The Munich Putsch

• Hitler's early years

  • Adolf Hitler was born in a small town in Austria-Hungary, near to the German border
  • His parents were both dead by 1907
  • He tried to train as an artist in his late teens, but failed to get a place at the famous Vienna Art Academy
  • He made money doing odd jobs and moved to Munich, across the border in southern Germany
  • In 1914, he joined the German army when the First World War broke out
  • During the war, he worked mainly as a messenger and fought in many battles
  • He was awarded several medals, including Germany's highest bravery award
  • He was injured in October 1918 and was still in a military hospital when the war ended
  • He returned to Munich after he recovered
• Hitler and politics

  • Hitler first discovered the German Worker's Party in May 1919, when he was sent by the army to investigate new political groups
  • This party had only started a few months before
  • It was one of many small political parties in Munich at this time
  • Its members met in beer halls and Hitler attended regularly because he liked what was being said
  • People made speeches about how the Treaty of Versailles made Germany weak and defenceless, and how the country would become a powerful nation once more
  • This appealed to Hitler, a wounded and defeated ex-soldier who hated the politicians who ended the war which Germany had not lost on the battlefield
• Hitler and politics pt.2

  • Hitler soon joined the German Worker's Party and threw himself into the task of attracting new members
  • He put advertisements in newspapers, and held public meetings all over Munich
  • Hitler was a brilliant speaker who could fascinate his audience with powerful speeches
  • In the early days of radio, and with no television, this was a very important skill
  • He even persuaded the party to buy a newspaper to put forward their views
  • Before long, Hitler was running the party
• The Nazi Party is born

  • As leader, Hitler made some key changes
  • He designed a new flag symbol - the swastika - in order to attract attention, and set up the party's private army
  • This violent group of mostly ex-soldiers were known as the Stormtroopers (SA) and wore a brown uniform with swastika armbands
  • They would beat up anyone who criticised Hitler or the party, guard Hitler's meetings, and disrupt the meetings of other political parties
  • He also changed the party name to the National Socialist German Workers Party, known as the Nazi Party for short
  • Under Hitler's influence, the Nazi Party grew
  • There were 3,000 members in 1920 and 5,000 in 1921
  • The party was still a minor political party, but by 1923, Hitler felt confident enough in his party - and his own abilities - to try to take over Munich, and then Germany
• Munich Putsch


  • On 8 November 1923, Hitler interrupted a meeting in a beer hall in Munich where Gustav von Kahr, the head of the Bavarian government, was speaking (Bavaria is a region of Germany; Munich is its biggest city)
  • Hitler fired a bullet into the ceiling and announced that he was taking over Bavaria, and then he would march to the German capital of Berlin and take over the whole country
  • He locked Kahr and his companions in a small room
  • Then General Ludendorff, a German war hero who knew about the plan, walked in and said he supported Hitler
  • Around Munich, Hitler's Stormtroopers took control of government buildings and arrested officials
• The Munich Putsch pt.2

  • The morning after the Munich Putsch, things did not go to plan for Hitler
  • Kahr promised to help him and was released, but went back on his word and contacted the police
  • When Hitler and about 2,000 supporters began their march through Munich's streets, they were met by armed police
  • After a short gun battle, 3 policemen and 16 Nazis lay dead
  • Hitler was wounded with a dislocated shoulder, and he and Ludendorff were arrested and taken to prison
  • The Munich Putsch, as it became known, was over, and Hitler went on trial for treason
• Trial and imprisonment

  • Hitler's trial lasted 24 days
  • It was a media sensation, reported in newspapers all over Germany
  • This was the largest audience Hitler had ever had, and he used every opportunity to criticise the government and put across his political views
  • His tactics seemed to work and he impressed the judges
  • Ludendorff was set free and Hitler was sent to prison for just five years (he could have been executed for such a serious crime but was released in December 1924 after serving just nine months)
  • Other Nazis got away with equally light sentences
• Mein Kampf

  • Hitler spent some of his time in prison sorting out his ideas, and seeing as many visitors as he wished
  • He also wrote a book called Mein Kampf, which became a bestseller; it described his life story and his political and racial views
• Jews

  • Hitler's hatred of Jews was clear in Mein Kampf
  • Anti-Jewish feelings had been around for a long time, and were very common in Vienna, where Hitler lived between 1907 and 1913
  • Like many Germany at this time, Hitler blamed Jews for Germany's defeat in the war and claimed that Jewish bankers and businessmen had not done enough to help the country
  • The false idea that Jewish people were responsible for all of Germany's problems became one of the Nazi's core beliefs
• Impact of the putsch on Hitler

  • The failure of the Munich Putsch, and his time in prison, taught Hitler a valuable lesson
  • He realised he had to change his strategy
  • The Nazis would have to stand in elections and win votes, just like any other political party
  • Their attempt to forcefully take over Germany had failed - instead, they would have to win power democratically