Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

ARYANS OF ALL NATIONS, UNITE 105Civil government was trying to take over, even in Bavaria. It strove toexclude the Reichswehr from power; disbanded the armed parties andpatriotic murder clubs. On the surface, it seemed to have succeeded, butnot in actuality. This secret army fighting for its existence could not bedestroyed by decrees; such a force can be destroyed only by force. Up tothis point, Hitler had been the secret army's spokesman, its attorneybefore the public; the crisis made him one of its leaders.Thus far, we have viewed Hitler as a piece of his element, a part ofthe German counter-revolution, a flake amid a mighty foam, a bubblethat slowly swells up and becomes strangely iridescent. But to regardhim only as the political enfant terrible of our epoch, as merely a greatadventurer, a great demagogue, or a great dictator would be tounderestimate the significance of the man. He is something much morebasic. In his qualities, in his destiny, and in his acts he is an image, aproduct, and an executant of a social revolution, which has spread ingreat waves throughout the globe; the greatest probably since the fall ofthe Roman Empire. In terms of modern sociology we have attempted tointerpret this revolution as the organization of modern society by theintellectual. This new social type has a different face in every country;in the lands of Europe, broken by the First World War, his face isalways topped by a soldier's cap.In the maelstrom of the German counter-revolution, dozens ofhitherto nameless figures suddenly rose to the surface, founded and ledso-called defense leagues, and with them conquered cities andprovinces. Hitler started out as one of these, but soon distinguishedhimself from all the others. All of them strove to gain control of the keypoints of power. But Hitler recognized more clearly than any other thatin time of disorganization the true source of power lies in publicopinion. 'Only a man of the people can create authority,' says Hess. Noone has better understood the advice of the Wise Men of Zion to speakwith the people 'in the streets and squares' than this man from theViennese lodging-house. None took so much pleasure in just that.Others had friends, a wife, profession; he had only the mass to talk to.Silent in a circle of three, sullen and sluggish in conversation, withoutinterest