Who are you in the November Revolution? (SPD edition)

It is late 1918. The Great War is over - Germany has lost, the Kaiser has abdicated, and a provisional government was formed by the SPD. Before the War, you were a member of the SPD, we all were - but how have the past four years changed you? What will your future be in this new Germany?

This is a quiz for fun which is intended to be answered somewhat in character, and may require a little bit of knowledge of the WWI period in Germany, but should be approachable for people of any historical knowledge.

Created by: Augenis

What is your origin? Where in Germany do you operate?
- Berlin, the capital - the most libertine part of the country, and where the SPD leadership sits.
- The Ruhr - joined politics through metalworker and miner unions and their struggle for rights.
- North Germany - where the most radical factions of the SPD operate, aligned with sailors and dockworker unions.
- Saxony - where the SPD is the most established and popular among the working class, almost a way of life.
- South Germany - the Catholic states, where suffrage is universal and the SPD has entered governments already.
Before the war, the SPD had many intellectual leaders, but three were by far the most prominent, their works read widely both in and out of Germany. Which of them did you align with the most?
- Eduard Bernstein - questioning the inevitability of the collapse of capitalism and proposing an evolutionary approach of gradual improvements for the working class
- Karl Kautsky - the "middle road": the goal of the SPD must be a socialist state, but it must be achieved through parliamentary ends and winning over a critical mass of workers
- Rosa Luxemburg - reform is only a means to the revolutionary end, and modern capitalism will exacerbate its internal crisis and allow it to be overthrown
Before the war, the SPD was divided by the Mass Strike Debate - the question whether a mass strike should be used for political gains or to oppose the government's actions. Where did you stand?
- Yes, strikes should be used to pressure the Imperial government to reform or to abandon imperialist wars!
- No, strikes will merely create pretext for the Imperial government to ban the SPD again.
- Yes, and the current trade unions are too independent and reformist. We need a revolutionary trade union tightly controlled by the Party.
The Great War has begun! The SPD voted to join the rest of the Imperial parties in the Burgfrieden, a national peace in the name of the war effort. Yet in December 1914, during a vote on war credits, the first SPD dissenter, Karl Liebknecht, voted against. What was your opinion on his symbolic vote?
- A good decision! This war was an imperialist war from the beginning - finally someone showed the courage to oppose it!
- A good decision! The war has now become an imperialist war, after Germany flagrantly violated Belgium's sovereignty. Someone had to protest it.
- He should not have violated the decision of the party. I hope he reconsiders his rebellion.
- Expel him! He went against the party line!
Socialists opposed to the War have called for a conference in Zimmerwald where they hope to formulate a common resolution against the war, and both the SPD and its breakaway organizations are invited. What is your stance on the Conference?
- A good idea! I support the Conference resolution demanding immediate peace without annexations.
- It was a good idea at the start, but it didn't go far enough. Peace is not enough, we need to use the war to start a worldwide revolution!
- No! The SPD should loyally support the war effort, to any end.
In Germany itself, the Reichstag (the parliament) is being increasingly marginalized by a military dictatorship led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. Though we are facing censorship, this also means we are now on the same side as our former rivals - moderate liberals, the Catholic Zentrum Party - who too wish to empower the Reichstag. What do you believe the SPD's stance should be?
- We should ally with the Liberals and Catholics in a common front for the reform of the Empire! A reformist Reichstag majority will eventually pressure the Kaiser to make concessions.
- We cannot support a military dictatorship. The SPD should loudly go to opposition and go against the war!
- The SPD has completely discredited itself. We need a revolution, now!
The Tsar has fallen! Russia is the first major power to have fallen to a revolution - first a liberal democratic one, then a socialist one led by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. They have announced sweeping reforms, a government of councils, i.e. Soviets, and an end to the war with Germany. How do you interpret this Russian Revolution?
- Hurrah! The world revolution begins! Let us work for a revolution of our own and join with Soviet Russia in the overthrow of the proletariat!
- Finally! Lenin shows the way - no cooperation with the moderate left, but a socialist revolution! However, the Bolsheviks are too centralized for my tastes.
- For Russia, it is certainly better than the Tsars or the bourgeoisie. However, Lenin's single party rule and suppression of the moderate left is too despotic. A German revolution should be achieved through an alliance of the entire left, not a coup.
- While I cannot deny that anything would be better than the Tsardom, Lenin is increasingly becoming a Tsar of his own, just in red paint. There cannot be socialism without democracy.
- The events in Russia convinced me that we should completely give up on revolution as a talking point. It only ends in violence and terror. We should limit ourselves to gradual reform in a liberal democratic system.
It is October 1918. The war effort is collapsing, mass protests are taking place across German cities and the navy is starting to mutiny. In this final hour, the reformist chancellor Max von Baden proposes a solution to save the Empire from falling to revolution. Reforms will be made to the German constitution to make the government accountable to the Reichstag, and the military will be put under civilian control, putting an end to the Hindenburg-Ludendorff military dictatorship. Should the SPD, in your opinion, accept this deal?
- Yes, this is all that we could want.
- No, overthrow the Kaiser, now!
The October Reforms did not save the Empire - the Kaiser has abdicated and a republic was declared by Philip Scheidemann on November 11. Soldiers and workers' councils are organized across the country, and several of the constituent states have fallen to revolutions and established Soviet Republics. The country is now an empty canvas. What do you think should replace it?
- A socialist republic of councils, of course! The old regime must be dismantled completely and replaced with a council republic, by force if needed.
- This is our only chance to create a socialist republic, so we must not waste it with risky actions. For now, we need to create a united left-wing front in councils and push for a left-wing government.
- This revolution is too premature, and if we go too far, it will be suppressed by the military. We need to work with the former establishment to smoothly transition to a democratic republic.
Right-wing veterans of the Great War are organizing into paramilitary Freikorps to suppress violence and left-wing rebellions throughout the country - or perhaps end the Republic itself. What should be done with them?
- We don't have an army, they do. We should make a deal with the Freikorps to ensure that the republic remains.
- They are a reactionary threat, like the White Army in Russia! We need to organize worker militias to defeat them!
- We should form an alliance with them - and then convert them to socialist ideology. They are poor and desperate - we can make a common front against international imperialists!
The revolution has upended the old economic order, and some see this as an opportunity to socialize private-owned industries. What is your opinion?
- Yes! We need to break up the large industrial cartels and put them under control of the unions and councils!
- Yes! We need to break up the large industrial cartels and put them under control of the state!
- We should pursue this if possible, but only if. We should not repeat the violent seizures which happened in Russia.
- No, never! That is completely infeasible - the Freikorps will crush us if we nationalize the industry!
The Entente is currently drafting a peace treaty, and though we do not know its contents, German representatives are not allowed to negotiate on its content. They will likely impose heavy reparations, force us to disarm, and seize our colonies as well as border territories. What is your opinion on this?
- The Kaiser and his government drove us to ruin - but we cannot do anything about it. Our government should accept the peace treaty.
- Refuse any peace treaty imposed by the Entente! We had nothing to do with the Kaiser's regime! However, we should also not restart the war.
- This is a time of world revolution - we should join forces with Soviet Russia and wage a revolutionary war against the imperialists! The British and French workers will join us.

Rate and Share this quiz on the next page!
You're about to get your result. Then try our new sharing options. smile

Related Quizzes:

Who Are You in 1920s Germany? by retouralanormale
Which Weimar Political Party Would You Support? [PROTOTYPE] by bigsquare
Which party would you vote for in the 1838 Baiyonan Election by Iberian
Which Enlightenment Thinker Are You? by Caitlin Krehan
Where do YOU fit in the French Revolution? by Ron.

What is GotoQuiz? A fun site without pop-ups, no account needed, no app required, just quizzes that you can create and share with your friends. Have a look around and see what we're about.

Quiz topic: Who am I in the November Revolution? (SPD edition)

Trending Quizzes

Special Feature

Try the top political quiz on GoToQuiz to find where you fall on on multiple axes, then compare your results to others'.

We're Testing

Send Feedback about GoToQuiz, report a bug or error, make a suggestion!

Home

Trending