Overview of Sparticist Uprising and Kapp Putsch

1. The Rise of Radicalism
Learning Objectives:
• To understand how and why extremist groups opposed the
government
• To analyse the impact of the various uprising’s in the
Weimar Republic’s early years.
Starter
What does this cartoon
represent and how is it linked to
the Treaty of Versailles?
• Key terms and phases

2. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
Start of the
Revolution
Think back to our
first lessons.
Germany made
one last suicidal
attempt to attack
the British at sea.
Where was it and
what was the
resulted impact?
25 October 1918 – Kiel Mutiny

3. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
Start of the
Revolution
2 Nov 1918 – mutiny spread to army and workers. Set up
workers council.
Next 6 days for cities all over Germany to fall
6 Nov – Hamburg
7 Nov – Cologne
8 Nov – Frankfurt, Leipzig and Munich
9 Nov - Berlin.
Where on the political spectrum do you think these councils would lie? Who
was the leading party that took control of Germany?
LEFT
WING
CENTRE RIGHT WING

4. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
Start of the
Revolution
Communists take over in
Bavaria.
She was declared a
Republic by the newly
elected Kurt Eisner (USDP)
Where did the USDP stand
on the political spectrum?

5. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
The Rise of
Radicalism
While it could be seen that
there was a socialist
movement throughout
Germany, some were more
radical than others.
From what we have
studied so far who is
represented in this
cartoon?

6. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
The Spartacists
The Spartacist League
was formed in 1915 by
Rosa Luxemburg and
Karl Liebkneckt after
they left the SPD
because they were
angry that the SPD
was supporting WW1.

7. Rosa Luxemburg
LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
Karl Leibkneckt
The KPD
In 1918, some of the Spartacists,
including Leibkneckt and
Luxemburg, formed the German
Communist Party (KPD).
During the
1920s the KPD
were often
referred to as
the Spartacists.

8. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
The Freikorps
How did the army
feel about the W.R.
signing the
armistice?
Where do you think
that sat on the
political spectrum?
Who were the Freikorps?
Many soldiers had returned from the war massively disillusioned with
the German government and hugely suspicious of left-wing political
beliefs.

9. The Spartacists did not believe that Ebert
(the President) and his party, the Social
Democrats, would serve the best interests of
the German working people.
They decided
to rise up on 5
January 1919
LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
Unhappy with
the WR
Rosa Luxemburg
Karl Leibneckt

10. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
Uprising
What buildings did the
Spartacists seize?
Extreme members of the
Spartacists seized the HQ
of the government’s
newspaper and telegraph
bureau.
They tried to organise a
general strike.

11. How do you think the
Freikorps felt about
the Communists?
LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
What next?
Ebert and the
government left
Berlin for the
safety of Weimar.
They left the
Freikorps to deal
with the
Spartacists.

12. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
What next?
• By 15 January the
Spartacists were crushed.
• Luxemburg and
Leibkneckt were arrested
and were shot on their
way to prison.
• Over a 4 month period
thousands of communist
supporters were killed by
the Freikorps.

13. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
Reaction!
Why did this shock Ebert and what impact do you
think this had on Ebert’s Government?
• Government had now been put in the hands of
the army and the Freikorps.
• Undermined the position of the Social
Democrats as the representatives of the
working class.
• Many left-wing parties (like the USPD and
KPD) refused to work with the SPD (the
government) ever again, even when faced with
the treat of Hitler and the Nazi’s

14. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
The Kapp
Putsch
• Who was Wolfgang
Kapp and who did he
lead?
• What term in the TOV
lead to them uprising?
• Who did the
Government seek for
support in order to crush
the uprising?

15. LO: To understand
how and why
extremist groups
opposed the
government
The Kapp
Putsch
• Freikorp units had to be disbanded – under the terms of
Versailles – the government had little use for the
Freikorps now the communist threat was over
• Several units tried to seize power, angry that a
government they despised was trying to disband them
• They marched on Berlin, unhindered by the regular army
• The government was forced to flee to Dresden, calling
on the people of Berlin to strike to cripple the Kapp
putsch
• The coup collapsed within days as public services
stopped working