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Kapp Putsch
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Quick Facts
Location:
Berlin
Germany
Context:
Freikorps
Weimar Republic
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Kapp Putsch

German history
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History

Kapp Putsch, (1920) in Germany, a coup d’état that attempted to overthrow the fledgling Weimar Republic. Its immediate cause was the government’s attempt to demobilize two Freikorps brigades. One of the brigades took Berlin, with the cooperation of the Berlin army district commander. Reactionary politician Wolfgang Kapp (1858–1922) formed a government with Erich Ludendorff, and the legitimate republican regime fled to southern Germany. Within four days, a general strike by labour unions and the refusal by civil servants to follow Kapp’s orders led to the coup’s collapse.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Heather Campbell.
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