Working Class Politics in the German Revolution - Richard Müller, the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and the Origins of the Council Movement

Sisyphus of the Revolution: A Preface
Wolfgang Wippermann
Author’s Preface
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations

1 Introduction: A Forgotten Revolutionary
The Politics of Historical Interpretation
The Makers of the German Revolution

2 Background, Youth, and Early Union Activities: 1880–1913
From Farm to Factory
Müller’s Private Life
Fighting Taylorism with its Own Weapons
Bureaucracy in the Service of Agitation

3 Opposition to the Burgfrieden: 1914–18
‘The Great Betrayal’
From Discipline to Opposition
Early Ambiguities and their Price

4 The Revolutionary Shop Stewards and Political Mass Strikes: 1916–18
The Stewards’ First Political Strike: Protesting Liebknecht’s Arrest
Repression and the New Opposition
Müller’s Arrest and the April Strike
Marking Time under Repression
Preparing for the January Strike: Rising Discontent and the Bolshevik Example
The January 1918 Strike: Council Power Emerges
The Politics of the Action Committee and the End of the January Strike
Barth and Däumig Lead in Müller’s Absence
Müller’s Return

5 The German Revolution in Berlin: 1918
The Stewards and the Spartacists: A Tale of Two Styles
Arming the Revolution
Outbreak
Council Power
The State of the Revolution

6 Chairman of the Berlin Executive Council: 1918–19
Conflict, Caution and Counter-revolution
Loss of National Power

7 Richard Müller and the Council Movement: 1918–19
The Council Movement in War and Revolution
The First Council Congress and the Triumph of Parliamentarianism
The Blocked Path to Socialism
Berlin’s January Uprising
Political Murder, Demoralisation, and the End of the Revolutionary Shop Stewards
Theorising Council Socialism
The March Strikes of 1919
After the Tumult

8 From Council Movement to Works Councils: 1919–20
Council Ideal and Works Council Reality
Leading the Left Opposition in the DMV
Defeat at Nuremberg, Compromise in Stuttgart
The Works Councils Act, Armed Conflict and Party Split
DMV Political Divisions and the Works Council Centre
The First Works Council Congress 1920
The State of the Revolution in 1920

9 From Council Socialism to Party Communism and Beyond: 1920–24
The Leninist Model and the USPD Split
The Communist Union Centre
The Red International of Labour Unions
Crisis in the Communist Party and the March Action of 1921
Post-March Crises and ‘Made in Moscow’ Resolution
The Revelation Affair
Müller, the Unwanted Communist

10 Richard Müller as Historian of the German Revolution: 1923–25
Müller’s Historiographical Approach
Müller as Publisher

11 Footnotes and Suppression – Richard Müller’s Impact on Historiography
The Millstones of Social Democracy and Marxism-Leninism
Müller in East Germany
Müller in West Germany

12 Break with Politics, Withdrawal into Private Life: 1925–43
The DIV, the ‘Construction Issue’ and Union Fragmentation
Müller as Landlord
Drifting Back to Social Democracy?
Returning to Obscurity

13 Conclusion: The Darkness of History
Bibliography
Printed Sources