Germany 1919-1925 Essay, Research Paper

The period following World War I left Germany and its people in a state of disarray and global inferiority. They had lost the war, the power of a superior military and the pride of their heritage. Without these, the country was longing for the chance to redeem itself and again prove it was the most powerful country in Europe. These aspirations were hampered by the underlying belief that their current position was the result of cowardice on the part of their leaders and a sense of disillusionment with the current political regime. Political unrest was not limited to a few select political parties, but included the complete political spectrum as everyone scrambled to secure the public’s faith and reclaim Germany’s dignity.

This motivation to return Germany to its former position of greatness resulted in several smaller political groups to form, each with their own unique views as to how Germany should be governed. One such group was the German Worker’s Party, a small group of activist started by Antoine Drexler and Carl Herrer. This party met and discussed alternatives to the current Weimar Republic, which was the political system enacted in 1919 following a vote by the Social Democratic Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Central Party.

The Weimar Republic, like most governments, was concerned with the possibility of insurgents formulating a coup and commonly used military personnel to investigate questionable groups. In September of 1919 a young Army soldier, Corporal Adolf Hitler, was sent on one of these information gathering (spying) assignments, and was quickly swept up in the Party’s goals and visions of Germany’s future. Adolf Hitler’s compelling speeches concerning Germany’s potential for greatness, and his dreams of a united Germany led to his immediate acceptance, and ultimate position as the group’s Propaganda Minister.

By February 1920, Adolf Hitler’s position of influence and level of Party respect had risen to a degree that he co-authored the Program of the German Worker’s Party, a document outlining what the Party stood for. The Party name was changed to the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, which was chosen specifically to appeal to the complete spectrum of political parties forming the Weimar Republic. By August 1921, Adolf Hitler was the undisputed leader of the Party.

The Party continued to grow under Adolf Hitler’s leadership and had increased its membership to approximately 55,000 people by 1923. The Party was finally becoming recognized as a political party and decided to demonstrate its power by staging a coup to take over Munich and ultimately Germany. A similar coup was orchestrated and conducted in Italy by Mussolini. In the Italian coup, Mussolini secured Rome, and used it as a platform to gain control of Italy.

Hitler, realizing the potential for achieving the same success, developed a similar plan. The attempt occurred on November 8-9, 1923 and is referred to as the Beer-Hall Putsch. Although the attempt was not successful, it did provide a considerable amount of notoriety and support for both Adolf Hitler and the Party’s cause. Adolf Hitler’s failure was the result of a lack of personal leadership abilities and misplaced trust. By maintaining an improper degree of secrecy, many of Hitler’s followers were either ill-prepared for the coup, or in some instances, total uninformed of its existence. Adolf Hitler also relied too heavily on fellow conspirators, who ultimately succumbed to their own leadership inadequacies. Had Adolf Hitler chosen his associates better, or at least, rehearsed the attempt prior to its execution, it might have been successful.

Although Adolf Hitler was arrested and tried for his role in orchestrating the coup, his conviction led to a sentence that was remarkably lenient considering the severity of the crime. He was incarcerated from November 11, 1923 until December 20,1924 in a minimum-security prison, sipping wine and dictating his autobiography / political vision manuscript entitled Mein Kampf. While serving his sentence in the Landsberg Prison, the Nazi party was ordered to disband, and the number of members loyal to its cause quickly shrank. Upon his release, Adolf Hitler petitioned the Bavarian government to re-establish the party, this time with the goal to gain power through political process rather than organized revolutionary tactics. Remarkably, in the beginning of 1925, his request was granted and Adolf Hitler began the task of reassembling the Nazi party members. Membership quickly grew under Adolf Hitler’s leadership and persuasive rhetoric, all the while, maintaining Adolf Hitler’s new policies concerning obeying political procedures.

Undoubtedly, Adolf Hitler’s highly effective communication skills provided the foundation for his early success in establishing the Nazi party, as well as his later success in re-establishing it upon his release from prison. His success could also be attributed to the conditions and emotions the German people were forced to deal with at that time. Industrial / Organizational psychologists have studied the effects of change in the work place and its impact on overall production and moral. Studies have shown that when a work environment changes, and the employees are told this change will make a positive improvement in the workplace, the combination of both performance and moral increases. This has been shown to happen even when the change is as insignificant as adjusting the wattage of the interior lighting of the factory.

It would not be wrong to assume a similar phenomenon occurred with the people of Germany. Like the factory workers above, they too wanted to exist at a level higher than their post World War I environment allowed. The German people felt a large degree of distrust towards the government, as well as other nations, because of the restrictions placed on them in the Treaty of Versailles. Adolf Hitler and his party appealed to the German citizen’s sense of nationalism, pride and economic position. By using the desires of the German people in his speeches, Adolf Hitler was able to rally their support through their individual desires for positive change. Their motivation and moral subsequently improved, thereby infecting others with faith in the Nazi movement.

By using his charisma, motivation and a directed appeal to German nationalism, Adolf Hitler was able to gain a substantial party following twice, in a very short time. A single instance of this accomplishment would be considered remarkable for any political figure, but to achieve it twice in a short period of time, while interrupting the party movement with a stretch of imprisonment is truly a feat.