Appeal by the Revolutionäre Zentralrat in Support of the Soviet Republic, c.7-12 April 1919

With this two-page leaflet, the Revolutionäre Zentralrat called for support of the Soviet Republic. According to the inscription on the first page, it was thrown out of a "car" on 9 April 1919. The Soviet government daily broadcast its decisions and announcements in a large number of leaflets. It wanted to win over the population and to improve the politically and economically extremely difficult situation in a joint effort. In Munich in particular, there were a number of major problems: Unemployment remained high, food and fuel remained scarce and housing shortage reigned.

In the leaflet, the Central Council advocated the unity of the proletariat and the unification of socialists and communists. "Shoulder to shoulder" one had to take action against the "capitalist class". The "opulence of the rich" must now "benefit the workers". All this should be done without the use of force. The councils would now have to take control of the economy. The press, factories and banks were to be socialised. The soldiers should continue to defend the revolution against its opponents. The Central Council would receive daily news whether the councils in the rest of Bavaria were also behind the Soviet Republic.

In fact, the Soviet government had a very difficult position right from the start. It had idealistic goals, but was poorly organised and acted amateurishly. In Munich, it had adherents among the working class. However, neither in the state capital nor in other larger towns or in the countryside was it able even to begin to convince the broad mass of the population of a Soviet system.

To the digitised copy