These revision notes provide an in depth summary of this specific chapter of AQA History in the Study of The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871–1991. They can be used directly as lecture notes or can be reduced further to more of a summary of the topic.
History revision – Troubled years 1919-23 (8)
- Creation of a broadly based democratic coalition didn’t result in period of stability or
consolidation for the new Republic
- Years 1919-23 were almost continuous crisis
Threat from right and left in 1920
- New constitution came to effect 14th August 1919 and week later Assembly moved
back to Berlin after it was viewed to be safe
- Reichstag now had to resolve Gr’s financial issues
- Set about trying to cut national debt by:
o Reducing the army
o Raising taxes, particularly on the wealthy
- Measures were attacked by RW press
- Erzberger hated by the right for signing armistice in 1918, was wounded in an
assassination attempt in January 1920
The Kapp Putsch
- Need to reduce army size created a great unease within ranks of army and Freikorps
- Dr Wolfgang Kapp, former Prussian civil servant and founder member of the
Fatherland Party and Captain Waldemar Pabst, who had ordered the murder of
Luxemburg and Liebknecht plotted to overthrow the government
- They had the support of General von Luttwitz who commanded troops in Berlin and
who was considered to be ‘the father of the Freikorps’
- When government ordered disbanding of Captain Ehrhardt’s Marine Brigade, Kapp
and Luttwitz were determined to exploit the situation
- 13th March 1920 – Ehrhardt’s 5,000 Freikorps troops marched into Berlin
- Ebert appeal to Reichswehr (Name for Gr army post 1919) to attack however, army
refuses – Not willing to shoot at Freikorps as they viewed them as comrades
- Ebert and Bauer’s cabinet fled to Stuttgart
- Kapp installed himself in the vacant chancellery and declared the Weimar government
was overthrown
o Tried to form own government from Nationalist members of Reichstag however,
even DNVP refused association with him
- Army also didn’t support Kapp
The General Strike:
- Workers in Berlin strike in protest over Freikorps Rebellion
- No power, water or food for 4 days
- With no support of Reichstag, workers or the Army conspirators left with little choice
but to give up
- Putsch quickly collapsed on the 17th March
o Kapp and Luttwitz fled to Sweden and Freikorps left Berlin
- It’s usually claimed that this resulted from a general strike called by SPD and
supported by the Communists
- However Ebert, opposed the general strike – feared Gr would move into civil war
- The strike only really got going when the Putsch was almost over
- In reality, the putsch collapsed as the Reichswehr leaders didn’t back Kapp and vast
majority of Gr government bureaucrats refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of
Kapp’s government or obey his orders
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