13/4/1919 Palm Sunday in Munich: a failed attempt to crush the Bavarian Soviet Republic pushes it leftwards

The recently established Bavarian Soviet Republic is led by Ernst Toller and a raft of bohemian radicals from the Independent Social Democrats and various anarchist groups. The new regime has established itself in Munich and surrounding areas, forcing the parliamentary government of Johannes Hoffmann to flee to the north of Bavaria.

Now Hoffmann’s government strikes back, with forces loyal to it attempting to regain control of Munich. But the result is a fiasco: the city’s workers rally to the Soviet Republic, arming themselves and defeating the reactionaries. This battle, taking place on Palm Sunday, creates a further revolutionary fervour in the city, pushing control of the Soviet Republic leftwards. The Communists (the KPD, formerly the Spartacists), are now in the driving seat, with Eugen Leviné the pre-eminent leader. Leviné is a Russian émigré and a disciple of Lenin; he is determined that Bavaria should follow the example of Bolshevik…