291:, Quartermaster General of the German Army had assured Ebert of the Army's loyalty, in return for which Ebert had promised, among other things, to take prompt action against leftist uprisings. Regular troops under the command of General Arnold Lequis advanced against the People's Navy Division but were unable to storm the Palace because armed workers and other revolutionary units were supporting them. After 56 government soldiers and civilians were killed, Ebert gave the order to stop the fighting. The government had to make significant concessions to the People's Navy Division. It was allowed to remain whole, was absorbed intact into the Republican Soldiers' Army and received the outstanding pay it was due. Politically, the skirmish led to the breakup of the USPD-SPD coalition when the three USPD members of the Council of the People's Deputies resigned in protest of the actions taken by Ebert and the SPD.
259:
55:
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203:. The aim of his counter-revolutionary action was to eliminate the workers' and soldiers' councils and restore the officers' power of command. Haeften discussed this with ministerial director Ferdinand von Stumm, who suggested that the People's Navy Division, led by his kinsman Wolff-Metternich, be allowed to head the enterprise. The plan was never carried out.
327:, the remnants of the People's Navy Division were ordered to relieve the government troops beleaguered inside the police headquarters. The government troops took the Division for enemies and opened fire. The sailors fired back and joined the insurgents. The government troops responded aggressively and defeated the insurgents.
185:
Initially the People's Navy
Division was on the side of a moderate social democracy. On 6 December 1918 sailors of the troop under the command of First Lieutenant of the Reserve Hermann von Wolff-Metternich, along with other military units, marched to the Reich Chancellery and publicly expressed
303:
of
January 1919, the troops were on the side of the radical left in spite of their incorporation into the Republican Soldiers' Army. The Division's commander, Dorrenbach, played a decisive role in the decision to begin the fight by claiming that not only the People's Navy Division but all troops in
244:, co-chair of the Council of the People's Deputies, succeeded in adjourning the meeting until the next day. Under pressure from the Soldiers' Councils, what came to be called the 'Hamburg Points', which were very close to the demands of the People's Navy Division, were adopted on 18 December.
235:
On 17 December
Heinrich Dorrenbach, an influential member of the Division's central committee, succeeded in pushing a resolution through the Soldiers' Councils of Greater Berlin. Under its terms the councils were to hold the power of command over army units, all rank insignia were to be
176:
On 14 November 1918 Wieczorek was shot and killed by
Captain Friedrich Brettschneider, who tried to take over leadership of the People's Navy Division but was himself killed shortly afterwards. A few hours later, seaman Otto Tost from Cuxhaven was elected the new commander.
31:. At its peak late that month, the People's Navy Division had about 3,200 members. In the struggles between the various elements involved in the revolution to determine Germany's future form of government, it initially supported the moderate socialist interim government of
186:
their support for
Chancellor Friedrich Ebert, who was head of the Council of the People's Deputies, the de facto German government during the November Revolution. The troops also demanded elections to the National Assembly before the end of December and criticized the
67:
The People's Navy
Division initially comprised about 600 men, rising to 1,500 by 13 November and 3,200 by the end of the month, but then dropping to 1,800 by December. Although most of its members were nonpartisan sailors, it included members of the
283:'Christmas battles') on 23 and 24 December 1918. The Division held Otto Wels hostage, detained the government and took control of the Reich Chancellery telephone exchange. Ebert saw no other option than to ask the army for support under the
340:, selected out every tenth man and had him shot. Although most of the 30 thus chosen died, at least one escaped to relate the story. Marloh was later acquitted of the killings, while his superiors who had ordered the massacre were never tried.
335:
The unit was disbanded in March 1919. When its members came to pick up their discharge papers and back pay, Otto Marloh of the
Reinhard Freikorps regiment, whose commander claimed to be acting under the general orders of Reich Defense Minister
219:
The
Division increasingly roused the displeasure of political leaders. On 12 December Finance Minister Hugo Simon accused the troops of thefts of considerable value from the Berlin Palace where they were quartered. After the arrival of
211:
In the following weeks the troops began to orient themselves more to the left. On 30 December 1918 a detachment guarded the
Prussian House of Representatives in Berlin where the founding conference of the
136:
The administrative department of the People's Navy
Division, with 100 men, had its headquarters first in the Imperial Stables, later in the Marinehaus. Its tasks included seeing to supplies and provisioning.
426:
Gietinger, Klaus (2019). "Paul Wieczorek – Neues über den ersten Kommandanten der Volksmarinedivision" [Paul Wieczorek – New information on the first commander of the People's Navy Division].
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and to dismiss the rest after giving them severance pay, but the troops rejected his plan. He then ordered them to vacate the Palace by 16 December in an ultimatum to which they did not respond.
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for refusing to use his forces against the People's Navy Division during the skirmish at the Palace, but also to aim for the overthrow of the government. The attempt quickly failed.
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Council of the People's Deputies. Left to right: Emil Barth (USPD), Otto Landsberg (SPD), Friedrich Ebert, Hugo Haase (USPD), Wilhelm Dittmann (USPD), Philipp Scheidemann (SPD)
39:. By December of 1918 it had turned more to the left and was involved in skirmishes against government troops. In March 1919, after the success of the Ebert government in the
258:
196:(Red Flag), the newspaper of the Spartacus League. Other troops not from the People's Navy Division arrested the Executive Council, leading to violent confrontations.
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established the People's Navy Division on 11 November at the suggestion of Chief Petty Officer Paul Wieczorek, one of the leaders of the 3 November
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190:. The sailors offered Ebert the office of president, but he dismissed the idea. The troops then withdrew and searched the editorial office of the
87:
During its most active period, the People's Navy Division was divided into three sections. The First Section, with 1,550 men, was based in the
548:"Noske and the Beginning of the Comrades Murder". All Power to the Workers' Councils: A Documentary History of the German Revolution 1918-1919
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316:, founder of the Communist Party of Germany, and others who were present to not only protest against the dismissal of Police President
69:
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358:) of the GDR after the Volksmarinedivision. Some units and ships were named after well-known members of the People's Navy Division.
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The plans to have the troops proclaim Ebert head of state with dictatorial powers had come from Hans von Haeften, a colonel in the
577:
Homeland Army and Revolution 1918: The Military Powers in the Homeland between the October Reform and the November Revolution
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Heimatheer und Revolution 1918: Die militärischen Gewalten im Heimatgebiet zwischen Oktoberreform und Novemberrevolution
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The refusal of the People's Navy Division to leave their quarters without the outstanding pay due them led to the
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abolished, and all officers dismissed. A delegation from the People's Navy Division invaded the session of the
119:
451:
From the Revolution to Stabilization. Workers and the Workers' Movement in the Weimar Republic 1918 to 1924
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Von der Revolution zur Stabilisierung. Arbeiter und Arbeiterbewegung in der Weimarer Republik 1918 bis 1924
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Sailors' uprising, November 1918. The sign reads: "Soldiers' council. Long live the socialist republic."
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On 10 November 1918 Berlin factory workers and regiments stationed in and around the city elected
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47:, the People's Navy Division was disbanded and 30 of its members were summarily shot by members of a
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23:(People's Navy Division) was an armed unit formed on 11 November 1918 during the
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in Berlin. Besides guarding the train stations, it provided standby and patrol duty.
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Soldiers' Councils and Revolution. Studies on Military Politics in Germany 1918/19
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that had triggered the November Revolution. Revolutionary sailors of the former
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118:. This detachment was responsible for guarding the House of Representatives and
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Soldatenräte und Revolution. Studien zur Militärpolitik in Deutschland 1918/19
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and demanded an immediate decision on the resolution. After a violent tumult,
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Executive Council of the Workers' and Soldiers' Councils of Greater Berlin
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114:, later in a public establishment on Kistenmacher Street and then in the
224:, the military in particular pressed for the Division to be disbanded.
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405:] (in German). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. p. 180.
312:. The pressure from the troops was one of the triggers that prompted
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were to be placed at the disposal of Berlin's new police president,
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and were prepared to use force against the government of Ebert and
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Graf Hermann Wolff-Metternich (23 November 1918 –7 December 1918)
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Walter Junge and Markus Markiewicz (8 January – 11 March 1919)
157:. One of these, the People's Marine Council of Greater Berlin
579:] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 403.
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in Berlin and had as its main responsibility guarding the
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and reached a strength of 900 men. It was located at the
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Section III consisted for the most part of sailors from
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revolutionary movement organized during World War I.
262:Machine gun unit of the Volksmarinedivision by the
110:Section II with 800 men was initially based in the
27:that broke out in Germany following its defeat in
612:Military units and formations established in 1918
238:Reich Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils
295:Spartacist uprising and the Berlin March battles
376:Fritz Radtke (8 December 1918 – 8 January 1919)
367:Paul Wieczorek (11 November – 13 November 1918)
287:, a secret 10 November agreement in which
453:] (in German). Berlin: Dietz. p. 97.
16:Revolutionary German military unit (1918–1919)
352:(East Germany) were named the People's Navy (
173:. Wieczorek was elected the first commander.
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370:Otto Tost (13 November – 23 November 1918)
362:Commanders of the People's Navy Division
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533:100 Jahre Revolution Berlin 1918 / 1919
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489:[The Christmas Battles 1918].
72:(SPD), its more leftist offshoot the
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74:Independent Social Democratic Party
76:(USPD), along with Communists and
41:elections to the National Assembly
14:
445:Winkler, Heinrich August (1984).
323:On 5 March 1919, during the
116:Prussian House of Representatives
571:Schmidt, Ernst-Heinrich (2017).
266:, in front of the Berlin Palace.
37:Council of the People's Deputies
344:Memorialization in East Germany
155:workers' and soldiers' councils
617:German Revolution of 1918–1919
607:1918 establishments in Germany
428:Arbeit – Bewegung – Geschichte
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491:Deutsches Historisches Museum
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487:"Die Weihnachtskämpfe 1918"
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350:German Democratic Republic
331:Disbandment and decimation
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550:. Oakland, CA: PM Press.
299:During the communist led
105:Ullstein publishing house
348:The naval forces of the
216:(KPD) was taking place.
304:Berlin were behind the
120:Prussian House of Lords
70:Social Democratic Party
546:Retzlaw, Karl (2012).
397:Kluge, Ulrich (1975).
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306:Revolutionary Stewards
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214:German Communist Party
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529:"Slaughtered sailors"
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254:1918 Christmas crisis
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131:Lehrter train station
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622:Communism in Germany
325:Berlin March battles
201:Supreme Army Command
167:Imperial German Navy
506:, pp. 105 ff..
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310:Philipp Scheidemann
301:Spartacist uprising
45:Weimar Constitution
25:November Revolution
21:Volksmarinedivision
285:Ebert–Groener Pact
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586:978-3-486-82640-1
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434:(1): 41–60.
355:Volksmarine
163:Kiel Mutiny
78:Spartacists
29:World War I
601:Categories
384:References
242:Hugo Haase
230:Reichswehr
193:Rote Fahne
97:Reichsbank
274:(German:
226:Otto Wels
63:Structure
49:Freikorps
127:Cuxhaven
103:and the
35:and the
141:History
82:Marxist
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