Walther von Lüttwitz Walther von Lüttwitz or Walther Freiherr von Lüttwitz ( 2 February 1859 – 20 September 1942 ) was a German general who fought in World War I . Lüttwitz is best known for being the driving force between the Kapp - Lüttwitz Putsch of 1920 which attempted to replace the democratic government of the Weimar Republic with a military dictatorship . Early life . Lüttwitz was born on 2 February 1859 in Bodland near Kreuzburg in Upper Silesia , part of Prussia . His father was Ernst von Lüttwitz ( 1823 – 92 ) , " Oberförster " ( " head forest warden " ) , " Hauptmann " ( Captain ) and " Deichhauptmann " ( " overseer of levees " ) . His mother was Cecile ( 1835 - 1910 ) , the daughter of Heinrich Graf Strachwitz von Groß - Zauche und Camminetz . Military career . Lüttwitz received his military training in 1878 - 87 , finishing as an officer . He then attended the " Kriegsakademie " in 1887 - 90 . Between 1890 and 1912 he served in various army commands . In 1912 , Lüttwitz was appointed " Oberquartiermeister " at the " Großer Generalstab " ( the German General Staff ) . Crownprince Wilhelm described him as : " mehr Truppenführer als Armeechef , mehr Blücher als Gneisenau " ( " more leader of men than army chief , more Blücher than Gneisenau " ) . During World War I , Lüttwitz held several high military ranks . At the outbreak of war , he was appointed Chief of Staff at the 4th Army . In September 1915 , he became commander of the 10th Army Corps and participated in the Second Battle of Champagne . In 1916 , he became Chief of Staff of the 5th Army ( whose commander - in - chief was Prince Wilhelm ) and managed to minimize the military fall - out from the drain on resources of the Battle of Verdun . In November 1916 , Lüttwitz was made commanding general of the 3 . Army Corps . Having received the order Pour le Mérite in the summer of 1916 , in March 1918 he was commanding general during the Spring Offensive near Saint - Quentin / La Fère and for his actions received the " oak leaves " addition to this medal . In August 1918 , Lüttwitz became " General der Infantrie " . Post - war . After the armistice and the German Revolution in 1918 , on 28 December the " Rat der Volksbeauftragten " , the provisional German government , appointed him commander - in - chief of the German military in Berlin and vicinity ( " Befehlshaber der Truppen in und um Berlin " and " Oberbefehlshaber in den Marken " ) . Besides being in command of all the regular forces of the demobilizing Imperial Army in that region , he was also in charge of all the " Freikorps " in the area . He was called " Father of the Freikorps " as he relied heavily on these paramilitary units in late 1918 and early 1919 after the regular troops had turned out to be unreliable . In this function , he directed the suppression of the Spartakus Uprising by the " Freikorps " in January 1919 under the orders of Minister of Defence Gustav Noske . In March 1919 , Lüttwitz ' position was renamed " Oberbefehlshaber des Reichswehr - Gruppenkommandos 1 " . In May 1919 , the government named him as supreme commander of all military troops of the Reich in case of an emergency or war . However , even at that time , Lüttwitz was making political demands outside the area of responsibility of a military commander , like outlawing strikes and abolishing unemployment insurance . Kapp - Lüttwitz Putsch . Like many members of the Reichswehr , Lüttwitz was an outspoken opponent of the Treaty of Versailles that was signed in June 1919 . He was concerned that the Treaty ' s stipulations could cause the army to disintegrate during its period of re - organisation and he especially disliked the Treaty articles that demanded the reduction of the army to 100 , 000 men , disbandment of the " Freikorps " , and the extradition of about 900 men whom the Allies accused of war crimes . He planned to defy these stipulations of the treaty . As early as July 1919 , Lüttwitz was involved in plots to topple the Weimar Republic and replace the government of Friedrich Ebert with a military dictatorship . On 29 February 1920 , Defence Minister Noske ordered the disbandment of two of the most powerful " Freikorps " , the " Marinebrigade Loewenfeld " and the " Marinebrigade Ehrhardt " . The commander of the latter , " Korvettenkapitän " Hermann Ehrhardt , declared that the unit would refuse its dissolution . On 30 February , it staged a parade without inviting Noske . Lüttwitz said at the parade that he would " not accept " the loss of such an important unit . Several of Lüttwitz ' officers were horrified at this open rejection of the government ' s authority and tried to mediate by setting up a meeting between von Lüttwitz and the leaders of the two major right - wing parties . Lüttwitz listened to and remembered their ideas but was not dissuaded from his course of action . Noske then removed the " Marinebrigade " from Lüttwitz ' command . Lüttwitz ignored the order but agreed to a meeting with Chancellor Ebert , suggested by his staff . In the evening of 10 March , Lüttwitz came with his staff to Ebert ' s office . Ebert had also asked Noske to attend . Lüttwitz , drawing on demands by the right - wing parties and adding his own , now demanded the immediate dissolution of the National Assembly , new elections for the Reichstag , the appointment of technocrats ( " Fachminister " ) as Secretaries for Foreign Affairs , Economics and Finance , the dismissal of General Walther Reinhardt as " Chef der Heeresleitung " , appointment of himself as supreme commander of the regular military and the revocation of the orders of dissolution for the Marinebrigaden . Ebert and Noske rejected these demands . Noske told Lüttwitz that he expected his resignation the next day . Instead of resigning , Lüttwitz went to Döberitz on 11 March and asked Ehrhardt whether he would be able to occupy Berlin this very evening . Ehrhardt said he needed another day , but in the morning of 13 March he could be in the centre of Berlin with his men . Lüttwitz gave the order and Ehrhardt began with the preparations . It was only at this point that Lüttwitz brought the group known as " Nationale Vereinigung " into the plot . These included DNVP member Wolfgang Kapp , retired general Erich Ludendorff as well as Waldemar Pabst and , the last Berlin head of police in the old Reich . Their goal was to establish an authoritarian regime ( though not a monarchy ) with a return to the federal structure of the Empire . Lüttwitz asked them to be ready to take over the government on 13 March . Lüttwitz had not been dismissed but only suspended from his post on 11 March . On the morning of 13 March , the " Marinebrigade " reached the " Brandenburger Tor " , where it was met by Lüttwitz , Ludendorff , Kapp and their followers . Shortly thereafter , the putschists moved into the Reichskanzlei . Supported by a battalion of regular Reichswehr , they occupied the government quarter . Kapp declared himself ( " Reichskanzler " ) and formed a provisional government . Lüttwitz served as commander of the armed forces and Minister of Defence . Although the putsch received support from military commanders and other conservative and monarchistic groups around the Reich , the rank and file of the bureaucracy mostly refused to cooperate . A general strike , called by the legitimate government , the unions and the parties of the left paralyzed the country and made it impossible for Kapp to govern . After negotiations with those members of the legitimate government who had remained in Berlin , Kapp resigned on 17 March , but Lüttwitz tried to hold on for another day as head of a military dictatorship . When Lüttwitz offered his resignation on 18 March , Vice - Chancellor Eugen Schiffer accepted — granting him full pension rights . Schiffer also suggested Lüttwitz should leave the country until the National Assembly had decided on the question of an amnesty and even offered him a false passport and money . Later life . After the collapse of the putsch , Lüttwitz first went to Saxony and only later left for Hungary . He used a passport provided by supporters in the Berlin police department . Lüttwitz returned to Germany after an amnesty in 1924 . He went back to Silesia and supported the DNVP but was not politically active . In 1931 , he called for the creation of the Harzburger Front and in 1933 congratulated Wilhelm Frick on the successful " Machtergreifung " ( take - over ) by the NSDAP . His book , " Im Kampf gegen die November - Republik " was published in 1934 . Personal life . Lüttwitz was married twice . In 1884 at Nimkau , he married Louise ( 1864 - 1918 ) , daughter of the Austrian Hauptmann Viktor Graf von Wengersky and Eleonore Gräfin Haller von Hallerstein . In 1921 at Salzburg , he married Adelheid ( 1869 – 1956 ) , daughter of Johann Freiherr Sardagna von Meanberg und Hohenstein and Irma von Dorner . With Louise , Lüttwitz had three daughters and a son . His son was Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz . His daughter Maria married Kurt von Hammerstein - Equord . Lüttwitz died on 20 September 1942 in Breslau .