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January 5

Nazi Predecessor Party Forms (1919)


On January 5, 1919, the German Worker’s Party (German: Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated DAP) was formed in Munich, Germany by a few members, including Anton Drexler, Gottfried Feder, and Dietrich Eckart. The members consisted mostly of friends from the local Munich bars and rail depots. The DAP promoted nationalism and unification of the German masses in the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in World War I. The DAP also advocated social welfare for German citizens part of the Aryan race and believed in a unified "national community" (German: Volksgemeinschaft) free of Jews (German: judenfrei).

At a meeting in September, 1919, Gottfried Feder gave a speech which roused a member who suggested that Bavaria separate from Prussia and form a new nation with Austria. At this member’s outburst, Adolf Hitler stood up and compellingly refuted the other member. Hitler, a corporal in the German military, had been sent by the German military to investigate the DAP. However, Hitler soon took a liking to the new party he was sent to observe and report upon.

Anton Drexler was impressed by Hitler’s oratory skills and gave him a booklet called My Political Awaking. According to later accounts by Hitler in his autobiography Mein Kampf, Hitler agreed with much of the materials in My Political Awaking. Hitler was shortly thereafter asked to become a member of the new party, which he decided to join after some deliberation.

In 1920, the party added "National Socialist" to its official name and became known as the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), commonly referred to as the Nazi Party. Within a few years Hitler rapidly became the leader of the Nazi Party, and influences from men like Feder and Eckart impacted Hitler’s beliefs and the rapid and emphatic growth of the party which eventually led Germany and the world into World War II.


Sources:
Hitler: A Study in Tyranny (1962), by Alan Bullock
Mein Kampf (1927), by Adolf Hitler
Hitler: A Profile in Power, Ian Kershaw (1991, rev. 2001)
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