Just Finished Reading: 1923 – The Crisis that Led to Hitler’s Coup by Mark Jones (FP: 2023) [328pp] 

The so-called ‘Beer Hall putsch’ of 1923 where a young Adolf Hitler and his followers tried to take power in Munich is another one of those historical events that I knew of but knew little detail about. No more! What I failed to appreciate previously is the truism that nothing – especially politically charged events - happens in a vacuum. That was as true here as everywhere else. 

1923 was a tumultuous year for the Weimar Republic in Germany. Beset with problems on all sides it was barely holding on. Indeed many – on both the Left and the Right – disputed its very existence. With war reparations crippling the economy and social unrest growing throughout the country it was hardly surprising that a number of right-wing groups took things into their own hands and began to target politicians who they held responsible for their plight (and the plight of the country itself) for assassination. But in many ways, those in power were walking a daily tightrope. If they gave into pressure from the victorious allies – and particularly the French – then their own people would suffer and turn against them. If they resisted the demands for reparations, then the Allies (again mostly the French) would take action against them which would make things even worse. Unfortunately for the Weimar government the French had lost all patience with the speed of payments coming from Germany and decided (against the advice of the British and Americans) to occupy the Ruhr region and simply take what they wanted. As you can imagine, even in their weakened state, the German people did not respond well. 

The political and especially economic consequences of the occupation were huge. The economy especially took a huge hit and began its slow spiral out of control. Before long the inflation rate became quite eye watering throwing many into abject poverty. This inevitably radicalised many within the working and middle classes and these groups became a breeding ground for the growth of extremist groups on both Left and Right – including the newly revitalised Nazi Party. But they were not alone in looking for radical solutions to the problems facing all Germans in that year. What I was unaware of was two other events happening in other parts of the country. One was a proposed breakaway Rhineland that was demanding more autonomy within the German federation, and the other was so-called ‘Soviet Saxony’ that proposed (and indeed elected) a far-Left government structure based around the Soviet system in Russia. However, an independent Rhineland failed to gain enough support from its citizens – although this didn’t stop several armed groups from attempting to take power – and the ‘Soviet Saxon’ experiment was crushed by the army before it could gain any traction. That left Munich and Hitler. 

I won’t be spoiling any surprise when I say that the attempted coup failed in 1923. Although it might have succeeded in other, better, circumstances it had little hope towards the end of 1923. It did, however, lay the foundations for the growth and eventual triumph of the Nazi’s in 1933 a mere 10 years later. This was, to be honest, mostly the failure of the authorities in Berlin to take control of the situation as they had done in Saxony. Their fear, probably real to be honest, was the possibility of Civil War if they’d gone it too hard and heavy. With 20-20 hindsight even that might have been worth it. 

As a long-time fan of Alt-History I couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if things had played out differently. The attempted coup/putsch was stopped in its tracks by the actions of the local police who fired into the crowd killing a number of them. The man standing next to Hitler – who he had his arms linked with – was killed and Hitler himself dislocated his shoulder diving for cover. Herman Goering (also present) was hit in the leg. Imagine if the bullets had ended up elsewhere... Without its charismatic leader no Nazi Party. Maybe Weimar would have weathered the Crash of 1929 as other countries did and, gradually, recovered during the 30’s and 40’s? So, no Second World War? No Cold War. It's possible that the US would still have ended up fighting the Japanese, but it wouldn’t have enveloped the whole world. The Russians had enough problems of their own without attacking the West. The Spanish Civil War would’ve been quite different without German support. Italy might have still come to its aid with the Russians backing the Communists, but I could see the various political groups breaking down beyond a simple Left V Right dynamic maybe with the French supporting the Socialists and maybe even the Anarchists. It would be a very different world indeed... 

1923 was a pivotal time for Germany and the world. This excellent analysis puts the events of that year into context so that it all begins to make sense. Very detailed and very astute this was definitely a history highlight of the year. Highly recommended for anyone interesting in the between world wars period, Weimar Germany or the origins of the long road to WW2.