Bavaria (Germany) History Revolution, 1918-1919

The Bavarian Soviet Republic, also known as Bavarian Council Republic or the Munich Soviet Republic (German: Räterepublik Baiern, Münchner Räterepublik), was a short-lived unrecognised socialist state in Bavaria during the German revolution of 1918–1919. A group of communists and anarchists declared the Bavarian Soviet Republic on 6 April 1919, forcing the government of the existing Free State of Bavaria to flee to Bamberg in northern Bavaria. The members of the new government, led by playwright Ernst Toller, had no political or administrative experience, and after just six days in power they were ousted in a putsch organized by the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). The new head of state, the Russian-German Bolshevik Eugen Leviné, quickly instituted communist measures such as worker control of factories. Food shortages led to popular unrest, and on 3 May the Soviet Republic was put down by soldiers of the German Army supported by paramilitary Freikorps troops. Some 600 people died in the fighting. On 14 August 1919, the republican Free State of Bavaria resumed control over all of Bavaria.