Munich Putsch

Munich Beer Hall Putsch

The Munich Beer Hall Putsch is simply another term for the Munich Putsch. Don't be alarmed, as mentioned above, the movement of the Munich Putsch was instigated by Hitler in the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall. This was where the movement began marching. Thus, if you ever see come across the term 'Munich Beer Hall Putsch', remember that it is talking about the Munich Putsch of 8 November 1929.

Causes of the Munich Putsch

The main causes of the Munich Putsch are:

• Treaty of Versailles seen as treason not only by Hitler but a large part of German nation;

• overall weakness of the Weimar government;

• French occupation of the Ruhr;

• ongoing economic crisis and spiraling hyperinflation.

The Munich Putsch was Hitler's attempt to overthrow the Weimar government he believed to have been unable to run and govern Germany. A First World War veteran himself, Hitler took the Weimar republic's forced signing of the Treaty of Versailles very personally.

Fig. 3: Corporal Adolf Hitler in 1921

However, Hitler was not the only one who saw the Weimar government as treacherous to the German nation. No. The German people had even gone as far as calling the Weimar government the "Criminals of November", named so after the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918 that was foundational to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

The hyperinflation that plagued Weimar Germany from 1921 was also one of the main reasons behind the German dissatisfaction with their government. In addition to hyperinflation, strikes and attempts to overthrow the Weimar government were not uncommon. Just three years ago, the Weimar Republic had survived the Kapp Putsch, an attempted coup d'état that in the beginning seemed to have been successful at overthrowing the government but ultimately failed. In the end, the Kapp Putsch only revealed how weak the German state was from within.

No doubt Hitler and the Nazi party believed that they could be the ones to overthrow the incompetent government and establish their own. A strong government, superior to its predecessors.

Hitler, however, was not inspired by the Kapp Putsch in Germany, but rather by the March on Rome in Italy. Hitler saw an opportunity that maybe it was time to change the tactics of a putsch, maybe it was time to gather public support not only by circumstance but also by force. This was exactly why Hitler like to. use the SA. The SA was an armed paramilitary organisation during his speech in the beer hall stood with machine guns intimidating all present to listen to Hitler's speech.

Ultimately, the cause of the Munich Putsch was simple. As stated many times over, the Weimar government was seen as a poor example of German governance and to many, an insult to what Germany used to represent. Might. Germany no longer inspired fear in its neighbours, nor did it evoke respect from them. And Hitler believed it to be him to break Germany out of this prison of decrepitude.

Munich Putsch Failure

Unbeknownst to Hitler, the Munich Putsch was destined to fail. Despite a larger number of putschists, with the arrival of the much more well-organised Munich police and the Reichswehr, the attempted coup d'état was subdued following a firefight that followed a mass brawl in Central Munich.

With over a dozen dead on the Nazi side and about 5 on the Munich police side, the Putsch failed after the firefight began showing real casualties. Though Hitler also fled, he was arrested days later in the German countryside and sentenced to 5 years in the Landsberg Prison for treason.

Fig. 4: The Landsberg Prison. The yellow arrow indicates Hitler's cell

Yet, despite everything, the Munich Putsch failed not only as a coup d'état but also in gathering public support. After the Kapp Putsch, public opinion regarding rebellions was not all that positive. Yes, the German people were dissatisfied with the Weimar government, but no plan to overthrow the government since the end of the Great War had succeeded. It was hard to blame the public for not rallying around Hitler, to them he was just another man dissatisfied with the government.

Munich Putsch Consequences

The Munich Putsch proved that the German people were not yet ready to rally around one leader. However, the putsch itself proved to be advantageous to Hitler himself. But why, wasn't he imprisoned and charged with treason? Yes, he was, but it goes a bit deeper than that.

We can list the main consequences of the Munich Putsch below:

• imprisonment of Hitler and his collaborators in Landsberg;

• temporarily banning Nazi Party in Bavaria and Hitler from public speaking;

• strenghtening Hitler's position within the Nazi Party;

• change in Hitler's strategy of taking over power in Germany.

When Hitler was sent to the Landsberg prison to serve five years, he was joined by some of his closest companions such as Rudolf Hess and Emil Maurice. The prison was anything but a prison, it was more like a dorm room filled with Hitler and his colleagues.