THE MUNICH PUTSCH AND THE NAZI PARTY

• CAUSES OF THE MUNICH PUTSCH

  • The French invasion of the Ruhr caused many shortages of goods in Germany
  • Mussolini, the fascist leader of Italy, inspired Hitler. Mussolini led his successful ‘March on Rome’ in 1922. 
  • The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 was a ‘dolchstoss’ for many Germans
• EVENTS OF THE MUNICH PUTSCH

  • On 8th November 1923, Hitler stormed into the Bavarian government's meeting with 600 members of the SA. Hitler jumped on table and fired a gun. In his speech, he stated he was taking over Munich and marching on Berlin
  • Hitler took Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow to a side room. At gunpoint, he made the men agree to support his plan and make Ludendorff the head of the Army.
  • The men asked Ludendorff if they could return home as their wives would be worried. Ludendorff released the men. The three warned Ebert of Hitler's putsch
• EVENTS OF THE MUNICH PUTSCH P2

  • 9th November - Hitler realised the Bavarian leaders had betrayed the putsch. At midday, 1000 SA and 2000 volunteer supporters continued the putsch. They marched to the centre of Munich and declared Hitler as President of Germany.
  • Rohm had not taken control of the main army barracks. The Army opened fire. 14 Nazis were killed. Goering was shot in the groin. Ludendorff, Rohm was arrested. Hitler is arrested on 11th November
  • 1924 - Ludendorff not guilty(war hero), Hitler sentenced to 5yrs
• WHY DID THE PUTSCH FAIL?

  • Hitler left the beer hall placing Ludendorff in charge of watching the Bavarian officials
  • Ludendorff failed in this role by being persuaded to let Kahr, Seisser and Lossow go.
  • Hitler continued with the putsch after learning he had lost the support of the Bavarian officials
  • Hitler and the SA only had 2,000 guns. Not possible to fight the Army.
  • Hitler rushed the execution of the Munich Putsch
  • If Hitler had delayed the putsch, this would have allowed for better preparation and a bigger chance of success
• CONSEQUENCES FOR HITLER

  • P: Hitler could have been deported, but he avoided this by impressing the right-wing judges,  Hitler became a national celebrity, In prison, Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf (‘My Struggle’), which formalises his ideas and a new approach to how to govern Germany, Hitler realised violent putsches did not work instead he realised he has to gain power legally
  • N: Convicted of high treason, The Munich authorities decided to ban the NSDAP. Many Germans believed Hitler had missed his opportunity to govern Germany
• MEIN KAMPF KEY BELIEFS

  • The superiority of the Aryan race - Hitler believed the German race was the best in the world. 
  • Social Darwinism - He believed the Aryan race was the best and the Jewish race was the worst. 
  • Lebensraum - 'living space' -  Hitler theorised that the Aryan race needed more territory so that the population could grow.
  • Führerprinzip - The concept was that Germany needed an autocratic leader with ultimate power
• LIMITED SUPPORT FOR NAZI PARTY

  • Stresemann's policies improved life in Germany. The political pacts of Locarno and Kellogg-Briand improved Germany's status in Europe.
  • Many critics now supported the Weimar Republic - 1928 elections - Nazi Party only won 3% of the votes. In times of economic success, less workers supported the NSDAP.
• PARTY REORGANISATION

  • Hitler divided Germany into 35 regions (called gaue)
  • Each gau (single region) had a local Nazi Party leader called a gauleiter
  • Hitler left it to the Nazi members in the gaue to fight over who became the gauleiter
  • Hitler strongly believed in the survival of the fittest mentality.
  • Strasser and Goebbels were powerful gauleiters in their onw areas
  • To fund a national party, Hitler persuaded business owners to contribute:
  • Big corporations such as Thyssen, funded the Nazi Party
  • Business owners were scared of trade unions as they had a strong link to communism.
• BAMBERG CONFERENCE

  • Hitler began to realise that the Nazi Party was splitting into ‘nationalist’ and ‘socialist’
  • In 1926, Hitler called a party conference in Bamberg
  • OUTCOMES
  • Hitler called the ‘socialist’ side of the NSDAP “communists” (enemy of NSDAP)
  • Hitler persuaded Goebbels(now gauleiter of Berlin) to switch to the ‘nationalist’ side 
  • NATIONALIST ASPECTS:
  • Reminding Germans of the ‘dolchstoss’ committed by the WG in 1919.
  • Accusing the Jewish people of being ‘enemies of Germany’.
  • Promoting the return to traditional values