8th November 1923: Adolf Hitler leads the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, alongside General Ludendorff

The Beer Hall Putsch was conceived at a time when the Weimar Republic was politically, socially and economically crippled. Hyperinflation had reached its worst level since the occupation of the Ruhr, and many ‘patriotic associations’ sought to emulate Mussolini’s successful March on Rome that had taken place the previous year in order to wrest control away from the seemingly useless Weimar government.

Having led a group of approximately 600 brown-shirted Nazi stormtroopers from their meeting point in the Bürgerbräukeller, Hitler burst into a meeting at which Gustav von Kahr, the state commissioner, was speaking. Threatening him at gunpoint, Hitler demanded support for the putsch.

Having made a speech that was met with uproarious approval from the 3,000 members of the audience, Hitler then called on Ludendorff to further press Kahr to support the coup. The state commissioner eventually agreed, and he and his fellow politicians were allowed to leave. They immediately alerted the police and army who began to move against the putsch.

Sixteen Nazis and four policemen were killed in a brief firefight the next day. Hitler was injured and escaped capture, but was arrested two days later and put on trial for high treason. He got revenge on Kahr eleven years later when he ordered his murder as part of the Night of the Long Knives.