On this day, 29 October 1918, at the seaport in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, after receiving the order to sail for an exercise, sailors of the battleship Thüringen, a 160 meter-long nautical fortress with 12 cannons, refused to lift the anchor. The night before, waiters of a restaurant had come to the ship and told the sailors about a drinking feast of officers of the Thüringen. The officers had clinked the glasses to “doom with honor”.
After realising that after four long years, Germany had effectively lost World War I, the admirals in Berlin decided go down “with honor” and to send their fleet into a deadly battle against the British navy in the North Sea. The sailors concluded that it was time to disobey.
The order was given five times, but each time the sailors resisted, despite 1,000 mutineers being arrested. Over the coming nights the rebellion spread, paralysing the imperial fleet. The mutiny soon led to the beginning of the November revolution which in a few days spread throughout Germany, toppled the Kaiser, and ultimately brought the war to an end.
Learn more about the German revolution in this book: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/all-power-to-the-councils-a-documentary-history-of-the-german-revolution-of-1918-1919-gabriel-kuhn-ed
Pictured: rebel sailors march in Wilhelmshaven https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2121378671380605/?type=3
