CoA German Reich (Kapp-Putsch)

In 1920, a very important but mostly unnoticed historic event in Germany occured: The Kapp-Lüttwitz-Putsch. It was an attempted coup by the German Reichswehr-General Walther von Lüttwitz against the German government, who had just been asked to reduce the Reichswehr in numbers accordingly to the Treaty of Versailles. Lüttwitz installed the ultra-nationalist Prussian politician Wolfgang Kapp as chancellor, shortly after the legitimate government had feld Berlin. 

However, the coup was badly planned, rushed and soon a general strike that nearly escalated into civil war in the rhineland brought the conspiritors down and after only 5 days, the Putsch ended.

But hwat if it hadn't? 

in this OTL, Lüttwitz and Kapp were better organized. Because of talks with the trade unions and other parts of the military beforehand, the Kapp was succsessful and established a military Triumvirat, composed of Walther von Lüttwitz, Adolf von Trotha and Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen (The legendary Red Baron, who survived in this TL). The three men gave them self the title "Reichsfeldmarschall". They practicaly disolved Germany into so called "Reichländer" (slightly larger versions of OTL's Gaue of the Nazi Party). 

Even though the Allies protested against the coup, they did nothing. The Triumvirate proceeded paying war reperations and kept a low profile. Behind the curtains however, they dramaticaly increased Germany's military potential. When in 1934 the Soviet Union under Leon Trotzky invaded Poland to "spread the proletarian revolution", Germany used the "protection of the German people in the Polish Corridor" as pretence to enter Poland from the West, combat the Bolsheviks and meanwhile annex their lost polish trerritories. 

Simultaneosly, they remilitarized the Rhineland and annexed Austria, but faced no protest by the Western powers, since they by now had accepted the neccesity of a strong militaristic Germany as a buffer between Western Euruope and Russia. The Western ALlies even went as far as to support Germany's claims on the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, wich it recieved with the Munich Agreement of 1939.

Credits: Elements taken from wikimedia commons.