On This Day in Politics: March 13, 1920
On March 13, 1920, troops associated with General Walther von Lüttwitz entered Berlin’s government district in an attempt to overthrow Germany’s Weimar Republic. Wolfgang Kapp proclaimed himself chancellor, giving the coup its familiar name, the Kapp Putsch. President Friedrich Ebert and members of the lawful government left the capital as the military failed to provide the defense they needed. The occupation created an immediate appearance of success for the conspirators: they had reached the center of government and announced new leaders. Yet occupying official buildings was different from securing obedience across the country, a distinction that soon proved decisive for the attempted takeover.
The conflict grew partly from the difficult demobilization that followed World War I. The Treaty of Versailles required a sharply reduced German army, threatening the position of volunteer formations known as Freikorps. Orders to disband units including the Ehrhardt Marine Brigade intensified resistance among officers hostile to the republic. Lüttwitz linked that military opposition with civilian nationalist conspirators around Kapp. Their plans were not merely a dispute about troop numbers. They challenged the authority of the elected government to determine the organization of the armed forces, exposing the fragile relationship between Germany’s new constitutional order and men who still commanded substantial armed power.
A general strike and resistance within the state administration disrupted the putschists’ ability to govern. Workers withheld their labor, public services broke down, and officials did not simply accept Kapp’s orders as legitimate. Within days the attempted regime collapsed. The German Federal Archives preserves documents that show both the conspirators’ efforts to issue proclamations and the practical confusion surrounding their brief claim to authority. One later exchange concerned payment for printing their leaflets, which the restored authorities refused. Such records reveal a basic problem for the coup: proclamations could announce a government, but they could not by themselves supply the cooperation necessary to operate one.
The failure of the putsch by March 17 did not bring an immediate end to Germany’s political violence. Conflict continued, including in the Ruhr, where armed workers and government forces pursued incompatible objectives. The republic had survived a direct attack, but its institutions remained vulnerable and relations among the army, political parties, and organized labor were deeply strained. March 13 is consequently remembered as the start of a crisis that demonstrated both danger and resilience. Armed force could threaten a constitutional government, while widespread refusal to cooperate could help defeat that threat. The outcome depended on actions well beyond the rooms in which the rival leaders announced their claims.
Lüttwitz’s troops occupied Berlin’s government district on March 13, 1920. Kapp proclaimed himself chancellor.
Demobilization and orders to disband Freikorps units intensified a wider challenge to the republic.
The government left Berlin, but the putschists failed to secure the cooperation needed to govern.
A general strike and administrative resistance helped bring the attempted takeover to an end within days.
Political violence continued after the coup collapsed, including armed conflict in the Ruhr.
The episode illustrates the difference between occupying government buildings and establishing effective, legitimate authority.
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