Opposition to Weimar Germany 1918-23

First radical rebellion came from German sailors. They believed the Kaiser and army leaders were trying to use the German navy to undermine peace negotiations. They demanded an end to the monarchy. 

The mutiny led to a wave of strikes and rebellions which quickly spread across a number of major industrial towns. They did not support the new parliamentary democracy. They set up soviets which resembled the revolutionary councils that emerged in Russia prior to the Communist revolution. 

The councils refused to support Ebert's new socialist government. Ebert proposed a democratic republic, similar to that of the USA and France.

However, the revolutionaries rejected this, arguing that American-style democracy simply gave power to the Capitalists. They wanted a government made up of workers and soldiers, similar to the one Lenin promised to Russia.

By January, the revolution in Berlin had become a general strike. Revolutionaries barricaded the centre of Berlin in order to protect the new revolutionary gov. The Spartacus League, a radical group that wanted to replace Germany's centralised 'capitalist gov' with a network of local soviets made up of workers and soldiers, now effectively controlled Berlin.

Ebert was determined to end the uprising and restore the authority of his gov. Therefore he ordered defence minister Noske to use the army to crush the revolution. The army, suported by the Freikorps, used brutal force to end the rebellion.

Two key leaders of the uprising, Luxemburg and Liebknecht, were executed and over 100 workers killed.

Many on the left never gave up hope of a radical form of gov in which working people truly governed  themselves.

Therefore, over the followng 4 years, there were continuous threats from Communist revolutionaries. In March 1919, a Soviet Republic was declared in Bavaria which saw the establishment of worker councils and battalions of Red Guards, committed to defending workers' powers.

In May 1919, this revolutionary gov was again crushed by the Freikorps and a right-wing gov was put in charge of Bavaria.

Communists in the Ruhr formed an army of 50,000 workers (Red Army). They controlled large parts of the Ruhr for several weeks.

The gov had to rely on the army and Freikorps to crush the uprising. Intense fighting led to the deaths of more than 1,000 workers. Their reliance demonstrated the difficult position of the gov, it needed help from the groups that had actively/passively supported the Kapp Putsch.

Also showed the opponents of democracy were prepared to attack the gov from the left and right.

The TOV and 'stab in the back myth' led to violent opposition to democracy among right-wing groups - the Kapp Putsch was the first major right-wing challenge to democracy. For a few days, Kapp and his supporters seized control of the German capital and established an alternative gov.

Implementation of the disarmament and demilitarisation required by the TOV was the immediate cause. The new gov had been reducing the size of its army since the autumn of 1919. In March 1920, the gov disbanded the Ehrhardt Marine Brigade (stationed near Berlin.)  General Ludendorff and Wolfgang  Kapp believed that disbanding army units so close to Berlin made the new gov vulnerable. They believed that the soldiers would rebel against the dissolution of their unit and could march directly to Berlin and overthrow the gov. 

Action against the government began in 1920. luttwitz, a right-wing general, met with Ebert to demand an end to deilitarisation and elections to form a new gov. Ebert refused. Consequently, luttwitz and 12,000 members of Freikorps marched on Berlin and Kapp and his men occupied the central government buildings.

Significantly, German army troops in Berlin refused to support Eberts gov. Therefore Ebert, the chancellor and government ministers were forced to flee Berlin. Kapp pronounced the establishment of a new government, with himself as chancellor.

A wave of political assassinations by the extreme right took place in this period. Walther Rathenau was one of the more famous politicans to be assassinated.

Became foreign minister in 1922. He was singled out, in part, because he was Jewish and because he had been involved in negotiations over the TOV. In June 1922, he was assassinated by a right-wing terror group.

They were common between 1919-22. Right-wing groups were behind 354 political assassinations during this period. The level of violence demonstrates the extent to which the right opposed Weimar democracy (they were prepared to use undemocratic means to achieve their extremist goals.

Right wing challenge from Hitler's Nazi Party. Attempted Putsch took place in Munich in November 1923. He believed it was the right time to seize power due to the economic and military crisis the country was experiencing.

He planned to initiate a 'national revolution'. He hoped the army in Munich and Bavaria would back the uprising as he was working with Ludendorff (hero of WWI.) He planned to overthrow the government, make Ludendorff president and assume role of the chancellor.

In response, Ebert declared a national state of emergency and ordered Seeckt to use the army to crush the revolt. Was successful - Hitler and Ludendorff arrested and put on trial for treason. Hitler sentenced to 5 years, but only served 9 months.

The trial, once again, revealed judicial sympathy for right-wing politicians.