translation of the work of the German writer Theodor Plievier on theGerman revolution of 1918. --- Coming from a poor family in aneighborhood A worker from Berlin, Theodor Plievier began working at theage of 12, and became interested in literature and politics very earlyon. He then puts himself at the service of the libertarian ideas that hedevelops. At the outbreak of the First World War, he was forciblyconscripted into the Imperial German Navy. In November 1918, then aged26, he took part in the sailors' mutinies and the revolutionary movementwhich brought down the German Empire.In 1932, his "documentary novel" appeared, entitled The Emperor Left,the Generals Remained, which recounts the first steps of the Germanrevolution, which occurred between mid-October and November 9, 1918,based on his own experience, on historical work, and on nearly a hundredinterviews carried out with different actors of the time.Reading this novel immerses us on the one hand in the spheres of powerof the Empire, and on the other with the sailors on the warships as wellas in the working class of Berlin. She then suffered the very difficultliving conditions imposed on her by the war, and some of them organizedthemselves in unions and workers' parties. We then find ourselves whereit all began, at the heart of the mutinies of the sailors who, onNovember 4, ended up taking the city of Kiel with the workers,liberating the prisons, and self-organizing into committees and councilsof soldiers and workers.Then, we change the scenery to follow the extension of the revolutionarywave which spreads like wildfire in the north of the country, as thetroops move to the side of the revolution while fraternizing with thesailors on their passage. Finally, we arrive in Berlin for the day ofNovember 9, the general strike and the insurrection which brought thedeath blow to the Empire, and whose story is told to us almost hour by hour.Funeral procession for eight revolutionaries killed in Berlin, November20, 1918Robert Sennecke (1885-1940)Social democrats versus revolutionariesThis novel shows us the extraordinary dynamics that a revolutionarymovement can have, as well as the no less extraordinary talent thatcertain bureaucrats can demonstrate to manipulate the illusions of theexploited who revolt and make them turn against them. There we find aprecise description of the methods of the majority social democraticleaders of the SPD who did everything possible to save the capitalistsocial order that they claimed to fight.In contrast, the action of the revolutionaries of the left of the socialdemocrats independent of the USPD, represented by the Spartacists, isalso described, as well as that of the revolutionary delegates of thelarge factories of Berlin, who seized power by the councils of workersand soldiers their priority objective, to bring about a real socialrevolution and to extend the world revolution started in Russia. It alsoshows us the speed with which a revolution can start and events canfollow one another. Hence the vital need to be solidly prepared.A useful book for today's revolutionaries, since it helps give us theopportunity to learn essential lessons from our history to ensure thatwe do not repeat the mistakes of the past.Guillaume (UCL Angers)Theodor Plievier, The emperor left, the generals remained, Plein chanteditions, 2021, 348 pages, 21 euros.https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Plievier-L-empereur-partit-les-generaux-resterent_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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