Hitler instigated his Putsch in a Beerhall on the 8th of November 1923. He, along with Goering and 600 stormtroopers, arrived and invaded a meeting held by the Bavarian Prime Minister Kahr at a beerhall in Munich. Hitler then took Kahr and his ministers into a side room and held them at gunpoint. He declared a revolution and persuaded Kahr and his ministers to support him in overthrowing the Reich Government. Hitler decided to undertake this Putsch for numerous reasons. Firstly, Weimar seemed to be collapsing and the invasion of the Ruhr and Hyperinflation added to Germany’s woes. Also there was behind the scene pressure from the SA to take action, and rage over Stresemann ‘giving in’ was also a factor in Hitler’s decision to go ahead with the Putsch.
Having agreed to support the Nazis, Kahr and his colleagues were allowed to go by Hitler. This proved to be a huge mistake, as immediately he was allowed to leave; Kahr contacted the Police and the Army and informed them of the uprising. Hitler’s diabolical judgement of Kahr proved to be critical as the following day when Hitler, Ludendorff and 3000 Nazis marched into Munich, 16 Nazis supporters were killed. The uprising was foiled by The Police and the Nazis were comfortably brushed aside. During the Guerrilla warfare that broke out, Hitler fell, either pulled down or seeking cover. Nevertheless he fell and subsequently dislocated his shoulder. Shortly after this, he departed in a yellow vehicle waiting nearby. This did nothing but stain his image as he was now viewed as a coward. He, the initiator of the uprising, was the first to run away. The Nazi leadership was then arrested and put on trial for treason. General Ludendorff was also amongst those arrested.
The consequences of the trial were probably more significant than the uprising itself. At the trial, Hitler was able to make powerful speeches. Examples of this are, “You may pronounce us guilty a thousand times, but the Goddess who presides over the Eternal Court of History will acquit us”, and “It will be necessary to persuade a new policy. Instead of army conspiracy, we shall have to hold our noses and enter the Reichstag. If outvoting takes longer than outshooting them, at least the results are guaranteed by their own constitution.” These speeches made by Hitler at the trial were major pieces of propaganda as they appealed to the hearts and minds of German people. The Nazis won a lot of support through speeches made by Hitler. This transformed Hitler from being a vaguely known politician to a champion of the right wing. His imprisonment, which lasted only 9 months, was significant. In this time Hitler was able to reappraise his methodology and to construct what ultimately became the Bible of the Nazis, Mein Kampf. In Mein Kampf, meaning ‘My struggle’, Hitler outlined his political philosophy. He argued that the German race, which he called the ‘Aryan Race’, was superior to all others. A quote from Mein Kampf reads, “Every manifestation of human culture, every product of art, science and technical skill, which we see before our eyes today, is almost exclusively the product of Aryan creative power.” In this book, Hitler also expressed his belief that Aryan superiority was coming under threat, especially from the Jewish race. He argued that the Jews were lazy and had contributed little to the world civilisation, ignoring the fact that some of his favourite composers and musicians were Jewish. In Mein Kampf he says, “Jewish youth lies in wait for hours on end satanically glaring at and spying on the unconscious girl whom he plans to seduce, adulterating her blood with the ultimate idea of bastardizing the white race which they hate and thus lowering its cultural and political level so that the Jew might dominate.” Via Mein Kampf, Hitler underlined his promise that if he won power he would occupy Russian Land that would provide protection and Lebensraum for the German People. The writing of Mein Kampf was a tactical stroke of genius from Hitler. This book was what really made the Nazis a force as many people were inspired by Mein Kampf and gave full support to Hitler and the Nazis. Mein Kampf was a major piece of propaganda which won the hearts and minds of German people across the globe. Hitler had replenished his image through this book and this made up for his earlier bad judgement of Kahr which in due course cost him and the Nazis as they were dominated in the March on Munich. The course of History underwent a change when Mein Kampf was published.
The short term failure of the Munich Putsch is connected to Hitler’s naivety as he allowed Kahr to leave after the Bavarian Prime Minister had agreed to support the Nazis and their cause. This is because when Hitler let Kahr go, Kahr then alerted the Police and Army who the following day obstructed Hitler and Ludendorff’s plans to start the revolution in Munich and like Mussolini’s ‘March on Rome’, seize Berlin. This caused the Nazis to be disgraced as they were defeated and as a result leading members, of which General Ludendorff was one, were arrested at the March on Munich on the 9th of November 1923.
The Long term success of the Munich Putsch is connected to the failure and collapse of Weimar. This is because one of Hitler’s reasons behind initiating the Munich Putsch was the collapse of Weimar. The collapse of Weimar and the façade that was the ‘Golden Era’ led Hitler to believe that a strong leader was needed and that this leader could be him. This also connects to Versailles, because at Versailles Germany lost Ukraine which they had gained via the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1917. Hitler promised in Mein Kampf that if put into power he would occupy Russian land to provide Lebensraum for German people.
Overall, the Munich was a failure in the short term; however it was a success in the long term. The disgrace at the March on Munich and death of 16 Nazis supporters contributed to the short term failure. However the trial and the writing of Mein Kampf were major turning points which both contributed in placing Hitler and the Nazis firmly on the map. This meant the Nazis could now go from strength to strength and this was why the Munich Putsch was a success in the long term.