Chapter 26 Chapter 4 The Birth of a Political Party (3)

The Kapp uprising and the elimination of the communist regime in central Germany made the cause of socialism falter.Ebert and his "Socialist Majority", by taking an opportunistic position and using the "Free Corps" forces against the workers in Poole, widened the gulf between them and the left "Independent Socialists". In the early autumn of 1920, the rebels - internally divided into two factions, pro-communist and anti-communist, and the two factions were evenly matched - met for five days in Halle, with the purpose of deciding the future development direction of the "independent socialist party" and the party's relationship with the Three international relations.The most inspiring speaker at the Congress was Grigory Zinoviev, the president of the Third International from Moscow.The purpose of the Soviet sending him was to push the German socialists, who numbered almost 900,000, to the extreme left.In his speeches, which lasted several hours, he spoke "a little bit of broken German, which turned out to enhance the effect of his speech".His speech won warm applause from pro-communist elements.

A heated debate ensued between the left and the right.Some observers found the latter arguments to be stronger, but the idea of ​​a world revolution was exciting and irresistible.At the meeting, 237 votes were in favor of joining the Third International formed on Lenin's terms.There were 156 people who voted against it. After voting, they all left the venue.Most of those who did not leave became communists. One representative left Halle in amazement and disillusionment.His name was Otto Strasser.When listening to Zinoviev's speech, he became more and more annoyed and worried."Sounds like the new messianism," he said, with Moscow ruling Germany.Strasser and one of his older brothers, Gregor, had long dreamed of socialism, and both were prepared to take drastic reforms head on—but not foreign-swayed ones.What they were after was socialism in the German style.This, Otto felt, was to be found only among the revolutionary "Independent Socialists".

After the Halle Congress, Otto became an independent.Distraught, he decided to go to Lanshut to consult with his brother.Gregor organized a private army of the "Free Corps" style, with infantry, artillery and a machine gun company.Gregor conceded that nothing was more dangerous than the Russians, yet no party could successfully oppose them. "Talks are useless," he said, "only actions." Immediately two important guests came to discuss this issue. According to Otto Strasser, a large limousine pulled up in front of his brother's pharmacy the next morning.Two men came out of the car.Otto recognized the first, Ludendorff, the hero of all nationalists.Not far behind him, there is a pale young man with a thick and short beard, wearing an ill-fitting blue coat, "like a battalion commander's correspondent".This man is Hitler. "We must unite all nationalist groups", declared General Ludendorff.As for political training, Herr Hitler is in charge.Ludendorff himself took over the military power of these nationalist organizations.He wanted Grigor himself and his commandos to "obey my command and join Herr Hitler's party".

Hitler promised Grigor the first district party leader in the country and handed over Lower Bavaria to him, but Otto did not take Hitler seriously.What is the program of the National Socialist Workers Party, he interrupted? "The question is not the programme," Hitler said.The only problem is power.Otto counters this by saying that power is merely a means to achieve a program. "These are the opinions of the intellectuals," Hitler replied curtly. "We need power!" It was clear that Hitler did not like Otto, and a moment later accused him of being in league with the Reds and against the Kapp regime.

Otto immediately countered.How can someone who calls himself a National Socialist support a reactionary like Karp?He explained that he had fought in Berlin as a socialist, just as Hitler had fought against Soviet rule in Munich.Both paths seemed correct; he was the real National Socialist. Ludendorff interjected. "The politics of the nationalist opposition cannot be communist politics," he said, "nor can it be capitalist politics." When he was a military supervisor, he was in more trouble than the workers and capitalists.His astonishing remark immediately refreshed the air, and the meeting ended amicably—but Gregor didn't answer in the affirmative, and he wanted to think about it.That night, Gregor told his brother that he had made up his mind to join forces with Ludendorff and Hitler, even though he did not have a deep impression of Hitler. "The general will use him well," he said, "and in this I trust Ludendorff."

Hitler refused to reveal the party program to Otto Strasser, not because he did not have it or found it difficult to do so, but because he was too stubborn to discuss it with the "traitors" who had opposed Kapp.Also, the purpose of Hitler's trip was to win over Gregor and his troops.As they parted, he felt that the two would surely join him in the end.Gregor Strasser was of his kind: a junior officer who had been to the front and, like him, had received the Iron Cross, First Class; he too was clearly a man of conviction; Nationalists, opposed to both Marxism and capitalism, recognize that Jews are the "backbone and brains" of both.

Winning Gregor Strasser was just one feat Hitler had accomplished since he joined the tiny German Workers' Party.In less than a year, he not only changed the nature of the party, but also increased the number of party members to nearly 3,000.He devoted all his time to the National Socialist Workers Party of Germany.He lobbied everywhere, making himself and the party quite famous.He was a keynote speaker at some 80 mass rallies, traveled with Eckart to Berlin during the Kapp uprising, and spoke at the Salzburg Congress of the National Socialists. The successes achieved in the pulpit did not go to Hitler's head.In fact, he often paced up and down in his room, constantly complaining to his guard Ulrich Graf (formerly a butcher) about his incompetence, "I can't go out, tell the people what I know, and tell the people what I want to do." Tell them things. It would be nice to be able to speak! It would be nice to be able to speak!" He often shouted like this.Dissatisfied with both his method of speaking and his handling of mass meetings, he doggedly improved both.For this reason, he participated in a mass meeting of his opponent, and found that when the speaker of the other party gave a speech, "its style is like a witty newspaper article, or like a scientific paper, without violent words, and there are some small jokes from time to time." The lengthy assembly made him understand what should be taboo.He made his speech lively and motivating.The atmosphere is also down-to-earth and friendly. There are often free beer and sausages for the participants to enjoy; sometimes, if the party's funds allow, there are accordion performances and folk songs to add to the fun.Then, as soon as the psychological fire arrived, Hitler himself appeared amidst music playing and swastika flags dancing.Usually, he is calm when he speaks.Then, like an actor, he is good at sensing the emotions of the audience, adjusting the method and content of the speech according to the needs of the audience, and making the meeting reach a climax so that the audience can hardly control their enthusiasm.

The success of the mass rallies did not satisfy Hitler.He needed a wider forum—a newspaper of his own.It turned out that the "People's Observer" was already on the verge of bankruptcy due to too many defamatory remarks.The paper was just what he needed, and the financial crisis was just the time he had been waiting for. At two o'clock in the morning on December 17, Hitler suddenly broke into Eckart's residence, announcing with great excitement that due to the excessive debts, the "Volksloom Observer" must be sold, but there was a "danger" of falling into outside hands.A separatist tried to buy it as a forum for promoting his programme.The party must buy it.The bid was cheap - only 180,000 marks.Hitler was sure that Eckart would be able to raise the sum among wealthy friends.

At 8 a.m. the next day, Drexler appeared at Eckart's door.It was a bitter and unspeakable time for a man of the latter habit. "At first," recalls Drexler, "he had a fit of temper. Then we went out together." By noon, they had heard from General von Epp (whose units of the Free Corps had been at the Helped overthrow the Soviet regime in Munich in 1919) raised 60,000 marks, 30,000 marks from other donors (including an anti-Semitic doctor), Drexler himself took on more than 100,000 marks for the newspaper Mark's debt.At 4:00 p.m. on the same day, the registration procedures for purchasing the "People's Observer" were completed.By this time, Hitler and the National Socialist Workers Party—aided largely by an eccentric writer and a toolmaker—were ready for the next leap forward.