1929 West Besmenian coup attempt

1929 West Besmenian coup attempt
Street fights in Melmingen
Date 15–21 February 1929 Location Major cities in West Besmenia Result West Besmenian government victory Coup failure Ban of the KPB Coup Attempt Emergency Decree enacted Civil liberties suspended BNU control of government entrenched
Belligerents
West Besmenia Besmenian National Union Empire Defense Police	Communist Party of Besmenia
Commanders and leaders
Karl Ochsenbein Wilhelm Göppel	Leopold Tillerstein
Casualties and losses
Estimated 100 killed 233 wounded	Estimated 130 killed 289 wounded

The 1929 West Besmenian coup attempt, also known as the February Coup, was a failed coup attempt by the Communist Party of Besmenia (KPB) from 15 to 21 February 1929. The aim of the coup attempt was to eliminate the parliamentary monarchy and the far-right BNU government and to establish a socialist republic.

The trigger for this event was the resistance of the Communist Party of Besmenia against the founding of the BNU, which was founded in January 1929 under the leadership of Karl Ochsenbein from the two previous government parties, the Besmenian Conservative Party and the Homeland Party of Besmenia. Because the Besmenian National People's Party, which was also part of the government, was against the formation of the BNU and left the government so that snap elections had to be held.

After the failed coup attempt, the KPB was banned in West Besmenia. On February 22, the government issued the Coup Attempt Emergency Decree, which de facto suspended the basic rights of the West Besmenian Constitution and civil rights and paved the way for the legalized persecution of the BNU's political opponents by the police. The Coup Attempt Emergency Decree was a decisive step in the establishment of the West Besmenian BNU dictatorship, which lasted until 1966. The unfree parliamentary election held on March 24, 1929 was marked by suppression of opposition parties and arrests of political opponents.