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Source D
In his memoirs General Groener remembers his secret telephone conversation with
Ebert on 10 November 1918.
In the evening (10 th November) I telephoned the Reich Chancellery and told Ebert
that the army put itself at the disposal of the government, that in return for this the
Field-Marshal and the officer corps expected the support of the government in the
maintenance of order and discipline in the army. The officer corps expected the
government to fight against Bolshevism and was ready for the struggle. Ebert
accepted my offer of an alliance. From then on we discussed the measures which
were necessary every evening on a secret telephone line between the Reich
Chancellery and the high command. The alliance proved successful.
We (the high command) hoped through our action to gain a share of the power in the
new State for the army and the officer corps. If we succeeded, then we would have
rescued into the new Germany the best and strongest element of old Prussia, despite
the revolution.
Source E
In ‘Mein Kampf’ Hitler rails against the November Revolution and its perpetrators.
And so it had all been in vain. In vain all the sacrifices and privations; in vain the
hunger and thirst of months which were often endless; in vain the hours in which,
with mortal fear clutching at our hearts, we nevertheless did our duty; and in vain the
death of two million who died … There followed terrible days and even worse nights
– I knew that all was lost. Only fools, liars and criminals could hope in the mercy of
the enemy. In these nights hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this
deed … There is no making pacts with Jews; there can only be the hard: either – or.
I, for my part, decided to go into politics.
Source F
The liberal newspaper the ‘Frankfurter Zeitung’ appeals to the National Assembly on
10 February 1919.
The German National Assembly in Weimar should resolve as a matter of urgency that
a large notice be put up in every room used by the politicians and wherever the
machinery of party runs. This notice should bear the message, in letters of fire: ‘Do
not forget: the German people has carried out a revolution!’
History: Germany: Versailles to the Outbreak of World War II - 1918-1939 (AH) 51