ABSTRACT
The social unrest that was prevalent in Germany had two important features which made it a potential basis of a social movement. A number of political parties were formed on that basis. Among them was the National Socialist German Workers' party, which became the promotion group of the Hitler movement. It was ultimately the advocacy of a new social order which saved the Hitler movement from the fate that befell other counter-revolutionary groups. The evidence points to the fact that discontent was of fundamental importance in the development of the Hitler movement. The fact shown by the life-history data that discontent on the part of individuals had a direct effect upon their subsequent joining of the Hitler movement. The special features which distinguish the Hitler movement from other movements are expressed in its ideology. The function of the ideology, therefore, was to provide an incentive to join the movement.
