The workers’ and soldiers’ councils that formed in almost every German city during the November Revolution assumed the authority of local government, also in Berlin. The provisional councils’ office was initially set up in the Reichstag building. One of its most urgent tasks was to improve food supplies for the population, including returning soldiers. This picture from November 1918 shows one of the food distribution points established by the councils, this one in the Reichstag building, where female and male supporters of the revolutionary movement are handing out bread and beverages to hungry members of the soldiers’ council. Because workers were hit harder by food shortages in the war, the councils wanted to establish greater equity in food distribution, but they were unable to alleviate the food crisis.