The Greater German People’s Community (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Großdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft'', GVG) was one of the two main

front organizations A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

established after the National Socialist German Workers' Party (

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

) was banned by the government of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

in the wake of the failed

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...

of November 1923.

History

The GVG was founded on 1 January 1924 by Alfred Rosenberg, the editor-in-chief of the '' Volkische Beobachter'', on the instructions of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

who was incarcerated in

Landsberg prison Landsberg Prison is a penal facility in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, a ...

at the time. Shortly before his arrest on 11 November 1923, Hitler had charged Rosenberg with leadership of the movement. Headquartered in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, the GVG was largely limited to

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, the birthplace of National Socialism, and had no substantial presence outside that State. The GVG became a haven for Nazi Party members from that area. Prominent members included

Max Amann Max Amann (24 November 1891 – 30 March 1957) was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, a German politician, businessman and art collector, including of looted art. He was the first business manager of the Nazi Party and later became the hea ...

Phillip Bouhler Philipp Bouhler (11 September 1899 – 19 May 1945) was a German senior Nazi Party functionary who was both a (National Leader) and Chief of the Chancellery of the Führer of the NSDAP. He was also the SS official responsible for the euthanas ...

Hermann Esser Hermann Esser (29 July 1900 – 7 February 1981) was an early member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). A journalist, Esser was the editor of the Nazi paper, ''Völkischer Beobachter'', a Propaganda Leader, and a Vice President of the Reichstag. In the ...

Franz Xaver Schwarz Franz Xaver Schwarz (27 November 1875 – 2 December 1947) was a high ranking German Nazi Party official who served as ''Reichsschatzmeister'' (National Treasurer) of the Party throughout most of its existence. He was also one of the highes ...

and

Julius Streicher Julius Streicher (12 February 1885 – 16 October 1946) was a member of the Nazi Party, the ''Gauleiter'' (regional leader) of Franconia and a member of the '' Reichstag'', the national legislature. He was the founder and publisher of the virul ...

. Rosenberg, one of the least charismatic of the Nazi leaders and lacking in leadership qualities, was soon pushed aside by Streicher, a far more ruthless and abrasive personality, who was elected Chairman of the GVG on 9 July 1924 with Esser, also a coarse, bullying sort, as his Deputy Chairman. The GVG found itself vying for leadership of the Nazi movement with the other much larger successor organization, the

National Socialist Freedom Movement The National Socialist Freedom Movement (, NSFB) or National Socialist Freedom Party (, NSFP) was a political party in Weimar Germany created in April 1924 during the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch. Adolf Hitler and many Nazi leaders were jai ...

(German: ''Nationalsozialistische Freiheitsbewegung'', NSFB). This group consisted of an alliance between Nazi Party members from northern Germany and the

German Völkisch Freedom Party The German Völkisch Freedom Party (german: Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei, or DVFP) was an early right wing and anti-Semitic political party of Weimar Germany that took its name from the Völkisch movement, a populist movement focused on folkl ...

. The leaders of this group were

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...

, Albrecht von Graefe and Gregor Strasser. The NSFB supported participation in the electoral system. The GVG, by contrast, still clung to a revolutionary and anti-parliamentary orientation that eschewed participation in electoral politics. Consequently it won no seats in the two '' Reichstag'' elections of May and December 1924. Neither group accepted the legitimacy of the other and both claimed the support of Hitler. This rivalry threatened a split in the National Socialist movement. Hitler, not wanting to jeopardize his chances for

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

, announced his “withdrawal” from political leadership on 7 July 1924 and refused to publicly endorse either organization. This only resulted in increased confusion, disharmony and squabbling between the putative successor groups. Hitler was released from prison on 20 December 1924 and soon re-established the NSDAP, reclaiming its leadership on 27 February 1925 in a speech at the ''

Bürgerbräukeller The Bürgerbräukeller (; "citizen brew cellar") was a large beer hall in Munich, Germany. Opened in 1885, it was one of the largest beer halls of the Bürgerliches Brauhaus. After Bürgerliches merged with Löwenbräu in 1921, the hall was tra ...

'' in Munich. Streicher and Esser were both in attendance and pledged their loyalty. The GVG subsequently formally disbanded on 12 March and its members rejoined the Nazi Party almost without exception.Mathias Rösch: The Munich NSDAP 1925–1933. An investigation into the internal structure of the NSDAP in the Weimar Republic, De Gruyter, 2002, p. 105, .

References

External websites

Grossdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft
i
the Bavarian Historical Dictionary
{{Weimar Republic political parties 1925 disestablishments in Germany 1924 establishments in Germany Early Nazism (–1933) Far-right political parties in Germany German nationalist political parties Nazi Party organizations Political parties disestablished in 1925 Political parties established in 1924 Political parties in the Weimar Republic