5b exam question

I believe that the military setbacks on the western front and the inevitable knowledge that Germany  would be defeated were the most important aspects that undermined the Kaisers authority. After the Schlieffen plan failed Germany was forced to fight on both Eastern and Western fronts which it was not prepared to do, and therefore put Germany put of their depth and caused great amounts of financial pressure. The Allies then put Naval blockades in place to prevent supplies including food and weaponry from getting into Germany, meaning that it had to essentially become self-sufficient, which wasn't physically possible in the current state it was in. Over time food shortages worsened and in total around 293,000 people died of hypothermia and starvation caused by poor living conditions, as well as people being forced to work longer days, but for wages that were falling below the inflation rate, therefore worsening the situation. This lead to large amounts of political unrest and social discontent, mainly aimed towards those who were profiting from the war and with those in positions of power, like political leaders. Overall the public morale had plummeted because of these factors and the likelihood of defeat on the western front, which lead to a massive lack of trust and confidence in the Kaiser and therefore the people, along with other political figures urging him to step down during the October reforms.

I also think that rise of Left Wing groups undermining the Kaiser's authority did hold strong importance. The initial growth in popularity in the SPD did start to have major effects, as they wanted to change the governance of the country to becoming a socialist republic, which would act as a direct threat to the kaiser, and it grew so large in popularity that after the 1912 election it was the largest party and it had over 1 million members. This would put great pressure on the Kaiser as it would now become apparent to him how many people wanted governing under authority that wasn't his, however there was less pressure than there could be, as the SPD were strictly against revolution. But when the breakaway group, the USPD, a more radical and extreme faction of the SPD, formed more pressure was put on the Kaiser, as it had a significant following of around a third of the SPD's following, but with more demanding and revolutionary ideas. This likely would have scared and pressured the Kaiser to quite an extent, despite it being a smaller and more underdeveloped group. The most extreme left wing group were the Spartacists, with strong, Bolshevik like ideas and who were willing to revolt and rebel, and they caused many problems, despite their small following over only around 5000, resulting in the execution of the leaders Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg. These created enough political unrest and instability that it may have been a key factor for the undermining of the Kaiser's authority.

Overall I believe that the military setbacks and inevitable defeat in Germany was more important in the undermining of the Kaiser's authority, as it was what lead to the unstable environment in Germany, where people no longer saw the Kaiser as fit, due to hundreds of thousands dying of starvation, hypothermia and disease, along with morale dropping as it became clear that Germany would not win the war. These events are also what lead to the sudden rise of Left Wing parties as there was a push for change in the governance of the nation, meaning that, despite the inspiration from Russia, these parties likely wouldn't have gained that much popularity without the failure on the Western Front.