Nazi secure power in Germany

• The Nazis were gaining more votes.
• Hitler became the leader of Germany, known as the Chancellor.
• On 27th February, one week before an election, the Reichstag building caught fire.
• Hitler immediately blamed the communists for starting the fire.
• A communist was arrested and executed for starting the Reichstag fire.
• A law, known as the Reichstag Fire Law, was passed to give Hitler more powers over Germany.
• 4000 communists were arrested in the aftermath of the Reichstag Fire Law.
• Newspapers could be censored under the Reichstag Fire Law.
• Meetings of political groups were limited under the Reichstag Fire Law.
• Letters and phone calls could be checked under the Reichstag Fire Law.
• Hitler said the Reichstag Fire Law was necessary to keep Germany safe but he now had a huge amount of power.
• The Enabling Act, passed in March 1933, gave Hitler the freedom to pass laws without checking with anyone else.
• The Enabling Act made Hitler the dictator of the country and he had complete control.
• The Knights of Long Knives was an event where the SS (black shirts) arrested and executed Ernst Rohm who was the leader of the SA (brown shirts).
• The Knights of Long Knives also arrested hundreds of brown shirts and executed other people who had angered Hitler.