A fascinating period and both came to terrible ends. Had they survived Germany’s history might have been very different.
The Spartacus League was founded by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in August 1914, part of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), which after the Russian Revolution of 1917 agitated for a libertarian socialist government based on local workers’ councils. When the German Revolution of November 1918 occurred, a period of instability began, which lasted until 1923. Both Liebknecht and the leader of the SPD, Ebert declared new Republics on November 9, the day after the emperor’s abdication, Ebert demanded the chancellorship for himself. Ebert then offered to take Liebknecht on as a Minister, though Liebknecht wanted full control of the army by the workers’ councils. Around 8pm that night, a group of 100 Revolutionary Stewards from the larger Berlin factories occupied the Reichstag and formed a revolutionary parliament. They originally planned for a coup over the SPD leadership two days later, but noticing a swift rise in revolutionary activity…
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