I like how Allen went into very great detail about the meetings the political parties would host and hire different people to make speeches at the meetings. They would know which speaker and which political platform worked because it would attract the most people; people would be willing to pay the fee to get in and listen to the speech. The Nazis were therefore able to shape their political platform towards the masses through trial and error. They effectively ensured that their political party was well-heard and well-supported. Hitler didn't seem to have any say in this; even though Hitler was the face of the party, I think so far in the class we have been giving him too much credit for making the Nazi Party what it was. Clearly, other people were organizing these meetings and had a say in what happened at them and who spoke at them. Hitler also does not seem smart enough or have the patience to develop a political party this way.

I found it interesting that Allen felt the need to clarify when there were political tensions--it seems like there would always be political tensions in Germany since the government kept on banning political parties, like how they banned the Nazi party in 1922 (pg 27), they banned "all open-air meetings and processions of a political character for a three month period" in 1930 (pg 35), and they banned "the wearing of uniforms by political groups" in 1930 (pg 36). Nothing makes me tense like the government restricting rights, even if they aren't ones that I use often.