Movement Cycles and the Nazi Party

Abstract

Following insights of social movement theory, this article looks at movement cycles in the initial development of the Nazi Party. Specifically, it explores the framing strategies the party employed in trying to make efficient use of opportunity structures in the political discourse of the late 1920s. On the basis of a content analysis of the official party newspaper, the authors analyze the topics of political events and speeches the Nazi Party organized in Munich between 1925 and 1930. The results show that after 1928, the Nazi Party managed to achieve a coherent set of themes around economic and political issues that may have facilitated its rise to power.