Kapp (1858-1922), Wolfgang

Kapp created with Ludendorff the movement of National Union that lauded counter revolution and the end of the Weimar Republic. He met general Lüttwitz whom he tried to convince to march on Berlin against the government. His action was only one of the many attempts to get rid of the republic and to reestablish an authoritarian monarchy. The Kapp putsch was the first important attempt because it used soldiers coming from the regular army. The failure of the putsch obliged Kapp to flee to Sweden to escape prison. President Scheidemann wanted all putschists to be judged but this did not happen. That weakness is probably one of the major reasons why the democratic political parties lost voices three months later. Another consequence consisted in the fact that the opposition parties split in many political parties. That dispersion caused difficulties to set up a reliable government with a majority and indirectly it facilitated the rising of the Nazi party.

Könnemann, E., Krusach, H.-J., 1972, Aktionseinheit contra Kapp-putsch. Der Kapp-Putsch im März 1920 und der Kampf der deutschen Arbeiterklasse sowie anderer Werktätiger gegen die Errichtung der Militärdiktatur und für demokratische Verhältnisse, Berlin: Dietz Verlag.