The Kampfbund was a league of "patriotic" fighting societies and the German National Socialist party in Bavaria, Germany in the 1920s. It included Hitler's NSDAP party and their Sturmabteilung or SA for short, the Oberland League and the Reichskriegsflagge. Its military leader was Hermann Kriebel and its political leader was Adolf Hitler. It was Captain Ernst Röhm who proposed that the political leader of the Kampfbund be Hitler. ¹ The Nazi swastika The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... Jump to: navigation, search The seal of SA The Sturmabteilung [â–¶](audio help) (SA, German for Storm Division and is usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organisation of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ... Jump to: navigation, search Adolf Hitler â–¶(?) (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934 to his death, as well as the self-proclaimed Savior of the German people. ... Ernst Röhm Ernst Röhm (or Roehm) (November 28, 1887, Munich; July 1, 1934, Munich-Stadelheim prison, murdered) was a German military officer and commander and co-founder of the Nazi Sturmabteilung or stormtroopers. // Early Nazi years Röhm served as a career officer with the Bavarian Army during...

The Kampfbund conducted the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 in Munich, Germany. Jump to: navigation, search The Beer Hall Putsch occurred in the evening of Thursday, November 8 to early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923 when the nascent Nazi partys Führer Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund, unsuccessfully tried...

Kampfbund is German for "Battle League". It was created on 30 September 1923 at Nuremberg, where Adolf Hitler joined other patriotic nationalist leaders to celebrate German Day which marked the anniversary of the Prussian victory over France in 1870. The purpose was to consolidate and streamline their agendas and also prepare to take advantage of the split between Bavaria and the central government. The impetus of this consolidation was the ending of the clandestine Ruhr war by the Berlin central government which infuriated the freebooters and nationalists. Jump to: navigation, search Nuremberg coat of arms Location of Nuremberg Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ... The Kingdom of Prussia existed from 1701 until 1918, and from 1871 was the leading kingdom of the German Empire, comprising in its last form almost two-thirds of the area of the Empire. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Free State of Bavaria (German: Bayern or Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

Member Affiliations

At this time, the German Workers Party (DAP), grew from a fringe sect to Bavaria's most powerful political force of 70,000 members. The SA, the private army of the Party, was about 15,000 strong. It was led by Hermann Göring. A subgroup of the NSDAP was the Stosstrupp, an elite bodyguard unit under the command of a tobacconist Josef Berchtold. Another group was the party's youth group Jungsturm led by Adolf Lenk. DAP has various meanings, including: Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, German name of the German Workers Party. ... Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also Goering or Goring in English) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was an early member of the Nazi party, founder of the Gestapo, and one of the main leaders of Nazi Germany. ... Better known as the Stosstrup Hitler it was an elite section of the SA, or Sturmabteilung, the NSDAPs private army, that acted as personal bodygaurds to Hitler. ...

The Oberland League was a paramilitary organization led by Dr. Friedrich Weber. It had 4,000 armed troopers, practically all disgruntled war veterans. This unit was a Freikorps body. Jump to: navigation, search The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps) was originally applied to voluntary armies. ...

The Reichskriegsflagge (Reich's Battle Flag) shortened to RKF society, was another private army of combat hardened veterans led by Captain Röhm who was a staff officer of Lt. General Otto von Lossow commander of the Seventh Division headquarted in Munich.

Putsch Planning

Pressure was being applied to Hitler from the youth and young men to do something. They were getting restless. Gustav von Kahr meanwhile on 5 October 1923 closed the Nazi paper, Völkischer Beobachter for ten days. On top of this, von Kahr announced a surprise speech at the Bürgerbräu Keller. Afraid that von Kahr was going to define the struggle without him, Hitler decided to act and "coax these people into complicity". Jump to: navigation, search Gustav Ritter von Kahr (1862–June 30, 1934) was a German right-wing conservative politician, active in the state of Bavaria. ...

The putsch was planned on 7 November in a hasty decision in Kreibel's apartment. Not all members were notified either. For the purpose of communicating, the party used two pieces of paper; one colored red meaning "the real thing" and the other white signifying a practise run. They chose to pass the white tag out. At the time of the putsch, only 3000 members of the Kampfbund where in Munich. Adolf Hitler was very secretive about many things and would tell one part to one member and later would tell a second part to another member, or he wouldn't say anything to another, thus leading to much confusion and lack of coordination on the day of the putsch.

SA Unit & Leaders

1st Battalion Karl Beggel
2nd Battalion Edmund Heines
3rd Battalion Hans Knauth
10th Company Friedrich Mayer

References

• Note 1: Der Fuehrer, Konrad Heiden, trans. by Ralph Manheim, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1944, pg 175.

For bibliography, see Beer Hall Putsch bibliography.