Hitler in 1919
The Nazi Party began as a small group of extremists known simply as the German Labor Party in Munich in 1919. It was started by mainly middle-class workers who were looking to meet and discuss politics. The group was not radical, large, or even a solid political party. In the beginning, they were not popular or even well-known among the general population, but that was soon to change. The powerful voice of Adolf Hitler transformed the German Labor Party into the National Socialist movement that culminated in the establishment of the Third Reich in 1933. Armed with propaganda, a fiery rhetoric, and a pen, Hitler set out to make Germany the greatest empire in the world (according to his standards).
Hitler's Political Career
Hitler was a young embittered man who had fought in the Great War and witnessed Germany’s cataclysmic defeat. He gained employment at the Bavarian Reichswehr Group Headquarters 4 shortly after the end of the war. This particular group took over the government in Munich in 1919 after a failed coup by left-wing extremists left the city in a state of chaos. One of their many tasks in Munich, besides the administration of the government, was to closely watch the fifty or so revolutionary political parties that had sprung up in the area. Hitler was asked by Headquarters to attend a meeting of the German Labor Party on 12 September 1919. The men at this meeting spoke at length about their anger over the lost war, the dissolution of the old order, anti-Semitism, and who was to blame for Germany’s misfortunes. Hitler related to these men, but he was unimpressed.[1]
Hitler as a Public Speaker
However, when a visitor suggested that Bavaria break away from Germany, Hitler verbally attacked him in such a manner that left everyone in earshot stunned. One of the party members begged Hitler to join and, a few days later, sent him an unsolicited membership card (number 555). Hitler delivered many impassioned speeches after becoming a member of the German Labor Party and it was here that he discovered his amazing talent for public speaking. He dominated the party and quickly rose to the top within a year.[2]
Hitler and the Growth of the Nazi Party
This insignificant little party became the NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker’s Party) and their membership grew exponentially. It is highly improbable that the Nazis would have come into being without the cunning rhetorical skill of Adolf Hitler and his steadily increasing use of propaganda in the 1920’s. In 1933, they took control of Germany largely due to the incompetence of the Weimar government and the economic crisis of 1932. Starting less than a month into their term of office, they attempted to completely restructure every aspect of German society from the flag to the economy to traditional holidays. Their overriding vision was to completely alter what it meant to be German using propaganda, censorship and terror on an unprecedented scale.
Sources:
[1] Joachim Fest, The Face of the Third Reich: Portraits of the Nazi Leadership (New York: De Capo Press, 1999), 21 (paragraph cited)
[2] Ibid.
