The Adolf Hitler ("Beer Hall Putsch") Trial (1924)

by Douglas O. Linder (2019)

“Our prisons will open and a time will come when today’s accused become the accusers!”—Adolf Hitler, testimony during his 1924 trial

Defendants in the 1924 "Beer Hall Putsch" Trial

If Adolf Hitler had not been tried by the People’s Court for high treason in 1924, the twentieth century might have been very different. Sometimes a trial can provide a defendant with a platform for changing minds. Adolf Hitler knew how to communicate—and when a sympathetic judge provided him the opportunity to showcase his verbal skills and spread his ideas, he took full advantage of the situation. Trials can alter the course of history. And the trial of thirty-four-year-old Hitler for his leading role in the botched 1923 “Beer Hall Putsch” is clearly a prime example of that truth.

1923

In 1923, Germany hit rock bottom. Germany was behind in payments for reparations for World War I—and, in retaliation, French and Belgians had invaded rural parts of the country. There were strikes and sometimes those strikes led to violent responses by German troops. Worst of all, there was hyperinflation caused by the government printing money to make up for lost wages and a sinking economy. It took trillions of marks to equal the value of a single dollar. With the mark nearly worthless, farmers refused to sell their crops, causing food riots and hunger strikes. In short, the country was a mess.

In the chaos that was Germany in 1923, political groups on both the extreme left and extreme right gained support, while the fortunes of the governing Social Democrats fell. The middle kept shrinking. Communists began winning over 10% of the vote. Far right nationalist groups attacked the democratic government, foreigners, and Jews.

Among the far right groups, one of the most extreme was the National Socialist Democratic Workers Party, the Nazis. It firebrand leader, Adolf Hitler, called democracy a joke, supported the violent overthrow of the Weimar Republic government, pushed for a military build-up, railed against the Treaty of Verailles, talked about restoring German pride, and blamed Jews for much of the country’s misfortune....Continued