The putsch was inspired by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and recent events in Anatolia, along with Benito Mussolini's successful March on Rome. Hitler even said at his 50th birthday to a delegation of Turkish politicians: ”... Atatürk was a teacher; Mussolini was his first and I his second student.” From 22 to 29 October 1922, Hitler and his associates planned to use Munich as a base for a march against Germany's Weimar Republic government. But circumstances differed from those in Italy. Hitler came to the realisation that Kahr sought to control him and was not ready to act against the government in Berlin. Hitler wanted to seize a critical moment for successful popular agitation and support. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Hitler, along with a large detachment of SA, marched on the Bürgerbräukeller, where Kahr was making a speech in front of 3,000 people.