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The Munich Putsch + the lean years, 1923-29 - Coggle Diagram
The Munich Putsch + the lean years, 1923-29
The Munich Putsch
Reasons for
When the economic + political crises of 1923 hit Germany, Hitler decided that the Nazi Party was in a position to overthrow the regional government in Munich + could then march on Berlin.
Hitler detested the Weimar Republic + he felt that Weimar was now so disgraces it could easily be toppled (following the invasion of the Ruhr + the onset of hyperinflation).
The Nazi Party had grown in strength + popularity in Munich + Bavaria, + therefore Hitler decided that his first step would be to seize control of Bavaria + then Berlin.
- Hitler hated the Weimar Republic
- Weimar was disgraced; Hitler believed people across Germany would support him instead
- Growth of the Nazi Party. It had increased support by 1923, especially in Bavaria
- Hitler detested Versailles + wanted to remove the terms of the treaty
- Hitler had won the support of General Ludendorff, the former army Commander-in-Chief, an extremely popular figure
- The SA would be used as armed support
- Hitler was confident that Kahr + the army in Bavaria would support him
- Weimar blamed for hyperinflation
Events
Many within Bavaria intensely disliked the new Weimar government and saw them as weak. Hitler thought he would take advantage of this and plotted with two nationalist politicians - Kahr and Lossow - to take over Munich in a revolution. Hitler collected the SA and told them to be ready to rebel.
But then, on 4 October 1923, Kahr and Lossow called off the rebellion. This was an impossible situation for Hitler, who had 3,000 troops ready to fight.
On the night of 8 November 1923, Hitler and 600 SA members burst into a meeting that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall. Waving a gun at them, Hitler forced them to agree to rebel - and then let them go home. The SA took over the army headquarters and the offices of the local newspaper.
The next day, 9 November 1923, Hitler and the SA went into Munich on what they thought would be a triumphal march to take power. However, Kahr had called in police and army reinforcements. There was a short scuffle in which the police killed 16 members of the SA. Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
Consequences
The Munich Putsch was a failure in the short term, but it was also an important event in the Nazis’ rise to power. As a result of the Putsch:
Short term failure -
- The Nazi Party was banned + Hitler was prevented from speaking in public until 1927
- Hitler was tried for high treason (betraying his country) and sentenced to five years in prison
Long term success -
- Hitler served only 9 months in jail. During his time in the comfortable Landsberg Prison, he wrote 'Mein Kampf' – a propaganda book setting out Nazi beliefs. Millions of Germans read it, and Hitler's ideas became very well-known.
- Hitler's trial was a propaganda success for the Nazi Party - Hitler made himself known nationally + won support from other nationalists
- Hitler realised that he would never come to power by revolution and that he would have to use democratic means, so he reorganised the party to enable it to take part in elections.
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