Germany's Gen Z protests end in clashes and arrests
Tens of thousands of young people marched in 34 German cities on Saturday, organized by the group Gen Z regelt, demanding more money for education, relief from rising living costs and an end to plans to bring back compulsory military service. The daytime rallies were largely peaceful, but rioters looted stores in Frankfurt, and police reported more than 200 arrests nationwide after evening clashes, mostly in Hamburg and Berlin. Read at Reuters via Investing.com →
The German Peasants' War
What happened then
Starting in 1524 near the Black Forest, peasants and townspeople across southern and central Germany rose against their lords. In March 1525, rebel bands meeting at Memmingen adopted the Twelve Articles, a short list of demands that was printed and spread widely.
What caused it
The articles asked for the right of each community to choose its own pastor, an end to serfdom, the return of common woods and fields, fair rents and dues, and limits on the tithe. Peasants were squeezed by rising obligations, and Reformation preaching about Christian freedom gave their grievances a religious language.
How it was resolved
The princes answered with force. The army of the Swabian League crushed rebel bands one after another, and at Frankenhausen in May 1525 the radical preacher Thomas Müntzer's force was destroyed; he was captured and executed. Martin Luther, whom many rebels had looked to, wrote a pamphlet urging the princes to put the revolt down.
How it turned out
Historians estimate that as many as 100,000 people died. Some lords made local concessions, but most of the Twelve Articles went unmet. Luther sided firmly with the princes, and reprisals and tighter restrictions discouraged further attempts to improve the peasants' lot.
Sources: Britannica: Peasants' War · Wikipedia: German Peasants' War · Wikipedia: Twelve Articles
Further reading: Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War by Lyndal Roper