Frothing Mobs: The Absurdity of the Bavarian Beer Riots

In the spring of 1844, King Ludwig I of Bavaria made a catastrophic geopolitical miscalculation: he raised the tax on beer by a fraction of a cent. The citizens of Munich did not write petitions or hold peaceful marches. Instead, they unleashed an explosion of violence that nearly toppled the monarchy. The Bavarian Beer Riots remain one of the most bizarre and ferocious consumer uprisings in Eur...