This Day in the History of Crazy: Dr. Franz Lipp

The Bavarian Soviet Republic was part of the German Revolution of 1918, the short-lived attempt to establish a socialist state in the form of a council republic in the Free State of Bavaria. Established on April 6, 1919 by the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (The “USPD”), the USPD would not retain control for long perhaps because of poor personnel decisions including the installation of Dr. Franz Lipp as the Foreign Affairs Minister. During his brief tenure, Lipp, who had been admitted to psychiatric hospitals several times, unilaterally declared war upon Switzerland for their presumptive refusal to lend the Republic 60 locomotives, sent threatening and altogether lude letters to the pope and sought the personal intervention of Vladimir Lenin via cable after claiming that the ousted former Minister-President Johannes Hoffman fled to Bamberg and took the key to the ministry toilet with him. The regime collapsed within 6 days.