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96-675: After the failed Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, the Nazi Party was outlawed and Adolf Hitler, being found guilty of treason , was jailed in Landsberg prison . After his release in December 1924, Hitler re-founded the Party on 27 February 1925 in Munich . At that time, it largely was centered in the state of Bavaria in southern Germany. Hitler realized that if his movement were to become

192-644: A "Westblock," to counterbalance the Munich leadership began in Elberfeld on 20 August 1925 between Strasser, Joseph Goebbels , then the Business Manager ( Geschäftsführer ) of Gau Rhineland-North, and other northern Party leaders. Strasser then took the initiative to call a meeting at Hagen in Westphalia for 10 September 1925. Though Strasser himself was absent due to his mother's serious illness,

288-489: A dispute with Hitler. Recognizing Goebbels' talents, Hitler began a campaign of lavishing attention on him. In the months following the Bamberg Conference, Hitler met with him several times and invited him to speak at important Party meetings, praising his performances and appearing jointly with him. He put his personal Mercedes at his disposal and even presented him with a bouquet of red roses on one occasion. At

384-542: A division named the Feldherrnhalle Regiment, and there was also an SA Feldherrnhalle Division. Der neunte Elfte (9 November, literally 'the ninth of the eleventh') became one of the most important dates on the Nazi calendar, especially following the seizure of power in 1933. Annually until the fall of Nazi Germany, the putsch would be commemorated nationwide, with the major events taking place in Munich. On

480-449: A few seconds ... Hitler had turned them inside out, as one turns a glove inside out, with a few sentences. It had almost something of hocus-pocus, or magic about it. Hitler ended his speech with: "Outside are Kahr, Lossow and Seisser. They are struggling hard to reach a decision. May I say to them that you will stand behind them?" The crowd in the hall backed Hitler with a roar of approval. He finished: You can see that what motivates us

576-500: A leading Party theoretician and a co-author of the 1920 Party program was given a copy of the draft program by a local Party official and he subsequently informed Hitler. When Strasser learned of this, he belatedly sent Hitler a copy on 8 January 1926 with the explanation that he was merely gathering views from colleagues for a possible revision. The third meeting of the Working Association took place on 24 January 1926 at

672-657: A man". He was determined to put down the putsch with or without Lossow. Danner set up a command post at the 19th Infantry Regiment barracks and alerted all military units. Meanwhile, Captain Karl Wild, learning of the putsch from marchers, mobilised his command to guard Kahr's government building, the Commissariat , with orders to shoot. Around 23:00, Major-General von Danner, along with fellow generals Adolf Ritter von Ruith  [ de ] and Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein , compelled Lossow to repudiate

768-523: A march against Germany's Weimar Republic government. But circumstances differed from those in Italy. Hitler came to the realisation that Kahr sought to control him and was not ready to act against the government in Berlin. Hitler wanted to seize a critical moment for successful popular agitation and support. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Hitler, along with a large detachment of SA , marched on

864-424: A parliamentary rail pass and could travel throughout the country while incurring no cost to the Party and, secondly, he enjoyed parliamentary immunity and could not be banned from speaking or sued for slander during his speechmaking. An effective public speaker and a skilled organizer, he traveled widely throughout Germany delivering speeches and establishing local Party organizations. He often personally selected

960-474: A ruling triumvirate. Hitler announced that he would hold 14 mass meetings beginning on 27 September 1923. Afraid of the potential disruption, one of Kahr 's first actions was to ban the announced meetings, placing Hitler under pressure to act. The Nazis, with other leaders in the Kampfbund , felt they had to march upon Berlin and seize power or their followers would turn to the communists. Hitler enlisted

1056-652: A sarcophagus bearing their name. In June 1945 the Allied Commission removed the bodies from the Ehrentempels and contacted their families. They were given the option of having their loved ones buried in Munich cemeteries in unmarked graves or having them cremated , a common practice in Germany for unclaimed bodies. On 9 January 1947, the upper parts of the structures were blown up. Free City of Hamburg Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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1152-618: A tactical mistake, Hitler decided to leave the Bürgerbräukeller shortly thereafter to deal with a crisis elsewhere. Around 22:30, Ludendorff released Kahr and his associates. The Bund Oberland, under the command of Max Ritter von Müller, was sent to seize weapons from the Army Engineer Barracks under the pretence of performing training manoeuvres. Oskar Cantzler, captain of the 1st company of the 7th Engineer Battalion, did not believe them, but allowed them to perform

1248-402: A threat to his supreme leadership of the Party from the membership. Several members of the Working Association, including Haase, Klant, Schlange, Schultz and Vahlen, were removed from their Gauleiter positions within about a year of the organization's dissolution. Yet several other members, such as Hildebrandt, Kaufmann, Kerrl, Koch, Ley, Lohse, Rust and Telschow went on to have long careers in

1344-465: Is neither self-conceit nor self-interest, but only a burning desire to join the battle in this grave eleventh hour for our German Fatherland ... One last thing I can tell you. Either the German revolution begins tonight or we will all be dead by dawn! Hitler, Ludendorff, et al. , returned to the main hall's podium, where they gave speeches and shook hands. The crowd was then allowed to leave the hall. In

1440-507: Is terrible. I have lost my inner support. I am only half myself. Hitler, however, was shrewd enough to appear generous in his victory, and moved to co-opt any further latent opposition. In order to divide the dissidents, he sought to tie them more closely to his Munich leadership. In April 1926, Hitler removed Esser as Propaganda Leader and Strasser was named Chairman for Organization and Propaganda, being formally created Party Reichspropagandaleiter on 16 September. In addition, Hitler approved

1536-643: The Sturmabteilung (SA, literally "Storm Detachment"), the paramilitary wing of the NSDAP. On 26 September 1923, following a period of terror and political violence, Bavarian Prime Minister Eugen von Knilling declared a state of emergency, and Gustav Ritter von Kahr was appointed Staatskomissar ("state commissioner"), with dictatorial powers to govern the state. Along with von Kahr , Bavarian state police chief Colonel Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow formed

1632-547: The Bürgerbräukeller , where Kahr was making a speech in front of 3,000 people. On the evening of 8 November 1923, 603 SA surrounded the beer hall and a machine gun was set up in the auditorium. Hitler, surrounded by his associates Hermann Göring , Alfred Rosenberg , Rudolf Hess , Ernst Hanfstaengl , Ulrich Graf , Johann Aigner, Adolf Lenk , Max Amann , Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter , Wilhelm Adam , Robert Wagner and others (some 20 in all), advanced through

1728-466: The Gaue . On 16 April 1926, a memorandum was issued to all Gauleiter insisting on pre-approval by Munich of all pamphlets issued by local Party organizations. Next, on 22 May 1926, Hitler convened a national membership meeting in Munich to consolidate his organizational hold over the Party. The meeting approved sweeping changes to the Party bylaws. These confirmed Hitler's leadership of the Party and declared

1824-661: The Kampfbund were scurrying around to arm themselves from secret caches, and seizing buildings. At around 03:00, the first casualties of the putsch occurred when the local garrison of the Reichswehr spotted Röhm's men coming out of the beer hall. They were ambushed while trying to reach the Reichswehr barracks by soldiers and state police; shots were fired, but there were no fatalities on either side. Encountering heavy resistance, Röhm and his men were forced to fall back. In

1920-613: The Löwenbräukeller . These reports reached Major Sigmund von Imhoff of the state police. He immediately called all his green police units and had them seize the central telegraph office and the telephone exchange, although his most important act was to notify Major-General Jakob von Danner , the Reichswehr city commandant of Munich. As a proud war hero, Danner loathed the "little corporal" and those " Freikorps bands of rowdies". He also did not much like his commanding officer, Generalleutnant Otto von Lossow , "a sorry figure of

2016-830: The Soviet Union a successful socialist national state and some, including Rust, even advocated an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union. They also admired the activism of the German Communist Party in attracting and mobilizing working class support. Of course, these views were incompatible with the anti-Communist and Lebensraum policies advocated by Hitler in Mein Kampf . The National Socialist Program consisting of 25 points had been proclaimed by Hitler in February 1920. Strasser felt that it

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2112-539: The Weimar Republic . Approximately two thousand Nazis marched on the Feldherrnhalle , in the city centre, but were confronted by a police cordon, which resulted in the deaths of 15 Nazis, four police officers, and one bystander. Hitler escaped immediate arrest and was spirited off to safety in the countryside. After two days, he was arrested and charged with treason . The putsch brought Hitler to

2208-469: The putsch , where Führerprinzip was on full display. Hitler discouraged initiative from the membership and reserved to himself all final decisions on resolutions and proposals. He was adamant that no issues associated with the Working Association be advanced, rejecting outright a proposal to favor blue-collar workers for positions as Gauleiter , whenever possible. All final programmatic, administrative and organizational decision-making power resided solely in

2304-524: The 16 fallen were the first losses and the ceremony was an occasion to commemorate everyone who had died for the movement. On 9 November 1935, the dead were taken from their graves and to the Feldherrnhalle . The SA and SS carried them down to the Königsplatz , where two Ehrentempel ('honour temples') had been constructed. In each of the structures, eight of the dead Nazis were interred in

2400-458: The 25 points of the program of 1920 to be "immutable." Hitler, reelected as Chairman of the Party, was made superior to the executive committee and answerable only to the general meeting. He was given final discretion over the expulsion of Party members, and even local branches. To maintain Party discipline, he instituted the Uschla , an internal Investigation and Settlement Committee, whose chairman

2496-899: The Bavarian government. The trial judge, Neithardt, was sympathetic toward Hitler and held that the relevant laws of the Weimar Republic could not be applied to a man "who thinks and feels like a German, as Hitler does." The result was that the Nazi leader remained in Germany. Though Hitler failed to achieve his immediate goal, the putsch did give the Nazis their first national attention and propaganda victory. While serving their "fortress confinement" sentences at Landsberg am Lech , Hitler, Emil Maurice and Rudolf Hess wrote Mein Kampf . The putsch had changed Hitler's outlook on violent revolution to effect change. From then his modus operandi

2592-521: The DAP on 12 September 1919. He soon realised that he was in agreement with many of the underlying tenets of the DAP, and rose to its top post in the ensuing chaotic political atmosphere of postwar Munich. By agreement, Hitler assumed the political leadership of a number of Bavarian revanchist "patriotic associations", called the Kampfbund . This political base extended to include about 15,000 members of

2688-693: The Education and Propaganda Department of the Bavarian Army under Captain Karl Mayr , of which Hitler became an agent. Captain Mayr ordered Hitler, then an army Gefreiter (not the equivalent of lance corporal, but a special class of private) and holder of the Iron Cross , First Class, to infiltrate the tiny Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (" German Workers' Party ", abbreviated DAP). Hitler joined

2784-554: The Hanover home of Gauleiter Rust. It became contentious when Feder arrived as Hitler's representative. Goebbels demanded that he be ejected, shouting: "We don't want any stool pigeons!" However, a vote was taken and Feder was allowed to participate. On the issue of expropriation, the proposal was weakened to say only that, if the expropriation of the nobles were to pass, then the property of all Jews who had entered Germany since August 1914 should likewise be confiscated. The draft program

2880-423: The Munich headquarters who had belonged to the rival Greater German People's Community , in particular, Hermann Esser , Julius Streicher and Philipp Bouhler . The Working Association organizers sought to curb what they perceived as the growing power and influence of these Munich leaders whom they felt to be too bureaucratic and controlling. Discussions about forming a consortium of sorts, at first referred to as

2976-540: The National Socialist Letters ( Nationalsozialistischen Briefe , or NS-Briefe ) was established, which appeared twice a month from 1 October 1925, and was published by Strasser and edited by Goebbels. Organizational statutes were adopted which were careful to state that the Working Association existed "with the express approval of Adolf Hitler." Most of the actions taken at this first meeting were purely organizational in nature, such as arranging for

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3072-557: The Party Reichsorganisationsleiter in January 1930, responsible for all Party organization and personnel matters. After Hitler, he was widely considered to be the most powerful and influential member of the Party hierarchy during those years. However, he had a falling out with Hitler over policy and tactical differences, which led to his resignation in December 1932; thereafter, he played no important role in

3168-759: The Party and the government of Nazi Germany until the fall of the regime in May 1945. Most successful of all was Goebbels, who became Party Reichspropagandaleiter in April 1930 and Reichsminister of Propaganda in March 1933, following the Nazi seizure of power . He would retain these posts, as well as that of Gauleiter of Berlin, until his suicide on 1 May 1945, and even was named by Hitler in his final political Testament as his successor as Reich Chancellor . As for Strasser, after serving as Party Reichspropagandaleiter , he became

3264-461: The Party toward obtaining power not by parliamentary means, but by mobilizing the urban masses into paralyzing the nation's economic and social systems through strikes, street terror and other activist tactics. The Working Association was composed of eleven Gaue , nearly all representing sections of Prussia (with the exception of the Free City of Hamburg ). Other prominent Nazis who were part of

3360-563: The Party's Propaganda Leader. The Working Association also urged support for a proposed referendum on the expropriation without compensation of the former royal and princely ruling houses of Germany . This was the same position taken by the two leading left-wing parties, the German Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany . This stance angered Hitler who feared that it would imperil

3456-869: The Party. Hitler had him murdered by the SS in Gestapo headquarters in Berlin during the Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934. Beer Hall Putsch German government victory [REDACTED] Kampfbund [REDACTED]   Weimar Republic The Beer Hall Putsch , also known as the Munich Putsch , was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler , Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff and other Kampfbund leaders in Munich , Bavaria , on 8–9 November 1923 , during

3552-562: The SA had disrupted a meeting of the Bayernbund ('Bavaria Union') which Otto Ballerstedt , a Bavarian federalist, was to have addressed, and the Nazi troublemakers were arrested as a result. Hitler ended up serving just over a month of a three-month jail sentence. Judge Georg Neithardt was the presiding judge at both of Hitler's trials. Hitler's trial began on 26 February 1924 and lasted until 1 April 1924. Lossow acted as chief witness for

3648-499: The SS stood guard between a lower plaque. Passers-by were required to give the Nazi salute . The putsch was also commemorated on three sets of stamps. Mein Kampf was dedicated to the fallen and, in the book Ich Kämpfe (given to those joining the party c. 1943), they are listed first even though the book lists hundreds of other dead. The header text in the book read "Though they are dead for their acts they will live on forever." The army had

3744-644: The University of Munich rioted and marched to the Feldherrnhalle to lay wreaths. They continued to riot until 9 November, when they learned of Hitler's arrest. Kahr and Lossow were called Judases and traitors. Two days after the putsch, Hitler was arrested and charged with high treason in the special People's Court . Some of his fellow conspirators, including Rudolf Hess, were also arrested, while others, including Hermann Göring and Ernst Hanfstaengl, escaped to Austria . The Nazi Party's headquarters

3840-514: The Working Association included Helmuth Brückner , Friedrich Hildebrandt , Heinrich Haake , Hanns Kerrl , Erich Koch , and Wilhelm Stich . Following the Hagen meeting, the Working Association advocated consolidation of the Gaue in the Rhineland and Ruhr areas into one large Gau encompassing all of Germany's industrial heartland. In October, it issued a call for the dismissal of Esser, then

3936-560: The Working Association took place in Hanover on 22 November 1925, where Strasser presented his draft document for consideration. The meeting did not result in the uniformly favorable response to the proposals that Strasser had hoped for, however. The Gauleiter , all being equals, jealously guarded their right to independent action, and there were genuine differences of opinion among them with regard to ideological issues. The members recommended that additional comments be submitted in writing and

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4032-458: The Working Association, which was left an empty shell that soon faded into irrelevance. Goebbels did not speak at all. He confided in his diary: Short discussion. Strasser speaks. Hesitant, trembling, clumsy ... I cannot say a word! I am stunned! ... My heart aches! ... I want to cry! ... A horrible night! Probably one of my greatest disappointments. I can no longer wholly believe in Hitler. This

4128-582: The action was not directed at the police and Reichswehr, but against "the Berlin Jew government and the November criminals of 1918". Dr. Karl Alexander von Mueller, a professor of modern history and political science at the University of Munich and a supporter of Kahr, was an eyewitness. He reported: I cannot remember in my entire life such a change in the attitude of a crowd in a few minutes, almost

4224-430: The areas of the economy and government structure, it retained many of the nationalist , völkisch and anti-semitic underpinnings of the original program. It called for the restoration of Germany's 1914 borders and the return of its former colonies. In addition, it advocated the expulsion of those Jews who had entered Germany since 1 August 1914 and the revocation of citizenship from all others. The second meeting of

4320-597: The armed militia organisation Reichskriegsflagge , were shot down accidentally in a burst of machine gun fire during the occupation of the War Ministry as the result of a misunderstanding with II/Infantry Regiment 19. Also honoured as a martyr in Mein Kampf was Karl Kuhn (born 7 July 1875), a head waiter in a restaurant. Allegedly he took part in the putsch as a member of the Freikorps Oberland, and

4416-557: The attention of the German nation for the first time and generated front-page headlines in newspapers around the world. His arrest was followed by a 24-day trial, which was widely publicised and gave him a platform to express his nationalist sentiments. Hitler was found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison , where he dictated Mein Kampf to fellow prisoners Emil Maurice and Rudolf Hess . On 20 December 1924, having served only nine months, Hitler

4512-500: The auditorium under heavy guard. Heinz Pernet , Johann Aigne and Scheubner-Richter were dispatched to pick up Ludendorff, whose personal prestige was being harnessed to give the Nazis credibility. A telephone call was made from the kitchen by Hermann Kriebel to Ernst Röhm , who was waiting with his Bund Reichskriegsflagge in the Löwenbräukeller , another beer hall, and he was ordered to seize key buildings throughout

4608-405: The city. At the same time, co-conspirators under Gerhard Rossbach mobilised the students of a nearby infantry officers' school to seize other objectives. Hitler became irritated by Kahr and summoned Ernst Pöhner , Friedrich Weber , and Hermann Kriebel to stand in for him while he returned to the auditorium flanked by Rudolf Hess and Adolf Lenk. He followed up on Göring's speech and stated that

4704-547: The course of events had been stained with blood, came to be known as the Blutfahne ('blood flag') and was brought out for the swearing-in of new recruits in front of the Feldherrnhalle when Hitler was in power. Shortly after he came to power, a memorial was placed at the south side of the Feldherrnhalle crowned with a swastika . The back of the memorial read Und ihr habt doch gesiegt! ('And you triumphed nevertheless!'). Behind it, flowers were laid, and either policemen or

4800-422: The crowded auditorium. Unable to be heard above the crowd, Hitler fired a shot into the ceiling and jumped on a chair, yelling: "The national revolution has broken out! The hall is surrounded by six hundred men. Nobody is allowed to leave." He went on to state that the Bavarian government was deposed and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Hitler, accompanied by Hess, Lenk, and Graf, ordered

4896-437: The draft would be reviewed at the next meeting in late January. Critiques which survive show that some attacked it as too radical from a socialist viewpoint and not radical enough in its völkisch aspects. Strasser's failure to keep Hitler informed of developments was a tactical error, for the Munich leadership was becoming increasingly suspicious of the activities of the Working Association. Around Christmas, Gottfried Feder ,

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4992-408: The east. Stunned by the forcefulness of Hitler's oration, Strasser spoke briefly and offered no defense or rebuttal. He was made to promise to retrieve all copies of the draft program that had been distributed, and he subsequently wrote to his membership on 5 March requesting that all copies be returned. Hitler had reasserted his authority as supreme Party leader and stamped out any potential threat from

5088-414: The end of August, Goebbels was offered the prestigious post of Gauleiter of the now expanded Gau Berlin-Brandenburg , which he accepted in late October 1926. The "charm offensive" worked, and Goebbels would remain one of Hitler's most loyal lieutenants until the end of the regime. In addition to essentially decapitating the Working Association, Hitler set about tightening and centralizing his control over

5184-404: The end, Hitler served just over eight months of this sentence before his early release for good behaviour. Prison officials allegedly wanted to give Hitler deaf guards, to prevent him from persuading them to free him. Although the trial was the first time that Hitler's oratory was insufficient, he used the trial as an opportunity to spread his ideas by giving speeches in the courtroom. The event

5280-406: The event and Heinrich Himmler spoke in his place. As the war went on, residents of Munich came increasingly to dread the approach of the anniversary, concerned that the presence of the top Nazi leaders in their city would act as a magnet for Allied bombers. Every Gau (administrative region of Germany) was also expected to hold a small remembrance ceremony. As material given to propagandists said,

5376-441: The government forces forced Hitler and Ludendorff to flee Munich, it was the origin of the Blutfahne ('blood flag'), which was stained with the blood of two SA members who were shot: the flag bearer Heinrich Trambauer, who was badly wounded, and Andreas Bauriedl, who fell dead onto the fallen flag. A bullet killed Scheubner-Richter. Göring was shot in the leg, but escaped. The rest of the Nazis scattered or were arrested. Hitler

5472-407: The help of World War I general Erich Ludendorff in an attempt to gain the support of Kahr and his triumvirate. However, Kahr had his own plan with Seisser and Lossow to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler. The putsch was inspired by Benito Mussolini 's successful March on Rome . From 22 to 29 October 1922, Hitler and his associates planned to use Munich as a base for

5568-574: The hosts of occasional political rallies. One of Munich's largest beer halls was the Bürgerbräukeller , which became the site where the putsch began. After the Treaty of Versailles , which ended World War I , Germany declined as a major European power. Like many Germans of the period, Hitler, who had fought in the German Army but still held Austrian citizenship at the time, believed

5664-435: The local ( Ortsgruppenleiter ) and regional ( Gauleiter ) Party administrators, subject to Hitler’s approval. The rapid development of the party structure in northern Germany in the following months was mainly the work of Strasser. Many of the local organizations in the north had to be created from scratch, and by the end of 1925 they numbered 262, as opposed to only 71 at the time of the 1923 putsch . The Working Association

5760-437: The manoeuvres inside the building. He locked the building with the 400 men inside and positioned two machine guns at the entrance. Hitler attempted to have the men released, but Cantzler refused. Hitler considered using artillery to destroy the building but chose not to. The night was marked by confusion and unrest among government officials, armed forces, police units, and individuals deciding where their loyalties lay. Units of

5856-568: The meantime, the Reichswehr officers put the whole garrison on alert and called for reinforcements. In the morning, Hitler ordered the seizure of the Munich city council  [ de ] as hostages . By mid-morning on 9 November, Hitler realised that the putsch was going nowhere. The putschists did not know what to do and were about to give up. At this moment, Ludendorff cried out, "Wir marschieren!" ('We will march!'). Röhm's force together with Hitler's (a total of approximately 2000 men) marched out – but with no specific destination. On

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5952-455: The meeting took place as scheduled with around 25 northern leaders present. The attendees formally established the "Working Association of the North and West German Gaue of the NSDAP." Strasser was elected Director of the Working Association and Goebbels became the Business Manager. Elberfeld, the seat of Gau Rhineland-North, served as the organization's headquarters. A journalistic organ named

6048-515: The national force that he envisioned, it would have to expand into the rest of the country, in particular, into both Prussia and Berlin , the national capital. Banned from public speaking in most of Germany, on 11 March 1925 Hitler charged Gregor Strasser, then the Gauleiter of Niederbayern ( Lower Bavaria ), with setting up Party organizations throughout northern Germany. As a Reichstag Deputy, Strasser possessed two advantages: first, he had

6144-674: The night of 8 November, Hitler would address the Alte Kämpfer ('Old Fighters') in the Bürgerbräukeller (after 1939, the Löwenbräu , in 1944 in the Circus Krone Building ), followed the next day by a re-enactment of the march through the streets of Munich. The event would climax with a ceremony recalling the 16 killed on the Königsplatz . The anniversary could be a time of tension in Nazi Germany. The ceremony

6240-599: The office of the Reich President while the Reichstag would be replaced by a corporatist "Chamber of Estates," representing occupational sectors and public institutions such as churches and universities. Germany's federal structure would be abolished and the President, elected to a seven-year term by the legislature, would appoint national and provincial executives and administrators. While proposing new ideas in

6336-430: The person of Hitler. The Weimar Congress reinforced the Party's image as a unified and disciplined political organization. The formal dissolution of the Working Association was announced by Strasser in the NS-Briefe of 1 October 1926. Finally, on 26 April 1927, the Völkischer Beobachter , the Party newspaper, declared that the NS-Briefe was not an official publication of the Nazi Party. Hitler would never again face

6432-409: The precedent that regional leaders could participate in the formulation of major Party policy. Hitler felt this would embroil the Party in endless doctrinal disputes that would detract from the main goal of attaining power. Rather than the party line being defined by him as Führer , he instead would be bound by a program subject to interpretation and change by the Party membership. The issue at stake

6528-486: The proposed merger of Gau Rhineland-North and Gau Westphalia into Großgau Ruhr, which took place on 7 March 1926. The new entity was entrusted to a tripartite leadership of Goebbels, Kaufmann and Pfeffer. After a few months of this unwieldy arrangement, Kaufmann was made sole Gauleiter on 20 June, while Pfeffer was given responsibility for the Sturmabteilung (SA) in July, taking over as Supreme SA Leader on 1 November and serving until August 1930 when he resigned in

6624-597: The prosecution. Hitler moderated his tone for the trial, centring his defence on his selfless devotion to the good of the people and the need for bold action to save them, dropping his usual anti-Semitism. He claimed the putsch had been his sole responsibility, inspiring the title Führer or 'leader'. The lay judges were fanatically pro-Nazi and had to be dissuaded by the presiding Judge, Georg Neithardt , from acquitting Hitler outright. Hitler and Hess were both sentenced to five years in Festungshaft  [ de ] ('fortress confinement') for treason. Festungshaft

6720-411: The putsch. There was one member of the cabinet who was not at the Bürgerbräukeller: Franz Matt , the vice-premier and minister of education and culture. A staunchly conservative Roman Catholic , he was having dinner with the Archbishop of Munich , Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber and with the Nuncio to Bavaria , Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli (who would later become Pope Pius XII ), when he learned of

6816-502: The putsch. He immediately telephoned Kahr. When he found the man vacillating and unsure, Matt made plans to set up a rump government-in-exile in Regensburg and composed a proclamation calling upon all police officers, members of the armed forces, and civil servants to remain loyal to the government. The action of these few men spelt doom for those attempting the putsch. The next day the archbishop and Rupprecht visited Kahr and persuaded him to repudiate Hitler. Three thousand students from

6912-404: The sharing of political and organizational resources, including propaganda materials and speakers, and working on coordinated joint political statements. The only policy decision taken was related to the question of electoral participation, and the representatives at Hagen unanimously agreed to reject participation in all elections, sending a letter to this effect to Hitler. This was aimed at pushing

7008-569: The spur of the moment, Ludendorff led them to the Bavarian Defence Ministry. However, at the Odeonsplatz in front of the Feldherrnhalle , they met a force of 130 soldiers blocking the way under the command of State Police Senior Lieutenant Michael von Godin  [ de ] . The two groups exchanged fire, which resulted in the deaths of 16 Nazis, four police officers, and one bystander. Although their defeat by

7104-403: The substantial financial support that he was deriving from many of the former nobles and from conservative business donors who favored his opposition to Communists, Socialists and trade unionists. In foreign policy, many Working Association members, including Strasser, Goebbels, Kaufmann and Rust held National Bolshevik ideas then common to many young right-wing German intellectuals. They saw in

7200-494: The treaty to be a betrayal, with the country having been "stabbed in the back" by its own government, particularly as the German Army was popularly thought to have been undefeated in the field. For the defeat, Hitler scapegoated civilian leaders, Jews and Marxists , later called the "November Criminals". Hitler remained in the army in Munich after the war. He participated in various "national thinking" courses, organised by

7296-492: The triumvirate of Kahr, Seisser and Lossow into an adjoining room at gunpoint and demanded they support the putsch and accept the government positions he assigned them. Hitler had promised Lossow a few days earlier that he would not attempt a coup, but now thought that he would get an immediate response of affirmation from them, imploring Kahr to accept the position of Regent of Bavaria. Kahr replied that he could not be expected to collaborate, especially as he had been taken out of

7392-496: The visitor book) was later sold at auction, it was noted that Ludendorff had visited Hitler a number of times. The case of the resurfacing papers was reported in Der Spiegel on 23 June 2006; the new information (which came out more than 30 years after Shirer wrote his book, and which Shirer did not have access to) nullifies Shirer's statement. Police units were first notified of trouble by three police detectives stationed at

7488-411: Was acquitted . Both Röhm and Wilhelm Frick , though found guilty, were released. Göring, meanwhile, had fled after suffering a bullet wound to his leg, which led him to become increasingly dependent on morphine and other painkilling drugs. This addiction continued throughout his life. One of Hitler's greatest worries at the trial was that he was at risk of being deported back to his native Austria by

7584-444: Was Strasser's attempt to consolidate the then still young and divergent Party organizations in northern and western Germany. The Gauleiter in these regions were more interested in appealing to the working class masses in the large industrial cities of northern Germany through a greater emphasis on social aims, than were the members of the Party leadership based in the more rural area of Bavaria. Consequently, their ideological approach

7680-474: Was again vigorously debated and there was even less agreement than previously, with not only Feder but Haase, Ley and Pfeffer voicing concerns on various points. In the end, the Strasser draft was not approved and further work on a new proposal was delegated to a small group. Though not intended as a direct threat to Hitler's leadership, the circulation and discussion of a revised Party program would clearly set

7776-593: Was arrested two days later. In a description of Ludendorff's funeral at the Feldherrnhalle in 1937 (which Hitler attended but without speaking) William L. Shirer wrote: "The World War [One] hero [Ludendorff] had refused to have anything to do with him [Hitler] ever since he had fled from in front of the Feldherrnhalle after the volley of bullets during the Beer Hall Putsch." However, when a consignment of papers relating to Landsberg prison (including

7872-502: Was cancelled in 1934, coming as it did after the so-called Night of the Long Knives . In 1938, it coincided with the Kristallnacht , and in 1939 with the attempted assassination of Hitler by Johann Georg Elser . With the outbreak of war in 1939, security concerns caused the re-enactment of the march to be suspended, never to be resumed. However, Hitler continued to deliver his 8 November speech through 1943. In 1944, Hitler skipped

7968-446: Was due for an update and began working on revisions to it in November 1925. His draft program called for the nationalization of all land, which would then be leased out. All estates over 1,000 acres would be broken into smaller peasant holdings. Fifty-one percent of "vital" and forty-nine percent of "non-vital" industrial production would be publicly owned but management would remain in private hands. Politically, it called for strengthening

8064-517: Was extensively covered in the newspapers the next day. The judges were impressed (Presiding Judge Neithardt was inclined to favouritism towards the defendants prior to the trial), and as a result, Hitler served just over eight months in prison and was fined 500  ℛ︁ℳ︁ . Due to Ludendorff's story that he was present by accident, an explanation he had also used in the Kapp Putsch , along with his war service and connections, Ludendorff

8160-491: Was fatally shot by the police. In reality, Kuhn was an innocent bystander. He was working as a waiter in a nearby restaurant when he stepped outside to watch, after which he was killed in the crossfire. The 15 fallen insurgents, as well as the bystander Karl Kuhn, were regarded as the first "blood martyrs" of the Nazi Party and were remembered by Hitler in the foreword of Mein Kampf . The Nazi flag they carried, which in

8256-628: Was more attuned to the "socialist" or "anti-capitalist" element of National Socialism. In addition, there were longstanding personal animosities between the northerners and many of the leaders of the Party in Bavaria. These dated from the time of the Party's dissolution when the two groups belonged to different Nazi front organizations . Strasser and northerners who had been in the National Socialist Freedom Movement had an intense hostility towards some Party leaders at

8352-451: Was named by him, along with the chairmen of other major Party committees. On 1 July 1926, new directives for Gaue and local branches were issued by Hitler which stated that "since the NSDAP represents a large study group, smaller study groups in the form of combinations of individual Gaue have no justification." Next, a Party Congress was held in Weimar on 3-4 July 1926, its first since

8448-457: Was needed, and that to tamper with it would dishonor the memory of those "martyrs" who had fallen in the 1923 putsch. In particular, he denounced the position favoring expropriation of the royal and princely houses, famously declaring: "For us there are today no princes, only Germans." He also firmly ruled out any thought of alliance with Soviet Russia and reaffirmed his view that the future of Germany depended on obtaining additional Lebensraum in

8544-407: Was not invited (ostensibly because Munich did not know he was a Gauleiter ), Pfeffer chose to absent himself, Haase did not attend due to illness and his Deputy Gauleiter , Hermann Fobke , also elected not to attend. There was no agenda and no debate. Hitler spoke for two hours and forcefully opposed the positions advocated by the Working Association. He denied that any change in the Party program

8640-664: Was raided, and its newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter ( The People's Observer ), was banned. In January 1924, the Emminger Reform , an emergency decree, abolished the jury as trier of fact and replaced it with a mixed system of judges and lay judges in Germany's judiciary . This was not the first time Hitler had been in trouble with the law. In an incident in September 1921, he and some men of

8736-479: Was released. Once released, Hitler redirected his focus towards obtaining power through legal means rather than by revolution or force, and accordingly changed his tactics, further developing Nazi propaganda . In the early 20th century, many of the larger cities of southern Germany had beer halls , where hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of people would socialise in the evenings, drink beer and participate in political and social debates. Such beer halls also became

8832-582: Was swift, direct and forceful. Hitler first met with Strasser in early February and secured his promise that the draft program would be withdrawn. He then called for a meeting of the Party leadership to be held in Bamberg in Upper Franconia on Sunday, 14 February 1925. Some sixty officials were invited, but the northern representatives were outnumbered by the southern attendees. Many of the prominent Working Association members did not attend: Kaufmann

8928-458: Was the mildest of the three types of jail sentence available in German law at the time; it excluded forced labour, provided reasonably comfortable cells, and allowed the prisoner to receive visitors almost daily for many hours. This was the customary sentence for those whom the judge believed to have had honourable but misguided motives, and it did not carry the stigma of a sentence of Gefängnis (common prison) or Zuchthaus (disciplinary prison). In

9024-524: Was to do everything "strictly legal". The process of "combination", wherein the conservative-nationalist-monarchist group thought that its members could piggyback on, and control, the National Socialist movement to garner the seats of power, was to repeat itself ten years later in 1933 when Franz von Papen asked Hitler to form a legal coalition government. The 15 deceased are listed in Hitler's dedication to Mein Kampf . Scheubner-Richter

9120-486: Was walking arm-in-arm with Hitler during the putsch; he was shot in the lungs and died instantly. He brought Hitler down and dislocated Hitler's shoulder when he fell. He was the only significant Nazi leader to die during the putsch. Of all the party members who died in the putsch, Hitler claimed Scheubner-Richter to be the only "irreplaceable loss". According to Ernst Röhm , Martin Faust and Theodor Casella, both members of

9216-472: Was whether the Party was to be guided by the Führerprinzip or whether authority was to be ultimately decided by the membership. Hitler perceived that if allowed to become an effective policy-setting organization, the Working Association might be able to mount a challenge to his supreme authority. In addition, Strasser's draft program also exposed the internal policy rifts in the Party. Hitler's response

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