The Beer Hall Putsch

Overview

Background

Adolf Hitler was a German soldier during World War I. After the war, he remained in the army. In he 1919 was ordered to infiltrate a radical right-wing group known as the German Worker’s Party (DAP). However, Hitler liked what he was hearing from these people so much that he left the army and joined them. By 1921, Hitler would become the leader of the party, which was now known as the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP), which was soon simplified to the Nazis¹. The Weimar Republic, the German government during this time, was very unstable. Many radical groups were vying for power, including the NSDAP, various other nationalist groups, and communists. The nationalists were often made up of young men who felt that the older generation had betrayed Germany during the war. They wanted some chance to take action to “save” Germany from the weak Weimar government². Hitler would soon give these men that very chance.

One of the most important factors motivating the Putsch was the state of the German economy at the time. Massive unemployment, reduced trade with foreign countries, and war debts were primary causes of the downfall of the German economy³. Massive inflation ensued. By the fall of 1923, the mark, the German currency, was almost worthless. An American dollar was worth over 2 million marks. These circumstances caused many Germans to lose faith in the government, and they felt that it was up to them to change things.

The Putsch

In October 1923, Hitler and his officials, inspired by Mussolini’s March on Rome in the previous year, planned out a similar event. They planned to march on the Bürgerbräukeller, a beer hall in the city of Munich, the capitol of the region of Bavaria. Prominent members of the Bavarian government planned to be at the beer hall on November 8 holding an event. The Nazis would march into the hall, take those leaders hostage and force them to support a Nazi government. There was a particular interest in persuading Gustav von Kahr, the State Commissioner of Bavaria, as well as Otto von Lossow and Hans Ritter von Seisser, who collectively were known as the “triumvirate” to join them. Then they would use Munich and Bavaria as a base to take over the rest of Germany.

On the evening of November 8, Hitler and a couple hundred of his SA “brown shirts”, the equivalent of Mussolini’s black shirts, which included a few individuals would later become prominent members of the Nazi government, such as Rudolf Hess and Hermann Göring, surrounded the beer hall. Hitler entered the auditorium of the hall and fired and shot from a pistol into the ceiling, proclaiming his new government⁴. He then held Kahr, Lossow and Seisser at gunpoint and demanded that they support his new government. They initially refused to give in to any of Hitler’s demands. Despite being fairly radical far-right politicians, they had their own plans for the future of Germany, ones that did not involve Hitler. However the triumvirate would soon give in. After this, the Nazis allowed them to leave the beer hall, a strange decision that would prove to be a mistake⁵.

SA members (German Federal Archives, Wikimedia Commons)

While the events in the beer hall were taking place, SA troops were active throughout the city. They attempted to take police, army and government installations, but would mostly fail. Often the SA troops were unwilling to commit to violence, and would give up trying to take a location if it was clear the occupants would resist. As an example, when army cadets who supported the putsch attempted to take the General State Commissariat building, the police met them. Both sides were armed with loaded and bayonetted rifles. The cadets did not initiate any violence and withdrew⁶. Despite these setbacks, the Nazis still felt optimistic about the whole ordeal, and perhaps relaxed their guard a bit too much.

During the night of November 8, Bavarian officials, police and the army scrambled to respond to what had transpired. They did not have enough manpower to repel the putsch. The triumvirate arrived at the General State Commissariat and began to help the police and army. While they had told Hitler that they would support him, they did not actually mean it⁷. The Vice Prime Minister of Bavaria, Franz Matt, took control of the situation and under his leadership the police and army began to organize themselves for a counterattack.

By the morning of November 9, the Nazis had not achieved much. The had seized control of neither Munich nor the Bavarian government. They also learned that the triumvirate were not actually going to support them. The Nazis then marched out of the beer hall some 2,000 strong ,although at this point they lacked any sort of true objective or purpose⁸. They were confronted by police and army in the city square, who were ready for them. The two sides clashed, resulting in the Nazis being defeated. Although the fighting only lasted for a few minutes, four police officers and sixteen Nazis were killed⁹. It is unkown who fired the first shot due to conflicting reports and testimonies. After this defeat, Hitler realized that the putsch had failed so he and the other Nazi leaders fled the city. The police caught up with Hitler two days later and arrested him.

The Munich City Square where government forces and the Nazis clashed (German Federal Archives, Wikimedia Commons)

Aftermath

Hitler was arrested and put on trail for treason. Hitler used his trail as a way to spread his name and message across Germany and was able to garner up some sympathy for what he had done. Still, Hitler was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. However, Hitler would only serve eight months and would get out on good behavior. During those eight months, Hitler wrote his infamous book Mein Kampf. Hitler would leave prison a far more popular figure than when he entered.

Timeline link: https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1ZcVFtMUSAVj9xDuc8zPIJhLEeTiN7w-zCo8IuEh3S-4&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650 (embedding is not working)

Significance

The Failure

Why did the Beer Hall Putsch fail where the March on Rome succeeded? There are certainly a number of reasons. Mussolini was a far more popular figure in Italy at the time of the march than Hitler was in Germany during the time of the putsch. Mussolini had thousands of more men at his disposal. The March on Rome was the victory lap of a much larger event in Italy that saw the fascists take over practically every major Italian city. The Beer Hall Putsch was intended to be the starting point of a much larger movement. Another important factor was the willingness of the particpants to undertake in violence. In Italy, the black shirts were fully expecting and willing to fight, and did not hesitate to do so when they met resistance. In Germany, the SA and other supporters were often unwilling to fight. They gave up on taking places where the police and army refused to surrender to them. The fighting that did take place in the city square ended very quickly with the Nazis fleeing after a few minutes of gunfire. While Hitler was inspired by the March on Rome, he did not seem to understand what had made that event such a success for the fascists.

However could it really be said that the putsch failed? Hitler was relatively unknown throughout Germany before this, the putsch made Hitler known throughout all of Germany. He was able to get his message out, to let people know why he was doing this, and it would turn out that many would agree with him. On the tenth anniversary of the putsch, shortly after Hitler had become chancellor of Germany, he would say on the putsch:

“Well, we lost, but what mattered was that millions of Germans had been aroused to action and were given a new idea and a new flag around which to rally.”
Wireless to The New York Times. “Hitler Celebrates His Putsch Of 1923: Stresses To Nazi ‘Old Guard’ That Germany Is Now Prepared To Defend Honor. Explains Munich Uprising Chancellor Asserts He Had To Use Force To Win Support Of Courageous, Determined Men.” New York Times (1923-Current File), Nov 09, 1936. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443/historical-newspapers/hitler-celebrates-his-putsch-1923/docview/101670395/se-2?accountid=13420.

This is in all fairness a pretty accurate assessment of what happened. The Nazis would never have had become as popular as they did if the putsch did not happen. Their short-term failure breed long-term success.

Fitting into the 1920s

The Beer Hall Putsch demonstrates how events are not isolated to a single nation, especially in Europe. This event happened because the March on Rome happened. Much like the March on Rome, this happened due to the instability following World War I, and people wanting to act to change their governments. The Nazis are generally considered a World War II phenomena, and while they would not take power for another 10 years, here they are a mere five years after World War I in 1923 making substantial moves. The 1920s would continue to be shaped by unrest and violence, paving the way for the decades to come.

Citations

Bibliography

Gordon, Harold J.. Hitler and the Beer Hall Putsch. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1972.
Stachura, Peter D. “The Political Strategy of the Nazi Party, 1919-1933.” German Studies Review 3, no. 2 (1980): 261-88. Accessed March 23, 2021, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1429723.
Wireless to The New York Times. “Hitler Celebrates His Putsch Of 1923: Stresses To Nazi ‘Old Guard’ That Germany Is Now Prepared To Defend Honor. Explains Munich Uprising Chancellor Asserts He Had To Use Force To Win Support Of Courageous, Determined Men.” New York Times (1923-Current File), Nov 09, 1936. http://library.ramapo.edu:2048/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443/historical-newspapers/hitler-celebrates-his-putsch-1923/docview/101670395/se-2?accountid=13420.
Featured Image: Hitler-Putsch, München, Marienplatz. November 9, 1923. Accessed February 16, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-1486,_Hitler-Putsch,_M%C3%BCnchen,_Marienplatz.jpg

Nicholas Buonocore

Nicholas Buonocore is a student at Ramapo College who toke the Discovering Digital History course in the Spring 2021 semester. He was a junior at Ramapo studying history while taking this course.