This film is the first of a two-part historical and biographical portrait of the communist politician and anti-fascist Ernst Thälmann. In early November 1918, Ernst Thälmann is an unwilling soldier serving on the western front. As the revolutionary movement at home is threatened by the betrayal of the Social Democrats and fissures in the working class, Thälmann calls on his fellow soldiers to put down their weapons and unite with the workers in the communist struggle at home. Thälmann’s qualms about which side he is fighting on continue, but when the local police attempt to prevent a shipment of provisions and supplies from reaching the people in Petrograd, he intervenes and the ship is unloaded. With this moment of clarity, Thälmann continues to follow his political convictions and joins the workers at the Hamburg uprising in October 1923.
as Ernst Thälmann
as Fiete Jansen
as Arthur Vierbreiter
as Martha Vierbreiter
as Höhn
as Krischan Daik
as Änne Harms
as Otto Kramer
as Kuddel Riemöller
as Major Zinker
as Hauptmann Quadde
as Karl Liebknecht
as Clara Zetkin
as Scheidemann
as Karl Borns
as Willbrandt
as Asmussen
as Hein Heber
as Sowjetischer Kapitän
as Hauck
as Adolf Wahlkeit
as Rosa Thälmann
as Rosa Luxemburg
as Lenin
as Friedrich Ebert
as Martin Bünse
as Emma Kramer
as Hannes Harms
as Peter Brinkmann
as Josef Wissarionowitsch Stalin
as Gustav Stresemann
as Gustav Noske
as Wilhelm Pieck
as Dr. Matthies
as Freese
as Brandler
as Mahlmann
as Berber
as Tarnow
as Brandler
as Frau Harms
as Trenow
as Bauer
as Freese
as Puttkamp
as General Vogt
as Alland
as Karl
as Walter
as Hinnerk
as Eddi
as Paul
as Sowjetischer Matrose
as Vertreter der Petrograder Gewerkschaften
as Frau mit Revolver
as Polizist
as Häftling
as ZK-Vertreter
as Oberst im Geheimdienst
as General
as General
as Frontsoldat
as Geschäftsführer im Kaiserhof
as Russischer Emmigrant
as Spitzel
as Gemüsefrau
as Hauswirt
as Gefängniswärter
as Gewehrzähler
as Reichswehroffizier
as Erster Arbeiter
as Zweiter Arbeiter
as Dritter Arbeiter
