Weimar Germany: Kapp Putsch 1920 May 2026

The Putsch was rooted in the deep resentment following Germany’s defeat in World War I and the perceived betrayal of the Treaty of Versailles .

: Post-war inflation and social unrest created a volatile environment where radical groups on both the left and right felt the republic was weak and illegitimate. 2. The Events of March 1920 WEIMAR GERMANY: Kapp Putsch 1920

: Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to reduce its army to 100,000 men. When the government ordered the disbandment of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt , a powerful Freikorps (paramilitary) unit, its leaders rebelled. The Putsch was rooted in the deep resentment

On March 13, 1920, the Ehrhardt Brigade marched into Berlin. The regular army ( Reichswehr ) refused to fire on the rebels, with General Hans von Seeckt famously stating, The Events of March 1920 : Under the

: The Weimar government, including President Friedrich Ebert and Chancellor Gustav Bauer, fled the city to Dresden and then Stuttgart.

The Kapp Putsch remains a critical case study in how can defeat a military coup, yet it also served as a warning of the internal enemies that would eventually facilitate the rise of the Nazi party.

: The event highlighted that the Republic could not rely on its own army to defend it against right-wing threats, a weakness that would persist throughout the 1920s.