hitler takes political control 1933-34

• The Reichstag Fire provided Hitler with a chance to destroy the KPD (Communist Party) election campaign
• Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutchman, was caught at the fire
• The Nazis blamed the communists for the fire and suggested that it was the start of a communist revolution
• The Reichstag Fire helped Hitler to exploit President Hindenburg's fear of a communist takeover
• Decrees for Protection of People & State


  1. Suspended civil rights

  2. Restricted freedom of speech

  3. Restricted right to meet or form groups for meetings

  4. Restricted right to print opinions in newspapers (Censorship introduced)

  5. Restricted the right to send private post & have private phone conversations
• These powers allowed the Nazis to imprison, intimidate and disrupt political opponents
• The elections were held less than one week after the Reichstag Fire - it was surrounded by Nazi propaganda and intimidation
• Goering issued a shooting decree which allowed the police to shoot political protesters
• Thousands of KPD members & trade unionists were imprisoned
• Leaders of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) fled Germany as they feared persecution
• Gleichschaltung


  The process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over German society
• Threat of Röhm & SA
• Night of the Long Knives

  30 June 1934
• Hindenburg died


  2 Aug 1934
• Hitler became Führer


  1 Aug. 1934
• The Nazis won 280 seats which was 45% which was not a majority. However, with the support of 52 Nationalist Party members the Nazis had over 50% of the votes which put them in a strong position
• The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to introduce laws without the Reichstag or President's approval for a period of four years
• To ensure the 2/3 majority, Hitler used the Reichstag Fire Decree to ban the KPD-which stopped them voting against the Enabling Act
• Hitler gained the support of the Catholic Centre Party by promising to protect the Catholic Church in Germany & to remove the "Reichstag Fire Decree"
• The final vote was passed by 441 votes to 84. There was intimidation and pressure from SA during the vote
• Röhm, commander of the SA, was a long-standing member of the Nazis and believed that Hitler's takeover would be followed by a second revolution. Röhm wanted the SA (2 million members) to crush and replace the German Army (100,000)
• The German Army saw the SA as a group of thugs and let Hitler know
• Hitler was concerned because he feared the German Army as they could stop him becoming a dictator and he needed them for his foreign policy aim of taking over Europe
• Hitler moved against the SA and anyone he suspected of threatening him becoming a dictator. Ernst Röhm was arrested and executed by SS members. It is believed over 200 people were killed
• The Nazis claimed that they had prevented a "SA revolution". President Hindenburg & the German army spoke of their appreciation for Hitler's actions
• The Night of the Long Knives destroyed all internal Nazi opposition to Hitler, gave more power to the SS and discouraged potential opponents as they knew they could be killed
• With the SA threat destroyed, President Hindenburg was the only obstacle in the way of Hitler becoming a dictator
• However, Hindenburg died after Hitler had a new law passed which combined the jobs of President and Chancellor and created the position of Führer & Reich Chancellor
• The German Army showed its thanks to Hitler for removing the SA threat by swearing an oath of loyalty to Führer
• The German population were asked to vote in a referendum to indicate their approval of Hitler's new position as Führer. 43 million Germans (90%) agreed with Hitler's actions-he became Führer
• Weimar Republic


  The government of Germany in the 1920s, named after the town where the government was declared
• Weimar Republic


  • Had a President, but the real power was in the hands of the elected parliament, the Reichstag
  • The Reichstag had two important roles: 1) Made the laws, 2) Guaranteed political and religious rights
• The Weimar Republic was a weak government which faced attacks from Communists and right-wing Nationalist groups- including the Nazis during the Munich Putsch in 1923
• Hitler's message


  Violent, he hated the communists & Jews who he blamed for Germany's defeat in World War One, vowed to make Germany a great military power again
• Groups that supported Hitler


  • The SA (Sturmabteilung)-Storm troopers (AKA... The Brownshirts)
  • The SS (Schutzstaffel)-a smaller group who intimidated and murdered political opponents (AKA... The Blackshirts)
• The "Great Depression" wrecked the German economy


  The Nazi message of hate found an audience in the middle classes and farmers who had suffered from bankruptcy
• The number of Nazis within the Reichstag increased between 1928 & 1932 (from 12 seats to 230 seats)
• By January 1933, the Reichstag was divided and unable to form and run a strong and stable government, it had suffered from too many coalitions
• President Hindenburg and von Papen offered Adolf Hitler the post of Chancellor in a coalition government, believing they could use and control Hitler and the Nazi members to gain a majority in the Reichstag
• Hitler accepted the role of Chancellor


  30 January 1933