Departement of History

In its unknown dimension, the First World War (1914-1918) brought strategic innovations, that only destination was to kill more people than ever before: gas, great armies, machine-guns, tanks – all of them completely changed the situation on the battlefield. The enormous deaths and the real existing cruelty of war produced countless pacifists, peace movements and anti-war organizations. In bourgeois and left-wing socialist environment the resistance against the Great War was the strongest. Kurt Eisner, Social democrat from Berlin, who lived to see the war in Munich as a journalist changed his view extremely after the so called “Julikrise” in summer 1914. He started to fight against the warmongers in his own country and the international supporters of war. His biggest triumph was to get elected as the Bavarian Prime minister, shortly after the end of war. After round about 100 days of reign many people begrudged him for his success. A to date unknown right-wing extremist assassinated Kurt Eisner on his way to the parliament in February 1919. Between his entire government Eisner had to realize that most of his people hated him because of his socialist, pacifist and Jewish background. This hatred came from parts of the social democracy until the extreme right-wing camp, those people which followed Adolf Hitler into the Nazi Era. Anti-Semitism was the method to malign Eisner in these days. Hundreds of letters and post cards full of hate reached him. Some of these pamphlets were manufactured in the study “Der Pazifist Kurt Eisner” from Riccardo Altieri. He examined the social conditions, the contemporary history, and the peace movement in its totality.

Der Aufsatz beleuchtet die Ereignisse der Oktoberrevolution im Russland des Jahres 1917. Dabei wird ein besonderer Schwerpunkt auf die Perspektive der verschiedenen Gesellschaftsschichten gelegt, um die unterschiedliche Wahrnehmung auf das Ereignis herauszustellen.