From: "Kurasje Archive" <kurasje-AT-iname.com>
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 2003 11:07:25 -0500
Subject: Re: AUT: questions on Lucaks, history, ultra-left


Nate wrote:
> Second question, can anyone tell me what these events referred to are, like 
> the different setbacks, and especially the 'Kapp Putsch' and the 'March 
> Action'? Any decent sources to look at on this stuff (preferably 
> electronic)?

The 'Kapp Putsch' or the ' Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch' of March 1920 was an right-nationalist military coup headed by Wolfgang Kapp and general Walther von Lüttwitz. The basis of this coup was units from the former marine brigade headed by Herrmann Ehrhardt and some of the socalled 'Freikorps', i.e. the voluntary 'private' (para-)military units that was used in 1919 and 1920 to crush workers stike actions, demonstrations and various local attempts of taking power. During the coup the Ehrhardt units used the svastika on their uniforms. From this brigade and the involved Freikorps later also evolved the Nazi SA-troops.

Following the Versailles Treaty and demands from the allied commision of control Noske  -  the socialdemocratic Minister of the Reichwehr (Army/Defense) and main responsible for the bloody counterevolution in Germany  -  dissolved the Ehrhardt Brigade and some of the Freikorps. On the 13.th of March the dissatified troops captured the governmental centre of Berlin and claimed the rightwing nationalist Kapp Reichkansler/prime minister. The german Reichwehr kept itself passive refusing to use arms against their collegues. So the government and President Ebert had to flee out of Berlin. The SPD called for a general strike and all transportation in Berlin stopped. Due to political incapacities in gouverning, lack of support outside Berlin, pressed by the workers strike action and the ministerial officials refusal to cooperate the coup only lastet four day's. Kapp and some of the leaders fled to Sweden and 'public order' was restored.

That's the short and 'official' version mostly presented in bourgeois historical books. 

What is often forgotten/not mentioned however is what actually happened in the working class and what followed the event of the coup. 

In the Ruhr-district and other parts of southern Germany there had evolved a radicalized workers struggle  -  originally over questions about wages and working conditions, but through a series of strike conflicts, lockouts and partial occupations of mines still more militant. Through 1919 and the beginning of 1920 this was a proces of radicalisation exactly in the sense of Rosa Luxemburgs concept of ''mass strike movement'". The SPD and the Trade Unions lost their grip of the movement. New radicalised workers organisations were born  -  both new Trade Unions and syndicalist orientated 'Unionen' (as opposed to Trade Unions/Gewerkschaften).

So as the news about the 'Kapp-coup' and the strike-actions in Berlin reached the Ruhr-area the workers exploded. More or less spontaneously the workers revolted, took over power in many local cities, armed themselves and formed units to a 'red army' fighting against the Reichwehr and the Freikorps. Whereas in Berlin the workers held themselves within traditional and peacefull borders, simply stopping work and laming the city, the Ruhr-workers insurected and actually gained total control of the region.

Councils were formed in every city, local commities tried to organize and upheld some order of daily life, workers were armed and organisezed in two directions: local and stationary units of controlling 'public order' and regular mobile army-units. So when the 'Kapp Putch' in Berlin was ended and the workers there went back to work, the Ruhr-workers was in the middle of a revolutionary war. Within a week or so the workers had totally disarmed all police- and security-forces, defeated several units of Freikorps and of the Reichwehr. 

So - following the 'Kapp-putch' in Berlin there was a revolutionary workers insurrection in Ruhr  -  acutally the biggest example of working class struggle ever in Europe.

Well  -  after the collapse of the 'Kapp-coup' the government and the Reichwehr of course turned again against the workers and started a civil war to clean up the Ruhr-area. The 'Red Army'-formations held control succesfully for some weeks. Fightings went forth and back  -  but mostly back. Isolated by workers passivity in the rest of Germany the Ruhr-revolt could of course not hold for long. 

Under the leadership of general Watter the Reichwehr defeated the workers and imposed a terrorist regime in the Ruhr. Workers were brutally killed as the Reichwehr went thorugh the region cleaning it up. Nobody knows the exact figure, but some estimates suggests more than a thousand killed after the regular war-actions was ended. Between 10.000 and 15.000 workers fled from their homes seeking shelter in other parts of Germany (French and English zones), Belgium and Holland. Thousands and thousands were prisoned. Many of these released after some time, but up until the second half of the 20'ies more than 2.000 militant workers from Ruhr were still in jail.

------

I don't know any English work on this. If you read German the best source to all this is the 3 vol. work by Erhard Lucas on the "Märzrevolution 1920" (Verlag Roter Stern 1970, 1973 and 1978). This is extremely detailed and focussed on the day-to-day, hour-to-hour, development of the events in the Ruhr.

As to the political maneuvers and later reflections of all the german workers parties (the SPD, the USPD, the KPD) you must wait for an other time. Only this: they all made very bad during these struggles.

And by the way: the 'March-action' is still another story: a stupid attempt a year later, i.e. in 1921, by impatient forces of the KPD and the KAPD to repeat the 1920-movement and provoke a new revolution. With this 'March-action' and its defeat the German Revolution was ended.

So much for now.

Greetings
Jens
http://kurasje.tripod.com



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