Respect, innit!

1. Respect, innit! Kapp Putsch 1920 N L M R O C

2. The Kapp Putsch 1920

3. The Spartacist Uprising 1919

4. The Kapp Putsch 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. Wolfgang Kapp

5. General Ludendorff General Luttwitz General Luttwitz seized Berlin with the help of 5,000 right wing supporters and proclaimed that a new right of centre nationalist government was being established with Kapp as chancellor.

6. Freikorps enter Berlin during the Kapp Putsch

7. 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. Ebert had no immediate response to the Kapp Putsch. For the second time, he had to leave his capital – once again undermining his status and to some emphasizing 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 paralyze the movement of those who supported Kapp and Luttwitz.

8. Ebert's Government was forced to leave Berlin again! This time we’ll go to Dresden! • Dresden

9. 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 Luttwitz fled Berlin on March 17th.

10. Ebert knew he couldn’t use the army to put down this protest so instead he upon the public for a General Strike.

11. No Gas No Electricity Key industries No water No public transport Anyone in a Union

12. 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.

13. The Kapp Putsch 1920 Realising that he could no longer govern during a General Strike, Kapp fled Germany. He was later arrested, he died in prison. Wolfgang Kapp

14. Explain how the political uprisings faced by the Weimar Republic differed and how they were dealt with differently in the years 1918-20 (8 marks) Rosa Luxembourg The Spartacists tried to seize power on 5 January 1919 but they were doomed to failure. They numbered nearly 100, 000 but they were poorly armed. The day before they began their rising, Ebert created a volunteer force of 4,000 soldiers. Known as the Free Corps, they were hard men who hated communists and liked a fight. They were well disciplined, fully equipped and ruthless. They retook all the Spartacist occupied buildings in Berlin and captured and shot the two Spartacist leaders. violence Numbers involved Weimar Right wing Freikorps General Strike Kapp Putsch Berlin Spartacist uprising Spartacist uprising Left wing Dresden Karl Liebknecht Wolfgang Kapp Fredrich Ebert http://www.johndclare.net/ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/ From a history of Germany, published in 1996. 1 (a) What does Source A tell us about the reasons for the failure of the Spartacist uprising of January 1919? 4 Marks

15. 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. Ebert had no immediate response to the Kapp Putsch. 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 Luttwitz. The Kapp Putsch was a direct threat to Weimar’s new government. Kapp was assisted by General Luttwitz who lead a group of Freikorps men. On March 13th, 1920, Luttwitz seized Berlin and proclaimed that a new right of centre nationalist government was being established with Kapp as chancellor. 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 Luttwitz fled Berlin on March 17th.

16. 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.