The Munich Putsch, 1923: Enquiry Lesson on Causes, Events & Consequences (GCSE History)

A fully resourced, interactive GCSE lesson exploring how the chaotic Munich Putsch of 1923 — a confused, poorly executed attempt to seize power — became a surprising turning point in Hitler’s rise. Through enquiry-led activities, students investigate why an event that seemed like a total disaster on the day later helped reshape Nazi strategy, messaging and political ambition.

The lesson includes:
• A curiosity-driven register starter revealing a surprising detail from Hitler’s march through Munich
• A visual inference task using a stylised painting to explore heroic representation and propaganda
• A living graph activity in which students track Hitler’s fluctuating confidence across the two-day revolt
• A Likely/Unlikely continuum where students evaluate true, exaggerated and mythical consequences of the Putsch
• An exam-focused interpretation task analysing exaggerated tone and supporting judgements with evidence
• A plenary that revisits the opening painting to expose how political myths are constructed
• Full teacher notes for every slide, including Purpose, Guidance, Insight, Differentiation and Timing

All worksheets, cut-out cards and detailed teacher notes are included.
Designed for Edexcel GCSE History (Weimar & Nazi Germany) but easily adaptable for AQA, OCR or Eduqas.

Ideal for developing inference, explanation, oracy, evaluative writing and causal reasoning, while deepening students’ understanding of how political failures can be reframed as moments of opportunity and myth-making.