Philipp Scheidemann (standing on the balcony with his arm raised) was a member of SPD that governed Germany in 1918. Fearing that the Spartacists would declare a socialist republic, he took the imitative and declared Germany a republic before the far left could. In his speech he declared that:
"The old and rotten, the monarchy has collapsed. The new may live. Long live the German Republic!"
![Declaration of the German republic, 1918 [996×1252]](https://i.redd.it/3fk6icfhbvw51.jpg)
HerrasKissa
Philipp Scheidemann (standing on the balcony with his arm raised) was a member of SPD that governed Germany in 1918. Fearing that the Spartacists would declare a socialist republic, he took the imitative and declared Germany a republic before the far left could. In his speech he declared that:
"The old and rotten, the monarchy has collapsed. The new may live. Long live the German Republic!"