got his mouth in the right place … He doesn’t need much intelligence; politics is the stupidest business in the world.” 12 So, not surprisingly, Eckart immediately saw the potential Hitler possessed. Here was a simple soldier—the defiant voice of the dispossessed and defeated. A simple soldier, moreover, who had been decorated for heroism and received the Iron Cross. After his first meeting with Hitler, Eckart remarked: “This is the coming man of Germany, one day the world will speak of him.” 13
Eckart introduced Hitler to wealthy potential patrons in Munich, and he became a particular hit with women of a certain age—one widow fussed around him so much that she became known as
Hitler-Mutti
(“Hitler’s mum”). Eckart, before his death from a heart attack in 1923, also helped Hitler and the fledgling Nazi party financially, raising the money to buy a newspaper to propagate the Nazi viewpoint, the
Völkischer Beobachter
.
But perhaps the greatest practical assistance that Eckart gave to Adolf Hitler was to support him when his dominant role in the Nazi party cameunder threat in the summer of 1921. Anton Drexler had been flirting with the idea of merging the Nazi party with other similar groups like the German Socialist Party (the DSP). Drexler saw this as an obvious way to grow the party swiftly. Then, in the summer of 1921, he became impressed with the work of a philosophy professor at the University of Augsburg called Otto Dickel. Professor Dickel had written
Resurgence of the West
, a book which contained similar ideas to those expressed in the twenty-five points of the Nazi programme agreed the previous year, although Dickel expressed his own views with greater intellectual weight. When Drexler heard Dickel speak he—and others in the Nazi party—were keen that some form of alliance be struck with him and his own party, the
Abendländischer Bund
(Western League).
All this manoeuvring occurred when Hitler was out of Munich, and he was subsequently outraged to discover what had been discussed in his absence. Hitler walked out of a meeting with Dickel in fury and quit the Nazi party altogether. Once again he had shown that he was both unwilling and unable to participate in intellectual debate.
Initially, Eckart had been interested in what Dickel could add to the party—not least intellectual respectability—but once Hitler resigned he did his best to convince him to return. And return Hitler did, but on his own terms as the unquestioned dictator of the Nazi party. Eckart then splashed his own support for Hitler across the front page of the
Völkischer Beobachter
. 14
It was a significant moment on Hitler’s journey: he was no longer just drumming up support for an as-yet-unknown future leader of Germany, he was now positioning himself as potentially that leader. Hitler had demonstrated that he was not prepared to share power—and would take whatever consequences might come from his refusal to collaborate. And what is just as significant is that others began to accept Hitler’s own valuation of himself. Dietrich Eckart, for example, would have preferred to have involved Professor Dickel in the Nazi party, but once Hitler refused, then Eckart was forced to choose, and in the process accept, that Hitler be given undisputed power within the Nazi movement. Hitler was now able to portray himself as a “hero” partly because others could see his intransigence as in part “heroic.” Hitler could often be a very difficult character to deal with, but in that difficulty lay—potentially—a powerful appeal. After all, who expects “heroes” to be reasonable people?
The following year—1922—the Nazi party began growing by acquisition. In October 1922 Hitler managed to convince the supporters of the
Deutsche Werkgemeinschaft
in Nuremberg to subordinate themselves within the Nazi party—not in a loose alliance as had been proposed the year before, but recognising that Hitler was now their leader.
Eckart introduced Hitler to wealthy potential patrons in Munich, and he became a particular hit with women of a certain age—one widow fussed around him so much that she became known as
Hitler-Mutti
(“Hitler’s mum”). Eckart, before his death from a heart attack in 1923, also helped Hitler and the fledgling Nazi party financially, raising the money to buy a newspaper to propagate the Nazi viewpoint, the
Völkischer Beobachter
.
But perhaps the greatest practical assistance that Eckart gave to Adolf Hitler was to support him when his dominant role in the Nazi party cameunder threat in the summer of 1921. Anton Drexler had been flirting with the idea of merging the Nazi party with other similar groups like the German Socialist Party (the DSP). Drexler saw this as an obvious way to grow the party swiftly. Then, in the summer of 1921, he became impressed with the work of a philosophy professor at the University of Augsburg called Otto Dickel. Professor Dickel had written
Resurgence of the West
, a book which contained similar ideas to those expressed in the twenty-five points of the Nazi programme agreed the previous year, although Dickel expressed his own views with greater intellectual weight. When Drexler heard Dickel speak he—and others in the Nazi party—were keen that some form of alliance be struck with him and his own party, the
Abendländischer Bund
(Western League).
All this manoeuvring occurred when Hitler was out of Munich, and he was subsequently outraged to discover what had been discussed in his absence. Hitler walked out of a meeting with Dickel in fury and quit the Nazi party altogether. Once again he had shown that he was both unwilling and unable to participate in intellectual debate.
Initially, Eckart had been interested in what Dickel could add to the party—not least intellectual respectability—but once Hitler resigned he did his best to convince him to return. And return Hitler did, but on his own terms as the unquestioned dictator of the Nazi party. Eckart then splashed his own support for Hitler across the front page of the
Völkischer Beobachter
. 14
It was a significant moment on Hitler’s journey: he was no longer just drumming up support for an as-yet-unknown future leader of Germany, he was now positioning himself as potentially that leader. Hitler had demonstrated that he was not prepared to share power—and would take whatever consequences might come from his refusal to collaborate. And what is just as significant is that others began to accept Hitler’s own valuation of himself. Dietrich Eckart, for example, would have preferred to have involved Professor Dickel in the Nazi party, but once Hitler refused, then Eckart was forced to choose, and in the process accept, that Hitler be given undisputed power within the Nazi movement. Hitler was now able to portray himself as a “hero” partly because others could see his intransigence as in part “heroic.” Hitler could often be a very difficult character to deal with, but in that difficulty lay—potentially—a powerful appeal. After all, who expects “heroes” to be reasonable people?
The following year—1922—the Nazi party began growing by acquisition. In October 1922 Hitler managed to convince the supporters of the
Deutsche Werkgemeinschaft
in Nuremberg to subordinate themselves within the Nazi party—not in a loose alliance as had been proposed the year before, but recognising that Hitler was now their leader.
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