The Munich Beer Hall Putsch.

and Seisser left the hall and informed the state authorities.                The next morning putsch was rapidly crumbling, Hitler and Ludendorff decided on a demonstration march through the city. Hitler believed that a march would produce overwhelming support, Ludendorff thought that as a respected former military leader the army would not fire at him and back down. The march began at noon; lines of men carrying banners led Hitler and Ludendorff. The group confronted and besieged a small group of policemen, crowds of shouting, waving supporters greeted the marchers. They then came to a line of police blocking the road, one of the extremists fired a shot, the police hesitated, and then fired back. More shooting occurred and the extremists and onlookers scattered, fourteen Nazis and four policemen were killed. Hitler suffered a dislocated shoulder, Ludendorff was unharmed and taken into custody. The Putsch took place because Hitler and many other Germans viewed the freely elected government of the Weimar Republic as a scandal that the Allies had forced after the German defeat in World War 1. I think Hitler had quite a good chance for success as he was already head of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, with 70,000 members. Also most people disliked the Weimar Republic; they felt they were betrayed by their own government when the treaty was signed. The Nazi party appeared to be the only ones successfully standing up to the government. Even though Hitler had little chance for success of overthrowing the government in 1923, he still attempted it because he believed the army would be persuaded to join the Nazi party and also that they would have the support of the Bavarian state government. Also, due to the French troops in the Ruhr, and the problems of hyper inflation, he thought a lot of people would join his side. After the putsch failed, Hitler was arrested two days later; he was put on trial for treason and put in jail for five years, though he only did nine months.Hitler’s imprisonment furthered the Nazi cause as he used it as propaganda to get support. The Munich Beer Hall Putsch was very important to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany as it meant that they were known by most people. Many people wanted a new government and they felt that the Nazi party should fill that place. Being jailed gave Hitler more time to plan, he wrote his book when in jail, also it helped in the way of propaganda which gained the party more support. After the failure of the putsch, Hitler decided that the only way of getting power was through legal means.