Weimar Germany - Challenges from the Right

1. Challenges from
the Right

2. Right-wing and nationalist
groups also played a role in
violently challenging the new
Weimar government.
The first revolt came in March
1920 with the Kapp Putsch (a
putsch being a revolt led by a
small group of powerful
people). This was led by
Wolfgang Kapp.

3. In February 1920, the German
government started to reduce
the size of the army, to comply
with the Treaty of Versailles.
Two brigades of Freikorps were
told to disband, but they refused.
Their leader General Walther
von Luttwitz worked with
Fatherland Party leader Kapp
to overthrow the government.

4. In March 1920, 12,000
Freikorps members marched to
Berlin; the army (led by General
Hans von Seeckt) refused to
stop them.
The Weimar government left
Berlin, and a Kapp government
was declared. However most
Berliners did not support this,
and the Left organised a general
strike in Berlin against this.

5. The lack of support for Kapp –
even from bankers and civil
servants – meant the
government could not function.
Ultimately the Kapp government
collapsed and Ebert was
returned to power. No action
was taken to punish army
leaders as Ebert needed their
support against the Communists.

6. Politicians in Weimar also faced
the threat of assassination.
In 1921, a secret right-wing
nationalist group called the
Organisation Consul (OC) was
set up by members of a
disbanded Freikorps brigade, led
by Captain Hermann Ehrhardt.
They aimed to overthrow the
Weimar government.

7. From 1919-1922, at least 354
people were murdered and
many others attacked, much of
this carried out by the
Organisation Consul (OC). They
were sometimes given help by
members of the police and army.
In June 1922, former Chancellor
Philipp Scheidemann had acid
thrown in his eyes.

8. The most prominent murders
were of Walther Rathenau
and Matthias Erzberger.
Rathenau (June 1922) was a
Weimar Foreign minister and a
prominent Jew. Erzberger
(August 1921) was a Finance
Minister and member of the
Catholic Centre Party. Both men
were shot with machine guns.

9. There was general outrage
about these assassinations,
although they also made
Germans worry that Weimar
Germany was unstable and
could not guarantee security.
The OC changed its name to the
Viking Bund and eventually
became part of the Nazi SA
(stormtroopers).

10. Another prominent right-wing
challenge to Weimar was the
November 1923 Munich
Putsch, led by Adolf Hitler.
1923 was a year of financial
crisis for Weimar because of
hyperinflation. All across
Germany, left- and right-wing
groups plotted to restore order
by taking control.

11. In 1923, the Nazi Party were
still a small group but were
growing in influence.
Hitler’s party were violent and
often used the SA to attack
other political groups. Hitler
plotted with two nationalist
politicians – Otto von Lossow
and Gustav von Kahr – to start
a revolution.

12. The group – working with
World War One General Erich
Ludendorff – plotted to march
to Munich and take control of
the city, but Lossow and Kahr
changed their minds.
Angered, Hitler led a group of
SA to a Munich Beer Hall on 8
November 1923, where
Lossow and Kahr were holding
a meeting.

13. At gunpoint, Hitler forced
Lossow and Kahr to support his
rebellion. He then marched to
the centre of Munich.
President Ebert declared a
state of emergency and the
army and police exchanged fire
with the Nazis. Eventually the
revolt failed and Hitler and
other leaders were arrested.

14. Hitler, Ludendorff and others
went on trial for treason (life
imprisonment usual sentence).
Although found guilty, Hitler
was only given five years in
prison (the lightest possible
sentence). The trial’s publicity
helped the Nazis become
Bavaria’s third biggest party in
1924 elections.

15. Like left-wing revolts, ultimately
right-wing coups failed and the
Weimar government survived.
However the army’s refusal to
stop the Kapp Putsch and
Hitler’s lenient treatment
showed that the German elite
did not back the Weimar
government, and encouraged
further changes.

16. Historians’ views
• Stephen Lee: Ebert’s use of Article 48 military powers against
extremists enabled the new democracy to survive.
• William Carr: Ebert stopped extreme right and left attacks,
however he never dealt with their paramilitary formations.
• Matthew Stibbe: Ebert’s main failure related to the
Reichswehr; their actions focused on stopping the Left only.
• Detlev Peukert: The Republic survived all challenges because
both Left and Right were disorganised and divided.