In the 1920's and early 1930's the nazis were part of the Munich political lunatic fringe. They would have street battles with the communist fringe groups. They wore surplus WW1 german desert uniforms that they bought cheap, and were known as "the brownshirts". The mainstream Germans laughed at them, and nobody took them very seriously. If a few more people had argued with them back then, the world would now be a better place.