The Early Years of the Nazi Party, 1920 - 28

Hitler's Early Years

Hitler was born in 1889 in the Austrian town of Braunau-am-Inn. He did not distinguish himself at school, and moved to Vienna in 1907 following the death of his parents. He attempted to gain admittance to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, but was unsuccessful. He led a period of subsistence on the margins of society, but found purpose in life when he joined the Bavarian Regiment at the outbreak of the First World War. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class for bravery. By this time he had acquired a hatred of democracy and socialism, a fanatical German nationalism and an intense hatred of Jews. After the war he was engaged as some kind of spy by the Bavarian section of the army. It was in this capacity that he made contact with the German Worker's Party (DAP — Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), which was not a left but a right wing movement dedicated to nationalism, anti-semitism and anti-capitalism. He joined this party and became a committee member. In February 1920, with the party's founder, Anton Drexler, he wrote the party's 25 point programme, at which time the party changed its name to the NSDAP — the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The plan called for the repudiation of the treaties of Versailles and St. Germain; the re-establishment of German colonies; the prohibition of Jewish people from holding German citizenship; the principle that the state interest overruled the interests of individuals; the abolition of all forms of social benefit; profit-sharing between workers and industrialists; the death penalty for criminals, usurers and profiteers; the establishment of a people's army; and “legal warfare on deliberate political mendacity”. Up to mid-1921 Hitler held only the post of propaganda chief, but he became increasingly the driving force behind the movement. Party membership increased to 3,300, and, inspired by Hitler, formed armed squads. The Nazi salute, the swastika symbol and uniforms were introduced. Drexler and others attempted to restrain his influence, but in the course of two meetings held in July 1921 Hitler succeeded by being elected leader (Fürher). He attempted to bring all 45 separate branches of the party under his leadership, but was not entirely successful. He also developed the armed squads into an organised paramilitary group — the SA (Sturm Abteilung — Stormtroopers).

The Beer-Hall Putsch, 1923

Following the success of Mussolini in Italy, Hitler believed that the time had come for a successful putsch in Germany. He started to negotiate to this effect with the Bavarian State Government, which was headed by the very right-wing Gustav von Kahr, who was vehemently opposed to the social democratic government at Berlin. Hitler also entered into negotiations with the Bavarian section of the army, which was headed by General von Lossow, who by October 1923 was flouting orders from Berlin. Hitler plotted with von Lossow and von Kahr to march on Munic, but at the last moment his fellow conspirators lost their nerve. Nonetheless, Hitler pressed on with the attempted putsch, which started on 8th November when he and Nazi members took control of a meeting in a Munich beer hall where von Kahr was addressing an audience. The putsch was easily thwarted resulting in 14 Nazis deaths and the arrest of Hitler. However, Hitler used the trial to achieve a propaganda success for himself, and he was only given a 5 year sentence, which was later reduced to 10 months. He won respect with other right-wing groups, and the leniency of his treatment encouraged right-wing groups to continue to plot the downfall of the state.

The Ideology of National Socialism

Hitler dictated the first part of Mein Kampf (My Struggle) whilst in Landsberg prison. He advanced the idea that humanity was organised into a hierarchy of races. He maintained that Social Darwinism necessitated the struggle between races, and that the need to maintain racial purity was vital. He was violently and irrationally anti-Semitic. At this time he still advocated some anti-capitalist ideas. He also advocated the idea of a Volksgemeinschaft (a community of the people), which entailed that people should work together for the benefit of the nation as a whole. He detested the Weimar constitution, and believed in the 'stab in the back' myth — the idea that the government had betrayed the army and the people by accepting the armistice and the Versailles treaty. He wanted the German empire to grow so that all the German Volk cold be incorporated in it. He wanted Lebensraum (living-space) for the German people in Eastern Europe, which would require the conquest of Poland, the Ukraine and Russia. He expected that Germany could obtain essential raw materials, cheap labour and food from the acquisition of these territories. He expected that this would only be accomplished by war: “In the future,” he wrote, “our people will not obtain territory, and therewith the means of existence, as a favour from any other people, but will have to win it by the triumphant sword.” He expected this to lead to conflict with France. Hitler's arguments are not coherent, and this “ideology” was also not original, being derived from C19th nationalistic and racist writings. It was not an expression of a German intellectual legacy, and the nationalistic and racist elements in it were not unique to Germany at the time.

The Creation of a Party Structure

During imprisonment Hitler concluded that the way to gain power would be not by a coup, but rather by working within the Weimar constitution. When he emerged from prison in December 1924 the party was split into many fragments. At the same time there was some kind of economic upswing in Germany. However, Hitler refounded the party on 27th February 1925, but it took a year until February 1926 for Hitler to re-establish his personal leadership, in addition to the idea that the party would be run according to a leadership principle — the Füherprinzip. Hitler proceeded to reorganise the party structure into regions (Gaue), each of which was controlled by local leader (Gauleiter) who was required to establish district and branch groups. The party was thus given a wholly vertical structure organised around the leadership principle. Hitler also established an new paramilitary group, the black-shirted SS, who swore absolute obedience to the Fürther. The Hitler Youth and the Nazi Teachers' Association were also established. Membership rose to 25,000 in 1925, 49,000 in 1926 and 72,000 in 1927. It absorbed many other right-wing groups. In May 1928 the Nazi party won 2.6 % of the vote in the national election and 12 seats in the Reichstag.