The Dynamics of Fascism 1013By 1919, Hitler had constructed a view of the world that was strikingly
similar to that of Spengler. Moreover, it was increasingly shared by many
Germans. It was composed of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-communism,
and aggressive nationalism. He believed that Germans were “Aryans,”
descended from a superior Caucasian people. That year, Hitler joined the
German Workers’ Party, a newly formed right-wing nationalist organiza
tion. The following year, when Hitler became the head of the organization,
he renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi Party.
Some Nazis now referred to Hitler as the “Fiihrer,’’ or “leader,’’ as Mus
solini was the Duce in Italy.
Nazis organized a paramilitary organization, the “storm troopers,’’ known
after 1921 as the S.A. (Stiirmabteilung), led by the hard-drinking Bavarian
Ernst Rohm (1887-1934). Like the Free Corps, the S.A. offered com
radeship and an outlet for violence to frustrated right-wing war veterans.
To its members, Hitler appeared to be a man of action, a survivor of the
trenches—one of them.
Emboldened by their success at attracting adherents, the Nazis marched
out of a Munich beer hall on November 9, 1923, planning to seize power
and then march on Berlin. Troops loyal to the government put an end to
the “Beer Hall Putsch.” An anti-republican judge sentenced Hitler to five
years in prison. He served only one year and emerged from prison a national
figure. Hitler then built up the Nazi Party.