The new Socialist Chancellor of Germany declared the country a republic today, announcing the end of the monarchy.
“The question of freedom in Germany has reached its most victorious day today,” said Chancellor Friedrich Ebert. “The most skeptical must recognize that Monarchism and Imperialism are finished forever in Germany.”
The new chancellor represents the constituency of Elberfeld-Bremen in the Reichstag. Ebert was born in the university city of Heidelberg. He was previously the editor of the Bremen Burger Zeltung.
The Socialist movement captured Berlin on Saturday, and it appears its revolution throughout Germany is now complete.
At 9 a.m. the taking possession of Berlin began with a general strike. Soldiers carrying red flags and workers from outlying factories joined shortly thereafter.
Trains arrived a little later, bringing 3,000 sailors from Kiel. Under orders from the newly formed Council of Workmen and Soldiers, they separated, with detachments occupying important parts of the cities.
As the strike began red flags appeared everyone. Officers removed their cockades and epaulets and threw them away. Hundreds of Iron Crosses were lying on the streets.
Soldiers, sailors and workers in the streets yelled, “Long live the German Republic.”
The Socialist deputies addressed soldiers in various barracks, and a demonstration was held in front of the Reichstag building.
“The Kaiser has abdicated,” shouted Socialist party leader Phillip Scheidemann during the demonstration. “The dynasty has fallen. It is a great and honorable victory for the German people.”
A red flag hoisted over the Kaiser’s palace received cheers from a crowd of people watching it rise. The Kaiser addressed a crowd at the start of the war in August 1914, on the same balcony where the red flag was displayed.
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