May 1877 Crisis (Vive L'Empire)

The Reichensperger Putsch was an unsuccessful attempt by elements of the Catholic Centre Party to overthrow Wilhelm I and replace him with an Catholic Prince as King of Prussia lead by August Reichensperger and  Peter Reichensperger.

Background
After the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon III had forced the establishment of a Catholic lead , Prussian Government lead by Hermann von Mallinckrodt  as Chancellor of Prussia with August Reichensperger as Vice-Chancellor. However the Riechstag became dominated by Protestant Liberals and Conservatives who formed a Coalition(Protestant Union) to defeat the Catholics. After the death of Mallinckrodt  in 1874, Elections where held the determine the next Chancellor of Prussia. The Catholic's rigged the elections in their favor and as a result, August Reichensperger became Chancellor of Prussia with his brother Peter Reichensperger becoming the New Vice-Chancellor. As the Reichensperger brothers took office, they began to lose popularity in Prussia only remaining in Prussia due to their Catholic Supporters in the Nation. However Opposition within the Riechstag continued to increase. In the 1877 Federal Elections. the Centre Party won only won 76 seats as the Protestant Union won over 250 seats reducing their influence in the Riechstag. Fearing that by the next General Elections the Centre Party would be driven form Office, the Reichensperger Bothers began plotting against King Wilhelm I in order to overthrow him and replace him with a Catholic Monarch.

Run-up to the Coup
Since 1875, the Reichensperger brothers had been considering overthrowing Wilhelm I and replacing him with a Catholic Monarch but soon had troubles in finding a Catholic Prince that would agree to take on the title of King of Prussia. the Reichensperger brothers sought out Bavarian and Austrian Princes and found no results and by 1876 had decided to make plans without a designated Catholic Monarch that would succeed Wilhelm I in which would prove to be a huge error. In 1876 they began recruiting Catholic elements of the Prussian Military along with a few Westphalian Mercenaries managing to form a private force of approximately 10,000 Men. After the horrific results of the 1877 Federal Elections, the Reichensperger brothers presented their plan to the members of the Centre Party , however Ludwig Windthorst , Leader of the Centre Party refused to co-operate stating that participating in such coup would further reduce the Catholic Party's popularity in Prussia and many followed him. Only a handful of members joined the Reichensperger Brothers who then split from the Centre Party to form the militant National Catholic Party to seek direct control over Prussia. In May 1877 they began to make preparations for their takeover. As part of their preparations the Reichensperger Brothers oversaw the formation of the Catholic Brigade (German: Katholische Brigade ) a Paramilitary Group composed of the Westphalian Mercenaries recruited by the Reichensperger Brothers and a few volunteers.

The Coup
On the Early Morning of 16 May 1877 in Berlin, the Plotters made their move. elements of the Katholische Brigade marched on the Charlottenburg Palace and as Wilhelm I was still asleep, disarmed the the Guards and soon took over the palace forcing the King to wake up and put on his clothes. At 5:30 AM the Katholische Brigade took their positions around the Riechstag waiting for the members of the Riechstag to arrive. At 9 AM as the people of Berlin went on with their daily lives Peter Reichensperger forced Ludwig Windthorst to call a session of the Riechstag. At noon as the members of the Riechstag assembled in the Reichstag building ,the Katholische Brigade closed in securing every entrance and preventing anyone from entering or exiting. Soon Peter Reichensperger arrived to announce that the Parliment was dissolved and that all members of the Reichstag would be detained in the building until further notice. Many members attempted to counter this as they stated that the Vice-Chancellor would need the approval of the Emperor, however at 1:15 PM it was announced that Wilhelm I had gone missing and that August Riechensperger would take on the position of Regent of Prussia until the King would be found. However in the Reichstag when the "disaperence" of the King of Prussia was announced Ludwig Windthorst shouted "Liars" and then denounced the Reichensperger Brothers plot. Immediately the members of the Reichstag turned on Windthorst who told them of the Reichensperger Brothers attempt to recruit them in this illegal action