Kapp Putsch

The Kapp Putsch was a failed right-wing coup in Germany in March 1920, led by Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, that briefly occupied Berlin before a general strike forced its collapse.

General strike: A coordinated stoppage of work by large numbers of workers to exert political or economic pressure. Workers’ nationwide stoppage paralyzed essential services and deprived the putschists of effective control.
Treaty of Versailles: The 1919 peace treaty that formally ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied powers. Its military restrictions intensified resentment among officers and nationalist groups involved in the putsch.
Ruhr uprising: A 1920 workers’ revolt in the Ruhr region of Germany, involving armed resistance and demands for political change. After the coup’s defeat, workers in the Ruhr continued their mobilization in a conflict the government suppressed.
Hermann Müller: A Social Democratic politician who served as Germany’s chancellor in 1920 and later in 1928–1930. Müller headed the government that fled Berlin and urged resistance to the putsch.
Wolfgang Kapp: A German nationalist politician who led the 1920 coup attempt against the Weimar Republic. Kapp headed the short-lived government proclaimed by the coup’s organizers.
Freikorps: Paramilitary units in Germany formed largely from former soldiers after the First World War. Freikorps units provided the armed force that entered Berlin and backed the coup.
Gustav Noske: A Social Democratic German politician who served as defense minister during the early Weimar Republic. Noske’s support for using Freikorps against left-wing opponents contrasted with his inability to rely on the army during the coup.
Friedrich Ebert: A Social Democratic politician who became Germany’s first president under the Weimar Republic. Ebert and the government left Berlin during the coup and called for resistance to the new regime.
Walther von Lüttwitz: A German general who helped organize the 1920 coup against the Weimar Republic. Lüttwitz supplied the military leadership and forces that occupied Berlin.
Weimar Constitution: The constitution adopted in 1919 that established Germany as a democratic federal republic. Its institutions were tested when the army leadership refused to defend the elected government.

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