Paramilitary and Political Career
In 1919 he and his brother Otto joined the right-wing Freikorps led by Franz Ritter von Epp . Gregor Strasser established and commanded the Sturmbataillon Niederbayern (English: Storm battalion Lower Bavaria), with young Heinrich Himmler as his adjutant. By March 1920, Strasser's Freikorps was ready to participate in the failed Kapp Putsch, whereas his brother Otto had turned to the left of the political spectrum and commanded the Rote Hundertschaft, a socialist paramilitary group, to combat this right-wing coup d'état.
In 1921, Strasser's group joined forces with Hitler's Nazi Party. His leadership qualities were readily recognized and he was soon appointed as regional head of the SA in Lower Bavaria. In November 1923, he took an active part in the miscarried Beer Hall Putsch. He was tried for high treason and in April 1924 was sentenced to one and a half years of confinement in a fortress - which was regarded as an honorable form of detention - in Landsberg Prison.
After a few weeks, Strasser was released because on 4 May 1924, he had been elected a member of the Bavarian Landtag for the Nazi-associated Völkischer Block. On 7 December 1924, Strasser won a seat in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic for the Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei ("German-Völkisch Freedom Party"). In both elections, Strasser could not run for the NSDAP, which was banned after the abortive coup. Strasser remained a member of the Reichstag until December 1932.
After the refoundation of the NSDAP by Adolf Hitler on 26 February 1925, Strasser became the first Gauleiter of Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate. After the partition of this Gau, he was Gauleiter of Lower Bavaria from 1 October 1928 until 1929. From 30 June 1926 until January 1928, he was the NSDAP's national leader for propaganda.
Read more about this topic: Gregor Strasser
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