Kapp Putsch

Kapp Putsch, a failed revolt by right-wing Germans which began on March 13, 1920 and was led by Wolfgang Kapp, a Reichstag member in the Weimar Republic who believed in the restoration of the monarchy. Following World War I, many right-wing groups formed to oppose the new republic, and the coup arose from the government's attempt to force the demobilization of one group, the disruptive Freikorps (Free Corps). Aided by the Commander of the Berlin Army district, the Freikorps took Berlin on March 13 and the government fled to southern Germany. Kapp, supported by General Ludendorff, quickly formed a new regime, which, however, collapsed after four days, following strikes by labour unions and civil servants. The conspirators fled to Sweden, but Kapp returned and died awaiting trial in 1922. Although the putsch failed it was mythologized in Nazi polemic and inspired Hitler's failed coup, the Beer Hall Putsch.