With the 3rd anniversary (if one can call a violent insurrection an anniversary), of January 6th upon us, firstly some stats on the progress of Justice – there has been 1,200 plus arrests, 350 plus convictions, accused of crimes ranging from trespassing, a misdemeanor, to seditious conspiracy, a felony.

350 plus cases are still pending, 710 have pleaded guilty, 170 have been convicted at trial while only two have been acquitted.

Of those who pleaded guilty, 210 pleaded guilty of felony offenses.

Of the total number of 1,200 plus indictments till December, are estimated to be half of the total indictments to come. (Source: New York Times)

Meanwhile three years, down the track the chief insurrectionist Trump, has succeeded till now to running down the clock with cases mired in Courts, including legal arguments on the 14th Amendment ‘the Insurrection Clause’ with claims by the dubious legal counsel of the Chief Insurrectionist that the Justices of the Supreme Court anointed by the Chief Insurrectionist should return the favour by doing the right thing ….not because of favours but because the Chief Insurrectionist is not  guilty.

Source: The Guardian

The Jan 6th Insurrection, bears comparison in history to the infamous Beer Hall Putsch of 1924.

The Beer Hall Putsch is often reflected as the Putsch that gained Hitler recognition and notoriety.

But in reality the legal processes of the Beer Hall Putsch was a massive failure of justice to end Hitler’s political career and what happened there after.

It is important to understand the backdrop to the Beer Hall Putsch to understand how the legal process failed in the trial of Hitler for High Treason.

Post World War 1, Treaty of Versailles, Germany was a place of great political and economic turmoil in the early 1920s.

Whilst political turmoil was fomented by both right and left, the greatest threats to the Weimar Republic came from the Right.

In March 1920 a coup d’etat was attempted by Gen. Walther von Lüttwitz, who commanded the troops in the Berlin area, and Wolfgang Kapp, an East Prussian official. ( Source: Encyclopedia Britannica).

This coup, called the Kapp Putsch, failed due to lack of support, from the army or parties on the right who regarded it as pre-mature.

In Bavaria, where the Beer Hall Putsch happened, a right wing govt consistently attempted to break the treaty obligations of Germany under the Versailles Treaty and in the process provoked several conflicts with the central govt in Berlin.

The dispute between Bavaria and the central government was settled by a compromise.

The Bavarian government succeeded in retaining its people’s courts (Volksgerichte), which operated outside normal court procedures of Berlin and the Reich Courts and without the right of appeal.

This concession would have enormous significance in the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch to come.

The occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops in January 1923 further deepened political and economic uncertainties and right wing parties hastened to take advantage of the turmoil.

Bavaria had become a refuge of right wing parties with the local govt of Bavaria refusing to prosecute the likes of the Nazi Party led by Hitler.

The Bavarian government also attempted to detach the army corps in Bavaria from its allegiance to the Reich by assuming authority over it.

Ludendorff, a World War I general who had spent the postwar years propagating the story that the German armies had been “stabbed in the back” by German politicians, had participated in the Kapp Putsch and subsequently settled in Bavaria.

There he became associated with the National Socialists, and he and Hitler quickly realised the time was opportune for another coup.

During the ‘Beer Hall Coup’ Hitler fled from a march which killed 14 Nazis and 4 policemen died. Hitler injured his arm and was in hiding for 2 days before being arrested.

The trial was expected to bring about the final nail in the coffin for the Nazi party — then just four years old, and which garnered little support across Germany.

Indeed, when the trial was announced in December 1923, the international press predicted Hitler would either be executed, serve a long prison sentence, or face deportation.

The subsequent trials were a farce, even by the standards of a Bavarian government that was at least somewhat sympathetic to the Nazi cause.

Hitler and his co-conspirators should have been tried in the supreme Reich court, but the Bavarian government succeeded in retaining the right of emergency jurisdiction just long enough to ensure that the case would come up in a Bavarian people’s court – the (Volksgerichte). ( Source : Encyclopedia Britannica) .

The courtroom drama, which took place over 24 days, worked wonders for Nazi propaganda. Hitler turned the dock into a platform for both himself and his party in an attempt to put the Weimar Republic on trial.

The judges were sympathetic to Hitler and Ludendorff . Ludendorff was acquitted by dint of being a WW1 hero.

Hitler got 5 years of prison the lowest minimum sentence for high treason with the added stipulation that the further execution of the sentence should be suspended after a few months.

Hitler served nine months in the fortress of Landsberg and used the time to compose Mein Kampf.

Hitler was never barred from political office nor was the Nazi Party disbanded despite committing high treason…

Imagine how different history may have turned out to be, if even Hitler served the 5 years of full sentence instead of 9 months….

During the Beer Hall Putsch trial the press largely sensationalised Hitler’s rants – sounds familiar?

No one in 1925 even thought Hitler would ever get into power.

On three years down the January 6th insurrection, the trends are not good – a demagogue who regularly utters Hiter’s words, close to half of a country that sees no problem with someone indicted on 91 charges and regularly asks for donations despite supposedly being a billionaire and talks constantly of hate, revenge and recrimination and has serious accusations of rape from multiple women.

One who is backed by a virulent religious right which sees this as a holy war.

Hitler should have been stopped at the Beer Hall Putsch, travesty of justice made sure that did not happen with dire consequences, will history repeat itself – let’s hope we have the luxury of considering that… time will tell.