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Quoting Wikipedia:

Führer was the title demanded by Adolf Hitler to denote his function as the head of the Nazi Party; he received it in 1921 when, infuriated over party founder Anton Drexler's plan to merge with another antisemitic far-right nationalist party, he resigned from the party. Drexler and the party's Executive Committee then acquiesced to Hitler's demand to be made the chairman of the party with "dictatorial powers" as the condition for his return.

What I don't get is why did Drexler submit to Hitler's demand? Hitler's demand is pretty much for Drexler to give up his party to Hitler. What happened that made Drexler did that?

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    If you doubt or finds the wikipedia answer, as quoted by DevSolar below, to be unclear, please edit your question to specify and clarify.
    – Semaphore
    Jan 8, 2019 at 13:30

1 Answer 1

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Answered by the Wikipedia page on Anton Drexler, emphasis mine:

Following an intraparty dispute, Hitler angrily tendered his resignation on 11 July 1921. The committee members realised that the resignation of their leading public figure and speaker would mean the end of the party.[10] Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that the party headquarters would remain in Munich.[11] The committee agreed; he rejoined the party as member 3,680. Drexler was thereafter moved to the purely symbolic position of honorary president and left the party in 1923.[12]

[10]: Kershaw, Ian (2008). Hitler: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6, pages 100, 101, 102.

[11]: Id., page 103.

[12]: Shirer, William L. (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0, page 41.

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  • One thing that needs clarification is that WP is misleading, unitentionally, in what Führer meant. Only after Mussolini's march it dawned on Hitler, and the process was quite slow, that there can only be one Führer. Previously, AH was one, as Drexler was one Führer, in parallel. Only later through the term unser Führer (AH) that man got ahead in the party, still not entirely undisputed. This is enirely different when the party went underground and was re-founded later.
    – LаngLаngС
    Jan 8, 2019 at 12:50
  • Haven't found better srcs for that but WP also 'corrects itself' somewhat in the German article
    – LаngLаngС
    Jan 8, 2019 at 13:03
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    @LangLangC: My impression was that the question is more about Drexler passing control of the party to Hitler, not so much about the term "Führer". Anyway, adding a whole book chapter to the answer does not really improve it IMHO. Rolled back.
    – DevSolar
    Jan 8, 2019 at 13:09
  • Perfectly within your rights and preferences. Had the more direct quote handy, so your choice to decline a mere suggestion. (But you did notice that I also suggested to further shorten the excerpt from the chapter? After all it is your answer.) // One thing that IMO needs addressing is that just the title Führer was not such an important and significant "demand" we would commonly understand it now to be.
    – LаngLаngС
    Jan 8, 2019 at 13:13
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    @LangLangC: And the demand was not just about the title but about, from the OP's WP quote, "to be made the chairman of the party with "dictatorial powers"". Actually I was about to VtC the question as "the answer" was right there on WP. I don't really think this needs more elaboration or quotes.
    – DevSolar
    Jan 8, 2019 at 13:14

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