3. The attempted coup at the Burgerbraukeller of November, 1923
Hitler and the SA stormed a meeting of about 3,000 Bavarians in Munich on November 8, 1923, gained the support of Kahr, who was addressing the meeting, at gunpoint and attempted to create a new Bavarian government with the support of Ludendorff. Once no longer under the SA’s guns, Kahr’s supporters refused to endorse Hitler and the Nazis, and Hitler was forced to flee to the home of a friend and supporter after failing to occupy the Bavarian War Ministry. On November 11 he was arrested and charged with high treason. The following spring he was sentenced to serve five years in Landsberg Prison, and Alfred Rosenberg replaced him as the chairman of the party. The Bavarian guards treated him well, and he was able to obtain some luxuries.
Ultimately, Hitler spent less than one year at Landsberg Prison, and during the time there he received visitors, including party officials. While imprisoned Hitler dictated most of what became the first volume of his work Mein Kampf (My Struggle) to Rudolph Hess. The book described much of what evolved in the Third Reich, including the struggle for lebensraum (living room) for the German people, the creation of a society based on race, and the threat of the international Jewish conspiracy. The book was incomplete when Hitler was released over the objections of Bavarian prosecutors in December 1924. The first volume was published in 1925, the lesser known second volume in 1926, and sold briskly in Germany, enriching the formerly insolvent Hitler through the substantial royalties it earned. The book also found an international audience among antisemitic supporters of its views.