London Times In Item 3 Analysis

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what really happened in a specific situation, especially when you are hearing two or more different sides of the story.This can be seen with the events surrounding November 9, 1918 in Germany. The first 4 items were all primary sources. This is because items 1 and 3 were direct statements from people who were there. Item 3 was a newspaper article published just days later with information from telegrams from people who were there, though their story does not line up with others. Item 4 included photographs of the events themselves and would definitely be considered a primary source. Items 5, 6, and 7 are all secondary sources. They are all retellings of the events published years later. One large discrepancy

I assume the order and tranquility described in the Times was simply made up by the journalist who lacked the full story from the telegram they received depicting the events, and therefore made up a story that would be pleasing to their readers. Schiedsmann actually compared his view of the crowds outside to that of an army base, with citizens armed with weapons. This is the opposite of a peaceful transition and he jumped up and spoke, declaring a republic not because of the Kaiser’s abdication but in fear that Germany would become communist as Karl Liebknecht was speaking and pulling together supporters just across the city. The order of these events also differ in Scheidemann’s account of the events and in article 5 which says Liebknecht was speaking after Scheidemann had declared a republic. In this case I would trust Scheidemann’s account of events first as it is a primary source and he was actually there when all this was