the strikes, supported by some in the SPD, spread from Berlin to other cities and regions, such as Hamburg, Lusatia, Saxony Province as well as the states of Saxony and Thuringia. Factories were occupied by communist workers and factory managements sent fleeing. In the Ruhr Region, there was passive resistance rather than strikes. The response to the strike surpassed even the expectations of the leadership of the KPD. Resignation of government In total, three-and-a-half million workers went on strike indirectly forcing Cuno and his cabinet to resign on 11 August. With the Cuno resignation on 11 August 1923, the strikes soon ended. Workers began returning to work. In addition to pressure from the strikes, on 10 August, the KPD faction in the Reichstag had moved to censure the Cuno government. The SPD, pushed by its base and looking to avert worse social unrest or possibly revolution, saw no other political alternative than to form a grand coalition. Rudolf Hilferding, in contrast to leftists aligned with Paul Levi, advocated such a move and urged Gustav Stresemann to take over the government, resolving the crisis within the framework of the parliamentary system and leaving the KPD unable to turn it into a revolutionary upheaval. Near-revolution Nonetheless, the Cuno strikes nurtured, in Moscow, the hope of a German revolution. There had been clashes with police in several cities and dozens of workers had been killed. Leon Trotsky and other Influential members of the Soviet Politburo and the Comintern believed Germany was ready for revolution, but Heinrich Brandler, the head of the KPD, felt the timing was premature. Despite Brandler's misgivings, on 23 August 1923, the Soviet Politburo adopted a plan for a "German October", but the attempted coup was cancelled at the last minute. Word of the cancellation did not reach Hamburg in time (or was possibly ignored by the local KPD leadership) and the local insurrection took place, as planned. References Sources Heinrich August Winkler: Germany: The Long Road West. Vol. 1: 1789-1933. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2006) Politics of the Weimar Republic 1923 in Germany Labor history General strikes in Europe Communism in Germany Labour disputes in Germany 1923 labor disputes and strikes