The German Communists made a fresh attempt at insurrection last
week. Armed bands appeared in the industrial districts of Saxony, in Hamburg, and in the Ruhr valley, and did some damage to the railways and public buildings. The Security Police, using armoured cars and artillery, had little difficulty, however, in repressing the " Reds." The insurgent headquarters in a nitrogen works near Halle was captured on Tuesday, with a thousand men and twenty. machine-guns. In Hamburg and in Westphalia the Communists committed some robberies, but were otherwise ineffective. It has to be remembered that the German Government purposely exaggerate the gravity of such Bolshevik agitations in order to persuade the Allies that Germany needs more troops to preserve order. The rapid collapse of this rising confirms the belief that Bolshevism has very little strength left in Germany, though the reactionaries
for their own purposes and the Government for diplomatic reasons make the most of the Bolshevik peril.
Previous page
