Their new path to victory: through the system.Īs the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Holocaust Encyclopedia points out, “The experience taught Hitler that an attempt to overthrow the state by force would bring forth a military response in its defense. Instead of by violence, they decided to try through legal means they wanted to overthrow from within by winning national elections. It also led Hitler and others on the German right to shift their thinking in coming to power.
The accused in the Hitler Putsch Trial, (from left) Pernet, Weber, Frick, Kriebel, Ludendorff, Hitler, Bruekner, Roehm and Wagner ,1923/4 While serving, he wrote Mein Kampf. The main argument of his book? The “Jewish peril,” AKA an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews control the world. Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison, but he was released after eight months for good behavior. It gave the Nazis what some call a “propaganda” victory. What were the consequences of the Beer Hall Putsch?Ī few key things happened: One, it was the first time the Nazi Party had national exposure, and in some senses, it launched Hitler’s national political career in Germany. Hitler was arrested two days later and charged with high treason. There was chaos and disorganization, and Hitler then tried to lead 2,000 Nazis in a march on downtown Munich, where they were met by local police forces and dispersed. (One of many mistakes they made that evening.) After the triumvirate was free, they denounced the overthrow and ordered armed forces (the police and the military) to suppress it. When Ludendorff arrived, instead of pressuring the triumvirate of Bavarian leaders to continue to support them, he released them. Göring gave a speech, then Hitler did, saying their action was not against the Bavarian police, but rather, “the Berlin Jew government and the November criminals of 1918.” (Remember, the November criminals = the “stab-in-the-back” myth.) Then, Hitler and key associates - like Hermann Göring and Rudolf Hess - marched through the beer hall and shouted, “The national revolution has broken out!” They forced the triumvirate into a room in order to pressure them to back their putsch. Von Kahr was with Armed Forces General Otto von Lossow and State Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser (which we’ll call the “triumvirate” from here on out, referring to these three key Bavarian leaders).Īround 600 Nazi party members surrounded the beer hall. On November 9, 1923, Hitler and Ludendorff marched on downtown Munich, where Gustav von Kahr, the state commissioner of Bavaria (the state Munich was in), was speaking at Bürgerbräukeller, one of the biggest beer halls in Munich. They were modeling this on Italian fascist Benito Mussolini’s “March on Rome,” which brought fascists to power in Italy in October 1922 without military support. Hitler, Ludendorff, and the Nazis planned to take over the city of Munich, then the state of Bavaria, then march on Berlin and take over Germany. Ludendorff also participated in the 1920 Kapp Putsch. We can’t believe we have to write this, but this myth was completely and utterly false the German army simply lost the war, overwhelmed and overpowered. When the Nazi Party came to power, this myth was a part of their telling of the story of recent Germany history, saying the Weimar Republic was caused by “November criminals” - AKA the Jews who stabbed the German army in the back. Illustration of the “Stab-in-the-Back” legend from an Austrian postcard, 1919 Essentially, the belief goes, the army didn’t lose the war rather, civilians on the home front - Jews, especially - betrayed the army, causing them to lose. Notably, after WWI, Ludendorff became a big nationalist leader and propagated the “ stab-in-the-back” myth, an antisemitic conspiracy theory that started spreading in 1918 that claimed Jews were the reason the German Army lost the war. Hitler teamed up with World War I military hero Erich Ludendorff. In November 1923, the National Socialist Workers Party, also known as the Nazi Party, organized a coup led by Adolf Hitler.
Essentially, when Ebert (German president) asked the military for help in maintaining control, he was told, “the Army does not fire on other Army units.” So, as the Holocaust Encyclopedia writes, “The military, therefore, made it clear that they were happy to fight the left but would not take arms against the right-wing.” What was the Beer Hall Putsch? The Kapp Putsch failed, yet it had a key implication: The German military was not going to intervene when there were attempts to overthrow the Weimar Republic. Photograph of a demonstration in Cologne, Germany against the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch (1920)
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