Barricades on a street, German Revolution, Berlin, Germany, c1918-c1919. Civilians and soldiers in position behind defences made from bundles of newspapers. Revolution broke out in Germany in November 1918 in the final days of the First World War, leading to the proclamation of a republic and the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Unrest broke out across the country but the Communists failed to secure power after the more moderate left wing Social Democratic Party sided with the army and Freikorps militias to quell the Spartacist uprising that occurred in January 1919. The outcome of the revolution was the establishment of a democratic system of government, the Weimar Republic.