21 December, the Spartacists and revolutionary delegates called for opposition to the decisions of the congress. Ultimately they would split from the USPD during the January party congress, forming the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), which would participate in the February 1919 elections. Said elections would be held on 23 February, rather than 16 February, due to extensive labour unrest in the Ruhr rendering the conduct of the election impossible on that day. With the country in a near state of anarchy, another congress would be held from 19–24 April by revolutionaries shortly before May Revolution.