Kapp Putsch

Kapp Putsch Leaders

Freikorps: Who Were They

The end of the First World War saw Germany demobilised and depressed as a state. By 1918, thousands of German military personnel were being sent home from the battlefield. With no other vocation, the Freikorps were established, these were volunteer paramilitary units.

What made the Freikorps especially dangerous was the fact that they were allowed to keep their weapons from the war. In many instances, some Freikorps members had entire arsenals consisting of submachine guns, grenades and in some rare cases even artillery at their disposal.

Fig. 2: Freikorps in Berlin

Freikorps: Background to the Kapp Putsch

The Treaty of Versailles effectively demolished Germany's ability to have a standing army. With complete demilitarisation, Germany was allowed to have a standing army of no more than 100,000 men, a far cry from the 11 million that had been mobilized by Germany by 1918.

With the Treaty of Versailles restricting millions of men from serving their country the only way, they knew how most found themselves unemployed. Though some of these former soldiers joined the ranks of the Freikorps it was not a proper job per se, it was but a voluntary paramilitary formation.

Fueled by a deep hatred of the enemies of their former empire, the Freikorps were used by Chancellor Friedrich Ebert to suppress the general strike and the simultaneous Communist Spartacist Uprising of 1919.

The Freikorps grew larger in number when the Treaty of Versailles went into effect in January 1920.

Fig. 3: Ensign of the Reichswehr

After the Spartacist Uprising was quelled, tensions began to arise between the Freikorps and Chancellor Ebert. The Weimar Government sought to implement the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and as such sought to ensure loyalty from the Reichswehr (and with it the Freikorps).

Both the Reichswehr and Freikorps noticed the reduction and demobilisation of German armed forces by the Weimar government. Rumours that German soldiers would be extradited to the Allies to face charges of war crimes began to emerge. This only panicked the German military and paramilitary forces.

Talks of a possible putsch had now become much more prominent. The trigger for the putsch however was Chancellor Ebert's attempts to bring the German soldiers and former soldiers under the Weimar Republic's heel. Ebert had ordered to disband of several units of the Freikorps. In addition, he ordered Walther von Lüttwitz to oversee the disbandment.

Unbeknownst to Ebert, Lüttwitz had come with demands of his own. These demands were impossible, including the dissolution of the National Assembly (the government) and the restoration of the old Reichstag (which would mean the return of the Kaiser).

Fg. 4: Walther von Lüttwitz

Fig. 5: Wolfgang Kapp

Appalled by his counter-demands, Ebert had ordered Lüttwitz's resignation. Due to this conflict, Lüttwitz launched the coup d'état and with him mobilised the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, a unit of the Freikorps about 6,000 strong. Lüttwitz effectively took Berlin.

Ebert believed that just as. he did during the Spartacist Uprising, he could purge Berlin with an armed organisation. To do so, Ebert called on Hans von Seeckt, chief of staff of the Reichswehr to fight the rebellious Freikorps. As we all know, the Freikorps were made up of former soldiers, thus Seeckt responded to Ebert with a stern declination to his orders.

Ebert and his government had been effectively backed into a corner. Their only choice was to flee and flee they did, first to Dresden and then to Stuttgart. The capital was in the hand of Lüttwitz and the Freikorps. Wolfgang Kapp would also join and lead the putsch.

Fig. 6: Hans von Seeckt

Kapp Putsch Consequences

Berlin fell to the Freikorps ledby Lüttwitz and Kapp. But ironically, the putsch lasted only four days. When the Weimar government fled to Stuttgart, they called for passive resistance against the far-right takeover. The workers in Berlin were more than happy to comply.

As soon as the general strike began, Berlin was paralysed. No water, no gas, no electricity, and no newspapers. The only way the putschists could communicate with each other was through sending physical telegrams.

It had become obvious that governing a paralysed Berlin would be impossible. Seeckt had no reason to flee, but he did aid in the freeing of Berlin by promising the Freikorps and their commanders that they would not be arrested if they were to leave Berlin.

The Freikorps did just that and so the Kapp Putsch ended. On the fourth day after the putsch began, Kapp fled to Sweden while Lüttwitz went to Hungary.

Kapp Putsch Significance

In a matter of a year, Berlin saw an uprising and the downfall of both far-left Communists and far-right Nationalists. This only proved one thing: the Weimar government was as unpopular with the right as it was with the left.

The Kapp Putsch was just the first putsch in the history of the Weimar Republic, eventually leading to the creation of the National Socialist Party and the subsequent rise of Adolf Hitler. Don't forget, both the Freikorps and the Reichswehr militia would be absorbed into the Wehrmacht.