Throughout the reign of the house of Hohenzollern it is clear to see that there was demand for change and World War 1 can be seen as a catalyst for the revolution. A revolution can be described as a forcible overthrow of power in favour of a new system and this it is debatable whether Germany actually experienced a revolution. The pressures exerted from Prince Max had a lasting effect however it is also hard to ignore the stresses that the lower classes exerted.
The ‘Mittelstand” and the working class during and following World War one were severely affected especially with the basic principle of food. The naval blockade which Britain had put on Germany affected supply chains brutally. It resulted in a population which struggled to feed itself and therefore became restless. The change from the empire to the German republic can be seen to have occurred due to the pressures which the working class enforced on them. The introduction of the Americans In 1917 to the war worsened Germany’s deteriorating situation and could be seen as foreshadowing for the “revolution”. The reforms in October1918 were introduced by Prince Max of Baden the new chancellor and proved to show some form of compromise for the lower classes. He hoped that the changes would prevent the outbreak of political revolutionary disturbances. Wilhelm the second gave his powers over the army and navy over to the Reichstag, the chancellor was made accountable to the Reichstag not the Kaiser and armistice negotiations. The abdication of the Kaiser did show promise to change and gave evidence to prove that the revolt did demise the House of Hohenzollern. The war gave great emphasis on Ludendorff and Hindenburg who ruled under a “silent dictatorship” and the Kaiser role diminished. The loss of the war only sped up the removal of the Kaiser whose influence had decreased. The reforms although did not make any