The Bavarian Soviet Republic was a short-lived communist state which controlled the southern German state of Bavaria from 6 April to 3 May 1919. The republic was ruled by a council of leaders, and it sought to gain independence from the conservative-led Weimar Republic during the November Revolution. 39,000 Reichswehr and Freikorps troops were sent to retake the Bavarian capital of Munich in May 1919, killing 1,000 Soviets and 700 civilians. The republic was crushed, and the revolution was at an end.