Why did the right pose such serious threats to the Weimar republic in the years 1919-1925?

The political Right posed two main “serious” threats to the Weimar Republic. These were done intentionally in order to try and overthrow the government. Furthermore we can learn that the political Right also posed a serious threat to the Weimar Republic since the moderate and conservative parties preferred and favoured for the Right-wing parties.

The two main scenes in which we can find these threats highly accentuated are the Kapp Putsch and the Munich Putsch. These two attempted attacks to overthrow the government had a relative effect on the German political life.

The first Putsch, attempt to seize power, happened in 1920 when a group of protestants, more or less 12,000 soldiers, marched on Berlin. Along with other disgruntled army officers the Kapp Putsch was planned by Wolfgang Kapp, leader of the Fatherland Party, he planned to overthrow the government. He contacted other generals, including Seectk and Ludendorff, but they refused.

So on the 12th of March 1920, 12.000 Freidkorps marched twelve miles from Berlin, where luckily the army refused to shoot on other soldiers and denied to support the government.

As a result the army entered Berlin and occupied the government buildings while Ebert’s government fled. A new government headed by Kapp was proclaimed. However, it failed to gain widespread even from the most conservatives. The Left in fact did not approve Kapp’s government and immediately responded to the Putsch with a general strike in Berlin. The city was paralysed. Even civil servants and bankers refused to recognise Kapp’s government. It ...

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So on the 12th of March 1920, 12.000 Freidkorps marched twelve miles from Berlin, where luckily the army refused to shoot on other soldiers and denied to support the government.

So we can see that the Kapp Putsch did not cause a very serious threat to the Weimar republic, actually I think that this Putsch really consolidated and strengthened Ebert’s government because it showed the Right wing that the Weimar republic was Germany’s favourite government and that the left wing still held the power.

The other threat that happened was the Munich Putsch. This Putsch was led by Adolf Hitler in Bavaria. He tried to gain the support in a Munich Beer Hall to march on Berlin and he did it. This Putsch failed as well and Hitler was arrested and put on Trial. How ether Hitler used this trial as propaganda against the Weimar constitution and began slowly to gain more and more sustainers. What is even more incredible is the fact that treason in Germany was a death penalty crime, how ether Hitler got only 9 months in a castle prison. This shows that the judges were favouring what had by now become a national hero, and so were supporting Hitler and the Right wing. So the Munich Putsch was a disaster in terms of military terms but gave the chance to Hitler to speak to the crowd and gain the supporters that would them vote him Fuhrer.

Also the assassinations of various key political figures that were loyal to the constitution was a threat to the Weimar Republic. More than 700 murders took place, how ether only one out of three murderers were found and many were not given life sentences. So in this case we can see that the corrupt judiciary system caused quite relevant problems to the constitution since there was no loyalty in the judges.

So I can say that the threats posed by the political Right weren’t so serious since the Government had always been stable and declined any Putsch very easily but was unlucky and found itself carried away by the mindless ideas of a mad German that with the use of propaganda and his wonderful speeches managed to create of himself a national hero. This man was Adolf Hitler.

Marco Gastel 12C