Eerily, the political and economic conditions of Germany in the early 1920's were completely conducive to the development of a far-right political party. Due to Germany's highly contested Weimar government system and complete economic collapse, citizens of the country were incredibly vulnerable, hungry, and seeking change. If only the government had concentrated on halting the actions of the far-right parties to deter from any revolution attempts instead of the left, the fate of the nation could have been entirely different.
All of these elements were very important for the development of Nazism. After the loss of the war, German citizens felt betrayed and lied to by the government. The government bolstered the impression that WWI had ended in a stalemate instead of Germany actually losing the hyped up war. When faced with the truth, Germans had to have been so bummed. Economic turmoil left everyone in utter desperation. If not for political change, then just for the cause of such an immense collapse, or someone or group to blame, which certainly the Nazi party offered (though the group blamed was obviously a scapegoat). The structure of the Weimar government itself made it very easy for new parties to form and gain positions in the Reichstag, which prompted many parties to form. If a party had a bombastic, personal leader, they may indeed have reached the summit of the political mountain, which the Nazi party did.
Reading Mein Kampf, Hitler seems completely insane. He builds himself up to be this great war hero and the most loyal supporter of Germany. I found him to be completely full of it when he describes "facing the hardest question of his life" on page 222 -- whether he should join the German Worker's Party whose meeting he had just sat in on, after thinking that it was a joke party and completely stupid. The hardest question of his life. He also lies and says he was the seventh member. He also rambles and gets very worked up and angry about situations and institutions. How he contradicts himself also really bothers me. He finds the German education system abhorrent. "It was extremely one-sided and adapted to breeding pure 'knowledge,' with less attention to 'ability,' Even less emphasis was laid on the development of the character of the individual… Its results, you may be sure, were not strong men, but compliant 'walking encyclopedias.'" What did Hitler care about anyone's individuality and will? As he became leader of Germany, everyone's will was subject to his. His will became everyone's. If they had been educated "properly," maybe they would have contested him, which probably would have ended in their deaths. I am reading Mein Kampf as more of a vivid rationalization of Hitler's actions and beliefs.
One of the few absolutely necessary skills is to feed the people what they want to hear. Of course Hitler calls for the education of the individual, rather than the creation of the "compliant walking encyclopedias". And as the new leader of the government, he was able to instill the belief that if they followed his path, then they perhaps could become the next great Fuhrer of Germany. As insane as he was, Hitler mastered the art of feeding the people what they wanted to hear- that his methods and tactics would lead to the rise of Germany as the dominant force of the West.
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