Why Hitler tried to seize power
By 1923 Hitler led a party that was loud and violent but still based in Bavaria. In November he gambled everything on a putsch: he would seize power in Munich by force and then march on Berlin to overthrow the Weimar Republic. There were four main causes.
- The crisis of 1923. The French occupation of the Ruhr and hyperinflation made the Republic look weak and hated. Then, in September 1923, Stresemann called off passive resistance. Nationalists saw this as one more surrender. Hitler believed millions of Germans were now ready to back a revolt.
- A stronger party. The crisis brought in new members. By November 1923 the Nazi Party had about 55,000 of them, and the SA was restless and wanted action.
- Mussolini's example. In October 1922 Benito Mussolini and his Fascists had taken power in Italy after their 'March on Rome'. Hitler hoped to copy it with a march on Berlin.
- Powerful friends. Bavaria was run by three right-wing men who disliked the Republic: Gustav von Kahr, the state commissioner, who ran Bavaria with emergency powers, General Otto von Lossow, the army commander in Bavaria, and Hans von Seisser, the head of the state police. Hitler also had the support of General Ludendorff, the famous wartime commander.
Kahr, Lossow and Seisser had talked about moving against Berlin, but by November they were holding back. Hitler feared the moment was slipping away. He decided to force them to act.
Key terms:
- Munich Putsch: Hitler's failed attempt to seize power in Munich on 8-9 November 1923. It is also called the Beer Hall Putsch.
- High treason: the crime of trying to overthrow the government of your own country.
- Mein Kampf: 'My Struggle', the book of his ideas that Hitler wrote in prison.
- Lebensraum: 'living space', extra land that Hitler said Germany must take in eastern Europe.
The events of 8-9 November 1923
🍺 8 November: the beer hall
Kahr was speaking to about 3,000 people in the Bürgerbräukeller, a large beer hall in Munich. Lossow and Seisser were there too. Hitler arrived with about 600 SA men, who surrounded the building. He fired a pistol shot into the ceiling and shouted that the national revolution had begun. He took the three leaders into a side room and, at gunpoint, made them promise to support him. Ludendorff arrived and backed Hitler. Later that evening Hitler left the hall to deal with a problem elsewhere in the city. While he was away, Ludendorff let the three men go home.
🚶 9 November: the march
Once free, Kahr, Lossow and Seisser broke their promise and called in the police and the army. Hitler had lost his allies, but he would not give up. Around midday he and Ludendorff led about 2,000 supporters into the centre of Munich, hoping the people would join them. Near a square called the Odeonsplatz, armed police blocked the street. Shots were fired. Four policemen were killed, and the Nazis later honoured 16 of their own dead as martyrs. Hitler dislocated his shoulder and escaped by car. Ludendorff was arrested on the spot.
Two days later, on 11 November, Hitler was found hiding at a friend's house and arrested. Hermann Göring, who had been shot in the leg, fled abroad.
Why the putsch failed
- It was rushed and badly planned. Hitler acted in a hurry and had no plan for what to do if things went wrong.
- It depended on men who did not want it. Kahr, Lossow and Seisser only agreed because a gun was pointed at them. Letting them leave the beer hall was a fatal mistake.
- The army and police stayed loyal. Hitler had counted on them joining him. Instead they obeyed the government, and about 2,000 marchers were no match for armed police.
- There was no popular rising. The people of Munich did not flood onto the streets to help. The party was simply too small and too local.
The results: trial, prison and Mein Kampf
At first the putsch looked like the end of Hitler. The Nazi Party was banned and so was its newspaper. Its leader was in prison and other leading Nazis were in hiding or abroad.
The trial. In February 1924 Hitler was put on trial in Munich for high treason. The trial lasted about a month, and he turned it into a stage. The judges, who shared many of his nationalist views, let him make long speeches. He said that the real traitors were the 'November criminals', not him. Newspapers all over Germany reported his words. A man hardly known outside Bavaria became famous across the country.
The lenient sentence. Ludendorff was found not guilty. Hitler was found guilty, but on 1 April 1924 he was given just five years, the lowest sentence the law allowed for high treason. He was sent to Landsberg Prison, where he had a comfortable room and many visitors. He was released on 20 December 1924, after serving only about nine months. The sentence showed how many judges sided with the right.
Mein Kampf. Hitler used his time in Landsberg to write Mein Kampf, first published in 1925. It set out the ideas he kept for the rest of his life:
- Germans belonged to a superior 'Aryan' race, and Jews were to blame for Germany's problems.
- The Treaty of Versailles must be destroyed.
- Germany needed Lebensraum in the east, taken from Russia.
- Communism must be crushed.
- Germany should be ruled by one strong leader, not by a democracy.
A change of tactics. The most important result was the lesson Hitler learned. Force had failed because the army had stood by the Republic. From now on the Nazis would try to win power legally, by winning votes in elections, and destroy democracy from the inside. How he rebuilt the party to do this comes in The Lean Years: Rebuilding the Nazi Party, 1924-28.
Common mistakes
Don't write that the putsch was simply a failure. It failed in the short term, but in the long term it gave Hitler fame, a book of ideas and a better plan. Don't say he served five years: he was sentenced to five and served about nine months. And remember the order: the beer hall on 8 November, the march on 9 November.
Exam-style question
(b) Explain two effects of the Munich Putsch (1923) on the Nazi Party. [8 marks]
Model answer
One effect was that, in the short term, the Nazi Party was badly weakened. The march on 9 November 1923 was stopped by armed police near the Odeonsplatz, and Hitler was arrested two days later. Because he had tried to overthrow the government by force, the party and its newspaper were banned, and in April 1924 Hitler was sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison for high treason. This meant the party had no legal organisation and no leader to hold it together, so it could not campaign or build on the 55,000 members it had gained by November 1923.
A second effect was that the Nazis changed the way they tried to win power. The putsch failed because Kahr, Lossow and Seisser turned against Hitler and the army and police stayed loyal to the government. This showed Hitler that the Republic could not be overthrown by force. As a result, he decided that the party must win power legally, by winning votes in elections. His trial helped with this, because newspapers reported his speeches across Germany and made him known far beyond Bavaria. So the putsch turned the Nazis from a group planning an armed revolt into a party that aimed to win elections.
What lifts this to the top level: it gives two separate effects, supports each with precise facts (dates, names and figures) and explains step by step how the putsch led to each one.
Exam tip
One effect alone cannot score more than 4 of the 8 marks, so always write two paragraphs. This question asks for effects on the Nazi Party, so don't waste time telling the story of the beer hall. A short-term effect (the ban) and a long-term effect (the new tactics) make a strong pair because they are clearly different.