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Kiel mutiny

The Kiel mutiny (German: Kieler Matrosenaufstand) was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet, against the military command in Kiel, on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German Revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the German Empire and to the establishment of the Weimar Republic.

Background[edit]

By September 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was advised to ask the Triple Entente to grant an immediate cease fire and put the government on a democratic footing.


On 3 October, the Kaiser appointed Prince Maximilian of Baden as the new imperial chancellor. In his cabinet the Social Democrats (SPD) also took on responsibility. The most prominent and highest-ranking was Philipp Scheidemann, a prominent leader of the SPD as undersecretary without portfolio.

Morale in the High Seas Fleet[edit]

Following the Battle of Jutland in 1916, many of the capital ships of the Imperial Navy had seen reduced activity outside the Baltic and had remained in harbor. Many officers and crewmen volunteered to transfer to the submarines and light vessels which still had a major part to play in the war. The discipline and spirit of those who remained, on lower rations, with the battleships tied up at dock-side, inevitably suffered. On 2 August 1917, 350 crewmen of the dreadnought Prinzregent Luitpold staged a protest demonstration in Wilhelmshaven. Two of the ringleaders were executed by firing squad while others were sentenced to prison. During the remaining months of the war, secret sailors' councils were formed on a number of the capital ships.[1] Richard Stumpf wrote a book Warum die Flotte zerbrach – Kriegstagebuch eines christlichen Arbeiters (Why the fleet broke up – war diary of a Christian worker) of his war memories, explaining the conditions that led to the demise of German Imperial Navy. This was later presented to a German Weimar Republic parliament (Reichstag) commission and is discussed at Naval Academy Mürwik naval history classes.

End of World War I

German Revolution

Richard Stumpf

Naval mutinies:

Dirk Dähnhardt: Revolution in Kiel. Der Ubergang vom Kaiserreich zur Weimarer Republik. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster, 1978,  3-529-02636-0

ISBN

Horn, Daniel, German Naval Mutinies of World War I, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey (USA), 1969.

Horn, Daniel (Ed.), War, Mutiny and Revolution in the German Navy – The World War I Diary of Seaman Richard Stumpf. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey (USA) 1967, VI,442 S.,

Wolfram Wette: Gustav Noske – eine politische Biographie. Droste Verlag, 1987,  3-7700-0728-X

ISBN

Wolfram Wette: Gustav Noske und die Revolution in Kiel 1918. Boyens Buchverlag, Heide 2010,  978-3-8042-1322-7; published as special edition from the Gesellschaft für Kieler Stadtgeschichte, by Jürgen Jensen, Band 64

ISBN

Documentary film "In Kiel ist Revolution!" 53 minutes, 2018 (German version as DVD, English version as high definition mp4 format). By Kay Gerdes and Klaus Kuhl, published by the Gesellschaft für Kieler Stadtgeschichte e.V. as "Historische Filmdokumente Nr. 9". Sponsored by City of Kiel and Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. The film highlights in detail the events in November 1918 in Kiel and presents them in a larger historical frame. The authors employ historical film- and photo-material, footage from original locations, interviews from the 1970s and 1980s with contemporary witnesses (among them Lothar Popp, one of the leaders of the uprising) and explanations by the historian, peace researcher and Noske-biograph Prof. . Hints for teachers, information on the used sources and the complete text are available online: [1]

Wolfram Wette

Interview with Lothar Popp; interviews with further contemporary witnesses; evaluations; detailed time-line with documents etc.

Homepage from Kiel

highlights women's role in the German Revolution of 1918, with a particular focus on Kiel.

Kiel Uprising: Women's activism and the German Revolution November 1918