Forming Hitler's image in American media. The beer hall putsch

The article examines the publications of American newspapers for 1923. Forming the National Socialist regime in Germany has long been a focus of foreign historians. The causes of this process, its specific content, the role and attitude of different groups of European society, and the international reaction to the formation of Nazism are studied. Some new results can be provided due to the study of the issue in the context of historical imagology: what image of Hitler and Germany was created in the press of both Europe and North America? An example of American newspapers can demonstrate the evolution of public relations and how the image created by the press influenced specific foreign policy actions. The article considers the formation of Hitler's image in American media through the reaction to the "Beer putsch" in Germany. The beer putsch was one of many attempts by extremists to seize power and secede from the Weimar Republic since 1919. However, 1923 was the culmination of chaos. The coup attracted media attention around the world and was at the forefront of leading American newspapers - the New York Times, the Chicago Daily Tribune and the Chicago Daily News, with three different publication traditions. The fact that the articles about the Beer putsch were on the front pages of the American press shows that journalists distinguished it from standard news and categorized it as sensations. The article concludes that, in 1923, the U.S. press was divided in assessing the main issue: to support the rebels or to condemn them. The position taken by the influential Chicago Daily Tribune, which consisted of a criticism of the German government, the search for excuses for Ludendorff, and the greater fear of a communist coup than of the ultra-right one, laid the foundation for a future justification for the policy of appeasement.