# Palm Sunday Putsch

The Palm Sunday Putsch was an attempt by the Republican Protection Force under the command of Alfred Seyffertitz [de] to overthrow the Bavarian Soviet Republic and to restore the government of Johannes Hoffmann, which had fled to Bamberg, that was appointed by the Landtag of Bavaria.
The putsch failed due to resistance from the Munich Red Army under the command of Rudolf Egelhofer. The success of the militia led to a second communist dominated phase of the Soviet Republic around figures such as Eugen Levine and Max Levien and away from pacifist and anarchist intellectuals. In the aftermath of the putsch, Rudolf Egelhofer was appointed city commandant of Munich.

## Background

During the course of the November Revolution, much of Munich was destroyed between 7 and 8 November. In November 1918, Kurt Eisner, the leading representative of the Bavarian USPD, declared the Wittelsbach monarchy deposed and declared the Free State of Bavaria a republic. Eisner was elected the first prime minister of the Bavarian Republic by the Munich Workers' and Soldiers' Council and formed a provisional government with members of the MSPD and the USPD, where he came in sixth place. In the state parliamentary elections in January 1919, Eisner suffered a big defeat for himself and the USPD. As he was about to resign on 21 February 1919, he was assassinated on his way to parliament by a Völkisch anti-semitic assassin Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley. The assassination led to panic-stricken riots in parliament, resulting in two more deaths which led to the session being adjourned. As a result, debates intensified over whether democracy in Bavaria should be implemented through a pluralistic parliamentary form of government or a soviet republic. The opposing groups, the Parliament on one hand and the Council of Soviets denied each other the legitimacy to form a new government which created a political power vacuum. After this point there was no single effective government in Bavaria.
A provisional government took over control of the Bavarian republic, appointed by the Council of Soviets and headed by Ernst Niekisch in order to maintain political control over the Free State which had become leaderless due to the political gridlock. The Council proclaimed Martin Segitz Prime Minister despite Segitz not actively running for the position. This arrangement lasted for three weeks until it ended on 17 March. In March, the state parliament opposed this interim solution of the Council and elected Johannes Hoffmann as head of a new minority government tolerated by the BVP consisting of the MSPD, the Bavarian Farmer's Bund and, for the time being, the USPD. This was opposed by the Council of Soviets and the Revolutionary Workers' Council. Three weeks later on 7 April, inspired by the communist revolution in Hungary, the opposition parties proclaimed the Bavarian Soviet Republic in Munich, which was quickly joined by several other Bavarian cities, Ernst Toller was appointed as head of state. The USPD members of Hoffman's cabinet resigned from government and joined the Soviet Republic. Hoffmann was deposed and fled to Bamberg where he and the remaining cabinet members initiated measures to lead the overthrow of the Munich Soviet Republic.

## Military clashes and aftermath

Alfred Seyffertitz, the commander of the Republican Schutztruppe remained in Munich and was loyal to the Hoffmann government intended to overthrow the Soviet republic government and arrest its members. Seyffertitz visited Hoffmann in Bamberg between 10 and 11 April 1919 and was formally commissioned to carry out a coup against the Soviet Republic. At dawn on Palm Sunday, 13 April 1919, the Republican Schutztruppe broke into the rooms of the Central Council of the Soviet Republic in Wittelsbach Palace and arrested 13 people, including 8 members of the Central Council, among them the anarchist writer Erich Mühsam, until then one of the leading spokesmen of the Soviet Republic. Immediately after his arrest, he was taken by train first to Eichstätt prison and later to Ebrach prison. However, important decision-makers in the republic were able to evade arrest, including Ernst Toller, Gustav Landauer and leading KPD politicians. The KPD politicians called on the population to demonstrate. Seyffertitz's expectation that other troops in Munich would join his campaign didn't come to fruition. In the hope of receiving reinforcements from outside, the Republican Shutztruppe occupied Munich Central Station as a place of retreat. At the train station they were besieged by revolutionary militiamen under the command of Rudolf Egelhofer, the commander of the Bavarian Red Army. Firefights ensued in which 20 were killed. At around 9 p.m. Seyffertitz gave up with his remaining men and set off for Eichstätt by train. During the fighting, supporters of the republic took seven members of the Thule Society, including Prince Gustav of Thurn and Taxis hostage.
Within the Soviet government, an open conflict had arisen as communist politicians accused pacifist and anarchist representatives of being too inconsistent in taking action against possible counter-revolutionary activities and doing too little to secure the Soviet government. During a quickly convened assembly of the workers' and soldiers' councils, Eugen Leviné claimed leading positions within the Soviet government for himself and his party, the KPD. After news of the battle around the central station reached the council, Leviné was finally able to convince the majority of the assembly to transfer the leading positions of the council government to him and other KPD members in the newly formed executive council. Rudolf Egelhofer was appointed Munich city commander, replacing Oskar Dürr, who had held this position since 24 November 1918. Ernst Toller and (initially) Gustav Landauer also acknowledged this change in leadership and initially remained in the inner circle of leadership of the Soviet Republic, although Landauer resigned from his posts and functions after just a few days after some of his decisions were reversed by the KPD and important proposals were ignored. Toller was appointed Egelhofer's deputy in the leadership of the Munich Red Army and took command of the soldiers in the west of Munich.

### Representatives of the Soviet Republic arrested during the coup

* Josef Baison
* Rudolf Reimund Ballabene
* Hans Bastian, Advisory Member of the Central Council
* Alfons Braig
* August Hagemeister, People's Representative for People's Welfare
* Anton Hofmann (KPD)
* George Kandlbinder (MSPD)
* Otto Killer, temporary military commissioner
* Anton Kurth, Chairman of the USPD in Sendling
* Franz Lipp, People's Representative for Foreign Affairs
* Erich Mühsam
* Fritz Soldmann, People's Representative for the Interior
* Arnold Wadler, People's Representative for Housing

## Aftermath

The Munich Soviet Republic held out for almost 3 more weeks after the attempted coup until it was defeated on 2 May 1919 by anti-communist Freikorps units mobilized by the Bamberg state government and additional reinforcements of Reichswehr troops sent by the Reich government in Berlin. At least 606 people were killed, of whom 335 were civilians. After the suppression of the Soviet Republic, Freikorps and Reichswehr soldiers continued retaliatory actions, known as the "White Terror". In addition to those killed in the fighting, an additional 2,000 supporters of the Soviet Republic - including alleged supporters - were killed in the weeks following 2 May in an effort by the Freikorps to secure the city.
After his arrest on 2 May, Gustav Landauer was humiliated, abused, and executed by firing squad by Freikorps soldiers in Stadelheim prison. Rudolf Egelhofer was tracked down to a hideout on 1 May and killed two days later without trial. Eugen Leviné was sentenced to death and executed at the beginning of June. Ernst Toller, who was accused of high treason in July, was able to escape the death penalty due to renowned intellectuals interceding on his behalf. A professor from his days as a student, sociologist Max Weber, attested to his "absolute integrity as an ethicist." Toller was sentenced to five years in prison. Erich Mühsam, who had already been imprisoned since the start of the Putsch on 13 April, was charged on 7 July as being a "driving element" of the Soviet Republic and sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which he served 5 years and 8 months before being released during a wave of amnesties on Christmas 1924. Max Levine was one of the few leading representatives of the Munich Soviet Republic who escaped both death and conviction after the suppression of the republic. He managed to escape after his arrest and flee to Austria. The Austrian government did not comply with an extradition request from the Bavarian judiciary.