Ebert-Groener pact

The Ebert-Groener pact or sometimes called The Ebert-Groener deal was an agreement between Friedrich Ebert, (Chancellor of Germany November 9 1918 – February 11 1919; President of Germany February 11 1919 – February 28 1925), and Wilhelm Groener, First Quartermaster General of the German Army on November 9, 1918, 2 days before the official end of World War I. It was the culmination of many secret conversations between the two that generally occurred late at night between eleven and one over a secret telephone line in the Chancellor's office in Kassel, Germany. The army was essentially given a free pass in dealing with the communists of Germany, namely the Spartacists lead by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.

This served the purposes of both Ebert and Groener because Ebert was trying to handle a situation where he had entirely lost power and the workers were on the streets demanding a workers revolution, similar to what had just happened in Russia. Groener was trying to take care of many decommissioned army officers who were jobless and starving and were beginning to form paramilitary groups in Berlin. From this agreement the Freikorps, or "free corps", a right wing vigilante army was born. The Freikorps was used to wipe out the "communist threat" by murdering thousands of workers in cold blood.

Historically, the government and the supreme command had remained independent of one another. However during World War I, the supreme command had more or less been in control of not only the Army but also civilian life. Groener's predecessor, Erich Ludendorff, had intimidated the Kaiser into essentially giving him and Paul von Hindenburg, the leaders of the Army's supreme command, control. This military dictatorship collapsed as the Home Front disintegrated into Strikes and upheavals, the generals eventually handed back power in despair, as the Kiel Mutiny and German Revolution brought about the end of the War, the Kaiser abdicated and Ludendorff was forced to flee Germany in disguise. During the transition of Germany from a monarchy to a republic legislation was enacted to ensure the army would come under civilian control. The pact can be seen as Groener trying to intimidate Ebert into giving the supreme command control once more over civilian life.

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