Although Hitler quickly re-established his control over the party in Munich and in Bavarian districts outside of Munich, he was faced with opposition to his rule from other parts of the party, especially in northern and western Germany. Late in 1925, a group of party leaders from the north and west formed the National Socialist Working Association, there was a distinction in the Nazis, they were not all going for the same cause, and this subsequently caused rifts in the party and a sense of uncertainty. The party itself was beginning to falter, giving off the view that the Nazis were unestablished, with little control and knowledge in what they were doing.
Hitler realised he had to move decisively. He called a meeting of party leaders in the city of Bamberg on February 14, 1926. He spoke for five hours and emerged victorious. He denounced the expropriation of the princes' property, disagreed with the opening to the left, and refused to allow any tampering with the twenty-five-point program of 1920. The program of 1920, Hitler said, "was the foundation of our religion, our ideology. To tamper with it would constitute treason to those who died believing in our Idea." The programme explained radical ideas which seemed to be mixed up. It came across as confusing; both left and right wing policies were included. Many people were either left, right, or central in politics; and the option of including a bit of both was seen to be obscure and unnecessary.
Extremist attacks on the Jews and Communists were much less convincing while the economy was growing. The Weimar government seemed more acceptable to Germans with the election of the conservative military Hindenburg as president in 1925 and the participation of the rightist Nationalists (DNVP). Through the efforts of Gustav Stresemann, Germany's international position seemed greatly strengthened. Problems remained, such as the refusal of the largest party, the SPD, to join in governing. But the domestic crises seemed mastered and the remaining problems manageable. In such circumstances radical political groups such as the Nazis lost influence. They were left on the edge of politics, little impact was made by their tiresome violent outbursts, most of the German people were content with continuing with the way the country was being run now Hindenburg was in charge.
From 1925 to 1927, the Nazi Party failed to make inroads in the cities and in May 1928, it did poorly in the Reichstag elections, winning only 2.6% of the total vote. The Nazi’s realised that they would have to have a new strategy to be able to concentrate on increasing overall support. The noticed how they were going no where fast, German was reluctantly happy with its situation. The Party shifted its strategy to rural and small town areas and fuelled anti-Semitism by calling for expropriation of Jewish agricultural property and by condemning large Jewish department stores. Party propaganda proved effective at winning over university students, veterans' organisations, and professional groups, although the Party became increasingly identified with young men of the lower middle classes.
