Passau Rebellion

The Passau Rebellion was an anti-government nationalist uprising in the Bavarian town of Passau that took place from 11 to 14 November 1928.
==Rebellion==
The uprising began on 11 November 1928 with a group of armed individuals seizing the local arms depot in Passau, the capital of the state of Lower Bavaria. A later investigation linked these rebels to the nationalist anti-communist Bavarian People's Party, which had been operating illegally underground. They were likely acting on the orders of the exiled party leaders Fritz Schäffer and Franz Ritter von Epp, and were supplied with weapons traced to Baden-Württemberg that were likely brought in through Czechia. The rebels soon seized multiple buildings around the historical Ludwigsplatz and sought to incite a large scale rebellion in Lower Bavaria.
The Bavarian government reacted swiftly by sending elements of the 1st People's Cavalry Division and the 4th People's Infantry Division into Passau. Aided by local pro-government militias, these troops contained the rebels and besieged their positions on 11 November. A lockdown was put in place across the entire town on that day, but most functions returned to normal the following day outside of the Ludwigsplatz. The troops refrained from directly assaulting the rebels, recognizing they would soon run low on essential supplies.
Firefights erupted between the rebels and the besieging troops on 12 November, which claimed the lives of three soldiers. On 13 November, one of the rebel-held buildings was assaulted with artillery, which caused a structural collapse that killed at least ten. By 14 November it had become clear the rebellion would not spread beyond Passau, and with supplies of food, water and ammunition running out, the rebels surrendered, with eighty-seven being taken into custody. It is likely that at least a few rebels escaped. A government report counted twenty-two dead rebels, in contrast with three dead and eight wounded soldiers.
There are a number of explanations for why the rebellion did not spread beyond Passau. Firstly, the Bavarian government was largely able to prevent news of the rebellion spreading until after it had already been crushed. Secondly, the rebellion failed to find significant support even in Passau, and seemingly would've been met with apathy by most Bavarians. The government report commissioned later estimated that at most there was around 200 rebels and supporters. Though the rebellion itself at no point posed a serious threat to stability in Bavaria, it was taken seriously in the aftermath. New measures were imposed towards suppressing the underground nationalist movement, while fortifications on the Czech border were strengthened to prevent the smuggling of weapons.
Category:Conflicts
Category:Anti-communist terrorism in Germany