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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Betrayal by the left, July 17, 2004
Sebastian Haffner offers us compellingly his vision of the German Revolution of 1918-9. His conclusion is straightforward: the Revolution was betrayed by the leaders of the Social Democratic Party (Friedrich Ebert, Gustav Noske, Philipp Scheidemann), who lacked the vision and the will to turn the Revolution into a mass democracy after the breakdown of the German empire. On the contrary, they provoked a deadly division of the left, when Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg founded the Spartakus Bund in order to install a democracy of councils. Ebert killed the revolution with paramilitary troops which became the basis of Hitler's SA. Sebastian Haffner sees in the failure of the SPD leadership in 1919 an omen of things to come in Germany in 1933, when a desperately divided left together with the other democratic parties handed the power over to Hitler without the sligthest struggle. This book contains also an excellent analysis of the political situation in Germany during and just after WW I when general Ludendorff acted as the strong man. Sebastian Haffner presents history as a drama with its villains, conspirators, bystanders and victims. His book is a model historical tale and should be an example (like the books of William Manchester) for all historians, because it shows magnificently how to turn historical events into a fascinating read.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Seductive, March 10, 2009
Haffner's 1969 essay is well written, direct, passionate, forcefully argued, and (for its time) highly provocative; moreover, George Rapp's free English translation does it, IMHO, full justice. It is very easy to let oneself be seduced by Haffner's talent; but, while well worth reading, "Failure of a Revolution" must be taken with several very stiff doses of salt.
First, Haffner's essay is neither in form nor in content a scholarly work; it is closer to journalism than to history.
Second, one should keep in mind when it was originally published. What some readers may miss is that Haffner wrote it in the immediate aftermath of the tumultuous events of '68, in which he saw more than one parallel with 1918.
Third, Haffner forsakes historical analysis in favour of vivid personality portraits. With a few sentences, he makes heroes (Liebknecht, Luxemburg, Eisner) and villains (Ludendorff, Ebert, Noske) come alive in his pages, as if in a morality play. This makes for compelling reading, but for far less compelling history.
Finally, there is a little too much 20/20 hindsight in Haffner's perspective. For instance, it is easy to argue, as Haffner does, that Luxemburg and Liebknecht were no Lenin and Trotsky; that they were in no position to lead a coup and install a Bolshevik dictatorship. But the point is, was that equally easy to see in January 1918? After all, less than a year earlier, the Bolsheviks had been a small sect, with little following among the Russian masses. The differences between the Bolsheviks and the Spartacists may have seemed highly significant in 1968; but they may have been hardly noticeable in 1919.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting read, July 3, 2008
I have been interested in the German Revolution of 1919 ,after I incidentlly read Watt's superb "The king's depart".Though there are more detailed works, I picked up this one ,for I know the readibility of Haffner's work. I eagerly absorb myself to this book. It conveys unique and interesting look on the failed revolution . Haffner, who was a mere child ,but old enough remember the atmosphere of the defeated Germany and turbulent aftermath, lively described what really happened and why the revolution that could change the direction of Germany miserably failed in the end. According to Haffner , it derived from the miserable( or brilliant) SPD leadership that did not want revolution at all. Retrospectively,Haffner sees the omen of dreadful and nightmarish Nazi period from vacillating and indecisive leadership of SPD.I don't agree with the author that German Revolution could ever be successful ,had SPD leaders been determinant enough,nevertheless it's interesting read that give readers truism ,but fresh aspect on this turbulent period in the modern German history.
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