Beer Hall Putsch

One of the most heartbreaking plotlines in the series is the loss of Edith's (Laura Carmichael) boyfriend, Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards). Gregson vanishes into thin air after flying to Germany as part of a plot to marry Edith. Edith eventually learns from Robert that he was involved in a fight with "a bunch of thugs... who wear brown shirts and go about intimidating people". A message comes at the Abbey in Season 5, Episode 6, confirming Gregson's fate.

Sturmabteilung, or "Brownshirts", as they are generally called, were the first Nazis. The Beer Hall Putsch is the name given to the event that murdered Gregson. On November 8, 1923, Hitler and a handful of Brownshirts stormed a political gathering in a Munich beer hall, aiming to launch a coup. Despite the failure of the attempt, 16 people were slain, and Hitler, who was mostly unknown at the time, made front-page news. Hitler was imprisoned, but the publicity he earned as a result of the Beer Hall Putsch aided him in regaining power after his release. Once released, Hitler shifted his focus to gaining power through legal means rather than revolution or force, and he changed his tactics accordingly, further developing Nazi propaganda.