THE CENTRAL POWERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3384, 22 January 1919, Page 24

THE CENTRAL POWERS

FIGHTING IN BERLIN ENDED

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS.

(By Cable.)

The Daily Express Berlin correspondent, telegraphing on Friday, January* 10, reported : A fierce attack by the Spartacusians at dawn with hand-grenades against the Reichstag Building failed. The recent fighting has been more severe than it was in Petrograd, and the casualties are esti--1 mated at 1000. Parts of the capital are without water or light. The heaviest fighting in Berlin occurred during the recapture of the Berliner Tageblatt office. Hen- Mosse, the proprietor, refused to give his permission to Herr Ebert to use artillery against the buildings; therefore the Government troops attacked it with machine-gnus, to which the - Spartacusians replied. The Government troops thereupon brought up a German tank and smashed in the doors. But the building was captured only after strenuous fighting, in which an armoured car with a storming hand-grenade party participated. There were over 300 Spartacus defenders of the office, and most of them were killed or wounded. The Spartacus Independents now control Spandau (a -Berlin suburb), where there are .many munition workers. DETAILS OF BERLIN FIGHTING. The Government losses in killed are 180, while the Spartacusians lost hundreds. It is reported that the workmen at several of the factories axe tired of street fighting and desire to resume work. A general feeling is growing against Herren Ebert and Schiedemann. Many operatives are demanding that the Government shall retire or reorganise. A Berlin wireless message states that the Spartacus strongholds in the Berlin press quarter have been cleared out after a sharp battle, in which the casualties were high. The death list was increased by the Spartacusians court-martialling~ and shooting Government troops, necessitating reprisals. Fighting for the Silesian railway station and other places of communication is still going on. The Spartacusians evacuated several buildings in the newspaper quarter of Berlin on Sunday night. They departed without being molested after laying down their arms. Several hundred Spartacusians were killed when the Government captured the Silesian railway station. The Spartacusians reproach the Independent Socialists with weakness in requesting negotiations. The Spartacusians demand a fresh election of a Central Council, excluding the Majority Socialists, and fresh Soviet elections before abandoning their- programme of violence. Thousands of disguised Russians are reported to be fighting on behalf of the Spartacusians. The Spartacusians have inaugurated a Solicy of general sabotage, planning to estroy telephones and all other means of commnuication throughout Germany, and thus stop the convocation of a National Assembly. Kadek, Russian Bolshevist emissary, was arrested when the police headquarters in Berlin were stormed by Herr Ebert's troops. Herr Eichorn, president of police in Berlin, escaped. The estimates of killed and wounded in Berlin are mostly worthless. The fighting is indiscriminate and scattered. Halfgrown lads swarm the streets, often shouting for pleasure. AN ARMISTICE. A semi-official message from Berlin states that the Government troops and Spartacusians signed an agreement on the evening of the 10th inst. by which the Government undertook not" to receive reinforcements and to cease hostilities, the resumption of which is subject to 12 hours' notice.. Herr, Eisner (Bavarian Premier) telegraphed to the Berlin Government that the murderous civil war must end, otherwise all Germany would slowly perish. The Berlin example, he said, was everywhere producing insanity. After the armistice on Saturday fighting was renewed in the newspaper quarter in Berlin, and continued all night long. Thirteen thousand Government troops "reached Berlin on Saturday, making a total of 40,000. The number of Spartacusians killed since the outbreak is estimated at 1300, including 400 around the Vorwarts office. Troops arrested Ledebour at his residence. The Government troops "attacked all the Spartacus strongholds. On Saturday afternoon they surrounded the newspaper district, and after a hard struggle captured the Vorwarts building. Ledebour 'and other Spartacus leaders inside were taken away under escort. There were 125 dead bodies found in the building. The Government troops are still attacking the Berliner Tageblatt building. The Spartacusians brought great quantities of weapons to the large Boltzow brewery, which they had strongly fortified. Eichorn (ex-President of Police) and Radek (Russian emissary) are directing the battle from the brewery. Radek is keeping up the Spartacusians' spirits by continually declaring that a Russian army is on the way to Berlin. Two thousand Spartacusians in Hanover commandeered a train, and are coming to Berlin. Mobs from all parts of Germany are making their way to the capital. Noske, commanding four regiments of Government troops and many; volunteers, has recaptured the greater part of Spandau. He also captured and shot the Spartacusian leader. The Frankfurter Zeitung says that the Spartacusians barricaded Vorwarts office with large reels of paper and posted

machine-guns behind these and also at the windows. The Government artillery de-, molished part of the front of the building, burying some of the defenders under the debris. Others in the building fluttered handkerchiefs or white paper from the windows, proclaiming their surrender, and 300 of them were captured. THE GOVERNMENT SUCCESSFUL. A Berlin wireless message states that the Spartacus disturbance was put down on Sunday with the storming of the Police Presidency and the Silesian Railway Station. The bombardment of the Police Presidency began on Saturday night, first with machine-guns, then with artillery. After 25 shots had been fired the fire from the building was silenced, and grenade parties advanced through an underground passage and blew up the main entrance and occupied the building, taking prisoner 450 of the Spartacusians, who lost 12 killed and 30 wounded. The Silesian Railway Station was occupied after a short engagement and the garrison taken prisoner. Herr Eichorn, ex-police president, fled. The Daimler motor and other works near Berlin have been liberated. A large procession of bourgeoisie democrats thanked the Government for its liberation from Spartacus rule. Herr Noske, member of the Ebert Government, said that troops are proceeding to the threatened eastern frontier, but sufficient are being retained to keep order in Berlin during the elections. Advices from Berlin state that the Spartacus revolt is broken, and military operations practically ceased on Monday, after which day there was only desultory firing in the newspaper quarter. The newspapers are now republishing. The Minister of War has declared that the military are now disarming the population, and a systematic search has begun. Owing, however, to food shortage the future is pregnant with difficulties for the Government, as th& futur-i support from soldiers and civilians largely depends on better supplies; but it is authoritatively

stated that the shortage is likely to be worse than at present. \ It is reported that Liebknecht has fled to Leipzig and Eichorn to Denmark. The Spartacusians, realising that their efforts have failed, are preparing another outbreak during the national elections. The Independent Socialists have issued a proclamation urging the strikers to resume work and conserve their energies for another blow. THE EBERT GOVERNMENT. Herr Ebert, addressing newly-arrived troops at Berlin, said tneir task would be to preserve order for the Assembly elections. Herr Noske said that he would take energetic action if disturbances were attempted. The Ebert Government states that it has been ascertained that the Spartacusians telegraphed to the Moscow Bolshevists admitting that the bloody game was lost, and the fight must be broken off, as the Berlin workers are not yet ripe for a dictatorship of the proletariat. The Government claims that it was anxious throughout to avoid bloodshed, but the Spartacusians refused until beaten to restore the liberty of the press, which was laid down as an essential preliminary. NEW CHIEF OF POLICE. Berlin's new Chief of Police, Richmer, has restored the old police armed with their former authority, but he is maintaining a Soldier Defence Corps until the latter is absorbed into the police. He is also forming flying yards, employing armoured cars, and utilising all services for protecting the elections on Sunday. ' The German Government has issued a proclamation appealing for national unity, and threatening sharp punishment for any disturbance of the peace. The proclamation also says that a settlement regarding Germany's eastern frontier must be left to the decision of the Peace Conference. Germany needs protection against Polish annexation, and must also protect her frontiers against Russian military despotism seeking to impose its own

anarchistic conditions on Germany by a new world war, of which Germany would be the theatre. Bolshevism means the death of Peace, Freedom, and Socialism.' CRIMINALS IN BERLIN. The Daily Chronicle's Rotterdam correspondent states: Thousands of criminals have flocked to Berlin, and are participating in looting and raiding shops. They secured arms by joining the Red Guards. They have also secured motor lorries, by means of which organised bands of criminals carry out extensive pillage. Despite the street fighting thousands of sightseers in the other adjacent streets hurriedly fly when firing is heard. Street hawkers are becoming accustomed to the fighting, and do not remove their stalls unless the firing comes too close, and even then they retire only a few yards up a side street, returning as soon as the firing ceases. The sightseers also return and the shops resume business. Organ grinders and other street musicians continue playing amidst the fighting, and the street beggars remain at their posts. The Daily Express Berlin correspondent states that, notwithstanding recent events, many theatres are still open, and attended by men and women in evening dress. Parts of the city are normal, street cleaners working, and offices open; but life is nowhere safe. Men have pet machine guns and start battles on their own account. The British Embassy is untenable, and the Red Cross Workers' Repatriation Committee has been forced to abandon the building. DISTURBANCES IN OTHER CENTRES. The Spartacusians in Dresden tried to rush the Volks Zeitung paper offices, but the Government troops repulsed them. The Spartacusians also tried to capture the Guildhall, but were again repulsed. They were ejected from the Kreuz Zeitung offices, but overturned the news carts and burnt their contents. The Bolshevists ;in Stuttgart captured the Town Hall, and tumultuous scenes lasted all night, there being much firing and some casualties. The Spartacus riots at Munich were not attended by bloodshed. Herr Eisner arrested three of the leading Spartacusians. The Workers and Soldiers' Council at Leipzig (Saxony); refused a passage to a troop train going to Berlin, on the ground that the motives of those aboard were anti-revolutionary. Revolutionary police attempted to disarm the soldiers. Firing on both sides ensued, and caused several deaths.- Eventually the police proved victorious. Similar encounters took place subsequently on the arrival of other trains, and the troops aboard them were disarmed. Sailors at Wilhelmshaven interned the President of the Oldenburg Republic, because he was a Spartacusian. BRITISH OCCUPY DUSSELDORF. It is reported that British troops have occupied Dusseldorf, where the Bolshevists had, seized control. The Mayor and 150 citizens of the town fled to escape imprisonment. ..,.,.., The Bolshevist dictator there is named Ochel, who in pre-war days carried out a typical German matrimonial agency, and fled to Holland to avoid military service. The Poppaea of the movement is a Russian woman named Feuerstein, who is an intermediary for the distribution of Russian Bolshevist money used to promote anarchy. Ochel and Feuerstein opened the prisons and loosed 170 criminals, who occupied the police station. The "Town Guard, numbering 1500, which came into existence in November, is entirely Bolshevist in sympathy. ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS. The Coalition Socialists and Republican Democrats obtained 90 seats out of 150 in the elections at Wurtemburg for the Constituent Assembly, the voting, being based on universal suffrage. The Independent Socialists obtained four seats only, owing to their close relation with the Spartacusians. The Morning Post's Berne correspondent states that the results of the elections of the National Assembly in Baden, Bavaria, and Wurtemburg, in which the Extremists were severely defeated, show that the German Bolshevists have, succeeded in arousing the bourgeoisie. There was heavy polling by all classes. The Catholic Party in Bavaria has lost its predominant position. The Government took effective steps to protect voters. Cavalry patrolled the streets of Munich, and soldiers guarded the polling stations. The Daily Express Berlin correspondent says that before the Spartacusians gave in they captured the Russian Embassy, and fired on the Government troops in the Hotel Bristol, killing 70 of them. The German Government has issued a proclamation which states that all civilians ftiust be disarmed by Sunday—election day for the Constituent Assembly. Riots marked the German elections for a National Assembly. A general strike has taken place in Leipzig, and the city is without gas or water. The mob destroyed the election bureau. BADEN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. The first separate National Assembly in Germany met on January 15 at Karlsruhe. There were 107 deputies, including nine women. The Minister President thanked the Baden soldiers for their services in the war, and said that the Grand Duke of Baden had not participated in the war, either at the beginning or the end; therefore the Government expressed its thanks to the unassuming wearer of the crown of Baden and his heir. The Minister President said he favoured Imperial unity, saying: "We are desirous above all of remaining in the great German Democratic State."

A PROPHET OF GOVERNMENT. The Guardian's Berlin correspondent says: The real revolution has begun, and each side is determined to fight to the last. If the Government wins it will probably be a Pyrrhic victory, and will sow the seeds of future disaster. The Hague correspondent, of The Times states that Herr Ebert has decided that it is unnecessary to employ von Hindenburg at Berlin, and von Hindenburg has departed for Cassel. THE SPARTACUSIAN LEADERS. Reports of a contradictory nature have been current concerning the fate of Herr Leibknecht. The latest are as follows: Herr Liebknecht was arrested by the Government troops, but attempted to escape from the guard conveying him to the Berlin police station, and was shot dead. An infuriated crowd attempted to lynch Rosa Luxemburg while her guards were motoring her to prison, and finally one assailant boarded the car and shot her dead. GERMANY AND THE ARMISTICE. The German armistice delegate (Herr Winterfield) has notified the Entente representatives at Spa that Germany is resolved loyalty to perform her undertaking to restore the machinery abstracted from occupied territory as part of the undertaking to repair material losses; but declines to undertake a detailed settlement which would "anticipate the peace treaty, the conclusion of which Germany has repeatedly urged." The German Government, commenting by wireless on Herr Winterfield's note, gives statistics of the available. restorablo equipment, and adds: "Refusal must be made in all circumstances to the demand that Germany replace machines by others essential to German industry, because such a step would inaugurate an economic war deprecated by President Wilson.'-' Herr Erzberger, at a meeting of the armistice delegates, protested against the continution of the blockade, alleging that the. Entente Powers were starving Germany. He demanded to know when the preliminary peace would be signed. Germany had asked for it six times. Copenhagen reports that Liebknecht was shot half an hour after he had been court-martialled' and sentenced to death. No details are available. Rosa Luxemburg was killed in attempting to escape. The armed car which was conveying Liebknecht from the police station to the central station broke down. The guards decided to walk Liebknecht, who attempted to escape, but was killed instantly from a shot between the shoulders. The Government has ordered an inquiry in order to ascertain if bloodshed could have been averted. Lynchers nearly succeeded in dragging Luxemburg from the car as the guards were driving towards the prison. She was almost torn to pieces before she was shot. RE-VICTUALLING GERMANY. In connection with the re-victualling of Germany it is understood that Marshal Foch has been granted extended powers in the utilising of ports, owing to evidence given to the Allied War Council of Germany's slimness in seeking to evade, the conditions of the armistice whenever possible. ARMS FROM RUSSIA. The National Tidende reports that a secret staircase and an enormous store of arms and ammunition have been discovered in the Russian Embassy at Berlin. A BAVARIAN CONSTITUTION. The Bavarian Government, under Herr Eisner, has drafted the following constitution :—Bavaria is to be a member of the United States of Germany. The supreme power in the republic of Bavaria is the people, who will express their will through selected deputies and a referendum. There will be a single Chamber, elected by universal suffrage and with the proportional system of voting. Cabinet can submit the decision of this Chamber to a referendum of the whole nation, and if the popular vote is against the Chamber. the latter must be dissolved. If the vote is against the Cabinet, the latter must resign. The Chamber also elects the Premier, who nominates his Chamber. The Matin's correspondent had an interview with Herr Evener (Bavarian Premier), who said he had only 18 marks in his pocket when it was decided to overthrow the Bavarian dynasty, which was a thousand years old and so worm-eaten that a mere touch was sufficient to demolish it. AUSTRIA DISGORGING. . Austria has handed over to the Italian Armistice Commission 1,500,000 lire removed at the outbreak of the war to Vienna from banks in Trieste and Trentino. THE HAPSBURG WEALTH. A newspaper states on reliable authority that 2,000,000 marks (about £80,000) belonging to the Hapsburg family was recently deposited in an Amsterdam bank. AUSTRIAN BOUNDARIES. The French Government's note has been received. It declines the German-Austriau proposal regarding the settlement of territorial differences between the Czechoslovaks and Austria bv arbitration, and further declares that the line of demarcation fixed by General Desperey must remain until the matter is settled by the Peace Conference. Austria has accepted this decision. THE HUNGARIAN REPUBLIC. Count Michael Karolyi has been elected provisional President of the Hungarian Republic The Hungarian Government has demanded the extradition of Prince Louis

of Windischgraenz for misappropriation of 4,000,000 kroner from the secret service funds, also for other thefts of public moneys. Prince Louis was the confidential adviser of the ex-Emperor Karl, and later acted in Switzerland as head of the coun-ter-revolutionary party aiming to replace Karl on the throne, which is another reason for Hungary's desire for his extradition. FOOD FOR VIENNA. Provisions from the British army in Italy have arrived at Vienna under a British escort. Vienna people gave a friendly reception to detachments of the Warwickshire Regiment, who escorted the food supplies sent to relieve women and children. Major Bethell (Chief of the British Mission), addressing the burgomaster, said the provisions were sent as a free gift—as a sign of appreciation for the humane treatment of British "war prisoners in Austria, in marked contrast to what was undergone elsewhere. The burgomaster replied, expressing thanks, and promised to distribute the foodstuffs to the poorer classes, according to the senders' intentions. THE POSITION IN POLAND. At Paris the Supreme War Council discussed the question of sending military assistance to Poland. The Inter-Allied Command considers that two Polish divisions, which will be sent, should be supported by an Allied detachment, enabling them to hold the Danzig-Thorn railway. America is of opinion that Poland needs more support, and* is willing to send an army corps. •Mr Lansing, United States Secretary of State, denies the report that America is proposing to send troops to Poland. Warsaw was jubilant on learning that Marshal Foch had ordered the Germans in Lithuania to permit Polish troops to pass through in order to resist the Bolshevists. The War Council is determined that Germany shall not be allowed to crush Poland before the Peace Conference decides on Poland's status. It is understood that the War Council is notifying Germany that she must cease hostilities against Poland at a certain date. The Polish Chief National Council has appointed the former Polish Diet representative, von Trampzynsky, as first President of Posen. Polish troops are advancing against Thorn (on the Vistula, where it enters Prussian Poland from Russian Poland), endangering railway communications between Berlin and Russia. Negotiations with the Polish representatives in Paris resulted in an agreement whereby, with the common consent of the various parties in Poland, M. Paderewski becomes Premier, while M. Pilsudski remains head of the State. It has now been revealed that it was Germany's determination to seize all the provisions of the Poles in Prussia if the Polish provinces of Germany were restored to Poland. All parties in Germany agreed to this step, as Poland is regarded as even more important than the left bank of the Rhine. Herr Ebert declared: "If the Polish provinces are returned, Germany will reconquer the west through the east." These statements were made at a secret meeting of all parties convened when Prince Max was Chancellor. Germany's policy now is to have Poland as a prey after'the Bolshevists have ravaged Poland,; hence the Germans on the east front handing over their arms to the Bolshevists. POSITION IN LUXEMBURG. The abdication of the Grand Duchess of Luxemburg is announced. ..She intends to retire to Bavaria. The Chamber by 30 vote 3 to 19 selected Charlotte to succeed her sister as Grand Duchess. Duchess Charlotte became engaged on Tuesday to an Austrian officer, Felix Deparne, brother, of Zita, ex-Empress of Austria. The Luxemburg Government has issued a proclamation urging the citizens to put down revolutionary conspiracies, and stating that national unity was never more essential in view of the Government's decision to seek an economic alliance with the Entente, particularly France and Belgium. The popular agitation in Luxemburg subsided and the Republican Committee was dissolved after the official announcement of the abdication of the Grand Duchess and the succession of her sister, Princess Charlotte.