2.2 Munich Putsch and lean years, 1923-29 Flashcards
What was the Munich Putsch, and when did it take place?
In November 1923. It was an armed revolt intended to overthrow the Weimar Republic.
Long term causes of the Munich Putsch
- From 1918 - 23, a long list of grievances - such as the ‘stab in the back’, reparations and the loss of Germany’s colonies - had been building up.
- Among some Germans, there was a deep resentment of the Weimar Republic, which created support for nationalist parties like the NSDAP.
- The NSDAP had been growing in its Munich base in Bavaria. The Bavarian state government leaders were no fans of the Weimar government - shared some of the NSDAP’s views and turned a blind eye.
- By 1923, the NSDAP had 50,000 members.
Medium term causes of the Munich Putsch
Hitler was heavily influenced by Mussolini, and his march into Rome.
Short term causes
German people were bitterly aggrieved by hyperinflation and the invasion of the Ruhr by the French. The Weimar government seemed weak and unable to solve people’s problems. The time was ripe to exploit those grievances. In November 1923, Hitler made a bid for power.
Events of the Munich Putsch
Hitler thought he would take advantage of this and plotted with two nationalist politicians - Kahr and Lossow - to take over Munich in a revolution.
Hitler collected the SA and told them to be ready to rebel.
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.
On the night of 8 November 1923, Hitler and 600 SA members burst into a meeting that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall. Waving a gun at them, 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.
The next day, 9 November 1923, Hitler and the SA 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 members of the SA.
Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
Consequences of the Munich Putsch
- The Nazi party was banned and Hitler was prevented from speaking in public until 1927.
- Hitler was tried for high treason and sentenced to 5 years in prison - but was released after 9 months.
- Hitler used his trial to get national publicity for his views.
- Hitler used his time in prison to write Mein Kampf - which contained his political ideas. It was a propaganda book which was read by millions of Germans.
- Hitler realised that he needed a new strategy to gain power in Germany. A violent uprising had failed. He needed to build a party with nationwide support and use democracy, which he hated, to win power.
- The fact that the judge had been so lenient with the sentence and that Hitler had served so little time suggests that some people in authority had sympathy with Hitler and what he had tried to do.
What extreme racist views were highlighted in the Mein Kampf:
- He believed that the German race ( aryan race) was destined to rule the world.
- there was a jewish conspiracy to undermine the Aryan rule as they took over German industry and moderate political groups.
What were Hitler’s other views that were expressed in Mein Kampf?
Nationalism - reviving the power of Germany, for example by reversing the TOV. Hitler was also stressing Germany’s requirement for Lebensraum, or living space, to house its growing population. This required Germany to expand to the East into Poland and Russia.
Socialism - using the wealth of industry and land to benefit German working people, not rich landowners and industrialists.
Totalitarianism - The need to destroy the parliamentary system of government and replace it with that of a single, strong dictator.
Traditional German values - strong family values, clear male + female roles, strong work ethic, Christian morality and old-style German art, music and theatre.
Party reorganisation
The ban on the NSDAP was lifted in February 1925. The decision to pursue power through democratic methods meant the party needed a national structure to attract members, develop polices and campaign. Hitler put this in place during 1925 and 1926.
Hitler The SS Leadership Corps The SA Party membership Hitler Youth
The SS
Hitler also strengthened the paramilitary forces of the Nazi Party. By 1930, he had expanded the SA to 400,000 members. Whilst Hitler was in prison, the SA had become loyal to Ernest Rohm. So Hitler set up the SS with specially selected members to act as Hitler’s bodyguard.
They were placed under the control of Heinrich Himmler, a more senior member of the Nazi party. He expanded the SS to 3000 members by 1930. They were famous and feared for their menacing black uniforms, which were introduced in 1932.
Why did Hitler call a special Nazi party conference?
In response to tension between the northern and southern sections of the party. During his time in jail disagreements had grown between the two sections:
- the northern section, led by a man named Gregor Strasser, was keen to emphasise the socialist elements of the 25-Point Programme to attract support from the workers
- the southern section more interested in the nationalist and racist policies in order to attract support from the middle classes and farmers
What were the results of the Bamberg Conference of 1926
- Hitler’s control of the party was now clear. Goebbels was promoted as a rewards to turning to Hitler’s side, and although Strasser pledged his loyalty he was never really trusted by Hitler.
- Hitler insisted that policies which could be painted as communist, such as taking land from rich noblemen, would not be pursued.
- In addition, Hitler established the Fuhrerprinzip, or ‘Leader Principle’, the idea that the party’s leader was in absolute control and all members must follow his directions. No dissent from this was expected or tolerated.
Reasons for limited support, 1923-29
1) Gustav Stresemann’s economic policies had helped Germany a lot. After 1923, the introduction of a new currency and the Dawes Plan had helped to turn Weimar’s economy around and Germans began to feel more prosperous.
As a result of this, Germany was also more politically stable. Germans voted for moderate parties who supported the Republic, rather than more extreme parties like the Nazis who wanted to abolish it.
2) Under Stresemann, the Locarno Pact, membership of the League of Nations and the Kellogg-Briand Pact all gave Germany more status in the world. This cut support for nationalist parties like the NSDAP.
3) In 1925, Hindenburg became president of the Republic. As an ex-field marshal of the German Army, he was a war hero. This increased support for the Weimar Republic and cut support for parties who wanted to get rid of it.
4) As a result of this, the NSDAP won practically no support from the German working classes in the big cities. In the 1928 general elections, the Nazi Party won only 1% of the votes in Berlin.
