The Soviet Republic of Saxony () is the name that is sometimes used to refer to a short-lived, unrecognized soviet state that was established in the former Kingdom of Saxony following the collapse of the German Empire at the end of World War I.
In the early weeks of the German Revolution of 1918–19, workers' and soldiers' councils took over control in a number of cities in Saxony. Because some members wanted to establish a soviet-style council government while others favored a parliamentary republic, there was considerable internal disagreement that caused a split between the two groups. In early February 1919, elections were held for a state assembly, the , in which the moderates gained control. A burst of violence at the time of the March 1919 Kapp Putsch led to the national government forcibly removing the last of the workers' councils from Leipzig, marking the end of the "Soviet Republic". Saxony went on to adopt a democratic constitution as a state within the Weimar Republic.
References to a "Soviet Republic of Saxony" are uncommon in both histories of the period and contemporaneous sources. Most speak of the individual councils in major cities such as Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz rather than of a single Saxon republic.
Establishment of workers' and soldiers' councils
As in other cities across Germany, including at the national level in Berlin, workers' and soldiers' councils were set up across Saxony at the time of the collapse of the German Empire in early November 1918. During state-wide mass demonstrations, protesters in Leipzig and Dresden occupied a number of government buildings, including the army and police headquarters in Dresden. On 8 November, the Saxon king, Frederick Augustus III, fled to Moritzburg Castle northwest of Dresden after a workers' and soldiers' council took over control of the city. The council, made up of communist Spartacists and members of the radical socialist Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), called itself the United Revolutionary Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Greater Dresden (). Two days later, it declared that the King had been deposed and the monarchy abolished. At the Circus Sarrasani building in Dresden, Hermann Fleissner of the USPD declared the "Social Republic of Saxony".
King Frederick Augustus, who had left Moritzburg for Guteborn in Prussia, abdicated on 13 November and requested that state officials continue to serve the "Fatherland". On the fifteenth, a new government (, or Central Council) made up of three members () of the USPD and three of the more centrist Majority Social Democratic Party (MSPD) was established following lengthy discussions between the two parties. From Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz, they issued a 'Proclamation to the People of Saxony', most of which had been written by Richard Lipinski of the USPD. In outlining the goals of the new government, it too asked that public officials remain at their positions in order to maintain order, a decision that left many adherents of the old regime in control of government functions. The proclamation went on to demand a centralized socialist Germany and continuation of the revolution until a united socialist Germany was achieved. The new state it envisioned was to ensure freedom of association and religion, the eight-hour work day, a secure food supply and amnesty for those punished under the old system of "class justice". The immediate concerns of the MSPD, however, were maintaining order and providing for the basic needs of the people, not a revolutionary restructuring of society. They pushed for local elections in January and for a state parliament () that would write a constitution for Saxony. The elections would be held under universal, equal, direct and secret proportional representation for both men and women over the age of 21.
While the MSPD was working towards a parliamentary democracy, the USPD wanted to retain the workers' and soldiers' councils permanently. By 16 January 1919, the discord between the two parties had grown to such a level that the USPD, led by Lipinski, withdrew its 3 members from the Central Council in Dresden. The MSPD replaced them with its own members, giving them full control of the Council, with Georg Gradnauer serving as Saxony's minister president. New elections for the workers' and soldiers' councils at year-end led to significant wins for the MSPD in Dresden and Chemnitz. The results allowed the MSPD to increase its dominance over the USPD, although in Leipzig the USPD held on to control of the council. It dissolved the Leipzig City Council and took over the army group stationed in the city.