t to the army command on the small political parties that had flourished in Bavaria. It was at this time that he attended a meeting of a small group called the German Worker’s Party in September 1919. Hitler had found what he wanted- a small political party that he could shape with his own ideas. Hitler quickly became the leader of the party where his brilliant power as a public speaker attracted large audiences and aroused the emotions of the audience through his spoken word. The party changed its name to become the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) or NAZI for short. The party then developed its own symbols and colours to be associated with- the swastika, colours red, black and white and a distinct party salute. The party’s extreme right wing views to communism and to the republic, the party attracted ex-Freikorps troops and by 1921 the Nazi Party had its own private army, the Sturmabteilung (SA) or Storm Troopers. Wearing brown uniforms, they became a visible strength of the Nazi Party by protecting leaders and physically attacking any physical opponents. In 1923 the Nazi Party was large enough to attempt to seize power in Bavaria and they tried to seize power in what became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler and his followers attempted to seize control when they detained the leaders of Bavaria at a political rally in a Munich beer hall on the 8th of November 1923. The Putsch failed however, when the army refused to back the attempt. In a show of defiance, the following day the Nazis marched into the centre of Munich where their demonstration was broken up by armed police, and Hitler and some of his followers were arrested for treason. Hitler then used his trial in 1924 to promote his party and his views. Although he was sentenced to five years imprisonment, he had now become a national figure and was treated well. He had his own room and was ...
