Ruhr Uprising of 1920

an armed uprising in March and early April 1920 by the workers of the Ruhr, Germany, against the reaction.

During the suppression of the Kapp putsch of 1920, organs of a unified workers’ front sprang up in the Ruhr under the leadership of the Communist Party and left-wing members of the Independent Social Democratic Party; a Red army was created, which disarmed the putschists. By March 22 the army had taken over the largest cities in the Ruhr.

The government, in which Social Democratic leaders played the leading role, was frightened by the scope of the revolutionary struggle and sent C. Severing to the Ruhr as commissioner. On March 24, Severing concluded an agreement with the insurgents regarding the cessation of the armed struggle under the condition that the government would refrain from bringing troops into the Ruhr and would meet several of the workers’ demands, such as punishment of the organizers of the putsch and the disbanding of counterrevolutionary formations. However, the government flagrantly violated the agreement. Taking advantage of the discord that ensued among the participants in the Ruhr uprising and exploiting the leftist errors of some of its leaders, it sent troops into the Ruhr in early April and brutally suppressed the revolt.