Page "Joseph Goebbels" Paragraph 11

Like others who were later prominent in the Third Reich, Goebbels came into contact with the Nazi Party in 1923, during the campaign of resistance to the French occupation of the Ruhr.

Hitler ’ s imprisonment following the failed November 1923 " Beer Hall Putsch " left the party temporarily leaderless, and when the 27-year-old Goebbels joined the party in late 1924 the most important influence on his political development was Gregor Strasser, who became Nazi organizer in northern Germany in March 1924.

Strasser (" the most able of the leading Nazis " of this period ) took the " socialist " component of National Socialism far more seriously than did Hitler and other members of the Bavarian leadership of the party.