Although the putsch has been named after Wolfgang Kapp, a 62-year-old nationalist East Prussian civil servant, who had been planning a coup against the republic for a while, it was instigated by the military; Kapp played a supporting role.:217:50 On 29 February 1920, the Defence Minister Noske ordered the disbandment of two of the most powerful Freikorps, the Marinebrigade Loewenfeld and Marinebrigade Ehrhardt. The latter numbered from 5,000-6,000 men and had been stationed at the Truppenübungsplatz Döberitz, near Berlin, since January 1920.:217 An elite force, it had been created from former Imperial Navy officers and NCOs, boosted later by Baltikumer . During the civil war in 1919, the brigade had seen action in Munich and Berlin. It was extremely opposed to the democratic government of Friedrich Ebert.:217 Its commander, Korvettenkapitän Hermann Ehrhardt, declared that the unit would refuse its dissolution.:51 On 1 March, it staged a parade without inviting Noske.:218 General Walther von Lüttwitz, in command of all the regular troops in and around Berlin , the highest ranking general in the army at the time and in command of many Freikorps, 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 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.:218 Noske then removed the Marinebrigade from Lüttwitz' command and assigned it to the leadership of the Navy, hoping that they would disband the unit. Lüttwitz ignored the order but agreed to a meeting with President Ebert, suggested by his staff.. Who started the putsch?