To what extent did the German Revolution alter the political system between 1918 and 1919?

A decisive victory that showed war had been worth fighting appeared to be the only way the old order could maintain its power and hold back the growing calls for political reform

However, this meant fighting on to achieve a victory with annexation in the face of growing protests as well as the increasing likelihood that these goals were unachievable

October 1917 - German military appeared to have been given one final chance to achieve its goals; the Bolshevik party had seized power in Russia and brought their participation in WWI to an end

The German military was in a strong position on the Eastern front and was able to take advantage of this, insisting on extremely strong terms

3 March 1918 - the Bolsheviks concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, ceding Poland, Lithuania and parts of Latvia to Germany and accepting that Estonia and Ukraine would be German protectorates with puppet governments loyal to Germany; significant reparation payments on Russia

Victory now seemed possible

Ludendorff was able to move 52 divisions from the Eastern front to the Western front for one final offensive

Despite initial success, by July the Allies had counter-attacked, reinforced by over one million fresh American troops

8 August 1918 - Germany suffered what Ludendorff described as the 'black day of the German army', as the British army took 16,000 German soliders prisoner and British troops overran German positions on the Western front

Despite the army's retreat over the next few months, Ludendorff and Hindenburg clung to the hope they could continue war

29 September 1918 - their key ally Bulgaria pulled out of the war; Ludendorff was forced to accept that war was essentially over

Ludendorff decided to make the political concessions that could help excuse the military from taking responsibility for the problems its leadership had caused

29 September 1918 - Ludendorff informed the Kaiser that the war was lost and political changes had to be made if the old regime was to survive

3 October - Prince Max of Baden, who had a liberal political outlook, was appointed Chancellor

He had worked to assist German prisoners of war and opposed unrestricted submarine warfare

For the first time in the Kaierreich, the government of the new Chancellor was made up of Reichstag members from the SPD, the Centre Party and the Progressives - Ludendorff had insisted on this change

There were three key reaons for Ludendorff's change on political reform: