Beer Hall Putsch

The Beer Hall Putsch occurred in the evening of Thursday, November 8 to early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923 when the nascent Nazi party's Führer Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund, unsuccessfully tried to gain power in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. (A putsch is what Germans call a coup d'etat or a revolt of a small number of people, e.g. a military coup.)

Background

Beer halls were huge taverns that existed in most larger South German towns, where hundreds or even thousands of people would gather during the evenings, drink beer out of stone jugs and sing rousing drinking songs. They were also places where political rallies would be held. One of the largest in Munich was the Bürgerbräu Keller where the putsch was launched.

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German power and prestige were destroyed in the aftermath of the war, another "betrayal" by the central government, as Hitler saw it. In September, he called out his 15,000 stormtroopers and announced that starting on September 27, 1923, he would be holding 14 mass meetings. This prompted the Bavarian Prime Minister Eugen Ritter von Knilling to declare a state of emergency and named Gustav von Kahr as Bavarian Commissar, Bavarian State Police head Col. Hans von Seisser, and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow as dictators (they were called the "triumvirs") to keep order.

Related Topics:
The war - Stormtrooper - September 27 - 1923 - Bavaria - Prime Minister - Eugen Ritter von Knilling - State of emergency - Gustav von Kahr - Hans von Seisser - Reichswehr - Otto von Lossow - Dictator

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Hitler with other leaders in the Kampfbund searched out the triumvirs, the leaders of the conservative-nationalist-monarchist groups to convince them to march upon Berlin and seize power. In April, before the establishment of the triumvir, Hitler would call von Kahr almost every day. Each thought to use the other to propel himself into power. Von Kahr sought to restore the monarchy; Hitler wanted to be dictator.

Related Topics:
Kampfbund - Berlin

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