German Socialist Party

The German Socialist Party (German: Deutschsozialistische Partei, DSP) was a short-lived German nationalist, far-right party during the early years of the Weimar Republic. Founded in 1918, its declared aim was an ideology that would combine both völkisch and socialist elements. However, the party never became a mass movement. After it was dissolved in 1922, many of its members joined the similar National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) instead.

German Socialist Party

Deutschsozialistische Partei
Founded1918
Dissolved1922
IdeologyGerman nationalism
Völkisch movement
Antisemitism
Political positionFar-right
Colors     Black

The DSP was heavily influenced by the antisemitic Thule Society led by Rudolf von Sebottendorf as well as publications of engineer Alfred Brunner, who aimed to create a party that would be both nationalist, socialist and attractive to the German proletariat. The DSP aimed to win the allegiance of the German proletariat away from communism which had become highly influential following the German Revolution of 1918–1919. This made the DSP similar to the German Workers' Party in and around Munich which later became the NSDAP. A merger of the two parties was contemplated, but it ultimately failed.

In 1920, the party (which had originally only existed in Nuremberg and around Franconia) was founded for the entire German state and contested in the Reichstag elections. However, the party proved unpopular, with only about 7,000 votes.[1] This led Julius Streicher, an important party official, to ally with the so-called Völkische Werkgemeinschaft in the summer of 1921. Nonetheless, the DSP continued to lose members and popularity.

In late 1922, the party was officially dissolved and many functionaries followed Streicher to the NSDAP.

Hans Georg Grassinger, the founding chairman of the DSP, later recalled that Adolf Hitler had tried to join the party in 1919, but he was rejected:

In the autumn of 1919, around September, Hitler appeared in the office of the publishing house to see Grassinger and offered [to] write for the paper, and to join and work for the German Socialist Party. He didn’t have any money at the time and he also asked to borrow money from Grassinger. But they [told] him that they had no use for him in the paper and that they also did not want to have him in the party.[2]

References
  1. Wahlergebnis 1920 bei www.gonschior.de
  2. Alberge, Dalya (2017-10-30). "Hitler joined Nazis only after another far-right group shunned him". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.