Why were soldiers’ and workers’ councils formed in Germany before the birth of the Weimar Republic?

Correct answer: Because of military defeat and political discontent

Correct answer: A. In 1918 Germany was exhausted by the First World War, and military defeat weakened the imperial government. Soldiers and workers were angry about poor conditions, food shortages, wartime suffering and the continuation of an unpopular political system. They formed councils to express their demands and to challenge existing authority, in a pattern influenced partly by revolutionary developments elsewhere in Europe. This unrest contributed to the collapse of the monarchy and the transition toward the Weimar Republic. B, C and D are wrong because the councils were political and social bodies created during a national crisis, not organisations for sport, royal celebration or colonial trade. Memory cue: defeat plus hardship produced councils and revolution before the Republic.