ABSTRACT
The first of these councils was established on November 4, in the Baltic seaport
The armistice ending World War I took effect on November 11, 1918. Most Germans welcomed peace, although few appreciated the magnitude of the problems that lay ahead. The failure to achieve economic recovery, social and political polarization, and Germany’s inability to secure a place in the international balance of power repeatedly brought the Reich to the brink of political and economic collapse in the years immediately after World War I.
