THE KAPP-LÜTTWITZ PUTSCH

When in 1920 nationalists attempted a coup, a nationwide strike in a mass popular demonstration against them

- 

From the very beginning of the Weimar Republic, right-wing nationalists sought its destruction. The ‘stab-in-the-back myth’ – the belief that Germany had been betrayed by republicans and others to force its surrender – also gained popularity among ordinary Germans. The Treaty of Versailles limited Germany’s army (Reichswehr) to 100,000 men, however, many former soldiers returning from the front joined the Freikorps. These paramilitaries had been used by the government to put down communist threats. When these dangers passed, the Freikorps were expected to disband.

In February 1920, Freikorps Marinebrigade Ehrhardt was ordered to disband by defence minister Gustav Noske. Stationed at Döberitz near Berlin, this powerful unit was commanded by Hermann Ehrhardt, a staunch anti-republican. Ehrhardt refused Noske’s order and held a parade of his troops in defiance. Ehrhardt allied himself with Walther von Lüttwitz, commander of Reichswehr troops stationed around Berlin, who viewed Ehrhardt’s unit as too valuable to lose. Noske responded by transferring command of Marinebrigade Ehrhardt from the army to the navy, in the hope that the latter would disband it. Lüttwitz in turn ignored the order.