The Beer Hall Putsch - Performance
So, now the scene is set for Hitler really to take a place on the world stage. Having decided that the main action shall be a kidnapping, how will the plot develop? That the whole should be a tragedy of unimaginable proportions for the whole world, no one could guess from this first scene, which has elements of melodrama, farce, tragedy and mock-heroics in it. Hitler himself is forcing the issue, suspicious that others may be planning a similar move: the air is full of rumours of uprisings, planned coups, violence perpetrated; and hard facts. Facts such as Seeckt now has his eye on the Nazi Party, that people are beginning to support the government, that his own Brownshirts are nearly out of control. All conspire to bring about the almost fatalistic decision to try for the prize now.
After several false starts, events turned out that on the evening of 8th November, the triumvirate of Kahr, Lossow and Seisser would all be together addressing a meeting in the Beer Hall, the Buergerbraukeller. With only 24 hours notice of this, Hitler was able to arrange for 600 of the SA to surround the hall which, that night, held about 3000 citizens. This was an ideal audience for what Hitler was about to do and he must have felt confident as he marched in and fired his pistol into the air to attract attention. Many of the audience had no love of Hitler but calls to the police security guard brought no response, not surprising when their chief was there and keeping silent. Hitler ordered the three leaders to follow him into a private room and, at the point of his gun, tried to get them to agree with his proposal to declare a new national government. This time, however, Hitler's powers of persuasion failed him and, acting on impulse, he eventually ran back into the hall and made the announcement anyway. Most of the crowd assumed that the three in the other room were in agreement with this and so one of the first modern instances of the use of the big lie had succeeded. There were loud cheers. Hitler had also mentioned that Ludendorff was joining the new government and this had contributed to the success. Ludendorff, however, knew nothing of what Hitler had done when he eventually arrived, having been brought by one of the Party leaders and, at first, refused to speak to him. But Hitler only really needed him to help persuade the three leaders to join in the fait accompli, which Ludendorff now did because he truly believed that the return of authoritarian government was a matter of national importance.
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