The Beer Hall Putsch

   

    The Great Depression had thrown Germany into economic, political, and social turmoil.  Many Germans were fed up with the Weimar Republic's failure to provide for them and was demanding change.  Around the world governments were faced with the various groups demanding radical change at home.  In Germany some groups were demanding the return of the monarchy, others wanted a communist revolution like in Russia, and a small group of fascists wanted the republic to be replaced.

         The Nazis were originally known as the German Worker's Party.  Hitler became a member of the party in 1919 and quickly emerged as the leader. The party was made up of many veterans of World War I who had grown tired of Weimar's policies.  Under Hitler's leadership the party changed the name to Nationalist Socialist Party or in German:Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP, Nazi for short.  By 1920 the party had grown to include around 3,000 members.

        Hitler realized one thing the movement lacked was a recognizable symbol or flag. In the summer of 1920, Hitler chose the symbol which to this day remains perhaps the most infamous in history, the swastika.

        It was not something Hitler invented, but is found even in the ruins of ancient times. The swastika was originally a symbol of peace.  Hitler had seen it each day as a boy when he attended the Benedictine monastery school in Lambach, Austria. The ancient monastery was decorated with carved stones and woodwork that included several swastikas.

       But when it was placed inside a white circle on a red background, it provided a powerful, instantly recognizable symbol that immediately helped Hitler's party gain popularity.  Hitler described the symbolism involved: "In the red we see the social idea of the movement, in the white the national idea, in the swastika the mission to struggle for the victory of Aryan man and at the same time the victory of the idea of creative work, which is eternally anti-Semitic and will always be anti-Semitic."

In a short period of time, Hitler was able to turn a symbol that for thousands of years stood for peace, into a symbol of hatred and ignorance.

      On November 8, 1923, Hitler and his followers attempted a "putsch" or a coup in the city of Munich.  Hitler's plan called for the capture of three government officials who would be at a Beer Hall in Munich.  A second, larger group of Nazis were to have the barracks in Munich surrender and secure the city. Once he had the officials convinced to help him lead an overthrow of the government he would march from Munich to Weimar and be given control of the nation.  

   Hitler had a machine gun placed outside the beer hall to prevent anyone from getting out, and around 8:30 he stormed into the Beer Hall, fired his pistol into the air and demanded that the hundreds of people gathered inside be silent. "The National Revolution has begun!" Hitler shouted. "...No one may leave the hall. Unless there is immediate quiet I shall have a machine gun posted in the gallery. The Bavarian and Reich governments have been removed and a provisional national government formed. The barracks of the Reichswehr and police are occupied. The Army and the police are marching on the city under the swastika banner!"  The people inside did not know that this was a complete lie looked on in silence. 

        Hitler gathered the three officials and demanded that they join him in declaring a Nazi Revolution and join him in the new government.   The three men refused to speak to the skinny man with the mustache, and blankly stared at him.  Hitler took out his pistol and informed the men that he had four bullets in the chamber, three for them and one for him.  If the revolution did not work, they all would have the same fate.

       The Nazi troopers failed to take over the German barracks in the city.  As time dragged on, Hitler began to realize that his revolution was failing, and failing fast.  He left the Beer Hall to try and convince the soldiers to surrender and join him in revolution, but had no such luck.  When he leaves, the three officials trick the Nazi captures into letting them go, and Hitler returns with no troop support and no hostages. 

   All night Hitler paced trying to figure out his next move.  The next day, at 11:00, Hitler led three thousand of his followers into the streets of Munich to capture city hall.  German police and military had blocked the road by the capital and as the Nazis marched towards the police, violence seemed unavoidable.  Both sides fired at each other, 16 Nazis were killed, and 4 police officers died protecting the city.  Hitler is knocked down and crawls away, escaping serious harm.

After three days of hiding and fear of execution, Hitler is arrested by the authorities.  His glorious Nazi Revolution had only lasted for less than 24 hours.   He is placed on trial and sentenced to five years in prison. 

The Weimar Republic 1918-1933

German soldiers returning from World War I came home to a very different Germany.  Gone was the German Empire with colonies in Asia and Africa led by the Kaiser Wilhelm II.  Gone was the industrial Rhineland, as well as the port city of Danzig.  Many came home to find that their homes or businesses had been destroyed in the conflict.  The capital of the German Empire had been the proud city of Berlin; the new government had the capital in the city of Weimar. 

 The new Republic faced an uphill battle of rebuilding a nation that had lost over 1.7 million men in combat, had over 4.2 million men return home wounded.  In addition to the loss of human life, many German farms and factories had been destroyed in the fighting.  Soldiers and civilians lost their jobs and unemployment soared.  The “War Guilt Clause” made it nearly impossible for the German nation to begin rebuilding.  The Treaty of Versailles placed Germany responsible for the War, and had to pay damages to Great Britain, France, and Belgium.

   1919-1923

From 1919-1923, the Republic faced years of crisis.  Many conservative groups in Germany wanted a return to an authoritarian style of government like the old German Empire.  The groups began to blame the Republic for the defeat of Germany during the first World War, claiming that the Republic had allied itself with Jews and Socialist, brining Germany to defeat.  Many veterans of W.W.I joined these groups, fueled by their anger and resentment.

 The Republic’s economy faced a severe depression during this time period as well. Prices for basic goods soared throughout the country.  The Weimar Republic began to print out more money to try and help the German citizens deal with high prices, this proved to be a disaster. The value of the German deutschemark (German currency) before W.W.I was 4.2 to 1 U.S. dollar.  By August 1923, 1 million deutschemarks equaled 1 U.S. dollar. 

  By 1923, the German government was unable to pay the reparations to Britain, France, and Belgium.  As a result the French and the Belgium governments sent in troops to occupy the Ruhr Valley in Germany.  The Ruhr Valley was the industrial center of Germany, home to coal mines, factories, iron deposits, and steel mills.  German workers refused to work for the French or the Belgiums and went on strike.  Fights broke out between the Germans and the French, and some German workers were killed.  The rest of Germany demanded that the French and Belgium troops leave Germany, and protests took place all over the country.

  1924-1929

The United States looked on the crisis in Germany with growing concern.  The last thing that the U.S. wanted was another war in Europe.  Charles Dawes was asked by Britain and the United States to formulate a plan that would bail out the German economy.  The Dawes Plan, had the United States loan Germany money so that the German government could pay off its debts to the Allied nations of Europe.  In addition to this the German economy was going to be restructured and issue a new type of currency.   One the loans were put in place, France and Belgium agreed to withdraw their troops from the Ruhr Valley.

 This eased the economic burden that was placed on Germany.  For the next five years the German economy would grow and the Weimar Republic flourished.  Germany became one of the leading nations in architecture, music, math and science, and fashion.

The Bauhaus style of architecture revolutionized modern buildings in cities across the world.  The type of design was radically different from the previous style of the 19^th century. 

 Arnold Schoenberg was a composer living in Germany.  He developed a new twelve tone technique that influenced an entire generation of composers across the world.  Along with Richard Strauss, Germany was at the center of the  Classical Musical World. 

 

During this period Fritz Lang produces what many consider the first scientific film, Metropolis.  The film painted a dark future where the population of the world had been divided.  Planners and Thinkers live on Earth in luxury, while the workers live underground. 

  In October of 1929, the stock market crashes in America and the U.S. enters what historians call, “The Great Depression.”  As the American economy worsened, banks and businesses began to close.  The American government cancels the Dawes Plan, and the Depression spreads to Germany.

1929-1933

The Depression quickly ended the period of economic growth that Germany had briefly enjoyed.  The numbers of unemployed Germans grows at an alarming rate, from 1.8 million in 1928 to over 6 million in 1932.  As more and more Germans lose their jobs and savings, many blamed the Weimar Republic for failing to provide for them.  The people of Germany felt that the democratic system had failed them and that it would take a strong leader, like the kaiser to bring the country out of the Depression.