There were many extremist groups that disliked democracy and tried to overthrow the government by force.

Spartacist Uprising, 1919

The Spartacists were German communists (the KPD). Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, they tried to overthrow the government in January 1919. Ebert called in the Freikorps to help. The Freikorps were volunteer soldiers who had fought in World War I but were no longer needed in the army. They killed over 3000 communists and Liebknecht and Luxemburg were murdered. Although the government survived, this showed their weakness as they had to depend on the Freikorps for help. A long term consequence of the Spartacist Uprising was that the KPD and the SPD hated each other. This meant that they were slow to co-operate against the threat of the Nazis in the early 1930s.

Kapp Putsch, 1920

Wolfgang Kapp disliked the Weimar Republic and wanted to bring back the Kaiser. When the President, Ebert, tried to disband the Freikorps, Kapp led a group of Freikorps to take over the government. They successfully captured Berlin and the government fled to Dresden. The army refused to help the government but Ebert ordered the workers to go on a general strike. Kapp realised he couldn't control the country and fled so the uprising failed. This showed the support of the people. However, the government wasn't strong enough to punish Kapp or his followers and this uprising showed that they didn't have the support of the army.

Red Rising, 1920

After Kapp was defeated, many workers in the Ruhr stayed on strike and took over several towns. This was known as the Red Rising as red is the colour associated with workers and communism. The government used the Freikorps who killed about 1000 workers.

Munich Putsch, 1923

Hitler and the Nazi party tried to take over Germany by force in November 1923. He first took over a Beer Hall in Munich and captured the local government leader (Kahr) and planned to march on Munich. He thought that Kahr now supported him but Kahr escaped and alerted the police. The police and army defeated the Nazis. 16 SA men were killed. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison but only served 9 months. His trial gave him huge publicity outside Bavaria and made him one of the best known right-wing nationalists in Germany.

Assassinations

Between 1918-1923, right-wing extremists murdered 350 Weimar politicians, including Rathenhau the foreign secretary. Many of the murderers were not punished severely due to the support from the establishment (police and judges).

GCSE Germany 1890 - 1945 AQA

Violent Uprisings