: Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to reduce its army to 100,000 men. When the government ordered the disbandment of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt , a powerful Freikorps (paramilitary) unit, its leaders rebelled.
The Putsch exposed the fragile nature of the Weimar Republic and the deep-seated divisions within German society.
: The Weimar government, including President Friedrich Ebert and Chancellor Gustav Bauer, fled the city to Dresden and then Stuttgart.
: The aftermath showed a clear bias in the legal system. While left-wing rebels were often executed or given long sentences, Kapp Putsch participants received remarkably light punishments. Wolfgang Kapp died before he could be tried, and most others were granted amnesty.