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Historical Materialism #77
Working-Class Politics in the German Revolution: Richard Müller, the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and the Origins of the Council Movement
div>"Hoffrogge has done historians of the German Revolution and the Weimar Republic a valuable service by reconstructing the trajectory of a key figure in the revolution (and one of its most important early historians), and by enabling us to see these events through the different focus afforded by a leading protagonist of the workers’ councils"
—Andrew G. Bonnell, Labour History , Australia
“In this study of Richard Müller’s role in the German Revolution, Ralf Hoffrogge sheds light on one of the most important, and yet understudied, aspects of the the role of revolutionary shop stewards and workers’ councils in the overthrow of the old order and the establishment of the new one…[T]his work provides a much-needed perspective on the German upheaval from the bottom up. It places Richard Müller’s long neglected role in the revolution at center stage, and reminds us of the revolutionary promise that was the German Revolution."
—William Smalldone, Against the Current
“Hoffrogge’s biography differs from those written about revolutionary icons like Liebknecht or Luxemburg for very practical reasons. The latter were from middle-class backgrounds and used to writing letters and articles offering biographers insights into their political but also private lives. An ordinary worker like Müller did not leave comparable records…Hoffrogge’s book is a first-rate invitation to think about a link between Richard Müller and the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and today’s still unfocused struggles against imperialist wars and capitalist exploitation”
—Ingo Schmidt, WorkingUSA
"The merit of Hoffrogge’s contribution is a capacity to translate his extensive research into a wide-ranging historical analysis and narrative of the role of the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and Richard Müller. "
—Dario Azzellini
"Ralf Hoffrogge has authored an invaluable addition to the literature of German radicalism by detailing the life of one of the key leaders of the Revolutionary Shop Stewards."
—William A. Pelz
"Ralf Hoffrogge ... explores the complicated relationship between the Stewards and the various socialist political parties with great skill and discusses the emergence of a new kind of socialism amongst Müller and his colleagues, which did not focus on state power and centralization but rather on grassroots democracy and workers’ control, sometimes known as council communism."
—Dick Geary
"This study deserves special consideration because it addresses two of the main puzzles of modern German how did a supposedly strong state collapse in 1917 and 1918, and how did the SPD subsequently assume power? Already in the 1920s, Arthur Rosenberg pointed out that the Social Democrats followed a dual tactic of propagating but also preventing revolution. By clarifying the roles played in all this by Müller and the shop stewards, Hoffrogge has moved the discussion forward, showing the way in which revolutionary unrest spread and forced the Social Democrats into a much more active role than they had previously adopted."
– Central European History
—Andrew G. Bonnell, Labour History , Australia
“In this study of Richard Müller’s role in the German Revolution, Ralf Hoffrogge sheds light on one of the most important, and yet understudied, aspects of the the role of revolutionary shop stewards and workers’ councils in the overthrow of the old order and the establishment of the new one…[T]his work provides a much-needed perspective on the German upheaval from the bottom up. It places Richard Müller’s long neglected role in the revolution at center stage, and reminds us of the revolutionary promise that was the German Revolution."
—William Smalldone, Against the Current
“Hoffrogge’s biography differs from those written about revolutionary icons like Liebknecht or Luxemburg for very practical reasons. The latter were from middle-class backgrounds and used to writing letters and articles offering biographers insights into their political but also private lives. An ordinary worker like Müller did not leave comparable records…Hoffrogge’s book is a first-rate invitation to think about a link between Richard Müller and the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and today’s still unfocused struggles against imperialist wars and capitalist exploitation”
—Ingo Schmidt, WorkingUSA
"The merit of Hoffrogge’s contribution is a capacity to translate his extensive research into a wide-ranging historical analysis and narrative of the role of the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and Richard Müller. "
—Dario Azzellini
"Ralf Hoffrogge has authored an invaluable addition to the literature of German radicalism by detailing the life of one of the key leaders of the Revolutionary Shop Stewards."
—William A. Pelz
"Ralf Hoffrogge ... explores the complicated relationship between the Stewards and the various socialist political parties with great skill and discusses the emergence of a new kind of socialism amongst Müller and his colleagues, which did not focus on state power and centralization but rather on grassroots democracy and workers’ control, sometimes known as council communism."
—Dick Geary
"This study deserves special consideration because it addresses two of the main puzzles of modern German how did a supposedly strong state collapse in 1917 and 1918, and how did the SPD subsequently assume power? Already in the 1920s, Arthur Rosenberg pointed out that the Social Democrats followed a dual tactic of propagating but also preventing revolution. By clarifying the roles played in all this by Müller and the shop stewards, Hoffrogge has moved the discussion forward, showing the way in which revolutionary unrest spread and forced the Social Democrats into a much more active role than they had previously adopted."
– Central European History
253 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
6 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 1, 2009
Eichard Müller is one of the most important participants in the German revolutionary events of 1918-19. Unfortunately, he had fallen into oblivion until recently. Hoffrogge tries to draw a detailed portrait of a man with a modest family background who makes it to the top of the council movement of the 1910s. The author's careful research and enthusiams make this book perfect for all those interested in the history of international socialism and for all those intending to become experts on the topic.
April 18, 2020
Richard Müller was an under appreciated working class leader in the German revolution. Red Rosa and Liebknecht get all the history groupies because they were martyred, but Müller did the real organizational dirty work.
October 12, 2024
It’s really good
November 14, 2025
Very compelling read from Hoffrogge. Rescues the story of trade unionist and communist revolutionary Richard Muller from obscurity. Details how he emerged from the trade union struggles of the DMV German Metalworkers union in the struggle against scientific management, through the struggles of the World War I era to emerge as the leader of the revolutionary German working class. Almost totally forgotten Richard Muller was head of state of the German Socialist Republic for 2 months before being displaced by Social-Democratic forces to his right-wing that were set on reigning in the November Revolution. Hoffrogge chronicles Muller's principled, somewhat dogmatic adherence to trade union unity, workers councils, and mass revolutionary tactics. This course led him to take up a position on the far-left of Social Democracy and then on the right-wing of the communist movement, never quite finding a home.
Gave me a lot to think about in terms of the advanced role of metal-workers in this era and way that revolutionary politics were forged in the course of the struggle against the war in Germany. The Social-Democrats take up a complicated position, as being indisputably the representative of the working class majority while at the same time standing opposed to the socialist revolution. The Sparticists and later the KPD appear as disconnected intellectuals in this book, unable to see the importance of basing their strength among the workers in the labor movement, something more intimately understood by the Revolutionary Shop Stewards.
Gave me a lot to think about in terms of the advanced role of metal-workers in this era and way that revolutionary politics were forged in the course of the struggle against the war in Germany. The Social-Democrats take up a complicated position, as being indisputably the representative of the working class majority while at the same time standing opposed to the socialist revolution. The Sparticists and later the KPD appear as disconnected intellectuals in this book, unable to see the importance of basing their strength among the workers in the labor movement, something more intimately understood by the Revolutionary Shop Stewards.
November 13, 2021
The German Revolution's failure defined the world future. Instead of a flourishing workers' democracy, we got Hitler and Stalinist Russia, and then the rest. Berlin's shop stewards' movement was at the heart of the revolution and Müller was its leader. This book provides valuable blow-by-blow details that are hard to find elsewhere.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews