The German Peasants' War (1524-1525) was a conflict between the lower class of the Germanic region of the Holy Roman Empire and the nobility over the feudal system of serfdom, religious freedom, and economic disparity. It was later characterized as epitomizing the struggle between the working class and their overlords by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

The causes of the peasants' revolt are still debated, but, essentially, the rise of humanistic philosophy coupled with the religious reform movement of Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) challenged the status quo and led the lower class to hope for a radical change in the social hierarchy. The Knight's Revolt (1522-1523) is also cited as a contributing factor in that the knights under the leadership of Franz von Sickingen (l. 1481-1523) and encouraged by the knight-poet Ulrich von Hutten (l. 1488-1523) refused to pay taxes or tithes and encouraged peasants to do the same. At this time, the Roman Catholic Church took 10% of the peasants' wages as a tithe, and the nobility claimed other percentages based on their own tax systems, forcing the peasant population to live in poverty.

After Luther challenged the authority of the Church in 1517-1521, igniting the Protestant Reformation, other members of the clergy followed suit, such as Thomas Müntzer (l. c. 1489-1525), who initially hoped Luther would advocate for peasants' rights and, when he did not, denounced him for betraying the cause. The nobleman and knight Florian Geyer (l. c. 1490-1525), another admirer of Luther, joined Müntzer, the peasant leader Hans Müller (d. 1525), nobleman Wendel Hipler (d. 1526), and others in organizing a revolt against what they saw as unchristian and inequitable policies of the Church and nobility.

The peasants were poorly armed as compared with the armies of the nobility, lacked experienced leadership, and failed to present a united front, leading to their defeat in 1525 after a number of engagements, which were often more massacres than battles. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 German peasants were killed in the conflict, with more dying from starvation after the destruction of farmlands.

In some respects, the struggle mirrored the earlier Hussite Wars (1419 to c.1434) in pitting a peasant class against professional armies of the nobility, but there was no strong leader such as Jan Žižka (l. c. 1360-1424) for the Germanic peasants who were no match for the superior tactics and weaponry of the nobility. Marx and Engels, the German philosophers who formulated the system of Marxism and co-wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848, characterized the conflict as epitomizing class struggle and the peasant leaders as proto-Communist heroes.

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  • thelastaxolotl [he/him]
    hexagon
    M
    ·
    2 years ago

    Haz admiting to having dreams about arguing on twitter is a high level of terminally onliness

  • ClathrateG [none/use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago
    fighting, self-aggrandizement

    So, I just decked a bigot who was getting in the face of a trans acquaintance of mine(is trans bass player becoming the new trans coder? because 3 of the transwomen I know play bass) he got back up then I smacked him again and he fell through and broke this little wooden gate thing this was i the smoking area outside the club he fucked off after that and I had no problem with the bouncers, don't know why he thought that shit would fly at a punkish place, my hearts going a mile a minute rn need to find some more bigots to destroy :mao-aggro-shining:

    • RamrodBaguette [comrade/them, he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Apparently, Götz von Berlichingen fought on the peasants’ side too, albeit briefly for less noble reasons (if we take his word for it).

      In 1525, with the outbreak of the German Peasants' War, Berlichingen led the rebel army in the district of Odenwald against the Ecclesiastical Princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite this, he was (according to his own account) not a fervent supporter of their cause. He agreed to lead the rebels partly because he had no other option, and partly in an effort to curb the excesses of the rebellion. Despite his wishes to stop wanton violence, Berlichingen found himself powerless to control the rebels and after a month of nominal leadership he deserted his command and returned to the Burg Jagsthausen to sit out the rest of the rebellion in his castle.[3]

    • Comp4 [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      There is a song about him called "Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen"

      • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_1oYG7toRQ

        "Das Reich und der Kaiser hören uns nicht, heia hoho, wir halten selber das Gericht, heia hoho. "

        "Empire and Imperator dont hear us right lets hold a Privat Tribunal ,Guys !

    • PasswordRememberer [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      All sides credited him with the wanton destruction of cathedrals and castles, and summary executions of the lords and priests contained therein

      :lenin-pogger:

      Death to America

  • DragonNest_Aidit [they/them,use name]
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    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Crazy that despite hierarchy supposedly being part of human nature, the underclass always tries to upend the system whenever a chance present itself.

  • copandballtorture [ey/em]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Seeing the purple 🔔 (1) notification at the top the screen, excitedly clicking it, watching the grey bear head spin, and seeing No new messages. :Not-like-this:

  • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Genuinely bizarre that "prestige" tv shows generally come in aspect ratios different from most tvs, are meant to viewed in environments much darker than most tv rooms, and include many scenes which don't look good when heavily compressed (which is how tv shows are typically delivered). Prestige apparently means fundamentally misunderstanding the medium.

    • FirstToServe [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      To say nothing of how you have to ride the volume button like a mechanical bull

        • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          It's actually the lack of a surround sound system (specifically a front speaker). The way surround works is typically dialogue is sent through the front speaker, some of the conversions to stereo end up taking what is coming from the front channel and putting it on both channels, but quieter. I find if the TV has a headphone jack it sounds a bit better through headphones, but that might depend on the tv too.

  • Kanna [she/her]
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    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Love reporting transphobia on Reddit only to get a reply that it doesn't break any rules lol

    • ultraviolet [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Reddit supports transphobia so it wouldn't break their rules lmao

  • MelaniaTrump [undecided]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Love how Biden didn’t announce his support for breaking the filibuster in support of protecting abortion access until safely after Sinema and Manchin had gone against it.

    Like seriously fuck this coward.

  • PasswordRememberer [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Thomas Müntzer (l. c. 1489-1525), who initially hoped Luther would advocate for peasants’ rights and, when he did not, denounced him for betraying the cause

    :geordi-no: lutheranism

    :geordi-yes: müntzeranism

    Death to America

  • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    This is something I believe with my whole heart:

    The world would be better if Barack Obama had made his life goal to be the next David Attenborough instead of going into politics. He would’ve been so good as the perfect voice of nature documentaries that actually has the education behind it that makes Attenborough so much better than when random actors narrate them.

    In earth prime Obama got a PhD in conservation biology with a minor in public communications and became the next David Attenborough

    • copandballtorture [ey/em]
      ·
      2 years ago

      buy your own damn fries

      This random yt clip is excerpts of Obama's audiobook but it's edited to be chud pro Romney propaganda lmao goddamn so long ago, so much has changed. They went from motherfucking Willard Romney to Donald Trump in one election cycle

  • Sen_Jen [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    My boss just got up and let out a load of funky farts. Like she took six steps and farted with each one

      • Sen_Jen [they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Oh I've been shidding and farding all day

        But in a different building. They don't let us use the toilets here so I have to go to a coffee shop to poop

      • I_Have_IBS [none/use name]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        I always lose that game when I play it

        edit: maybe it counts as winning if you shart. not sure.

    • blight [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      what an absolute power trip. these people are freaks