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We Can’t Let January 6th Become to Trump What November 8th Was to Hitler
Germany wasn’t paying attention, and it seems too many of us also aren’t
It almost sounds like a fun affair. A “Beer Hall Putsch, wow! I like beer. What next?” I could see Will Farrel from the movie Elf expressing glee over such a name. Except for the location — I am a big Bavarian beer fan! — there was little that was fun about Hitler’s attempted fascist overthrow of the German government.
Storming into the beer hall after 8 p.m., at the very moment the thousand-plus guests were listening to the keynote and tucking into heaving steins of ice-cold, fresh Munich-style lager, a gunshot was fired into the air, and Hitler took the stage. He announced that a coup was underway. Over the next few hours, he persuaded some of the most influential retired army figures and local politicians to support him. Then, he let them leave to gather more forces — most didn’t but instead contacted the authorities. By mid-afternoon on November 9th, after skirmishes between Hitler’s SA and the Bavarian army, a dozen were dead, and Hitler was racing to the mountains to hide.
The coup failed. Hitler was arrested, but then he made a show out of his trial and gained millions more followers thanks to radio coverage of the event. He spoke in his own…
