Marcel Krueger looks at Hitler’s first attempt to seize power in Germany…
‘The Weimar Republic was born in defeat, lived in turmoil, and died in disaster.’ – Peter Gay
The Weimar Republic was a fragile construct. Throughout its existence it was constantly harassed by strikes, coup attempts and the overall reluctance of the majority of German people to accept that a Republic was not for them. Indeed, while it seemed to provide degrees of personal liberty and cultural progression in metropoles like Cologne and Berlin, societal structures in the rural areas of Germany did not change much between the realms of the Kaiser and the President.
In 1923, an Austrian painter with a square moustache from Braunau am Inn tried to capitalise on this general resistance to overthrow the Weimar Republic in an event that became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. In September of that year, Bavarian Prime Minister Eugen von Knilling had declared a state of emergency and appointed Gustav von Kahr the State Commissioner. Together with Bavarian State Police head Colonel Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow, Kahr had formed an administrative triumvirate to govern Bavaria.
Hitler had moved to Munich in 1919 and joined the newly founded Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP); he was elected chairman of the party in 1921 and was granted nearly absolute powers, soon acquiring the title of Führer (‘leader’).
Hitler at this time saw the party as a revolutionary organization whose aim was the overthrow of the Weimar Republic, which he saw as controlled by socialists, Jews and the “November criminals” who had betrayed the German army in 1918. During 1921 and 1922, the Nazi Party grew significantly, partly through Hitler’s oratorical skills, partly through its appeal to unemployed young men, and partly because there was a backlash against liberal politics in Bavaria, as Germany’s economic problems deepened.
The party also recruited former World War One soldiers to whom Hitler, as a decorated frontline veteran, could particularly appeal. Nazi rallies were often held in beer halls, where the crowd would receive free beer—another reason for unemployed workers to join these meetings.
On November 8th 1923, together with Erich Ludendorff, commander of the German forces in World War One and a German national hero, Hitler gathered a large detachment of ‘storm troops’ to march to the centre of Munich and attack Kahr directly at the Bürgerbräukeller, a beer hall where Kahr was making a speech in front of 3,000 people.