With their help, the Reich government which Ebert headed crushed a number of communist and anarchist uprisings as well as those from the right, including the Kapp Putsch, a legacy that has made him a controversial historical figure.

[4][5] Although Ebert studied the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, he was less interested in ideology than in practical and organisational issues that would improve the lot of the workers then and there.

[1] In 1900, Ebert was appointed a union secretary and elected a member of the Bremer Bürgerschaft (city and state assembly) as the representative of the Social Democratic Party.

[6] Meanwhile, Ebert had run for a seat in the Reichstag (parliament of Germany) several times in constituencies where the SPD had no chance of winning: 1898 Vechta (Oldenburg), 1903 and 1906 Stade (Province of Hanover).

[4] Although he opposed a policy of territorial gains secured through military conquest on the western front (aside from Luxembourg which was German speaking and could be easily incorporated), Ebert supported the war effort overall as a defensive struggle.

[6] In June 1917, a delegation of social democrats led by Ebert travelled to Stockholm for talks with socialists from other countries about a conference that would have sought to end the war without any annexations of territory on the western front except for Luxembourg and giving back most of Alsace and Loraine with blessings from the German government.

[9]: 25–26 On 29 September 1918, Ludendorff suddenly informed Paul von Hintze, the German Foreign Minister, that the Western Front could collapse at any moment and that a ceasefire had to be negotiated without delay.

[9]: 36–40  Scheidemann and a majority of SPD deputies were opposed to joining "a bankrupt enterprise", but Ebert convinced his party, arguing that "we must throw ourselves into the breach" and "it is our damned duty to do it".

At that point, the majority parties of the Reichstag, including Ebert's SPD, were quite satisfied with the state of affairs; what they wanted was a period of calm to deal with the issue of negotiating an armistice and a peace treaty.

[9]: 59–72  Against that backdrop, the SPD led by Ebert on 7 November demanded a more powerful voice in the cabinet, an extension of parliamentarism to Prussia and the renunciation of the throne by both the Emperor and his oldest son, Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Ebert had favoured retaining the monarchy under a different ruler, but told Prince Max von Baden, "If the Emperor does not abdicate, the social revolution is inevitable.

[10] On 9 November, the revolution reached Berlin as the larger companies were hit by a general strike called by the Spartacists and the Revolutionary Stewards, but also supported by the SPD and the mainstream unions.

As the striking masses marched on the centre of Berlin, the SPD, afraid of losing its influence on the revolution, announced that it was resigning from the government of Prince Max.

[9]: 87  Ebert left the government of Prince Max mostly unchanged but appointed SPD members as Prussian Minister of War and military commander of the Berlin area.

Ebert's first action as chancellor was to issue a series of proclamations asking the people to remain calm, stay out of the streets and to restore peace and order.

Scheidemann however seized upon the opportunity,[9]: 88–90  and in hopes of forestalling whatever the Communist leader Karl Liebknecht planned to tell his followers at the former royal palace, proclaimed Germany a republic.

[9]: 130  Ebert and Groener worked out a plan to restore order in Berlin by having army units returning from the Western Front move in and disarm all paramilitary forces from 10 to 15 December.

It also passed a resolution that was aimed at ensuring that the military would be under the strict control of the civilian government and called for a powerful position of the soldiers' councils vis-à-vis the professional officer corps.

[9]: 139–147  As a result of the event, which Karl Liebknecht called "Ebert's Bloody Christmas" because it had cost 67 lives, the USPD members left the Council of the Peoples' Deputies on 29 December.

He ordered the rebellion to be quashed, and Gustav Noske, who was in charge of the Army and Navy, used both regular forces and Freikorps units to bring the uprising to an end.

Since the 19 January elections had returned a solid majority for the democratic parties (SPD, Centre, and DDP), Ebert felt that the revolutionary forces had no legitimacy left.

[26] In March 1920, during the right-wing Kapp Putsch instigated by parts of the Reichswehr, some Freikorps units plus nationalist and monarchist elements, the government, including Ebert, had to flee Berlin.

[28] To avoid an election campaign at a critical time, the Reichstag extended Ebert's term of office on 24 October 1922 until 30 June 1925, with a majority vote that was sufficient for a change to the constitution.

[1][4] As president, Ebert appointed centre-right figures like Wilhelm Cuno and Hans Luther chancellor and made rigorous use of his wide-ranging powers under Article 48 of the Weimar constitution.

[30] He became acutely septic on the night of 23 February and underwent an emergency appendectomy (which was performed by August Bier) in the early hours of the following day for what turned out to be appendicitis.

Several high-ranking politicians and a trade union leader made speeches at his funeral, as did a Protestant minister, Hermann Maas, pastor at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Heidelberg (which until the 1930s was used by both Lutheran and Catholic congregations).

By thus taking part in the obsequies, Maas caused something of a scandal in his church and among political conservatives, because Ebert had been an outspoken atheist (although he was baptised a Catholic, he had officially abandoned Christian observance many years before his last illness).

[32][33] Some historians have defended Ebert's actions as unfortunate but inevitable if the creation of a socialist state on the model that had been promoted by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and the communist Spartacists was to be prevented.

[34][page needed] The actions of Ebert and his minister of Defence, Gustav Noske, against the insurgents contributed to the radicalization of the Freikorps and to increasing support for fascist ideas.

Ebert always regarded the institutions of parliamentary democracy as a more legitimate expression of the will of the people; workers' councils, as a product of the revolution, were only justified in exercising power for a transition period.