The attempt by Wolfgang Kapp (1858–1922), a right-wing Prussian landowner and politician, to overthrow the Weimar Republic and restore the German monarchy. Aided by elements in the army, including Ludendorff, and the unofficial “free corps” which the new government was trying to disband, Kapp’s forces seized Berlin, planning to set up a rival government with himself as Chancellor. The putsch was defeated by a general strike of the Berlin workers and the refusal of civil servants to obey his orders.