Hitler’s Rise to Power: The Nazi Movement in Bavaria 1923-33

by Geoffrey Pridham

Bavaria has become known as the birthplace of the Nazi Party, a mass movement without precedence in German history. In January 1919 a new political party, intended to be nationalist yet appeal to the masses, was established in Munich. Soon after Adolf Hitler became a member the stage was set for its transformation into the NSDAP. Despite Hitler’s skill as an orator and his understanding of propaganda, in its early days the movement resembled a rabble rather than a cohesive unit. This came to a head with the unsuccessful Putsch of 1923: Hitler was imprisoned, and the party itself entered a period of prohibition. Charting the decade between Hitler’s failed coup d’état and his appointment as Chancellor, Geoffrey Pridham’s case study is focused at grassroots level. Employing archive material to formidable effect, he addresses how Bavaria’s political landscape shifted and the violence that accompanied it, how religion affected the situation, and what compelled people to support Hitler. Hitler’s Rise to Power is a narrative of how a small, disorganised movement became the infamous Nazi party. Praise for The Rise of the Nazi ‘Deserves consideration as a special case’ – European History Quarterly ‘Able to put the political significance of the Nazis’ anti-semitism into perspective’ – The American Historical Review As a student Geoffrey Pridham wrote his PhD thesis on the Nazi movement in southern Bavaria. Since then he has been a lecturer of European Politics at Bristol University, contributed to A Dictionary of Politics and co-authored A Documentary History of Nazi Germany.

Genres: History, Holocaust

509 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 1973

About the author

Professor Geoffrey Pridham is Emeritus Professor and a Senior Research Fellow in Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol, England.

Reviews

[Young Eagle 于高鹰 · Rating 4 out of 5]

比较老的书了，但这个主题也没找到平替。纳粹运动在巴伐利亚的发展，一在于革命时期的经历让巴伐利亚人民染上了“恐左症”，二可以利用巴伐利亚地方主义对柏林政府的反感。然而，纳粹主义本身具有强烈的中央集权倾向，德意志民族主义也有固有的反天主教情绪。故而，虽然纳粹总部设在了慕尼黑，但在巴伐利亚的选情并不乐观。纳粹党很长一段时间内其实都是城市党，农村的宣传工作不算拿得太稳（巴伐利亚当时还是农业大省），直到1930年代初期的经济困难才使农民支持者异军突起。魏玛老人自然会在台下咒骂，只因一场突如其来、怪不了任何人的大萧条，才让希特勒走了狗屎运。可在当时的宪政危机下，怨愤的选民抱着惩罚执政者的心态把纳粹选成了国会内第一大党，不知不觉间就与野心家签上了十余年的卖身契。