Kurt Eisner, born on this day in 1867, was a German socialist revolutionary and radical journalist who was assassinated by a far-right nationalist while serving as head of the People's State of Bavaria.

Kurt Eisner, born to a Jewish family in Berlin, was a revolutionary German socialist, radical journalist, and theater critic. Before leading the People's State of Bavaria, he worked as a journalist in Marburg, Nuremberg, and Munich. In the early 1890s, Eisner served nine months in prison for writing an article that attacked Kaiser Wilhelm II.

In 1918, Eisner was convicted of treason for his role in inciting a strike of munitions workers. He spent nine months in Cell 70 of Stadelheim Prison, but was released during the General Amnesty in October of that year.

Following his release from prison, Eisner helped organize the revolution that overthrew the Bavarian monarchy, declaring Bavaria to be a free state and republic. Despite Eisner's socialist politics, he explicitly distanced the movement from the Bolsheviks and promised to uphold property rights.

On February 21st, 1919, while on his way to deliver his resignation to Parliament, Eisner was assassinated in Munich by a far-right German nationalist. Eisner's murder made him a martyr for left-wing causes, and a period of lawlessness in Bavaria followed his death.

On the night of April 6th-7th, 1919, communists, encouraged by the news of the communist revolution in Hungary, declared a Soviet Republic, with Ernst Toller as chief of state. The Bavarian Soviet Republic was crushed by the right-wing German Freikorps.

Some of the military leaders of the Freikorps, including Rudolf Hess and Franz Ritter von Epp, would go on to become powerful figures in the Nazi Party. Ironically, Adolf Hitler himself marched in the funeral procession for Eisner, a Jew, wearing a red armband as a display of sympathy.

"Truth is the greatest of all national possessions. A state, a people, a system which suppresses the truth or fears to publish it, deserves to collapse."

  • Kurt Eisner

https://spartacus-educational.com/GEReisner.htm

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  • Cromalin [she/her]
    ·
    6 months ago

    new unjust depths!

    spoiler

    crying a little at how nice it is to see homa getting everything she deserves. she got to wear a pretty dress and gets to feel like her body is her own, disability and all, and gets to kiss a pretty girl and find a connection to her heritage and gets lots of reassurance from the other union shmii members and gets to declare that she'll go with them of her own choice even now that she has a different community she could join if she wanted who would accept her and it simply makes me cry a lot

    i am going to ignore the stuff at the end (scared) for now and simply bask in the good times zone

    • buckykat [none/use name]
      ·
      6 months ago
      Unjust Depths!

      Absolutely beautiful chapter. I loved how the bodypainting and everyone in the village just being wonderful hosts helped her accept her prosthetic. This was also the first time I really got Homa x Kalika as romantic rather than mentoring, when she was watching her dance, and it works.

      I feel like I ought to recognize/remember Outis but I don't.

      I don't think any of our faves should be on Rahima's list, but there are gonna be some decades in Aachen's next few weeks.

      • Cromalin [she/her]
        ·
        6 months ago
        spoiler

        outis is odyssia, norn's successor among the katarran warlords. she's only showed up in one chapter before now so it's understandable that you don't remember, i didn't until someone reminded me