The March Elections

• January 1933 the coalition between the Nazis and the Nationalists controlled around 40% of the seats in the Reichstag.
• The new government needed the support of 50% of the Reichstag in order to pass laws and a 2/3rd majority in order to change the constitution.
• To gain more support Hitler called a new Reichstag election for March 1933, hoping to get a larger share of the vote and therefore the ability to control the Reichstag.
• The Nazis manipulation over the elections in order to gain support:

  SA and the police terrorised the Nazis' political opponents. Many members of the KPD, SPD and union leaders were put in prison, detained in 'wild' concentration camps, beaten, or in some cases killed. In total, political violence resulted in the deaths of 69 people during the campaign.
• The Nazis manipulation over the elections in order to gain support:

  Goering persuaded big businesses to increase funding for the Nazis' election campaign, promising them that this would be the last election for many years. The Nazis' raised more than 3 million Reichsmarks from 20 leading industrialists to help fund their campaign.
• The Nazis manipulation over the elections in order to gain support:

  The Nazis' used their growing control of the media to create an illusion that the KPD was plotting an imminent revolution to overthrow the German state. Soldiers were sent out to patrol the streets in major cities to reinforce the idea that the government was under threat.
• The Nazis manipulation over the elections in order to gain support:

  The Nazis decided not to ban the KPD until after the election in order to split the l/w vote between the KPD and SPD.
• The Nazis failed to get a majority of support, polling only 43.9% of the vote. As a part of the coalition with DNVP the Nazis now controlled more than 50% of the seats in the Reichstag, although they did not have the 2/3rds majority necessary to change the constitution.