Pan German movement started as a backlash to the attempts to root out the German nationalist sentiment during monarchy of Hebzberg. The biggest gain of the movement was that it rubbished all the nonsensical theories. It was also a blow to the clerics and the theorists and ideologues.
Pan German party challenged the Hebzberg monarchy when the rulers tried to come close to the Germans aggressively. The parts brought to light the gross corruption the rulers were bogged down in. It also won the hearts of the backward classes by befriending them taking up their case also for justice. Pan German party inculcated the spirit of patriotism in them.
Adolf Hitler sympathised and supported the party and its movement. But when Adolf came to Vienna the party was not in a good shape and its members were demoralised. The Christian Socialist Party was in power. What was the cause of the downfall of Pan German Party?
According to the analysis of Adolf basically the principles of the party were ideal. But its leaders lacked the wisdom and energy to take their message to the masses. The party needed a charismatic leader who could emotionally bond with the people. The entire knowledge of its leader George Vaun was like the wisdom of an incarnate.
It was the misfortune of Pan German Party that its leaders failed to realise the importance of recruiting followers and representatives from the masses to become a people’s movement which could have guaranteed the success. The party’s high principles remained like an intellectual luxury which had little meaning for the masses. It was the main reason of its downfall. One other reason was that even before its coming into the existence Austrian Germans were in a hopeless and demoralised state. The party had to face the question of its basic importance.
The Pan German leaders lacked the support of the youth power as well which is essential for the success of any movement. It is youth who create political storm with their drive, enthusiasm and the spirit of sacrifice. The stature of the party’s representatives in the parliament was dwarfish instead of being tall. And the treatment of the press towards them was step motherly because the Jews were in control of media.
The shortsighted leaders of Pan German let themselves be subjugated by the parliamentary system. The parliament became centre of their activities as a result and the movement lost its wind due to their neglect. They should have made the movement the very centre of their trust. They foolishly sacrificed the movement.
Had the revolutionary leaders of Pan German understood the power of the people they would have adopted different view points to the problems of the society and their publicity or propaganda would have different style and approach. And their centre of the attention would never have been the parliament.
No one in the party who mattered realised the importance of the common folk and their power as a united force. And they forgot to remember that only talented and respectable characters could give the right direction to a movement to activate the interests and gain the support of the masses. Adolf Hitler had made a deep study of the confrontations of Pan German movement and the Romans and therefrom concluded that the movement leaders failed to understand the importance of the support of the masses who are always only a call away to rise for a fight for justice and their honour.
Pan German leaders lost the opportunity of becoming the inspiration of the masses by surrendering themselves to the assembly (Parliament or Senate). And add to it their rabid opposition to Church which made them very unpopular among the religious lower and the middle classes. Their image took a beating.
Adolf Hitler said that Vienna proved a bitter education for him. It taught him the grim lessons of his life. He had come to Vienna as an innocent boy and left it a serious, thinking and dejected young man.
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