The Final Battle: Soldiers of the Western Front and the German Revolution of 1918: 30 (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare, Series Number 30)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 8/27/2009
EAN 9780521519465, ISBN10: 0521519462
Hardcover, 372 pages, 22.9 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
In many ways the German soldiers who marched back from the Western Front at the end of World War I held the key to the future of the newly-created republic that replaced the Kaiser's collapsed monarchy. To the radical Left, the orderly columns of front-line troops appeared to be the forces of the counterrevolution while to the conservative elements of society they seemed to be the Fatherland's salvation. However, in their efforts to get home as soon as possible, most soldiers were indifferent to the political struggles within the Reich, while the remnant that remained under arms proved powerless to defend the republic from its enemies. This book considers why these soldiers' response to the revolution was so different from the rest of the army and the implications this would have for the course of the German Revolution and, ultimately, for the fate of the Weimar Republic itself.
Preface
1. The divided army
2. The last ditch
German front-line soldiers in the last days of the First World War
3. Caesar without legions
the field army and the abdication of the Kaiser, November 8–9, 1918
4. Legions without Caesar
the German army's response to armistice and revolution, November 9–14, 1918
5. The last march
the German Westheer's march to the Rhine, November–December, 1918
6. Dissolution and conspiracy
the army's homecoming and demobilization, December 1918
7. The last parade
the Guards return to Berlin, December 10–22, 1918
8. The last battle
'Bloody Christmas,' December 23–24, 1918
9. From debacle to civil war
the aftermath of 'Bloody Christmas,' December 1918–January 1919
10. Conclusion
Frontschweine and revolution.