With the defeat of the Triple Entente and victory in the Weltkrieg, it could be said that Oberste Heeresleitung commanders Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff were the most powerful men in Europe, even above the Kaiser himself. Over the four years of war, their military administration had slowly seeped into every facet of German life; its newspapers, radio stations, factories, mines, ports, schools, an eventually even its city halls, and the Reichstag itself. It was expected that with the war's end, this total control over the State would subside, and Germany would perhaps even democratise. This did not come to bear; even Kaiser Willhelm II felt relatively isolated from power.
But that was not all. Both Ludendorff and Hindenburg were ultranationalists, and had slowly modified the German Septemberprogramm (the model for victory in war) to approach their goals; Poles and Slavs had to be exterminated from annexed territories, while Germans would be moved in, and French culture would be dissolved by German one. Underground left-wing newspapers began reporting on this information. Despite the junta's attempts, neither the rumors, nor the pictures, nor the memos, nor the leaked letters could be concealed. The 11th of October of 1919, the SPD (which had gained 42% of votes in the elections of 1917) demanded the sacking of the junta. In response, military intelligence began assassinating SPD leaders in broad daylight. A week later, on the 18th of October, the SPD declared the German government as void of all authority and corrupted by military leaders, beginning the Velvet Revolution.