Thread by @prchovanec

100 years ago today (November 8-9, 1923), the Nazi Party, led in person by Adolf Hitler, unsuccessfully attempted to seize power in Munich in what became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. #100yearsago

Hitler believed that hyperinflation (which had destroyed many people's savings) and the renewed French occupation of the industrial Ruhr had laid the foundation for a coup similar to Mussolini's seizure of power in Italy the previous year.

Just as Mussolini led his Fascists in a "March on Rome", Hitler intended to launch a rising in Munich and then march to Berlin, where the democratic Weimar government would be deposed.

The coup attempt kicked off at a large beer hall called the Bürgerbräukeller, in central Munich, where local politicians were speaking to a crowd of 3,000 people. Hitler expected them to be sympathetic and join the uprising.

Hitler had secured the participation of two well-known war heroes, Erich Ludendorff (one of Germany's top generals in World War I) and Hermann Göring (a top flying ace), which he believed would rally popular support.

Hitler's arrival at the beer hall did not go as planned. The local politicians and generals were reluctant to join his revolt, but played along after he fired his pistol into the ceiling. Thinking he had persuaded them, Hitler let down his guard - and let them escape.

By morning, it was clear that things were going off the rails. Still, with his Nazi followers gathering throughout the city, Hitler decided to lead a march through the center of Munich to face down local authorities and force them to choose sides.

Hitler and his top comrades linked arms and marched down the street to the Odeonsplatz - a scene they would later reenact many times after Hitler came to power a decade later.

To their shock, after warning them to halt, the soldiers send to stop them opened fire. Hitler was injured when the marcher next to him was shot dead. 19 Nazis, four police officers, and one bystander were killed in the ensuing firefight.

The injured Hitler fled and hid in a friend's home in the countryside. Depressed and believing his movement was destroyed, he had to be prevented from killing himself when the police came to arrest him.

The leading members of the Putsch were arrested and put on trial. But Hitler rallied himself, and put on a vibrant courtroom defense that won him widespread attention and admiration across Germany, including from the judges.

Instead of being deported (back to Austria), Hitler (along with his comrades) was given a lenient sentence. Ludendorff was acquitted outright. Many Germans seemed to sympathize with his motives, if not the plot itself.

Hitler used his short - and comfortable (admirers kept sending him gifts of food) - time in prison to write "Mein Kampf", a fiery dissertation on his philosophy and goals. It became a huge bestseller, and a big money-maker for Hitler personally.

Interestingly, though, the Putsch and its outcome convinced Hitler that to succeed, the Nazis would have to pursue a "legal" path to power through elections, rather than an armed uprising. Which didn't, of course, rule out roughing up opponents.

In the short-run, Hitler and the Nazis receded in popularity as the German economy recovered in the 1920s. But the Beer Hall Putsch established Hitler's fame and reputation, which would rise to the fore again when the Great Depression hit in 1929.

BTW, Hermann Göring was badly wounded in the firefight at the Odeonplatz, and never fully recovered. He developed a morphine addiction which plagued him even after the Nazis rose to power and he took command of Germany's Air Force, the Luftwaffe.

If you're interested in the Beer Hall Putsch and its immediate aftermath, I highly recommend reading "1924: The Year That Made Hitler" by Peter Ross Range. amazon.com/1924-Year-That…

The same author wrote an excellent sequel that tracks Hitler's subsequent rise to power by (mostly) legal means: amazon.com/Unfathomable-A…

Sidenote: until Hitler's performance at the trial, most people saw Ludendorff as the main figurehead of the coup attempt. Ludendorff was not thrilled at being upstaged by a former corporal.