Kapp/Lüttwitz Putsch 12-19 March 1920

The Kapp Putsch took place in Weimar-Germany in March 1920. Wolfgang Kapp was a right-wing journalist who opposed all that he believed Friedrich Ebert stood for especially after what he believed was the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles. The Kapp Putsch was a direct threat to Weimar’s new government. Kapp was assisted by General Lüttwitz who lead a group of Freikorps men. On March 13th, 1920, Lüttwitz seized Berlin and proclaimed that a new right of centre nationalist government was being established with Kapp as chancellor. Ebert had no immediate response to this in the sense that he could not impose his will on the situation. For the second time, he had to leave his capital – once again undermining his status and to some emphasising his weak position within Germany. The government reconvened in Dresden and the only card Ebert could play was to call for a general strike to paralyse the movement of those who supported Kapp and Lüttwitz. Kapp received support from one of Germany’s foremost military officers – General Erich Ludendorff. But the main officer corps of the German Army failed to follow Ludendorff’s lead. It is possible that they felt some form of support for a president who had given them a free hand in dealing with the Communists/Spartacists in 1919. Certainly, Ebert could not have been seen as being anti-military. However, the military did nothing to stop the putsch and give active support to Ebert. The general strike called for by Ebert ensured that those who supported Kapp could not move around and such paralysis doomed the putsch to failure. Kapp and Lüttwitz fled Berlin on March 17th. The five days of the Kapp Putsch are of importance as they showed that: The government could not enforce its authority even in its own capital The government could not put down a challenge to its authority Only the mass power of a general strike could re-establish Ebert’s authority. However, the success of this strike does indicate that the people of Berlin were willing to support Ebert’s government rather than a right-wing government lead by Kapp. In this sense, it can be argued that Ebert had the support of Berliners. A counter-argument to this is that Ebert was irrelevant to the Berliners thinking – they simply wanted no more trouble in their capital after experiencing the Spartacists/Communist rebellion in 1919. Peace was more important than political beliefs. Those who fought for Kapp and Lüttwitz were obvious future supporters of the fledgling Nazi Party. Ironically, the Erhardt Brigade, one of Lüttwitz’s main fighting force, put a sign on their helmets to identify who they were: the swastika. Source: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Freiherr von Lüttwitz	Oberst von Seeckt	Unter den Linden	Potsdamer Platz

Street scene	Potsdamer Straße	Gasworks guarded by civilians	Fieldkitchen in the streets of Schöneberg

Hallesches Tor	Armed troops on the Potsdamer Platz	Wilhelmstraße	Overcrowded suburban train


Overcrowded suburban train	Cemetary for the victims of March 18	Flying the old flag	Left: Freiherr von Lüttwitz


Swastika on the hood of de car	X = Freiherr von Lüttwitz	Mortar at the Fennbrücke	Armoured train at the Anhalter Bahnhof

Unter den Linden	Armoured car with swastika in the Potsdamer Straße	Transport strike Alexanderplatz	Transport strike Hallesches Tor