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Hitler transformed the German Workers' Party from a directionless back-room discussion club into a genuine political force. It is unlikely that at this stage he saw himself as the prospective dictator of Germany, but his imagination was already obsessed with the idea of a Germanic Revolution that would sweep away the Communists, Jews, and Social Democrats who had betrayed the Fatherland in November of 1918. Traditional nationalist meetings had tended to be dull and academic. Hitler deliberately made his meetings exciting and provocative. He practiced and developed his natural gift for oratory. What he had learned about propaganda in Vienna during the war and during the revolution now paid its dividends. Neglecting no technique that might improve his speaking, he spoke at meetings both in the afternoon and evening to see when the emotions of the audience could be more easily aroused. He went to almost every beerhall and public meeting room in Munich to study the acoustics and atmosphere. Above all, he learned to get the feeling of his audience, to tell what they were thinking, and what they wanted. Perhaps the most compelling and for that very reason the most diabolical thing about Hitler's speeches was their air of sincerity. He was the voice from the trenches, the unknown young war veteran with the Iron Cross who expressed himself so passionately. With variations in pace and style he could keep an audience enraptured for an hour or even two The passion and conviction with which Hitler spoke had a particularly strong effect on women. He realized this and took advantage of it by always directing a special appeal to the women in the audience, who were voting for the first time in the 1920s. Hitler had never been in a formal drawing room nor dined in a first-class restaurant. In order to be able to deal with members of the upper class without their taking a condescending attitude toward him, it would be necessary to polish up his manners, looks, and dress. Dietrich Eckart, one of the founders of the German Workers Party, gave him his first trench coat and persuaded him to trim his mustache. He began to take Hitler around with him to the better cafes and restaurants of Munich. He gave Hitler his first introduction to better society and, what is more important, to people who were financial backers of the Thule Society. These were people who would one day render similar services for the Nazi Party. Yet another of the early collaborators who helped provide funds for Hitler's new party was Alfred Rosenberg, a member of the Thule Society who in 1918 was only a penniless immigrant. One day his interest in anti-Communist politics led him to pay a visit to the office of Dietrich Eckart. When the revolution broke out in Munich in November of 1918 both Eckart and Rosenberg opposed it and eventually had to flee for their lives. In the autumn of 1919 Rosenberg and Hitler met for the first time in the home of Dietrich Eckart. Toward the end of 1919 Rosenberg became a member of the German Workers' Party. He was assigned the task of researching the role of the Jews in Communism.