Nazi Party Early Years & The Munich Putsch

Hitler and the growth of the Nazi Party to 1933

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Early Years, 1920-2

The German Workers' Party was formed in 1919. Hitler joined the party, and quickly became leader, this was mainly due to his amazing skill at public speaking. In 1920, the party was renamed the National Socialist German Wokers' Party, AKA the Nazis. With Hitler as leader, they announced the 25 point programme. This mainly consisted of ideas saying that Germany belong to the Germans so only they should live there, and others, such as Jews, must leave. 

Hitler organised his own private army in 1921, called the SA, (Stormtroopers). They were mostly young men, some used to be Friekorps. They dressed in brown, and were nicknamed the brownshirts. Supposedly, their role was to protect speakers at Nazi meetings from left-wing opponents. But in actual fact, they spent most of their time starting the violence and opponent party's speeches.

The Munich Putsch

Causes

1. Weimar Weaknesses: After the main period of the Weimar, people begun to feel their government was very weak, along with lots of extremist groups being set up. This lead to anger.
2. Nazi Party Growth: During the 1923 Crises, (Occupation of the Ruhr and Inflation). the Nazi party rapidly grew. It went from 6,000 members to 55,000. The SA were desperate for a revolution. Hitler became friends with General Ludendorff (An old German General). Hitler thought the army would follow Ludendorff in a Putsch.
3. Stresemann calling off Passive Resistance in the Ruhr: Every German was furious that Stresemann called off passive resistance in the Ruhr, they felt like he was giving it to France. There was a right-wing revolt in Berlin and the Rhineland declared independence as a result of this. The government had to proclaim a state of emergency.
4. Mussolini's Example: In 1922, Mussolini has seized control of the Italian government by marching on Rome. Hitler wanted to copy this.

Events

8 Nov 1923: Hitler interrupted the Beer Hall meeting, and forced Kahr, the Bavarian Prime Minister, and two officials to support him in overthrowing the Reich government. The SA took over the Army HQ. Jews were beaten up and the anti-Nazi newspaper offices were trashed. However, Hitler then made a mistake by releasing Kahr. Kahr went on to call in the police with army reinforcements.

9 Nov 1923: The Nazis marched on Munich, but got stopped by the police in one street. They had made a blockade. The Nazis tried to push through, but as a result 16 Nazis died, and 3 policeman. Hitler ran off, and got arrested two days later. Whereas Ludendorff kept trying to push on through the blockade, but he got arrested.

Results

The Nazis were defeated and their leaders were arrested. Hitler was arrested and put on trial for treason. He was imprisoned for 9 months and forbidden to speak in public. BUT: Hitler turned his trial into a publicity stunt, giving long speeches. Before the Putsch, no one had really heard of Hitler, but after his trial, he became a national hero, as he went against the idea of stopping passive resistance in the Ruhr.

 Even the judge said he agreed with Hitler, so gave him a short sentence. 

While in Prison, Hitler wrote his book, 'Mein Kampf', this sold in the millions. He set out his beliefs in this book, and made him the leader of right-wing opposition to Weimar. Furthermore, Hitler realised he was not going to gain power by force and rebellion, but in fact he would have to be elected.