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Ruhr uprising | |||||||
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Part of the reactions to the Kapp Putsch, Revolutions of 1917–1923 and Political violence in Germany (1918–1933) | |||||||
![]() Members of the Ruhr Red Army in Dortmund | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
Unknown | 50,000–80,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
604 killed and missing Reichswehr: 208 killed 123 missing Freikorps: 273 killed Police: Unknown | 1,000+ rebels killed |
The Ruhr uprising (German: Ruhraufstand) or March uprising (Märzaufstand) was a left-wing workers' revolt in the Ruhr region of Germany in March 1920. It initially took place in support of the call for a general strike issued by the Social Democrat members of the German government, the unions, and other parties in response to the right-wing Kapp Putsch of 13 March 1920.
Communists and other socialists in the Ruhr had previously laid plans for "winning political power by the dictatorship of the proletariat" in the event of a general strike but after the collapse of the Kapp Putsch, the German government sent in the Reichswehr (the German army) and right-wing Freikorps to crush the ongoing insurgency of the estimated 50,000 members of the "Red Ruhr Army". This involved considerable brutality and summary executions of prisoners. An estimated 1,600 people were killed.