DBWI: Hitler survive the Beer Hall Putsch

[Cook]

An obscure anti-sematic politician named Adolf Hitler attempted to take over Bavaria in a coup and then march on to Berlin and was shot by the Bavarian State Police. What if he wasn't killed? Could he have taken over Bavaria? If he did could he have marched on to Berlin and taken over the Weimer Republic?

Hitler may have been the nominal head of the German Workers Party which was a major backer of the attempted Putsch, but the putsch itself was lead by General Ludendorff. He may have palmed responsibility for it off onto the dead Hitler during his trial, but it is clear now that Ludendorff was far more than the mislead patriot he claimed to be and would have been the head of the intended junta.

 

[Sabot Cat]

Hitler may have been the nominal head of the German Workers Party which was a major backer of the attempted Putsch, but the putsch itself was lead by General Ludendorff. He may have palmed responsibility for it off onto the dead Hitler during his trial, but it is clear now that Ludendorff was far more than the mislead patriot he claimed to be and would have been the head of the intended junta.

I actually wrote a timeline where Lundendorff leads the right-wing faction in a German Civil War: alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?afgaf

 

[Johnrankins]

Hitler may have been the nominal head of the German Workers Party which was a major backer of the attempted Putsch, but the putsch itself was lead by General Ludendorff. He may have palmed responsibility for it off onto the dead Hitler during his trial, but it is clear now that Ludendorff was far more than the mislead patriot he claimed to be and would have been the head of the intended junta.

Interesting, still a Chancellor Ludendorff would have changed things I think.

 

[Johnrankins]

You've got imagination!

By this standard, I could take over Canada.

Hm!

Well, to be fair it is difficult to figure out how a jumped up corporal can make himself leader of all Germany! You have to have some wild ideas to pull it off. It seems extremely unlikely to me too but not quite ASB territory.

 

[Sanderford]

Yes, there was Mussolini's "March on Rome" to consider. It was one of the inspirations for this coup attempt. If Mussolini could pull it off maybe this guy can as well.

True enough, but the political climates of Germany and Italy were different.

In the event that Mr. Hitler was not killed, I would look to see him go "inside the system," and go into politics.

 

[Jinx999]

Pretty much nothing. We're talking, at best, a minor player in the chaotic situation of the Weimar Republic. Frankly, don't we have better things to do than yet another alternate variant of "Wings of the Night"? This time, at least, we're wondering what would happen if he became President of Germany, instead of assassinating the president. But mentally unstable people who lead (for a certain value of lead) third rate coup attempts, don't usually get elected a few years later.

 

[Emperor Julian]

I've thought of this timeline:

Hitler and Ludendorf are arrested and tried for treason. Hitler uses his oratory skills to turn the trial into a soapbox. Due to public sympathy, he is convicted and given a slap in the wrist sentence, sent to a rather comfortable prison. He uses his "prison" term to network and maybe write a book.

After he's released, initially he fades into obscurity. The German economy was doing well at least in the 20s.

Then comes the Wall Street crash. It would have happened sooner or later. As IOTL, western leaders bungle the response, making unemployment soar higher than it could have.

Hitler exploits this opportunity to outmaneuver his way into power. By blaming the Jews for the crash, the socialists for allowing the Jews to control Germany, etc...

I can see this happening, but he probably would not have the economic know-how to fix the economy, and be overthrown in a coup fairly soon after the takeover.

 

[Craig_Truglia]

Well, I don't think it would have amounted to much, because let's say he was only imprisioned, who would elect some ex-con into power? He wouldn't have enough seats. He'd probably lose his position within the party. Even if he didn't, why would Von Papen and Hindenburg make in-roads with the more moderate DDP?


One thing I can say for sure is that Germany wouldn't be have the second biggest GDP today if a guy like Hitler ever ran that country.

 

[Johnrankins]

Pretty much nothing. We're talking, at best, a minor player in the chaotic situation of the Weimar Republic. Frankly, don't we have better things to do than yet another alternate variant of "Wings of the Night"? This time, at least, we're wondering what would happen if he became President of Germany, instead of assassinating the president. But mentally unstable people who lead (for a certain value of lead) third rate coup attempts, don't usually get elected a few years later.

To be honest I was reading about Germany in the 1920s and 1930s and a number of weird, oddball parties that were being formed at the time. Even considering the weird people who started their own little parties Hitler stood out as one of the nuttiest and for a fruitcake he went a little farther than most.

 

[Avatar of Asura]

An obscure anti-sematic politician named Adolf Hitler attempted to take over Bavaria in a coup and then march on to Berlin and was shot by the Bavarian State Police. What if he wasn't killed? Could he have taken over Bavaria? If he did could he have marched on to Berlin and taken over the Weimer Republic?

You thought this Hitler guy was bad, there was his right hand man, Heinrich Himmler. I heard he was part of some cult or secret society, but it might be a conspiracy theory like Stalin faking his death and hiding out in Cuba.

 

[Johnrankins]

You thought this Hitler guy was bad, there was his right hand man, Heinrich Himmler. I heard he was part of some cult or secret society, but it might be a conspiracy theory like Stalin faking his death and hiding out in Cuba.

Yeah, a real wacky secret society called the Thule Society. Himmler wasn't Hitler's right hand man, that was Hess. He was an up and comer though.