CREATION OF A DICTATORSHIP

• REICHSTAG FIRE

  • A fire destroyed the Reichstag building on 27th Feb 1933:
  • A Dutch communist named Lubbe was arrested at the scene and later executed
  • The fire resulted in the arrests of around 4,000 communists
  • Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree:
  • The Reichstag Fire gave Hitler the opportunity to scapegoat the KPD
  • Political opponents were imprisoned legally and communist newspapers were shut down
  • The Nazi Party increased their seats to 288 in the March 1933 election, giving them a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag
• ENABLING ACT

  • The Enabling Act became law on 24th March 1933 by 444 votes to 94.
  • The Act gave the Nazi Party a number of powers:
  • As chancellor, Hitler could propose new laws
  • Hitler’s cabinet could pass these laws
  • These laws could overrule the Weimar Constitution
  • The Enabling Act was only valid for four years, but it was renewed again in 1937
  • Parties in the Reichstag could no longer oppose new laws, marking an end to democratic rule in Germany
• HOW DID HITLER USE THE ENABLING ACT?

  • MAY 1933 - Trade Union officials were arrested, and all unions were replaced with the German labour front
  • JULY 1933 - After shutting down SPD and KPD offices and seizing their funds, political parties except the NSDAP were banned.
  • JANUARY 1933 - 18 local governments were replaced by governors loyal to the Nazi Party
• THREAT FROM SA AND ROHM

  • Hitler was concerned about internal opposition, particularly from the head of the SA - Ernst Röhm:
  • Röhm was a suspected homosexual, which did not align with Nazi Party values
  • Röhm led around three million SA members, around 60% of which were unemployed by 1933
  • Röhm wanted a greater focus on supporting the working class, which contrasted with Hitler’s desire to help the rich
  • Röhm’s SA clashed with the SS, led by Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich
• NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES

  • Hitler arranged a meeting with Röhm and other SA leaders at a hotel in the town of Bad Wiessee on 30th June 1934:
  • Röhm and around 400 SA members were arrested and later shot
  • Other opponents such as von Schleicher, Gregor Strasser and von Kahr were also arrested and killed
  • The public was informed that Röhm had been planning to replace Hitler, and therefore his death served the interests of the country
• DEATH OF HINDENBURG

  • Paul von Hindenburg had been President of Germany since 1925
  • On 2nd August 1934, he died of lung cancer aged 86
  • Hitler combined the positions of president and chancellor to make himself Führer
  • 90% of the public voted in favour of Hitler becoming Führer
  • Hitler forced every soldier to swear an oath of loyalty to him
  • This marked the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of Hitler’s Nazi Germany