Sorry about the delay everyone. Life decided to throw some more stuff my way. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.
Here we have a slight time jump back to 1920, now that the Red Baron and his new life in Denver, Colorado has been addressed.
Munich
13/12/1920
Adolf Hitler did not know what to expect at his first party meeting. He had just joined the
Deutsche Arbeiterpartei a few weeks ago after being previously employed by them as an illustrator for their campaign posters. Their themes of anti-communism and anti-semitism appealed to him and since he was already working for them, he saw no reason why not to join the party itself. He thought about his childhood and chuckled at how far he had come, the Austrian boy from Linz was now an artist of some renown in Munich.
And it was all thanks to Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. His commission had opened up a world of opportunities for Hitler, and for that he would be eternally grateful. Shortly after the commissioned painting, he was permanently posted to regimental headquarters to illustrate maps using field sketches, ushering him into a room full of potential clients. His promotion to
Unteroffizier and
Feldwebel came short afterwards, along with a commissioned oil painting by an
Oberst.(1) That commission had earned him the acclaim of the
Oberst and lead to a string of well paying commissions.(2)
And then came the defeat. He was inside his regiment's headquarters when the Armistice was announced. Talks and rumors of such a thing had been making the rounds for a few week by that point, though Hitler dismissed them as defeatist rumors and enemy propaganda. Even now he could recall the shock that he had felt as his mind processed the words. The silence that greeted the news was deafening, he remembered, and no one spoke a single word for several minutes. It was a terrible moment, one that would haunt him forever; a terrible specter of failure and defeat. (3)
In the weeks after the Armistice, he had asked for a discharge from the
Deutsches Heer which was prompted granted. When he stepped out of the headquarters building, Hitler had felt like a new man, though he was still dressed in the uniform of a
Feldwebel. After his honorable discharge from the
Deutsches Heer, Hitler had decided to return to Munich and continue painting, yet circumstances conspired against him. The
Volksstaat Bayern had taken over Munich and the city was in a state of chaos, so Hitler decided to stay in the countryside until the chaos subsided and Munich was stable once more. This lead to a 6 month period of wandering as a bohemian artist, in which the only items in his possession were the military uniform on his back, another military uniform in his bag, his paints, brushes, canvas and a small easel, all packed up in his old military backpack and a large pouch slung over his shoulder. He also had a loaded Mauser C96 hidden in his greatcoat, a few dozen rounds of 7.63x25mm for the pistol, and
ℳ37 in his pocket, payment for the last commissioned watercolor he had done while still part of the
6. Bayerische Reserve-Division. (4)
Hitler smiled when as he remembered those peaceful days spent painting watercolors and oils in the woods and fields, sleeping on hay bales and in farmer's barns (with the permission of the farmer of course), and traveling to different cities to sell his works. He'd probably traveled the whole of Bavaria at least once, though Hitler, or maybe twice. It was a pity that those days couldn't last forever, for he decided to return to Munich after the communists had been defeated in May 1919. Back in the city, he continued to paint, though this time his subjects were cityscapes and architectural pieces. His pieces sold well enough that he was to rent a single room flat and still have money leftover for dinner at a fine restaurant once a week. Hitler could almost smell the
gerösteter jungtaube (roasted squab) and I (Bavarian bratwurst) that he would order tonight. But the troubles that Munich had underwent had made him realize the power that the Jews, socialists, and republicans had gained
Deutschland's expense. It was on November 11th, 1920 that he decided he would see what the
Deutsche Arbeiterpartei was all about, for it preached a message similar to his beliefs. And maybe in time, he could use the DAP to purge Deutschland of it's internal parasites, the Jews, socialists, and republicans.(5)
The room gradually fell silent as
Herr Drexler ascended the podium. Fifty nine people looked up at Drexler as he began his speech, hopeful that he would usher them into a new era of prosperity and unity. One man however, was already thinking of how he could use this political party to ascend to the highest power in Germany. That man was Adolf Hitler.
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The
Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Worker's Party) was founded in 1919 by Anton Drexler, though it would remain unknown to most until a man known as Adolf Hitler joined the party in December 1920. Hitler's political views and oratory skills quickly won over the party and he soon became their primary orator after one of his speeches attracted more than 3000 people, the biggest meeting yet of this small party. At the advice of Rudolf Jung (one of the founding members of the DAP, later an important Nazi theorist), Hitler and the other executive members renamed the party the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Worker's Party) in order to attract more publicity and appeal to large segments of the German populace.
However, it was precisely this publicity and the disagreements that followed which caused Anton Drexler and some original founders to resign in early January 1921, leaving Hitler as the sole leader of the party. The party's membership skyrocketed during this period, as Hitler's speeches attracted thousands of people, many of whom were disgruntled veterans who believed that the
Deutsches Heer was not defeated in the field, but backstabbed by the socialists, republicans, and Jews. The party's paramilitary wing, the
Sturmabteilung (SA), was formed on January 19th, 1921. A group of communists attempted to disrupt an NSDAP meeting in a beer hall by yelling obscenities and communist slogans, but Hitler had ignored them and continued on with his speech, albeit in a louder voice. It was then that the communists turned to physical means, as they pushed through the crowd of listeners in an attempt to reach the podium where Hitler stood, though they would swiftly regret their actions only moments later.
Right before the communists reached the stage, a group of 24 NSDAP men lead by Emil Maurice (one of Hitler's close friend, later the 1st
Oberster SA-Führer) blocked their path and ordered them to leave. When the communists refused to obey, the Maurice and his men slipped on brass knuckles and soundly beat the communists before throwing them out of the beer hall. It was here that the
Sturmabteilung was born, and a careful made organizational system that included ranks, insignia, and medals would soon follow in 1922, when Hans Ulrich Klintzsch was appointed
Oberster SA-Führer after Maurice became a member of the SS and Hitler's chauffeur. The formation of the SA was quickly followed by the formation of the
Schutzstaffel (SS) during the
Schlesische Expedition (Silesian Expedition), though no one would predict that the SS would one day supersede the SA. (6)
In March 1921, membership of the NSDAP numbered only 5,539 individuals, and it was considered by most people to be fringe political party unworthy of any attention, if they had heard of it at all. Few at the time could imagine that the NSDAP would be the only permitted political party in Germany in less than 15 years. Even fewer could have imagined that the NSDAP's power would stretch from the Atlantic to beyond the Urals in decades after.
Hitler with members of the NSDAP reviewing a SA unit. Circa mid 1921, post Schlesische Expedition.
Feldwebel Adolf Hitler right after his honorable discharge from the 6. Bayerische Reserve-Division of the Deutsches Heer.
Notes:
1. Unteroffizier is German for Corporal.
2. Oberst is German for Colonel.
3. Hitler got shook. The rest is history.
4. ITTL Hitler feels that he has more potential as an artist (the painting for von Richthofen having restored his confidence) and that's the path he pursues after his discharge.
5. ITTL Hitler is not a vegetarian because I believe that his OTL vegetarianism was just a sham.
6. And that is how the SA started. More on the SS when I update Chapter 7.
I promised, I now deliver. Hitler stays Hitler. And Nazis stay Nazis.
Next chapter introduces some familiar faces and things begin to diverge drastically.
As usual, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome!
-Black Dragon
Chapter 6 has been updated to the new standard. Update of Chapter 7 and the release of the 11th installment will occur shortly.