Political Challenges from the Left & Right

Government Weakness

The ruling moderate coalition (SPD, DDP, ZP) saw its Reichstag seats fall to ​45%​​ after the June 1920 election, with extreme left and right parties holding ​~20%​ each, leading to unstable governance.

Spartacist Uprising (Jan 1919)

• ​Aim:​​ Communist takeover in Berlin, inspired by the Russian Revolution.

• ​Action:​​ Seized government buildings, called a general strike.

• ​Government Response:​​ Used the ​Freikorps​ (approx. ​250,000​ demobilised, anti-communist ex-soldiers) to crush the revolt.

• ​Outcome:​​ Communist leaders ​Rosa Luxemburg​ and ​Karl Liebknecht​ were shot. The Communist Party (KPD) remained a major force, regularly winning at least 10% of the vote in national elections, later winning ​100 seats​ in 1932.

​Kapp Putsch (Mar 1920)

• Aim:​​ Right-wing takeover to overthrow the Republic.

• ​Trigger:​​ in 1920 Ebert tried to disband two Freikorps units

• ​Action:​​ Freikorps marched on Berlin; army refused to stop them.

• ​Government Response:​​ Called a successful general strike, paralysing Berlin.

• ​Outcome:​​ Leader Kapp realised he did not have the support, and fled to Sweden. Putsch collapsed, Freikorps were disbanded. Revealed the government's lack of reliable military support but retained popular backing in the crisis.

…

…