The Munich Putsch was an attempted coup by the Nazi party led by Adolf Hitler in 1923 to seize power in Munich, Bavaria. Hitler burst into a meeting with nationalist politicians and forced them to agree to rebel, but the next day when Hitler marched into Munich expecting popular support, police and military forces stopped the Nazis and 16 were killed. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison, but was released after 9 months. Though the Putsch failed militarily, it brought Hitler widespread attention and helped spread Nazi ideology.

1. The Munich Putsch
Learning Objectives:
• Understand the causes of the Munich Putsch
• Identify the key features of the Munich Putsch
• To evaluate the consequences and analyse the successes and
failures of this event.
STARTER:
Recap on what we know
about the Nazi party so far.
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Room Number: 418028

2. The Munich Putsch
• During the crisis of 1923, Hitler plotted with
two nationalist politicians - Kahr and Lossow
- to take over Munich in a revolution.
• Hitler collected his storm troopers 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.
LO: Identify the
key features of
the Munich
Putsch
Hitler is
angered as
Kahr and
Lossow call
off the
rebellion

3. The Munich Putsch
LO: Identify the
key features of
the Munich
Putsch
On the night of 8 November
1923, Hitler and 600 storm
troopers 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.
‘No one leaves this room alive
without my permission’

4. The Munich Putsch
• The next day, 9 November
1923, Hitler and his Nazis 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 Nazis.
• Hitler fled, but was arrested
two days later.
LO: Identify the
key features of
the Munich
Putsch

5. The Munich Putsch
LO: Understand
the causes of
the Munich
Putsch
• Why might Hitler have decided to start
a revolution at this time?
Why Nazis
Supported Munich
Battle
• Weimar weaknesses
• Nazi Party Growing
• Stresemann calls off
resistance
• Mussolini’s Example
• Bavarian Rebellion
called off

6. The Munich Putsch
LO: To evaluate the
consequences and
analyse the
successes and
failures of this event
Create a newspaper report on the
Munich Putsch-pay attention to the
success criteria below when writing
your report:
• A newspaper headline and name
• A newspaper feel
• Pictures
• Use of columns
• Historical knowledge
• Interviews with those involved
• Clearly tells the story
• Uses the sources below
• A interpretation of whether the
putsch was a success or a failure
for the Nazis

7. The Putchists on Trial

8. The Munich Putsch
LO: To evaluate the
consequences and
analyse the
successes and
failures of this event
Consequences
• Hitler gained recognition not only for the Putsch but also for the
trial that took place later.
• His 24 day trial reached the front page on a daily basis. He
twisted the trial so even though he still went to prison, he
drummed up much support. He was the "saviour" of the German
people. He was such an orator that the way he spoke influenced
the judges on their decisions. The judge himself was a Nazi
supporter.
• Hitler was given 5 years with the chance of parole after just nine
months..
• This bias occurred again in other trials of members of the
NSDAP and therefore shows again that the elites of German
society were against the Weimar Republic.

9. The Munich Putsch
LO: To evaluate the
consequences and
analyse the
successes and
failures of this event
The Munich Putsch failed in its aim to take over. As a result:
1. The Nazi party was banned, and Hitler was prevented from speaking in public until 1927.
(But the ban was weakly enforced and the party gained an enormous amount of publicity!)
2. Hitler went to prison, where he wrote 'Mein Kampf'. Millions of Germans read it, and
Hitler's ideas became very well-known.
3. Hitler decided that he would never come to power by revolution; he realised that he would
have to use constitutional means, so he organised:
– the Hitler Youth
– propaganda campaigns
– mergers with other right-wing parties
– local branches of the party, which tried to get Nazis elected to the Reichstag
– the SS as his personal bodyguard, which was set up in 1925
It was this strategy of gaining power legitimately that eventually led to the Hitler and the
Nazis taking control.

10. The Munich Putsch
Hitler stated: “Instead of working to
achieve power by armed
conspiracy, we shall have
to hold our noses and enter
the Reichstag against the
Catholic and Marxist
deputies. If outvoting them
takes longer than
outshooting them, at least
the results will be
guaranteed by our own
Constitution!”
LO: To evaluate the
consequences and
analyse the
successes and
failures of this event