Challenges from the left & right

• The early years of the Weimar Republic were far from stable
• Politicians were afraid of assassination, as in the years 1919-1926 there were 376 political assassinations, mostly committed by those on the extreme right
• Leaders lived in fear for their lives
• Those who were caught were often given light sentences as the judges and trials were generally sympathetic to the sentiments of the assassins
• Political enemies of the republic, especially those on the right, used the assassinations to undermine the government, saying they could not keep peace on the streets
• Spartacist Uprising


  1. 50,000 members of the post-World War 1 communist party known as the Spartacists rebelled in Berlin

  2. Newspaper and communication buildings were seized

  3. Demonstrators armed themselves

  4. Weimar government called on military tactics to put down the uprising

  5. Uprising was put down in the bloodiest of ways, with 100 protesters murdered including Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
• The Spartacist Uprising created a hatred of the social democrats by the communists in Germany which would have important consequences later
• Kapp Putsch

  1. Right-wing uprising organized by the journalist Wolfgang Kapp

  2. Kapp seized Berlin and proclaimed a new right-of-center nationalist government with him as chancellor

  3. Weimar government was forced to relocate to Dresden

  4. President Ebert called for a general strike of workers which was largely supported

  5. Without workers to provide basic services, the Kapp Putsch could not continue and failed
• The Kapp Putsch showed the Weimar government that there was support for them, even if just to keep the peace