Draft:Nazi Party in Baden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jon698 (talk | contribs) at 05:22, 1 May 2024. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


History

Early history

Members of the Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund formed an affiliate of the Nazi Party in Stuttgart, Württemberg on 8 May 1920, and was recognized on 4 June. Leaders in Stuttgart help expand the party into Baden. The first Baden affiliate was formed in Pforzheim on 28 October. Ernst Ulshöfer, one of the founders of the Stuttgart affiliate, was the leader of the Pforzheim Nazis in 1921.[1] Ulshöfer formed an affiliate in Mannheim on 4 February 1921, and became its leader in May 1922.[2]

178 people joined the Baden party between 13 April and 28 August 1922. Two of these members were female and five were unskilled workers.[3] The party was banned in Baden on 4 July 1922. Several people were convicted for being members of the party in 1923, but their convictions were overturned as the court ruled that the government's order only banned the party and not membership in it. Nazis remained active in Baden by using front organizations.[4] The Nazis had eighteen local affiliates in 1923.[5]

Reformation

The party was banned following the Beer Hall Putsch.[6] The German Party (Deutsche Partei) was formed by Nazis in 1924, and held its first conference on 20 January while Nazis in southern Baden joined the Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei (DVFP). Erwin Müller was the first leader of the German Party. Walter Köhler left the German National People's Party (DNVP) and joined the German Party. The German Party became an affiliate of the Nazi Party after it was unbanned in 1925.[7]

The Völkisch organizations in Baden united into the Völkisch Soziale Block for the May 1924 German federal election. Most of the candidates were from the DVFP. The block received 4.8% in the election. 47.9% of its votes came from cities with populations over 10,000.[8] The German Party became affiliated with the National Socialist Freedom Movement (NSFP).[9]

The Völkisch Jugend was formed in January 1924, and later became the Schlageterbund. This later became the Sturmabteilung (SA) in Baden.[10] SA membership was estimated by the Baden police to be at 2,400 in 1930, 5,000 in October 1931,[11] and 10,000 by 1932.[12] Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of the Baden Schutzstaffel (SS) in March 1929, and placed under the leadership of Otto Heidt.[13] A branch of the Hitler Youth was formed in Baden in 1927.[14]

Robert Heinrich Wagner was imprisoned for his involvement in the Beer Hall Putsch. He returned to Baden in 1924, and joined the Schlageterbund. He met Adolf Hitler in February 1925, and and received permission to form a Nazi affiliate in Baden.[15] Wagner was appointed as the Nazi Gauleiter of Gau Baden, the only person to hold that position, on 25 March 1925, and served until 1945.[16][17] On 15 April, he published a pamphlet calling for the creation of a Nazi Party in Baden. Minister of the Interior Adam Remmele also lifted the ban on the party stating that they were political irrelevant.[18]

Völkisch leaders who opposed Wagner joined the German Völkisch Freedom Party (DVFP). Most district leaders of the NSFP rejoined the Nazis except for three in southern Baden. These three joined the DVFP instead.[19] The party grew slowly with 31 local affiliates in 1925, to 40 in 1927. They were poorly organized and Erich Ludendorff only received 513 votes in Baden in the 1925 presidential election[20]

Der Führer was first published on 5 November 1927, and the first issue sold 446 copies. The paper was not financially successful until 1929, and gave advertising space for free.[21]

Philipp Lenard, a Nobel laureate, was a prominent early sympathizer, but did not join the party until 1937.[22]

Rise

Three Nazis, including Köhler, were elected to the Weinheim city council in 1926.[23] Nazis were elected to local offices in ten communities in 1926.[24]

The majority of the party's support in the 1928 German federal election came from rural Protestant regions in the north of Baden.[25]

The Nazis won six seats in the 1929 state election and Walter Köhler was selected to serve as their delegation chairman.[26] This granted the party members that could not be arrested due to parliamentary immunity.[27]

Wagner was appointed Reichkomissar of Baden on 9 March 1933, replacing the position of president. A new landtag consisting of 30 Nazis, 17 Centre, 8 SPD, and 2 DNVP convened once on 9 June 1933 to give the executive legislative powers. Wagner appointed Köhler as president on 6 May.[28]

The party conducted an average of 150 rallies per month from January to June 1930, for the federal election that year. The party's local affiliates grew from 48 in May 1928, to 70 in February 1930, and 200 in August 1930.[29] Wagner froze new membership between 19 November 1930 and 21 January 21 1931, to allow for the assimilation of new members after over 5,000 people joined the party in 1930.[30] Their vote total grew by over 150,000 between the 1929 state and 1930 federal elections.[31] Around 2,000 Nazis were elected in the 1930 local elections.[32]

References

  1. ^ Grill 1983, p. 56-57.
  2. ^ Grill 1983, p. 60.
  3. ^ Grill 1983, p. 61-62.
  4. ^ Grill 1983, p. 70-73; 97.
  5. ^ Grill 1983, p. 79.
  6. ^ Neidig, Manuel (16 December 2014). "ANFÄNGE UND AUFSTIEG DER NSDAP IN BADEN". Geschichte der Landesministerien in Baden und Württemberg in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024.
  7. ^ Grill 1983, p. 97-100.
  8. ^ Grill 1983, p. 100-101.
  9. ^ Grill 1983, p. 103-104.
  10. ^ Grill 1983, p. 95.
  11. ^ Grill 1983, p. 210.
  12. ^ Grill 1983, p. 213.
  13. ^ Grill 1983, p. 215.
  14. ^ Grill 1983, p. 216.
  15. ^ Grill 1983, p. 108-110.
  16. ^ Grill 1983, p. 3.
  17. ^ Faris 1975, p. 156.
  18. ^ Grill 1983, p. 110-111.
  19. ^ Grill 1983, p. 111.
  20. ^ Grill 1983, p. 121-123.
  21. ^ Grill 1983, p. 129-130.
  22. ^ Grill 1983, p. 77-78.
  23. ^ Grill 1983, p. 151.
  24. ^ Grill 1983, p. 195.
  25. ^ Grill 1983, p. 165.
  26. ^ Grill 1983, p. 174.
  27. ^ Grill 1983, p. 178.
  28. ^ Exner 2016, p. 299.
  29. ^ Grill 1983, p. 181-182.
  30. ^ Grill 1983, p. 185.
  31. ^ Grill 1983, p. 189.
  32. ^ Grill 1983, p. 196.

Works cited