1721 Ludwiggian coup d'état attempt
1721 Ludwiggian coup d'état attempt | |||||
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On 6.VII.1721, troops formerly belonging to the Nordhafendivision of the Ludwiggian armed forces attempted a coup d'état against the Stadtparlement and the Stadtholder of the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen. The coup leaders were related to the Tekeel Party of 1697 and the Ludwiggian Reformed Church and opposed the ceding of Nordhafen to the Imperial Federation, the decline of influence of the Nazarene faith, and the election of a woman,Charlène Jolicoeur-Schafenweide, the year before as stadtholder.
Plans for the coupe were made in secret while the conspiring troops were still stationed in Nordhafen, pending the transfer of the territory to the military of the Imperial Federation. On 6.VII.1721, the troops disembarked at the container port from a civilian cruise ship, chartered by the Kriegsflotte Ludwigshafen and escorted by the RSLS Claudia Weißdeich. They had instructions to take a day of leisure, before the operational unit would be formally be disbanded by Stadtholder Charlène Jolicoeur-Schafenweide the next day. Instead the division marched towards Sankt Ludwigshafen. The city guard had no previous warning that the Nordhafendivision was staging a coup d'état attempt and did not assume defensive positions until fire was opened on them. After intense gunfights, the Nordhafendivision defeated the heavily outnumbered guards and the city lay open to them. Alerted by the noise of gunfire, Divisionskommandeur Ernst Mariacottage of the Großstadtdivision sent the regiment that was on active patrol towards the Stadtparlement, to assume defensive positions there, and had the rest of the division report immediately at the barracks to join the fight. Scouts on horseback were sent out of the city to the barracks of the Eingreiftruppe I, so that it could help defeat the Nordhafendivision as well.