1. Hitler assembled the SA. He hoped to take power
by starting a revolution. During the crisis of 1923,
therefore, Hitler plotted with two nationalist politicians
- Kahr and Lossow - to take over Munich.
2. 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.
3. On the night of 8 November 1923, Hitler and 600 storm troopers burst
into a meeting that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall.
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.
4. The next day, 9 November 1923, Hitler and his Nazis 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 Nazis. Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
Why did Hitler
attempt the Munic
putsch?
By 1923, the Nazi party
had 55,000 members
and was stronger than
ever before.
The Weimar
Republic was
in crisis and
about to
collapse.
In September 1923,
the Weimar
government had called
off the general strike,
and every German
nationalist was furious
with the government.
Hitler thought
he would be
helped by
important
nationalist
politicians in
Bavaria.
Hitler had a huge
army of storm
troopers, but he
knew he would
lose control of
them if he did not
give them
something to do.
Hitler hoped to copy
Mussolini - the Italian
fascist leader - who
had come to power in
Italy in 1922 by
marching on Rome.
What were the results
of the Munic Putsch?
The Nazi party was banned, and Hitler was
prevented from speaking in public until 1927.
Hitler went to prison,
where he wrote 'Mein
Kampf'. Millions of
Germans read it, and
Hitler's ideas
became very
well-known.
Hitler decided that he would
never come to power by
revolution; he realised that he
would have to use constitutional
means, so he organised:
The SS as his personal bodyguard,
which was set up in 1925 It was this
strategy of gaining power legitimately
that eventually brought him to power.
The Hitler Youth
Propaganda campaigns
Mergers with other
right-wing parties
Local branches of the
party, which tried to get
Nazis elected to the
Reichstag.