{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "How did the first world war actually end? | Paul Mason | Paul Mason", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/102289627208/", "html": "How did the first world war actually end? | Paul Mason | Paul Mason\n
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By 9 November, with workers swarming into the streets of Berlin, the Kaiser abdicated: only the declaration of a republic, with a Labour government and the promised \u201csocialisation of industry\u201d, prevented outright Soviet-style revolution.

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These incredible events do not fit easily into the narrative the mass media has been feeding us about the 1914-18 war. We\u2019ve had TV presenters telling us most soldiers \u201cactually enjoyed the war\u201d; we\u2019ve had the\u00a0former education secretary declaring Britain\u2019s most famous anti-war play \u2013 Oh What A Lovely War \u2013 to be full of left-wing myths.

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But the termination of war by working-class action fits uneasily at a deeper level: for most of history the existence of a workforce with its own consciousness and organisations is an afterthought, or an anomaly. I\u2019ve tried this quiz question again and again on highly-educated people and, even once they know the answer, there are looks of \u201cdoes not compute\u201d.

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