The German workers' and soldiers' councils of 1918–1919 (German: Deutsche Arbeiter- und Soldatenräte) were short-lived revolutionary bodies that spread the German revolution to cities across the German Empire during the final days of World War I. Meeting little to no resistance, they formed quickly, took over city governments and key buildings, caused most of the locally stationed military to flee and brought about the abdications of all of Germany's ruling monarchs, including Emperor Wilhelm II, when they reached Berlin on 9 November 1918.
Although the communist Spartacus League and the left wing of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) wanted to set up a system of council communism in Germany, they were a minority in the councils. Most members wanted an end to the war and to German militarism and the establishment of a parliamentary republic dominated by the moderate Social Democratic Party (SPD). Germany's interim national revolutionary government, the Council of the People's Deputies, was initially a coalition of the SPD and the USPD, but in it and in the majority of the other councils across Germany, the SPD was able to keep the far left on the sidelines. During the two large gatherings of workers' and soldiers' councils in Berlin, the voting generally followed the wishes of the SPD leadership. Crucially, and against the will of the radical left, they were able to schedule an election for a national assembly that would allow all Germans to determine the country's future form of government.
