The Beer Hall putsch 1923
The Nazi Party
By 1921, Adolf Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party:
- Support for the Nazi Party had grown under Hitler.
- It had 29,000 members by the end of 1922.
The aim of the putsch
- The Nazi’s aimed to overthrow the Bavarian Government which was based in Munich.
- They wanted to overthrow the Weimar Government.
- They were supported by General Ludendorff.
The revolt
Important Bavarian politicians including Kahr were meeting in a Munich beer hall on 8 November 1923:
- Hitler and the SA interrupted the meeting.
- They threatened the crowd with violence.
- The politicians were locked in a back room and were forced to publically support the Nazis.
Hitler left the beer hall in order to make sure the SA had taken over Munich. Ludendorff allowed the politicians to leave the beer hall. This was a mistake as they took back their support. The next morning the Nazis marched into the centre of Munich:
- The police and army confronted them and shots were fired.
- The Nazi supporters and SA were scattered.
The aftermath
Hitler was charged with treason:
- He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.
- He was released after nine months.
- During the trial, he said he was trying to save Germany from the Government.
The putsch failed but it did emphasise that there was a great deal of opposition to the Weimar Government.