German Civil War (Successful German Socialist Revolution)

The German Civil War was the last war fought in Germany before the establishment of the German Democratic Republic. It began with the Kiel Mutiny in 1918. Instead of obeying their orders to begin preparations to fight the British, German sailors led a revolt in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven on 29 October 1918, followed by the Kiel mutiny in the first days of November. These disturbances spread the spirit of civil unrest across Germany and ultimately led to the proclamation of a republic on 9 November 1918. As time went on, German Socialist forces, as well as the forces of The Bavarian Soviet Republic, would push the German Nationalist forces into further retreat. After a three-month Siege of Frankfurt, The last Nationalist forces were ultimately defeated on 13 April 1921, Although an insurgency would continue until the 1940s.

Background
By October 1918, Germany's situation in the First World War was hopeless. Bulgaria had surrendered, the Entente was making massive gains against the Ottoman Empire, and all German gains of the Spring offensive had been halted and followed up by the Entente's own offensive. Despite these reverses, The German high command had sent an order to the German High Seas Fleet to attack the British Grand Fleet.

Kiel Mutiny
The German order to attack the British Grand Fleet had been ignored. Instead, the sailors led by Karl Artelt would revolt against Germany under the slogan "Frieden und Brot" (peace and bread). The sailors issued several other demands including the release of all inmates and political prisoners, complete freedom of speech and the press, the abolition of mail censorship and various others.

Seizure of the German coastline
After the demands were refused by the German government, the sailors responded by seizing all major cities on the German coast. The German Army was unable to fully commit to a counteroffensive due to their faltering defense in the western front. The divisions that were sent were defeated by the Communist revolutionaries in the Battle of Lübeck.

Germany Negotiates a surrender
On 8 November 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was having a furious argument with Ludendorff. Erich Ludendorff proposed that the Entente be delayed for as long as possible while the rest of the German army would destroy the Communists. Wilhelm opposed this idea, saying that it would only unite the Communists and the Entente against a common enemy. Wilhelm remarked that the fate of Germany was outside Germany's control, and only the Entente could decide Germany's fate. After a few more hours of fierce debate, Ludendorff capitulated to Wilhelm.

Battle of Hamburg
After Germany had agreed to start an armistice, Ludendorff knew that he needed to win a quick victory against the Communists before the Armistice could start, which would disarm Germany and prevent a victory against the Communists. Ludendorff and his army hurried for Hamburg, Where the Communists had built fortifications. Despite days upon days of fierce shelling against the Communists, Ludendorff was unable to get the quick victory he desired.

Armistice of Compiègne
On 11 November 1918, Germany surrendered to the Entente and was forced to lay down their arms. After this, Communist advance was rapid. Hamburg was quickly relieved from Ludendorff's shelling. The Communists then made an advance into Germany, Seizing Bremen, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg.

Battle of Hannover
By March 1919, The Communists had captured much of north Germany. At this point, they decided to try to capture Hannover. However, when entering they were ambushed opposed by the newly formed nationalist faction, Led by Adolf Hitler. The Communist army was quickly routed, And tens of thousands were imprisoned.

The Soviet Union intervenes
After hearing of the disaster in Hannover, Lenin was shocked. He immediately ordered a large amount of equipment to be sent to the German Communists. Lenin hoped that this would galvanize the seemingly low Communist German morale.

Hitler takes command
After receiving Soviet supplies, the Communists resumed their advance. In June 1919, A major defeat in the Battle of Havelberg led many Nationalist troops to do a coup d'état against the Weimar Regime, replacing Paul von Hindenburg with Adolf Hitler, who had saved the government in the Battle of Hannover. The Coup d'état - While well-received among the Anti-Communist army, was met with outcry among the German populace. It even led Kurt Eisner to declare an independent Bavaria in Munich.

Purging of the Moderate right
Despite the majority of the Anti-Communist army having supported Hitler's coup, A sizable minority of the army remained in support of the old Weimar Regime. In Cuxhaven, Brunswick, Breslau and Kassel, Armies rose up and formed a new "German People's Government". However, this government quickly collapsed under intense Nationalist pressure.

Bavarian war of independence (July-August 1919)
After the defeat of the German people's government, Hitler was fiercely arguing with his Generals. Hitler favoured an advance on Schwerin in order to split the Communist territory in two, while his generals advocated for the elimination of Bavaria in order to secure their flanks. After several hours of debate, Hitler eventually allowed their plan to continue after they threatened to resign. The Nationalist plan was to start with an advance on Hammelburg, followed by an advance on Bamburg and Beyreuth, Which would be followed up with a finishing blow on Nuremberg. It was hoped that these attacks would do a severe blow to Bavarian morale, Allowing the Nationalists to take Munich unopposed.

Battle of Hammelburg
As planned, the Nationalists attacked Hammelburg on July 1st, 1919, 1:00 Munich time. The Command was assigned to Erwin Rommel, Who had earlier defeated the Italians in the Battle of Caporetto. Fierce combat erupted, but despite Nationalist numerical superiority they were unable to defeat the fanatical Bavarian defense as well as the constant guerrilla attacks by Bavarian partisans. It seemed clear to Rommel that the battle might go on for months at this rate, which caused Rommel to request a flanking force to be sent through Würzburg. This would have the additional effect of encircling Steinfield, Allowing the Nationalists to encircle thousands of Communists, as well as opening the way to Bamburg.

Bamburg plan versus Aurach plan
After the victory in Hammelburg, Rommel was very satisfied and wanted to advance on Bamburg. However, Hitler saw the battle as an utter disaster. The Nationalist forces had been delayed for three weeks in what was supposed to be a quick victory. Hitler also believed that most of the Bavarian forces had been tied up in Hammelburg, Which led him to advocate for a quick sprint from Crailsheim to Aurach to Nuremberg, Which would split the Bavarians and give the Nationalists a decisive edge in the Civil war. Rommel still believed in the Bamburg plan, And after protests Hitler allowed Rommel to use a reduced amount of soldiers to carry out his plan.

As planned, The Battle of Aurach started on 27 July 1919 and it would fall the next day.

Battle of Nuremberg
On August 3rd 1919, a contingent of Nationalist troops under the command of Gerd von Rundstedt attacked Nuremberg from Aurach. However, advance into Nuremberg was stalled by land mines and ambushes from the Bavarians. Fighting continued for weeks, but the Nationalists were unable to break the determined Bavarian defense.

On 25 August 1919, Kurt Eisner called for a general counterattack against the overextended Nationalist troops and succeeded at driving them out of Nuremberg.

Battle of Crailsheim
On 1 September 1919, Several Bavarian troops advanced on Crailsheim in order to encircle the Nuremberg Pocket. However, this encirclement had been compromised by Nationalist sympathizers in Bavaria, allowing the Nationalists to take the Bavarians by surprise via an ambush.

Although the Nationalists had avoided annihilation, Hitler was still disappointed with the largely inconclusive campaign against Bavaria. It was at this point that he started advocating for renewed offensive against the Communists in the north, who at this point had become much stronger thanks to Soviet aid.

British Intervention (September 1919)
After large Communist success on all fronts, Winston Churchill advocated for a large-scale British intervention in the German Civil War. However, the British parliament was reluctant to back an intervention on behalf of Hitler's radical government and instead, backed the largely defunct German People's Government. On 8 September 1919, British Troops landed on Meldorf and set up a small government in the area, officially led by local Germans, but in reality led by Great Britain. This government would be commonly referred to as the Meldorf Republic, Although it would officially be the German People's Government.

Battle of Hohn
After establishing the Meldorf Republic, the British troops would quickly capture the entire District of Dithmarschen, after which, they attempted to capture Rendsburg by advancing in two columns, one led by George Henry Fowke and another led by Ivor Maxse. On the way to Rendsburg, Henry's column got too far ahead of Maxse and got promptly surrounded in Hohn. Maxse was now faced with a difficult decision: he would either have to try to relieve Henry or he would need to go to Meldorf and wait for British reinforcements. Maxse chose the latter and Henry's column surrendered the next day.

Battle of Meldorf
After the victory in Hohn, the Communists were eager to try to destroy the Meldorf Republic. The Communist offensive led by Friedrich Sixt von Armin would be so fast that it quickly became disorganized and the British were able to do a counteroffensive to destroy Friedrich's forces which secured the existence of the Meldorf Republic for the following months. On 28 September 1919, after the successful defense of the city, Maxse requested to Britain that additional supplies be sent so that he could resume his offensive. The British Parliament, however, was reluctant to send more supplies as the destruction of Henry's forces had disillusioned the British people.

Ivor Maxse would grow resentful of British Parliament feeling that he never given the supplies or troops he needed to defeat the Communists. He proclaimed that if Great Britain were not willing to properly intervene in Germany or Russia that it might eventually find the Communists knocking at its own door.

Schwerin campaign (October-December 1919)
With the Communists tied against the British in Schleswig-Holstein, Hitler revisited the Schwerin plan, which would cut the Northern Communist territory in half. This had earlier been proposed in July but it had been rejected in favour of a largely unfruitful offensive into Bavaria. Now the Nationalist army had to fight a much better equipped Communist army thanks to Soviet aid.

Battle of Parchim
On 5 October 1919, Erwin Rommel would lead an army into the city of Parchim, where he expected to meet another army. To his surprise, the city was seemingly left entirely undefended, So instead, he allowed his men to rest while he waited for additional supplies to come in. What he didn't realize was that the garrison had been present all along and that they were equally unaware of the Nationalist presence in Parchim.

On 17:00, after Communist scouts reported to Karl von Fassbender, the Commander of Parchim, that a large army was nearby he hastily gave the order to attack. Despite numerical superiority, The Communists were unable to defeat the Nationalists. The Nationalists had newly produced several Mark IV Tanks which were effectively impervious to the Communist machine fire. As the hours progressed, Communist casualties mounted and by the end of the day they had lost seven out of every ten men. It was in this light that Karl von Fassbender decided to abandon Parchim. Rommel would later take Schwerin and Wismar, completing the objective of dividing the Communist territory.

Communist response
The defeat at Parchim shocked the Communists. The founder of the Revolution, Karl Artelt, called for an immediate meeting of the Communist command. One commander proposed that aid be requested from the Soviet Union, but the Soviets were unable to send aid - their situation was desperate, as the White Army had launched Operation White Sword and was threatening to take Petrograd.

With the Finnish Reds defeated, the Soviets in retreat and the German Reds divided, It seemed that a worldwide collapse of Communism was imminent.