November Revolution 1918
The mutiny of the deep-sea fleet on 4 November 1918 in Kiel, which spread over the German Reich within just a few days, forced Kaiser Wilhelm II to abdicate. After the crown prince also abdicated the throne on 9 November 1918, the German Republic was proclaimed.
During the so-called «November Revolution» which lasted until February 1919, the Social Democrats under Friedrich Ebert together with the military command under Wilhelm Groener eliminated the workers and soldiers councils, also crushing the street fights and strikes organised by the Independent Social Democrats and Communists.
The German National Assembly was opened in Weimar on 6 February 1919, resulting in the formation of the Weimar coalition with the majorities of the Social Democratic Party, German Democratic party and the centre. The first Reich Chancellor was Philipp Scheidemann, with Friedrich Ebert as Reich President.
The new liberal democratic constitutional state was not generally recognised, however. The right-wing and the military were not prepared to respect the Treaty of Versailles with the admission of war guilt and military defeat. The stab-in-the-back legend propagated by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, amongst others, that the revolution had stabbed the undefeated front army in the back, found approval amongst broad segments of the population.