Bamberg Conference

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The Bamberg Conference (1926) was held during the "wilderness years" of the Nazi party. Hitler's decision to call the meeting was something of a gamble. His aim was to restore some resemblance of party unity and agree a future programme. To achieve this he had to put pressure on his rival Gregor Strasser's delegates to come into line. What was meant to be a debate was quickly turned into a five-hour monologue, dominated by Hitler. Bamberg was chosen as it was situated on the way to the northern Gauleiter, but still on Bavarian soil. Hitler slowly began to regain support and by mid-1926 he was in control of the party once again. At this conference the young Joseph Goebbels, an associate of the Strasser brothers switched sides and joined Hitler. The conference was called shortly after Hitler's release from prison for attempting to take over the country (Munich Putsch) and by this time support for the Nazi party was in decline due to the relative prosperity the country was experiencing under Stresemann and a socialist/nationalist split in the party would have been a problem which needed to be solved as soon as possible if the Nazi party was to succeed and for Hitler to become Chancellor. At the conference, Hitler spoke largely about the writings of 'Mein Kampf' his autobiography that was written whilst he served his time, in comfort and Lansberg Prison. He specifically spoke of creating 'Lebensraum' (Living Space) and 'Voltsgemeinschaft' (A peoples community). Furthermore, Hitler decided to announce his new policy of 'legality' believed that it was better for the Nazi regime so that they could claim a legal background if voted in to power. Hitler was particularly wary of this, having seen what happened to the Provisional Government in Russia, 1917. Hitler received particular opposition from the Strasser brothers (of whom Gregor had to flea to America later due to several assassination attempts on his life. Many scholars argue that it was at this point that Hitler gained true control of the Nazi party (however others argue he did not until the late 1930s when he finally had control of the Reichswehr, but he still did not have control of the German economy). With a new sense of legality the Nazis were not banned in states, as they had been in Prussia in 1922/3 and even Bavaria, the 'breeding ground for revolutionaries' (Hitler) was contemplating it. Bamberg was a truly memorable conference as it marked a new direction for the Nazis. A direction of 'legality' and the policies which ensued this conference changed the face of history forever.