Chapter Four: The Kapp Putsch March 1920¶
Core Argument¶
The Kapp Putsch of March 1920 exposed the brittle foundations of the Weimar Republic. Freikorps units under General Lüttwitz marched on Berlin to install the right-wing nationalist Wolfgang Kapp as chancellor. The Social Democratic government, including Noske and Ebert, fled after the Reichswehr refused to defend the republic. Trade union leaders, under pressure, reluctantly called a general strike. Workers responded overwhelmingly, paralysing Berlin and the country within hours. The strike proved so effective that the coup collapsed after four days.
The young KPD initially made a major blunder, issuing a statement on 14 March calling for neutrality between “two counter-revolutionary wings” and refusing to lift a finger for the republic. This ultra-left sectarianism isolated the party. Within twenty-four hours, facing the successful strike, the KPD reversed its position and supported the action. Paul Levi, imprisoned during the events, sharply criticised the abstentionist line from his cell, arguing the party should support mass actions and push them beyond their limited objectives.
The defeat of the putsch did not end the Freikorps threat. The mass movement demonstrated workers’ power, but lacked revolutionary leadership. The KPD’s earlier ultra-leftism reflected a deeper factional conflict; Levi had forced a split at the October 1919 party congress, expelling ultra-left elements who formed the KAPD, taking nearly half the membership. Lenin disapproved of Levi’s expulsive methods, preferring conciliation. He urged the German leadership not to deepen the inevitable split with the ‘Lefts’, but to seek Comintern mediation. Paul Levi refused to compromise. The Zentrale expelled entire districts supporting the ultra-lefts, including Berlin-Brandenburg, Hamburg, Bremen and Dresden, comprising thousands of workers. Under pressure from Zinoviev, the KAPD was recognised as a ‘sympathising section’ of the Comintern; Lenin supported this. The Comintern hoped debate would resolve differences, but the gap widened. The KAPD’s fate was sealed when its delegates refused the Twenty-One Conditions at the Second Congress and walked out. The KAPD later split and disappeared. Lenin later admitted his mistake in admitting the KAPD, calling the Open Letter tactic a fundamental touchstone and demanding that those opposing it be expelled.