Results and Consequences

The revolution of 7 November 1918 had not only led to a change of the political system in Bavaria, turning the kingdom into a free state, but also brought a number of social benefits such as the limitation of the regular working day to eight hours, while wages remained the same. The democratic constitution of the Free State of Bavaria, adopted on 12 August 1919, brought its inhabitants basic rights such as freedom of religion and conscience or the legal equality of all citizens, which today - 100 years later - are taken for granted.

However, these radical changes, which can truly be described as revolutionary, were covered by the excesses of the Soviet dictatorship, which together with the military defeat and with the legend of the so-called “Dolchstoßlegende” (stab-in-the-back legend) left deep traces in the public consciousness. The subsequent intensive propaganda by bourgeois circles, which sought to portray the years 1918-19 in the worst possible light, tarnished the young democracy and favoured the rise of right-wing extremist and nationalist parties in Bavaria, such as that of the NSDAP.