Editing Germany (section)

=== Interwar Period ===

==== Direct aftermath of the First World War ====
On April 7, 1919, [[Bavaria|Bavarian]] Communists from the Spartacist League, SPD, and USPD seceded from Germany in opposition to the Weimar government, founding the [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]]. Many veterans of the First World War who lived in Bavaria, including [[Adolf Hitler]], sided with the Bavarian secessionists in defense of their homes. [[Max Levien]] emerged as a leading figure of the Bavarian rebels, however he was tortured and beaten to death after the ''Freikorps'' invaded and occupied Bavaria on May 1. The dream of an independent Bavaria under socialism died with him, and Bavaria was annexed back into Germany.<ref>[https://spartacus-educational.com/GERbavarian.htm Bavarian Republic]</ref><ref>[https://spartacus-educational.com/GERlevienM.htm Max Levien]</ref> Similar socialist attempts to secede from Germany also occurred [[Saxony]] with the [[Saxon Soviet Republic]] and in [[Bremen]] with the [[Bremen Soviet Republic]].<ref>[https://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/german-soviet-republics/ THE GERMAN SOVIET REPUBLICS]</ref> The November Revolution had effectively died with Rosa Luxemburg, however the failure of Communist insurgents in Bavaria, Saxony, and Breme effectively ended the revolution permanently.

On June 28, 1919, the [[Treaty of Versailles]] was signed by Germany with Britain, France, [[Italy]], [[Japan]], Belgium, [[Bolivia]], [[Brazil]], [[China]], [[Cuba]], [[Ecuador]], [[Greece]], [[Guatemala]], [[Haiti]], [[Hejaz]], [[Honduras]], [[Liberia]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Panama]], [[Peru]], [[Poland]], [[Portugal]], [[Romania]], [[Yugoslavia]], [[Thailand]], [[Czechoslovakia]], and [[Uruguay]].<ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles/Preamble Treaty of Versailles/Preamble]</ref> The treaty stripped Germany of large swaths of territory, granting land to a newly created Polish state, [[Denmark]], France, and Belgium. Germany's territories in Africa and Asia were annexed into the British, Japanese, and [[French Empire|French empires]]. The German economy was terribly crippled and in debt, being forced to pay millions of dollars in reparations to Britain and France. The nation was demilitarized, throwing millions of Germans who previously saw service in the First World War into poverty and unemployment. Furthermore, the German people were left feeling bitterly humilated.<ref name=":0">[https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/treaty-of-versailles-1 Treaty of Versailles]</ref>

==== Political realignment ====
After the Treaty of Versailles, the people of Germany were left with much frustration over the degrowth of their nation by the British, French, and Americans.<ref name=":0" /> The remnants of the Spartacist League reorganized into the [[Communist Party of Germany]] (KPD) under the principles of Communism and later [[Marxism-Leninism]], which was officially synthesized by [[Joseph Stalin]] in 1923. However, the mass murder of Communists during the November Revolution by the SPD and the ''Freikorps'' made it difficult for the KPD to effectively organize. Meanwhile, the [[National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany]] (Nazi Party) was founded in 1920 as a movement astroturfed by the British Empire.<ref>[https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-british-royal-family-supported-hitler-and-the-nazis/5383589 The British Royal Family Supported Hitler and the Nazis]</ref><ref>[https://journal-neo.org/2015/12/23/the-nazi-connected-british-royal-family-still-wields-incredible-power/ The Nazi-Connected British Royal Family Still Wields Incredible Power]</ref> Despite the socialist rhetoric used by the Nazis, they followed a German interpretation of [[fascism]] they called "[[National Socialism]]." Adolf Hitler rose through the ranks of the Nazi Party by blaming the Communists and the [[Judaism|Jews]] for the downfall of Germany in the First World War, promoting the idea of "[[Judeo-Bolshevism]]."<ref name=":1">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd1JUTA7Ijc Hitler - OverSimplified (Part 2)]</ref>

On November 8, 1923, the Nazis attempted a coup in the [[Beer Hall Putsch]], however it was put down by German police officers. Hitler was temporarily arrested, 16 Nazis were killed, and a dozen Nazis were injured. While imprisoned, Hitler published the book ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' ("My Struggle"), lying out the ideological principles of National Socialist German fascism. The book became a national bestseller in Germany, enabling the Nazi Party to rise from an isolated [[Political extremism|extremist]] group in Bavaria to a major political party.<ref name=":1" /> The KPD responded by trying to organize a [[popular front]] against the Nazis, but the Weimar government of the SPD refused to work with Communists. Instead, the SPD increasingly became aligned with anarchists and, covertly, the Nazis in the "[[Iron Front]]" against Communism.<ref>[https://zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/1033/file/lokatis_rote_faden_2003_de.pdf Siegfried Lokatis, The Red Thread. Communist Party History under Walter Ulbricht, Böhlau Cologne, 2003 (Contemporary Historical Studies. Published by the Center for Contemporary Historical Research Potsdam. Volume 25), ISBN 3-412-04603-5]</ref>