«Beer Hall Putsch» in the US press assessment

Abstract

The paper studies the problem of the American press reaction to an attempted coup in Germany in 1923. The reasons for the Beer Hall Putsch from the point of view of the press were studied. The author shows the process of information accumulation about the putsch, the role and attitude of various representatives of the US press to it, and the international reaction to the Nazism. The role of Hitler in the coup attempt is analyzed. The author proves that there was direct influence of large American newspapers chief editors opinions on the information about the coup in Germany. The analysis of the US press reaction to the Beer Hall Putsch shows that American newspapers during the first days of the events observed these events closely. Moreover, the trends typical for the central press (coverage of international events, desire for analytics and forecasts) were also characteristic of small local periodicals. The Beer Putsch information support shows that in 1923 the US press was clearly divided in assessments about the most important issue: to support the rebels or to condemn them. The paper shows how the image of the Beer Hall Putsch influenced the policy of aggressors pacification in the future.