Occupation of Germany/German Socialist Republic

The **German Socialist Republic** is a socialist country in Central Europe. It was formed out of the western portion of Germany occupied by the Third International following the Second Weltkrieg.

## History

The primordial form of the German Socialist Republic can be found in the First World War, that chaotic time which ripped the labour movement asunder and Birthed both the Socialist Republic of Italy and the French Federation. The German labour movement would slumber for some time thereafter, resurfacing with the Second World War and the fall of the German Empire.

### The Spartakusgruppe and the USPD (1914-1918)

The SPD (German Social Democratic Party) was both the largest party in Germany and a vital piece of the international labour movement in the lead up to the First World War. Yet like many other parties, it was forced into an identity crisis with the war's outbreak. Germany declared war on Russia on the 1st of August 1914.

On the 5th of August 1914 a group of Marxist SPD deputies, distraught that the party had authorized war bonds taken to burgfrieden politics (Truce with the other parties in the Reichstag) met to discuss how best to oppose the war. They founded what was known then as the "Group International". Its goal was to adhere to the original, anti war stance of the SPD.

This group would eventually become the infamous "Spartakus League". Its new name was based on the widely circulated illegal statements against war bonds prepared by Karl Liebknecht. The Spartakus League's membership list featured several high profile German leftists. Notable Members Included:

Rosa Luxembourg, Karl Liebknecht, Leo Jogiches, Hugo Eberline, Paul Levi, Ernest Meyer, Clara Zetkin, Franz Mehring, Ernst Meyer, and Wilhelm Pieck.

The Spartakus league would be heavily persecuted. Its members were arrested and drafted numerous times throughout the war. Some, like Wilhelm Pieck, had to flee to Amsterdam. The suppression of the group would finally result in the placing of Rosa Luxembourg into "protective custody" and the outright imprisonment of Karl Liebknecht alongside several other members of the group, to be held until the end of the war. Despite this, they became highly influential amongst the anti-war left, and their underground newspaper would be widely distributed.

Another, larger group amongst the anti war left was the USPD (Independent German Social Democratic Party). The USPD was a new political party founded in 1917. Its core membership came from the left wing of the SPD, who refused to fall behind the patriotic line of the majority SPD as World War One dragged on. The USPD coalesced around Hugo Hasse, a pacifist member of the Reichstag who had become controversial for voting against further war credits in 1915.

On the 7th of April 1917 the Spartakus League merged with the USPD for tactical reasons. Despite this merger the Spartakus League continued to meet and maintained a degree of autonomy.

### The September Insurrection (1918-1919)

By August of 1918 the domestic situation in the German Empire had grown desperate. Despite the war having turned in their favor the ongoing British naval Blockade had driven many families to starvation. In addition, despite peace in the East with the treaty of Brest Livotsk, the death toll in the West continue to rise. The workers and peasants were tired of being sent to kill their brothers for a cause that was not their own.

To add insult to injury the beloved Russian Revolutionary Vladimir Lenin had been fatally shot. The workers teetered on the edge of despair and revolt. As a result truly massive strikes broke out in cities across the nation.

It was in Berlin where Hugo Hasse's USPD saw the greatest opportunity to seize upon the popular momentum. Their members began to agitate and organize the city's working class in August. Soon the movement had millions of workers in its ranks. It had grown beyond the USPD's wildest dreams. Hasse did not know it yet, but he had unleashed a powder keg.

On September 9th 1918 General Ludendorff began to viciously deliver upon a curfew he had promised in august. Police began to attack protestors on sight.

Proposed Emblems of West Germany