145-622: Collapse of the putsch [REDACTED] Putschists [REDACTED] Weimar Republic The Kapp Putsch ( German pronunciation: [ˈkapˌpʊt͡ʃ] ), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch ( German pronunciation: [kapˈlʏtvɪt͡sˌpʊt͡ʃ] ), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz , its goal
290-630: A Free Socialist Republic was proclaimed at the Berlin Palace . The proclamation was issued by Karl Liebknecht , co-leader with Rosa Luxemburg of the communist Spartakusbund ( Spartacus League ), a group of a few hundred supporters of the Russian Revolution that had allied itself with the USPD in 1917. On the same day, in a move that was contrary to the constitution because only the Kaiser could appoint
435-577: A " Working Committee of German Associations " was founded with representatives of many groups considered "fit for good society". In 1919 the Weimar National Assembly established a parliamentary committee to inquire into the events that had led to the "outbreak, prolongation and loss of the First World War". Its results were of questionable value due to a lack of cooperation from the civil service and military and to increasing interference from
580-463: A "war guilt lie". In line with national conservative and bourgeois right-wing parties, they accused the governing parties of having contributed to Germany's humiliation by signing the treaty and of denying it the right to self-determination. The young republic was exposed from the beginning to attacks from both the extreme right and extreme left. The Left accused the Social Democrats of betraying
725-568: A 62-year-old nationalist East Prussian civil servant, who had been planning a coup against the republic for a while, it was instigated by the military; Kapp played a supporting role. On 29 February 1920, the Defence Minister Noske ordered the disbandment of two of the most powerful Freikorps , the Marinebrigade Loewenfeld and Marinebrigade Ehrhardt . The latter numbered from 5,000 to 6,000 men and had been stationed at
870-488: A battle be fought before the Brandenburger Tor between troops that have fought side by side against a common enemy? When Reichswehr fires on Reichswehr all comradeship within the officers' corps will have vanished". Others have quoted Seeckt's words as the even more succinct: "Reichswehr does not fire on Reichswehr!" Noske, depressed enough by the disloyalty of the military to speak about suicide to an aide, reported to
1015-618: A chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, at Ebert's request, transferred his powers as chancellor to him. In view of the mass support for more radical reforms among the workers' councils, a coalition government called the Council of the People's Deputies ( Rat der Volksbeauftragten ) was established, consisting of three MSPD and three USPD members. Led by Ebert for the MSPD and Hugo Haase for the USPD, it governed Germany from November 1918 to January 1919. Although
1160-447: A citizen militia began to coalesce around the school. At about noon, a Freikorps machine-gunner fired a burst over the gathering crowd to disperse them. A firefight ensued, with 13 civilian casualties. Three Iron Troop soldiers were also killed, and eight others captured and executed. With neither police nor Reichswehr troops to restrain the gathering militia, and little ammunition among his troops, Berthold realized he had to negotiate
1305-564: A coalition government; Hitler's far-right Nazi Party held two out of ten cabinet seats. Von Papen, as Vice-Chancellor and Hindenburg's confidant, was to serve as the éminence grise who would keep Hitler under control; these intentions severely underestimated Hitler's political abilities. By the end of March 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 were used in the perceived state of emergency to effectively grant
1450-530: A competition to select a design. It was built according to plans submitted by the architectural office of Walter Gropius . Although Gropius had said that the Bauhaus should remain politically neutral, he agreed to participate in the competition of Weimar artists at the end of 1920. The monument was arranged around an inner space, in which visitors could stand. The repeatedly fractured and highly angular memorial rose up on three sides, as if thrust up from or rammed into
1595-630: A general strike, lack of participation by the Reichswehr and the refusal of the majority of government officials to take orders from Kapp. He and Lüttwitz also had differing goals. Kapp wanted a complete overthrow of the government, while Lüttwitz had more limited and personal aims. Kapp handed his offices over to Lüttwitz on 17 March and fled to Sweden. Lüttwitz went into exile in Hungary then returned to Germany in 1924 after being granted amnesty. The German government did not ask for Kapp's extradition, and he
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#17330852407981740-471: A general strike. The putsch quickly failed due in large part to the refusal of the ministerial bureaucracy to obey Kapp's orders. The Reichswehr, however, proved itself to be unreliable. It adopted a wait-and-see attitude under General von Seeckt, the head of the Troop Office , who said that "Reichswehr do not fire on Reichswehr". Some among the working class did not limit themselves to passive resistance to
1885-565: A great deal of monetary and political stability was restored, and the republic enjoyed relative prosperity for the next five years; this period, sometimes known as the Golden Twenties , was characterised by significant cultural flourishing, social progress, and gradual improvement in foreign relations. Under the Locarno Treaties of 1925, Germany moved toward normalising relations with its neighbours, recognising most territorial changes under
2030-541: A later date (Article 233). In the short term it was required to pay the equivalent of 20 billion gold marks in installments through April 1921 (Article 235). The most contentious article of the treaty, the so-called War Guilt Clause , did not use the word "guilt". It stated that Germany accepted full responsibility for all the loss and damage from a war that was imposed on the Allies by the aggression of Germany and its allies ( Article 231 ). The implications of Article 231 and
2175-521: A non-profit public life insurance company. In 1912 he was elected to the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank . He was also an honorary doctor of the University of Königsberg . During the First World War , Kapp became widely known among the German population as one of the most high-profile advocates of far-reaching German war goals. He called for extensive annexations and high reparations payments from
2320-437: A parliamentary system. The rebellion caused great fear among supporters of the monarchy and in the middle classes because of the soviet-style aspirations of the councils. To centrist and conservative citizens, the country looked to be on the verge of a communist revolution. By 7 November, the revolution had reached Munich , resulting in the flight of King Ludwig III of Bavaria . The MSPD decided to make use of their support at
2465-623: A peacetime army. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles , the new army, the Reichswehr , was limited to 100,000 men and the Reichsmarine (navy), to 15,000. The treaty prohibited an air force, submarines, large warships and armoured vehicles. The official formation of the Reichswehr took place on 1 January 1921, after the limitations had been met. The soldiers of the Reichswehr took their oath to
2610-497: A provisional government. Lüttwitz served as commander of the armed forces and Minister of Defence. Several well-known conservatives and former secretaries of state were invited to assume government positions but declined. International con-man Ignaz Trebitsch-Lincoln became Kapp's press censor. Since 1 January, Rudolf Berthold 's Iron Troop Freikorps had been returning to Germany from fighting in Lithuania. Their eventual destination
2755-605: A result it was the leadership of the Reichswehr with its largely anti-democratic civil service personnel that, along with the Foreign Office, determined the portrayal of the war in the Weimar Republic. All in all, there was little objective and critical questioning of the causes of the war or of Germany's responsibility for it in academia, politics or the media during the Weimar period. The official view of history continued to follow
2900-569: A right-wing politician associated with the Bavarian People's Party , as Minister President of Bavaria. In the rest of the Reich, the commanders of the Wehrkreise (military districts) did not declare for or against Kapp but were not neutral and most sympathised more or less openly with the putschists. The upper echelons of the bureaucracy were still dominated by those who had risen to their positions under
3045-628: A shift in the majority after the June 1920 Reichstag elections . After Germany had lost World War I (1914–1918), the German Revolution of 1918–1919 ended the monarchy. The German Empire was abolished and a democratic system, the Weimar Republic , was established in 1919 by the Weimar National Assembly . Right-wing nationalist and militarist circles opposed the new republic and promoted
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#17330852407983190-541: A speech delivered by Adolf Hitler at a Nazi Party rally in Munich on 24 February 1929. A few weeks later, the term Weimarer Republik was first used again by Hitler in a newspaper article. Only during the 1930s did the term become mainstream, both within and outside Germany. According to historian Richard J. Evans : The continued use of the term 'German Empire', Deutsches Reich , by the Weimar Republic ... conjured up an image among educated Germans that resonated far beyond
3335-639: A surrender. He agreed to let his unarmed men exit the school at six pm upon assurance the militia would not harm them. During this surrender, an enraged crowd of onlookers mobbed the Iron Troop, and Berthold was murdered. The disarmed Iron Troop was taken to a nearby military base. There was no military resistance to the Putsch; the regular troops in Berlin, Sicherheitspolizei , navy, the army commands of East-Prussia , Pomerania , Brandenburg and Silesia , formally accepted
3480-450: A train, which crept along unsafe tracks into Harburg, Hamburg . Before the Iron Troop's arrival, Independent Socialist city officials had quietly arrested the commanding officer of the local Reichswehr battalion, leaving the soldiers leaderless. Upon the train's arrival, the officials directed the Freikorps to the local middle school for shelter. On the following morning, 15 March 1920,
3625-582: Is so called because the Weimar National Assembly that adopted its constitution met in Weimar from 6 February to 11 August 1919, but the name only became mainstream after 1933. Even though the National Assembly chose to retain the old name Deutsches Reich (Art. 1 of the Constitution), hardly anyone used it during the Weimar period, and no single name for the new state gained widespread acceptance. To
3770-625: The 1848 German revolutions was named as the national flag in the Weimar Constitution . It was abolished after the entry into force of the Enabling Act of 1933, when the Nazi Party gained total power, in favour of two co-official national flags: the old black-white-red imperial tricolour and the flag of the Nazi Party . From 1935, the Nazi flag with the symbol offset became the sole national flag of
3915-516: The Allies , and the proclamation of the Weimar Republic on 9 November 1918. In its initial years, grave problems beset the Republic, such as hyperinflation and political extremism , including political murders and two attempted seizures of power by contending paramilitaries ; internationally, it suffered isolation, reduced diplomatic standing and contentious relationships with the great powers. By 1924,
4060-459: The Baltic , have supported this act of madness, the government—in order to avoid the spilling of blood—has spared the lives of the few regular troops located in Berlin and has departed Berlin. For enough blood has flowed since 1914. And this adventure will collapse in a few days from its intrinsic impracticality. The government has transferred its seat to Dresden . Everyone remains bound in obedience to
4205-622: The Black Reichswehr , a secret reserve networked within the Reichswehr and organised as labour battalions ( Arbeitskommandos ) to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles' 100,000 man limit on the German army. The Black Reichswehr was never involved in direct military action and was dissolved in 1923 after a group of its members attempted to overthrow the government in the Küstrin Putsch . The Reichswehr also developed far-reaching cooperation with
4350-648: The Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium . Wolfgang Kapp married Margarete Rosenow in 1884; the couple had three children. Through his wife's family, Kapp acquired connections with politically conservative elements. He studied law at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and the Georg-August University of Göttingen , where he became a member of the student organization Corps Hannovera Göttingen . In 1886, he completed his doctorate in law and
4495-592: The German Fatherland Party ( Deutsche Vaterlandspartei ), of which Kapp was briefly the chairman. Through a by-election, he became a member of the last Reichstag of the Empire on 2 Feb 1918 for a constituency in Gumbinnen , East Prussia. Kapp felt the defeat of the First World War as a national disgrace. He became a proponent of the stab-in-the-back myth , the belief that the German army had remained undefeated in
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4640-537: The German Reich , was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic . The period's informal name is derived from the city of Weimar , which hosted the constituent assembly that established its government. In English,
4785-451: The Kiel mutiny on 3 November. Sailors, soldiers and workers began electing workers' and soldiers' councils ( Arbeiter- und Soldatenräte ) modelled after the soviets of the 1917 Russian Revolution . The revolution spread throughout Germany, and participants seized military and civil power in individual cities. The power takeovers were achieved everywhere without loss of life. At the time,
4930-617: The Prussian Ministry of Finance and then as director of the Agricultural Credit Institute in East Prussia . During World War I , Kapp was a vocal annexationist and critic of the government's policies, which he saw as not aggressive enough. His strong dislike of parliamentary government and the Weimar Republic led him to take a leading role in the 1920 putsch that bears his name. Following the putsch's failure to overthrow
5075-567: The Reichswehr from the control of the Reichstag . Under Seeckt the Reichswehr developed into what many historians consider a "state within the state". During the 1920 Kapp Putsch , Seeckt refused to deploy the Reichswehr against the Freikorps involved in the putsch but immediately afterwards had the Ruhr Red Army brutally suppressed during the Ruhr uprising . In 1921 the Reichswehr organized
5220-667: The Silesian Uprisings and the Greater Poland uprising in the German Province of Posen , which became part of the Second Polish Republic under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. In the four years following the First World War, the situation of most German civilians remained dire. The post-war economic crisis was a result of lost pre-war industrial exports, the loss of imported raw materials and foodstuffs due to
5365-631: The Spartacus League and the left wing of the USPD. In January, the Spartacus League, in what was known as the Spartacist uprising , took advantage of a large strike in Berlin and attempted to establish a communist government. The uprising was put down by paramilitary Freikorps units consisting of volunteer soldiers. Following bloody street fights, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were summarily killed after their arrests on 15 January. With
5510-636: The Truppenübungsplatz Döberitz , near Berlin, since January 1920. An elite force, it had been created from former Imperial Navy officers and NCOs, boosted later by Baltikumer (those who had fought the Bolsheviks in Latvia in 1919). During the civil war in 1919, the brigade had seen action in Munich and Berlin. It was extremely opposed to the democratic government of Friedrich Ebert. Its commander, Korvettenkapitän Hermann Ehrhardt , declared that
5655-675: The Weimar Constitution . The commander-in-chief was the Reich president , while the Reich minister of the armed forces exercised command authority. Military right of command ( Kommandogewalt ) was in the hands of the OHL. The resulting dualism between civilian power and military command was to become a heavy burden on the Republic. Whereas Reichswehr Minister Otto Gessler was content with limited political and administrative duties during his tenure (1920–1928), Colonel General Hans von Seeckt , Chief of Army Command from 1920 to 1926, succeeded in largely removing
5800-456: The cabinet of Gustav Bauer and other leading officials fled the city. Kapp declared the government deposed, the Weimar National Assembly and the Prussian government dissolved, then named himself German chancellor and minister president of Prussia and Lüttwitz Reichswehr minister and commander-in-chief of the Reichswehr. The putsch failed to take hold and was over by 18 March. It collapsed due
5945-633: The stab-in-the-back myth , claiming that the war had been lost only because the efforts of the undefeated German military had been undermined by civilians at home. In 1919–20, the government of Germany was formed by the Weimar Coalition , consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), German Democratic Party (DDP, left-of-centre liberals), and Zentrum (conservative Catholics). President Friedrich Ebert , Chancellor Gustav Bauer , and Defence Minister Gustav Noske were all members of
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6090-550: The 1919 Treaty of Versailles and committing never to go to war. The following year, it joined the League of Nations , which marked its reintegration into the international community. Nevertheless, especially on the political right, there remained strong and widespread resentment against the treaty and those who had signed and supported it. The Great Depression of October 1929 severely impacted Germany's tenuous progress; high unemployment and subsequent social and political unrest led to
6235-655: The Army. The pilot was Robert von Greim , whom Hitler later appointed as the last commander of the Luftwaffe. He was met by striking workers at an airfield outside of Berlin, where he landed by mistake, and had to disguise himself. Eventually Hitler was able to continue his flight together with Dietrich Eckart to Berlin, where they immediately went to the Reichskanzlei to meet Wolfgang Kapp. Hitler and Eckart were approached by Ignaz Trebitsch-Lincoln , who told them that Kapp had fled and
6380-469: The Empire and most were sympathetic to the coup, whilst remaining outwardly neutral and biding their time. In the eastern provinces, the bureaucracy fell in line behind Kapp and Lüttwitz. The government moved to Dresden , where they hoped to get support from Generalmajor Maercker but he had been ordered by Berlin to take them into "protective custody" and they moved on to Stuttgart . The cabinet proclamation on 13 March, calling on German workers to defeat
6525-639: The German government, Kapp went into exile in Sweden. He returned to Germany in late 1921 to appear in court, but died while under medical care before he could testify. Kapp was born in New York City where his father Friedrich Kapp , a political activist and later Reichstag delegate for the National Liberal Party , had settled after the failed European revolutions of 1848 . In 1870 the family returned to Germany, and Kapp's schooling continued in Berlin at
6670-675: The German officer class. A rift developed between the MSPD and USPD after Ebert called upon the OHL for troops to put down a mutiny by a leftist military unit on 23/24 December 1918 in which members of the Volksmarinedivision (People's Navy Division) captured the city's garrison commander Otto Wels of the MSPD and occupied the Reich Chancellery where the Council of the People's Deputies had its offices. The ensuing street fighting left 11 Volksmarinedivision members and 56 members of
6815-469: The Kaiser that Germany needed to pursue an armistice and that the majority parties in the Reichstag, not the OHL, had to take responsibility for it. Although in retreat, the German armies were still on French and Belgian territory when the war ended on 11 November. Ludendorf and Paul von Hindenburg then began proclaiming that it was the defeatism of the civilian population – especially the socialists – that had made defeat inevitable. The stab-in-the-back myth
6960-417: The Kapp Putsch. Especially in the Ruhr , where dissatisfaction with the lack of nationalisation of key industries was particularly high, councils were formed that sought to seize local power. In the Ruhr uprising , civil war-like fighting broke when the Ruhr Red Army , made up of some 50,000 armed workers, mostly adherents of the KPD and USPD, used the disruption caused by the general strike to take control of
7105-399: The Kiel barracks. The sailors and soldiers welcomed him, and he was able to defuse the situation. On 9 November 1918, the German Republic was proclaimed by MSPD member Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building in Berlin, angering Friedrich Ebert , the leader of the MSPD, who thought that the question of monarchy or republic should be answered by a national assembly. Two hours later,
7250-745: The Left and supporters of the former empire led to political violence and extremism . The young republic found itself in a nearly constant economic and political crisis until 1924. The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied powers and set the conditions for peace. It was signed 28 June 1919 and can be divided into four main categories: territorial issues, disarmament, reparations and assignment of guilt. Territorially, Germany had to renounce sovereignty over its colonies and in Europe lost 65,000 sq km (25,000 sq mi) or about 13% of its former territory – including 48% of its iron and 10% of its coal resources – along with 7 million people, or 12% of its population. The Saarland
7395-403: The March 1920 Kapp Putsch , Freikorps units under General von Lüttwitz occupied the government quarter in Berlin. In an attempt to reverse the revolution and install an autocratic government, the former Prussian civil servant Wolfgang Kapp appointed himself Reich chancellor and Lüttwitz Reichswehr minister and commander-in-chief of the Reichswehr. The legal government fled Berlin and called for
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#17330852407987540-426: The National Assembly convened in the city of Weimar , giving the future Republic its unofficial name. The Weimar Constitution created a parliamentary republic with the Reichstag elected by proportional representation . During the debates in Weimar, fighting continued sporadically across Germany. On 7 April 1919 the Bavarian Soviet Republic was declared in Munich but quickly put down by Freikorps and remnants of
7685-429: The National Assembly voted to approve the treaty on 23 June. It was signed in Paris five days later. Explaining the rise of extreme nationalist movements in Germany shortly after the war, British historian Ian Kershaw pointed to the "national disgrace" that was "felt throughout Germany at the humiliating terms imposed by the victorious Allies and reflected in the Versailles Treaty...with its confiscation of territory on
7830-421: The National assembly has been requested to convene the National assembly again at once. Only a government based on the Constitution can save Germany from sinking into darkness and blood. If Germany is led from one coup to another, then it is lost. A government resting on an act of violence lacks authority domestically and abroad. The people will starve if new troubles interrupt the economy and commerce and undermine
7975-451: The Putsch and the subsequent Ruhr Uprising except those due to "cruelty" or "self-interest". Of 705 cases brought against civilians, only the prosecution of von Jagow ended with a guilty verdict. Freikorps and Reichswehr members were subject to military law and of 775 courts-martial , 486 cases were closed. 48 officers were removed from their posts, six resigned, the others were subject to mild disciplinary actions. The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt
8120-410: The Putsch by means of a general strike met with enormous success and received massive support from the working class . The majority unions, sympathetic to the government dominated by social democrats , joined the call for a strike on the same day, as did the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) and the Democratic Party; the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) followed one day later. In Berlin,
8265-495: The Putsch collapsed on 17 March, four days after it had begun. Kapp had put Vice-Chancellor Schiffer and the members of the Prussian state government into protective custody on 13 March but they were released the next day and on 15 March, negotiations began. Representatives of the democratic right, Oskar Hergt and Gustav Stresemann also participated. The four big centre-right parties (Democratic Party, Zentrum, German People's Party and German National People's Party ) agreed that
8410-417: The Republic, which would make the Reichstag, rather than the electorate, responsible for the presidential election. As a consequence of the political crisis that the putsch caused, the date of the general election for the first republican Reichstag was brought forward to 6 June. All attempts to change the method of election for the presidency of the Republic were abandoned. In the Reichstag elections of 6 June ,
8555-410: The Rhineland and 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the river demolished. Germany was prohibited from having an air force, tanks, poison gas, heavy artillery, submarines or dreadnoughts . A large number of its ships and all of its air-related armaments were to be surrendered. Germany had to compensate the Allied Powers for the losses and damages of the war, with the exact amount left to be determined at
8700-434: The SPD. According to the constitution, the president was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, represented in peace time by the Minister of Defence. The most senior officer of the land forces was called Chef der Heeresleitung , a post held in early 1920 by General Walther Reinhardt . Chancellor Bauer was obliged to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, even though he disagreed with it. The treaty had been dictated by
8845-571: The Soviet Red Army , leading among other things to the secret training of German military pilots in clear violation of the Treaty of Versailles. With Seeckt's fall in 1926, the Reichswehr made a change in course for which Colonel (later General) Kurt von Schleicher was primarily responsible. The goal was to arouse broad social support for rearmament and to militarize society itself for the purpose of future warfare. Under Paul von Hindenburg's Reich presidency, Reichswehr leadership gained increasing political influence and eventually helped determine
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#17330852407988990-404: The Third Reich, and after World War II, both the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic readopted the black-red-gold flag. The coat of arms was initially based on the Reichsadler ("imperial eagle") introduced by the Paulskirche Constitution of 1849, and announced in November 1919. In 1928, a new design by Karl-Tobias Schwab was adopted as national coat of arms, which
9135-434: The Weimar Republic. On 10 March 1920, General Walther von Lüttwitz decided to stage a coup after Reichswehr Minister Gustav Noske relieved him of the command of several Reichswehr divisions. Kapp, who was in Berlin with a delegation from East Prussia, met with Lüttwitz to help plan the coup. On 13 March, the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt , a large Freikorps unit, was able to take control of Berlin’s government quarter after
9280-438: The Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Greater Berlin called for a National Congress of Councils ( Reichsrätekongress ) which took place from 16 to 21 December 1918. Against the opposition of the more radical members who demanded a socialist republic, Ebert, backed by the large MSPD majority at the Congress, was able to schedule the election for a provisional National Assembly that would act as an interim parliament and be given
9425-424: The abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II was announced, marking the end of Imperial Germany and the beginning of the Weimar Republic. The armistice that ended the fighting was signed on 11 November. Germany lost the war because its allies were facing defeat and its economic resources were running out, while by late summer 1918 fresh American troops were arriving in France at the rate of 10,000 per day. Support among
9570-411: The affirmation of Ebert, those responsible were not tried before a court-martial, leading to lenient sentences, which made Ebert unpopular among radical leftists. The National Assembly election , in which women were allowed to vote for the first time, took place on 19 January 1919. The MSPD won the largest share of the votes at 37.9%, with the USPD fifth at 7.6%. To avoid the ongoing fights in Berlin,
9715-427: The argument issued by the OHL in 1914 that Germany had been threatened by invasion and encirclement. Revising the conditions of the Versailles Treaty became the main goal of German foreign policy. The consensus opposing the "war guilt clause" did much to promote agitation against foreign countries and the Weimar Constitution. Both the DNVP and, in particular, the NSDAP questioned the entire post-war order and propagated
9860-408: The cabinet at 4:00 am. At a confused meeting at the Reichskanzlei , the undefended cabinet took two decisions: to flee the city and to issue a call for a general strike. These were not unanimous, the Vice-Chancellor Eugen Schiffer and some of the other non-SPD ministers refused to leave the city, to preserve the opportunity to negotiate with the putschists. Only Ebert and the SPD ministers signed
10005-463: The call for a general strike. At 6:15 am they had to interrupt the meeting and flee. Within ten minutes of their departure, the Marinebrigade reached the Brandenburger Tor , where it was met by Lüttwitz, Ludendorff, Kapp and their followers. Shortly thereafter, Kapp's men moved into the Reichskanzlei. Supported by a battalion of regular Reichswehr, they occupied the government quarter. Kapp declared himself Chancellor ( Reichskanzler ) and formed
10150-470: The collapse of Chancellor Hermann Müller's grand coalition and the beginning of the presidential cabinets . From March 1930 onwards, President Paul von Hindenburg used emergency powers to back Chancellors Heinrich Brüning , Franz von Papen and General Kurt von Schleicher . The Great Depression, exacerbated by Brüning's policy of deflation , led to a surge in unemployment . On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor to head
10295-424: The composition of the Reich governments. As a result, the Reichswehr contributed significantly to the development of an authoritarian presidential system during the final phase of the Weimar Republic. After Adolf Hitler announced the "regaining of military sovereignty" (reintroduction of conscription etc.) in 1935, two years after his rise to power , the Reichswehr was absorbed into the new Wehrmacht . It
10440-412: The constitutional government. Only it can issue orders and payments. Any decree from another place is legally null. The soldiers of the national army have to defend the constitution, protect the president and government, and be obedient. To emulate the breaking of their oath by a number of officers is prohibited by duty and law. The dissolution of the national assembly is unconstitutional. The President of
10585-494: The continental blockade, the loss of Germany's overseas colonies and the worsening debt balances that had been exacerbated by Germany's heavy reliance on bonds to pay for the war. The economic losses can be attributed in part to the extension of the Allied blockade of Germany until the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919. It is estimated that between 100,000 and 250,000 German civilians died of disease or starvation between
10730-557: The country and only fled to Sweden in April. Lüttwitz first went to Saxony and only later left for Hungary . Both men used passports provided by supporters in the police. Ehrhardt went into hiding in Bavaria. In 2009, Layton wrote, "At first sight the collapse of the Kapp Putsch could be viewed as a major success for the Weimar Republic. In the six days of crisis, it had retained the backing of
10875-492: The country, the strike turned into an armed revolt. The violence came from local military commanders who supported the new government and arrested pickets, which the workers resisted. In Thuringia and Saxony the military defeated the workers after bloody fights. In the Ruhr , the workers continued their protests after the Putsch in Berlin had collapsed. In the Ruhr uprising , the Red Ruhr Army of about 50,000 workers went on
11020-606: The country, until the National Assembly had decided on the question of an amnesty and even offered them false passports and money. On 18 March, Seeckt praised the discipline of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt and the next day provided Ehrhardt with a written promise that he would not be arrested as long as he was in command of the brigade and the brigade left Berlin. When they were heckled by an unfriendly crowd of bystanders, they opened fire with machine guns, leaving twelve civilians dead and thirty severely wounded. Kapp remained in
11165-407: The coup failed. With the country paralyzed, Kapp and Lüttwitz were unable to govern; in Berlin, communication between military units was by courier only. The rank and file of the bureaucracy were on strike, and there were no newspapers. Proclamations asking the workers to return to their jobs, promises of new elections and even the threat of capital punishment for strikers remained without results and
11310-497: The dismissal of General Reinhardt, appointment of himself as supreme commander of the regular army and the revocation of the orders of dissolution for the Marinebrigaden . Ebert and Noske rejected these demands and Noske told Lüttwitz that he expected his resignation the next day. Lüttwitz went to Döberitz on 11 March and asked Ehrhardt whether he would be able to occupy Berlin that evening. Ehrhardt said he needed another day but in
11455-669: The earth. The monument was destroyed by the Nazis in February 1936. They objected to it politically and considered it an example of " degenerate art ", as Hitler characterized modern works. To the German people! As a result of a lunatic coup de main , the government buildings of Berlin have fallen into the hands of mutineers. No political party, no man of sober-minded thought is behind these events. They are to be deplored. Since troops that are destined for discharge in Döberitz, namely [troops] from
11600-676: The east bank near Cologne , Mainz and Koblenz . In addition, the Rhineland and an area stretching 50 kilometers east of the Rhine was to be demilitarized. France had demanded the occupation both to protect itself from a renewed German attack and as collateral for German reparations. The occupation was to last 5 years in the British zone, 10 in the American and 15 years in the French and Belgian zones, until 1934, but
11745-493: The eastern border and even more so its 'guilt clause'." Adolf Hitler repeatedly blamed the Republic and its democracy for accepting the oppressive terms of the treaty. Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty was widely perceived not only as a legal legitimisation of reparations but also as a moral condemnation of Germany, and it triggered a storm of indignation among the German public. The hostility towards it came from across
11890-417: The end of the war and the signing of the treaty. Many German civilians expected life to return to pre-war normality after it was lifted, but the severe food shortages continued. In 1922, for example, meat consumption had not increased since the war years. At 22 kilograms per person per year, it was less than half of the 52 kilograms consumed in 1913. German citizens felt the food shortages more deeply than during
12035-401: The end of the year). Freikorps units were expected to be disbanded. Since the reason for their creation—internal repression—had become obsolete with the crushing of the leftist uprisings, they were becoming a threat to the government. Some senior military commanders had started discussing the possibility of a coup as early as July 1919. Although the Putsch has been named after Wolfgang Kapp ,
12180-474: The enormous fall in the Papiermark 's value. After four years of war and famine, many German workers were disenchanted with the capitalist system and hoped for a new era under socialism or communism. Socialists dominated the new revolutionary government in Berlin, and numerous short-lived council republics were set up in cities across Germany. Even after they were suppressed, ideological conflicts between
12325-585: The field and was stabbed in the back by Jews and communists at home. He joined the German National People's Party (DNVP) in 1919 and participated in the anti-republican National Union ( Nationale Vereinigung [ de ] ).The members, which included General Erich Ludendorff , Colonel Max Bauer and Captain Waldemar Pabst , were the core group behind the Kapp Putsch that attempted to overthrow
12470-528: The general strike. It offered some concessions to the unions, some of them made in bad faith. The unions ( ADGB , Afa-Bund and DBB ) demanded the creation of a new government made up of SPD and USPD led by Carl Legien , but only a new government based on the Weimar Coalition found a majority in the National Assembly. Hermann Müller (SPD) replaced Bauer as chancellor. The government then tried to negotiate with workers who refused to lay down their arms after
12615-482: The government a chance to surrender before being taken into custody, assuming that all of Lüttwitz's demands were accepted by 7:00 am. This was reported to Noske who met with Ebert. Ebert then called a cabinet meeting for 4:00 am. At 1:00 am Noske asked the senior commanders to his office in the Bendlerblock . Noske asked the commanders to defend the government buildings but was turned down. All but two of
12760-509: The government's authority and tried to mediate, by setting up a meeting between Lüttwitz and the leaders of the two major right-wing parties. Lüttwitz listened to and remembered their ideas but was not dissuaded from his course of action. Noske then removed the Marinebrigade from Lüttwitz's command and assigned it to the leadership of the Navy, hoping that they would disband the unit. Lüttwitz ignored
12905-525: The government, which wanted to prevent a German admission of guilt before the world public. The committee met until 1932. During the course of World War I, war reporting was the responsibility of the German General Staff and after 1918 of the Potsdam Reich Archives founded by General Hans von Seeckt , which dedicated itself to the task of "disproving" German war guilt and war crimes. As
13050-428: The government. Most civil servants refused to cooperate with Kapp and his allies. Despite its failure, the Putsch had significant consequences for the future of the Weimar Republic. It was also one of the direct causes of the Ruhr uprising a few weeks later, which the government suppressed by military force, after having dealt leniently with leaders of the Putsch. These events polarized the German electorate, resulting in
13195-421: The grassroots level and put themselves at the front of the movement. They joined the calls for Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate, and when he refused, Chancellor Maximilian of Baden made a public announcement that the Kaiser and Crown Prince Wilhelm had already done so. Gustav Noske (MSPD) was sent to Kiel to prevent any further unrest and took on the task of controlling the mutinous sailors and their supporters in
13340-461: The ideals of the labour movement because of their alliance with the old elites; the Right held the supporters of the Republic responsible for Germany's defeat in the First World War, denigrating them as "November criminals" and insinuating that the German army, which was still fighting on enemy soil when the war ended, had been stabbed in the back by them and the revolution (the stab-in-the-back myth ). In
13485-447: The industrial district. After bloody battles in which an estimated 1,000 insurgents and 200 soldiers died, Reichswehr and Freikorps units suppressed the revolt in early April. Wolfgang Kapp Defunct Defunct Wolfgang Kapp (24 July 1858 – 12 June 1922) was a German conservative and nationalist and political activist who is best known for his involvement in the 1920 Kapp Putsch . He spent most of his career working for
13630-543: The institutional structures Bismarck created: the successor to the Roman Empire ; the vision of God's Empire here on earth; the universality of its claim to suzerainty ; and a more prosaic but no less powerful sense, the concept of a German state that would include all German speakers in Central Europe ;– 'one People, one Reich, one Leader', as the Nazi slogan was to put it. The black-red-gold tricolour of
13775-574: The last Berlin head of police in the old Reich. Their goal was to establish an authoritarian regime (though not a monarchy) with a return to the federal structure of the Empire. Lüttwitz asked them to be ready to take over the government on 13 March. The group was unprepared but agreed to the schedule set by Lüttwitz. One factor making them support quick action was that sympathetic members of the Sicherheitspolizei in Berlin informed them that warrants for their arrest had been issued that day. Lüttwitz
13920-407: The last foreign troops evacuated the Rhineland on 30 June 1930. The treaty's disarmament provisions were intended to make the future German army incapable of offensive action. It was limited to no more than 100,000 men with only 4,000 officers and no general staff; the navy could have at most 15,000 men and 1,500 officers. The Rhineland was to be demilitarized and occupied and all fortifications in
14065-610: The left had cause to accuse the SPD and the Ebert government of siding with the enemies of the workers and of the republic. The Putsch left a rump of military conspirators such as Pabst and Ehrhardt, who found refuge in Bavaria under the right-wing government of Gustav von Kahr (itself an indirect product of the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch) and there attempted to organize plots against the republican constitution and government of Germany. The crisis in
14210-592: The main perpetrator of the Armenian genocide , was hiding in Berlin after the war and appeared at the press conference to criticize the putschists for dilettantism. Between 1920 and 1922 a monument in honour of the workers who were killed in the wake of the Kapp Putsch was erected in the Weimar central cemetery . The memorial was commissioned by the Weimar Gewerkschaftskartell (Union Cartel), which conducted
14355-444: The main threat was now "bolshevism" and that they had to "win back" the officer corps. It was considered undesirable that Kapp and Lüttwitz should be toppled, they must be seen to resign voluntarily. The four parties, supported by some Social Democrats who had remained in Berlin, offered fresh elections, a cabinet reshuffle and an amnesty for all participants in the Putsch, if Kapp and Lüttwitz were to resign. The putschists offered only
14500-517: The mid-1920s, most Germans referred to their government informally as the Deutsche Republik , but for many, especially on the right, the word " Republik " was a painful reminder of a government structure that they believed had been imposed by foreign statesmen and of the expulsion of Emperor Wilhelm II in the wake of a massive national humiliation. The first recorded mention of the term Republik von Weimar (Republic of Weimar) came during
14645-560: The morning of 13 March he could be in the centre of Berlin with his men. Lüttwitz gave the order and Ehrhardt began the preparations. It was only at this point that Lüttwitz brought the group known as Nationale Vereinigung into the plot. These included German National People's Party (DNVP) member Wolfgang Kapp, retired general Erich Ludendorff , Waldemar Pabst (who had been behind the murder of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in January 1919), and Traugott von Jagow [ de ] ,
14790-618: The nations of the Triple Entente . He considered it indispensable that occupied Belgium be permanently linked to the German Empire militarily, economically and politically, that German naval bases be established on the coast of Flanders and that vigorous action be taken against Great Britain. As a vocal advocate of unrestricted submarine warfare , Kapp came into conflict with Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg , who sought to prevent it out of fear that it would lead to America entering
14935-503: The new Chancellor broad power to act outside parliamentary control. Hitler promptly used these powers to thwart constitutional governance and suspend civil liberties, which brought about the swift collapse of democracy at the federal and state level, and the creation of a one-party dictatorship under his leadership. Until the end of World War II in Europe in 1945, the Nazis governed Germany under
15080-522: The new government was confirmed by the Berlin Workers' and Soldiers' Council, it was opposed by the Spartacus League. On 11 November 1918, an armistice was signed at Compiègne by German representatives. It effectively ended military operations between the Allies and Germany. It amounted to a German capitulation, without any concessions by the Allies; the naval blockade was to continue until complete peace terms were agreed on. The Executive Council of
15225-465: The new minister of defence and Reichskanzler. Admiral Adolf von Trotha , the navy commander, came out in support of the coup as soon as he learned of it. In Bavaria , the Social Democratic state government resigned after refusing to install an emergency regime as demanded by Reichswehr General Arnold von Möhl, Georg Escherich and Gustav Ritter von Kahr . The Bavarian Parliament then elected Kahr,
15370-646: The number of votes cast for the SPD and the Democratic Party fell by more than half compared to the January 1919 elections, while the right-wing German National People's Party (DNVP) (some of whose voters eventually switched to the Nazis) and the left-wing USPD gained substantially. The Weimar Coalition lost its majority in parliament and would never regain it. The effects of the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch throughout Germany were more lasting than in Berlin. In some parts of
15515-499: The offensive with the goal of overthrowing the Weimar Republic and replacing it with a soviet-style council republic. On 17 March it took Dortmund, on 18 March Hamm and Bochum and on 19 March Essen , causing the local commander of the military district at Münster to order a withdrawal. By 22 March, the Ruhr was under the control of the revolutionary workers. The legitimate government returned to Berlin on 20 March and demanded an end to
15660-399: The officer corps, while Groener pledged that the military would be loyal to the government and that it would help it in its fight against left-wing revolutionaries. The agreement marked the acceptance of the new government by the military, but the new Reichswehr armed forces, limited by the Treaty of Versailles to 100,000 army soldiers and 15,000 sailors, remained fully under the control of
15805-481: The officers (one of them was Reinhardt, Chef der Heeresleitung ) refused to follow an order to shoot at the rebel troops. Some suggested negotiations, others claimed that the troops would not understand an order to fire, some argued that the regular units would not be able to defeat the elite Marinebrigade . Seeckt spoke about comradeship. His exact words were not recorded, but have been reported as: "troops do not fire on troops. So, you perhaps intend, Herr Minister, that
15950-534: The order but agreed to a meeting with President Ebert, suggested by his staff. In the evening of 10 March, Lüttwitz came with his staff to Ebert's office. Ebert had also asked Noske to attend. Lüttwitz, drawing on demands by the right-wing parties and adding his own, now demanded the immediate dissolution of the National Assembly, new elections for the Reichstag, the appointment of technocrats ( Fachminister ) as Secretaries for Foreign Affairs, Economic Affairs and Finance,
16095-403: The people of Berlin and had effectively withstood a major threat from the extreme right." Among the grievances which Kapp and his followers had against the government were that the National Assembly, which had been elected to serve temporarily, was beginning to act as a permanent Reichstag and that it seemed this assembly might revise the constitution with respect to the election of the president of
16240-660: The political spectrum, from the far right to the moderate governing parties to the KPD. After the treaty came into force, the Foreign Office continued the state's control of the debate over war guilt. The War Guilt Department financed and directed the Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War , which was to provide "scientific" support for the "campaign of innocence" abroad. For war-innocence propaganda at home,
16385-403: The population had begun to crumble in 1916, and by mid-1918 many Germans wanted an end to the war. Increasing numbers of them began to associate with the political left, such as the Social Democratic Party and the more radical Independent Social Democratic Party , which demanded an end to the war. When it became obvious to the generals that defeat was at hand, General Erich Ludendorff convinced
16530-492: The pretense that all the extraordinary measures and laws they implemented were constitutional; notably, there was never an attempt to replace or substantially amend the Weimar constitution . Nevertheless, Hitler's seizure of power ( Machtergreifung ) had effectively ended the republic, replacing its constitutional framework with Führerprinzip , the principle that "the Führer's word is above all written law". The Weimar Republic
16675-484: The regular army dead. The USPD leaders were angered by what they believed was treachery by the MSPD, which in their view had joined with the anti-communist military to suppress the revolution. As a result, the USPD left the Council of the People's Deputies after only seven weeks. On 30 December, the split deepened when the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was formed out of a number of radical left-wing groups, including
16820-596: The regular army. The fall of the Munich Soviet Republic to these units, many of which were on the extreme right, resulted in the growth of far-right, antisemitic movements and organisations in Bavaria , including Organisation Consul , the Nazi Party , and societies of exiled Russian monarchists. Revolutionary sentiment also arose in the eastern states where interethnic discontent between Germans and minority Poles led to
16965-509: The relations of Bavaria with the Reich (August–September 1921) which ended in Kahr's resignation was a further phase of the same trouble. After the Putsch Noske named Kapp, Pabst and Ehrhardt as being responsible, despite the support from much higher up in the army. Most of the participants were granted an amnesty and on 2 August 1920, the Reichstag passed a law that exculpated crimes committed during
17110-443: The republic was usually simply called "Germany", with "Weimar Republic" (a term introduced by Adolf Hitler in 1929) not commonly used until the 1930s. The Weimar Republic had a semi-presidential system . At the end of the First World War (1914–1918), Germany was exhausted and sued for peace in desperate circumstances. Awareness of imminent defeat sparked a revolution , the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II , formal surrender to
17255-507: The resignation of Kapp, and Lüttwitz tried to hold on for another day as head of a military dictatorship but his commanders deserted him. They suggested to Schiffer, in the absence of Ebert in charge of the government's affairs, that he appoint Seeckt as head of the Reichswehr, which Schiffer did in the name of Ebert. When Lüttwitz offered his resignation on 18 March, Schiffer accepted—again in Ebert's name—while granting him full pension rights. Schiffer also suggested Pabst and Lüttwitz should leave
17400-423: The right of the spectrum, the politically engaged rejected the new democratic model and were appalled to see the honour of the traditional word Reich associated with it. The Catholic Centre Party favoured the term Deutscher Volksstaat (German People's State), while on the moderate left, Chancellor Friedrich Ebert 's Social Democratic Party of Germany preferred Deutsche Republik (German Republic). By
17545-571: The socialist movement, which represented mostly labourers, was split among two major left-wing parties: the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), which called for immediate peace negotiations and favoured a soviet-style command economy, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), also known as the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD), which had supported the war and favoured
17690-490: The strike started on 14 March and by the next day it had spread all over the Reich. It was the most powerful strike in the history of Germany, involving up to 12 million workers. The country was paralysed. In Berlin the gas, water and power supply stopped. Adolf Hitler , who had been in contact with the members of the Nationale Vereinigung and was eager to help the coup along, was flown into Berlin from Munich by
17835-480: The task of writing a democratic constitution for a parliamentary government. To ensure that the fledgling government maintained control over the country, Ebert and General Wilhelm Groener , Ludendorff's successor as leader of the Supreme Army Command (OHL), concluded the secret Ebert–Groener pact on 10 November. Over the telephone, Ebert promised that he would allow sole command of the troops to remain with
17980-456: The territorial losses especially angered the Germans. The treaty was reviled as a dictated rather than a negotiated peace. Philipp Scheidemann , then minister president of Germany, said to the Weimar National Assembly on 12 May 1919, "What hand should not wither that puts this fetter on itself and on us?" He resigned rather than accept the terms, but after the Allies threatened to resume hostilities,
18125-428: The trust of the father land, which only a constitutional government earns. Colossal dangers loom internally and externally if the people lose their prudence. German people, rally to your constitutional government! Dresden, 13th of March 1920 National president: Ebert National government: Bauer, Noske, Giesberts, Müller, Koch, Gessler Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic , officially known as
18270-497: The unions called off the strike on 22 March. When the negotiations failed, the revolt in the Ruhr was suppressed by Reichswehr and Freikorps units in early April 1920. Over 1,000 workers were killed, many in summary executions , some committed by units that had been involved in the Putsch, including the Marinebrigade Loewenfeld . Another 600 Reichswehr and Freikorps soldiers also lost their lives. As in 1918–1919, those on
18415-448: The unit would refuse its dissolution. On 1 March, it staged a parade without inviting Noske. General Walther von Lüttwitz , in command of all the regular troops in and around Berlin ( Gruppenkommando I ), the highest ranking general in the army at the time and in command of many Freikorps , said at the parade that he would "not accept" the loss of such an important unit. Several of Lüttwitz's officers were horrified at this open rejection of
18560-460: The victorious Allies of World War I ; it forced Germany to assume responsibility for the war, reduced the area of Germany and imposed huge reparation payments and military restrictions on the nation. In early 1919, the strength of the Reichswehr , the regular German army, was estimated at 350 000, with more than 250 000 men enlisted in the various Freikorps ("free corps"), volunteer paramilitary units, largely consisting of returning soldiers from
18705-852: The war because the reality contrasted so starkly with their expectations. Immediate post-war industrial production fell to the levels of the 1880s, or 57 percent of its value in 1913. The 1919 per capita GDP was only 73 percent of the comparable 1913 figure. Controlled demobilisation kept unemployment initially at around one million. By January 1922, the unemployment rate had sunk to just 0.9%, but inflation caused most workers' real wages to be significantly lower than they were in 1913. The hyperinflation that peaked in late 1923 had its worst effects on government workers, whose wages did not keep pace with private sector workers, and on middle class Germans who had invested in war bonds or who relied on savings, investments or pensions for their living. What had once been substantial savings became essentially worthless due to
18850-604: The war. A pamphlet of Kapp's published in the early summer of 1916 entitled "The National Circles and the Chancellor" ( Die Nationalen Kreise und der Reichskanzler ) criticized German foreign and domestic policy under Bethmann Hollweg. The pamphlet evoked an indignant reply from Bethmann Hollweg in the Reichstag in which he spoke of "loathsome abuse and slanders". In reaction to the Reichstag Peace Resolution of 1917, Kapp and Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz founded
18995-405: The war. The German government had repeatedly used Freikorps troops to put down Communist uprisings after the war. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which came into effect on 10 January 1920, Germany was required to reduce its land forces to a maximum of 100,000 men, who were to be only professional soldiers, not conscripts. The initial deadline was set for 31 March 1920 (later extended to
19140-579: The world, the final Allied offensive began in August 1918, and the position of Germany and the Central Powers deteriorated, leading them to sue for peace. After initial offers were rejected by the Allied Powers, the hunger and privation of the war years came together with the awareness of an impending military defeat to help spark the German Revolution . On 9 November 1918, a republic was proclaimed , and
19285-417: Was Zossen , where they would disarm. By 13 March, they had gotten as far as Stade . There, they discovered the insurrection was in progress. Balked from boarding a train there by striking rail workers, Berthold had his men occupy the train station, city hall, telegraph office, and post office. He then bedded his troops for the night in the local girls’ high school. The following day, the Iron Troop commandeered
19430-643: Was appointed to a position in the Prussian Ministry of Finance the same year. In 1907, through the intercession of his friend Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau , an influential Junker from East Prussia , Kapp took over the lucrative position of director of the East Prussian Agricultural Credit Institute, a post he held until March 1920. He successfully lobbied for the agricultural workers' movement, peasant settlement and agricultural debt relief, and against strong opposition he founded
19575-633: Was ceded to the Allied powers, and Danzig went to the League of Nations as the Free City of Danzig . The Polish Corridor left East Prussia physically separated from the rest of Germany. Under the terms of both the Armistice of 1918 and of the Treaty of Versailles, French, British, Belgian and American troops occupied the Rhineland , the area of Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river , together with bridgeheads on
19720-598: Was dissolved in May 1920 but most of its members were allowed to join the Reichswehr where they had successful careers. The courts were much harsher on the members of the Red Ruhr Army, many of whom were sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment. Kapp was arrested in Sweden on 16 April but not deported to Germany. He voluntarily returned to Germany in April 1922 and died the same year in prison while awaiting trial. Lüttwitz returned to Germany as part of an amnesty in 1924. Gustav Noske
19865-422: Was forced to resign by the unions on 22 March, as a condition for ending the general strike and because some in the SPD thought that he had not been tough enough facing up to the putschists; Otto Gessler succeeded Noske as Defence Minister. General Reinhardt also resigned out of protest at Noske's dismissal. General Seeckt became his successor as Chef der Heeresleitung . Former Ottoman grand vizier Talat Pasha ,
20010-509: Was granted permanent residency in Sweden. The trial against his co-conspirators in the putsch began in December 1921. After Dietrich von Jagow was sentenced to five years in prison, Kapp returned to Germany intending to claim his innocence and that the true criminals were those behind the German Revolution of 1918–1919 . Before he could testify, a medical examination in the prison in Leipzig where he
20155-433: Was not dismissed but suspended from his post on 11 March. To defend the government, Noske ordered two regiments of Sicherheitspolizei and one regular regiment to take position in the government quarter but doubted that a Putsch was imminent. The regimental commanders decided not to follow orders to shoot, a decision that received the approval of Chef des Truppenamts General Hans von Seeckt . The reluctance to shed blood
20300-548: Was one-sided. On the evening of 12 March, Ehrhardt ordered his brigade to march into Berlin, to "ruthlessly break any resistance" ( jeden Widerstand rücksichtslos zu brechen ) and to occupy the centre of the city with the government buildings. The Brigade, sporting swastikas on their helmets and vehicles, started off towards Berlin at around 10:00 pm. An hour later the Gruppenkommando knew about it and informed Noske. Two general officers met Ehrhardt and convinced him to give
20445-491: Was put under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years, and the output of the area's coal mines went to France. Alsace–Lorraine , which Prussia had annexed following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, once again became French. The northern part of Schleswig-Holstein went to Denmark following a plebiscite. In the east, a significant amount of territory was lost to a restored Poland . The Memel Territory
20590-437: Was spread by the Right throughout the 1920s and ensured that many monarchists and conservatives would refuse to support the government of what they called the "November criminals". The destabilising effect of the stab-in-the-back myth on the Weimar democracy was an important factor in the rise of National Socialism . On 29 October 1918, a rebellion broke out among sailors at Wilhelmshaven ; similar unrest then spread to become
20735-505: Was the unified armed forces of the Nazi regime. Germany and the Central Powers fought the Allies of WWI between 28 July 1914 and 11 November 1918. The war ended with 20 million military and civilian deaths, including 2,037,000 German soldiers and from 424,000 to 763,000 civilians, many of them from disease and starvation as a result of the Allied blockade of Germany . After four years of war on multiple fronts in Europe and around
20880-422: Was to undo the German Revolution of 1918–1919 , overthrow the Weimar Republic , and establish an autocratic government in its place. It was supported by parts of the Reichswehr , as well as nationalist and monarchist factions. Although the legitimate German government was forced to flee the city, the coup failed after a few days, when large sections of the German population joined a general strike called by
21025-700: Was used until being replaced by the Nazi Reichsadler in 1935, and readopted by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950. Following Germany's defeat in World War I, several million soldiers of the Imperial German Army either simply dispersed on their own or were formally demobilized. The provisional civilian government and the Supreme Army Command (OHL) planned to transfer the remaining units to
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