Hitler resigning chancellorship

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  • Created by: bob!!
  • Created on: 23-03-21 19:21

Hitler resigning chancellorship

Forced a new Reichstag election for 5 March 33. Nazis now had control of

all government resources, including the use of the police force. The SA was

added to the police force and Goering was appointed head of the

Prussian police, with access to secret files on politicians.

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The Reichstag Fire

  • majority of the seats for Hitler's rivals and he needed 2/3 to change the constitution and set up a dictatorship.
  • On 27 February the Reichstag building was set on fire and they caught a dutch communist in the burning parliament!
  • Hitler used this as an excuse to persuade the President there was a communist plot to overthrow the gov. The President then passed the LAW FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE and STATE.
  • This law allowed the Nazis to arrest suspected communist revolutionaries,(mainly KPD members).
  • They suspended the civil rights sections of the constitution. This meant the authorities could listen to phone conversations, read people’s letters and stop people meeting in large groups, (this had an impact on the ability of other parties to run their election campaigns). The law was also used to ban the KPD after the March election.
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The Election

On 5 March 1933, the Nazis won 288 seats in the Reichstag, This was still not the two-thirds majority Hitler needed, but this did not stop him.

When the Reichstag met a few days later Hitler passed the ENABLING ACT and he did this by using the decree for the Protection of People and State to ban the Communist Party (KPD) and he arrested some non-Nazi deputies and he persuaded the nationalist party to support him. But most importantly he obtained the Centre Party's cooperation by promising to protect the rights of Catholics and cancelling the Law for the Protection of People and State.

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The Enabling Act

On the 23rd of March 1933, the Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag 441 votes to 94. This Act gave Hitler the right to make laws without the Reichstag’s approval for the next four yearsArguably this was the most critical event during this period. It gave Hitler absolute power to make laws, which enabled him to destroy all opposition to his rule.

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One Party State

 Hitler removed most sources of political opposition after the passing of the enabling act.

  • He merged the Nazi and the Nationalist Parties.
  • The Centre Party (Catholic Party) disbanded voluntarily in return for Hitler agreeing not to interfere in Catholic schools and youth movements.
  • Socialists and communists, who had not already fled, were put in prison.
  • In March, local parliaments were closed and then re-established with Nazi majorities.
  • In April, Nazis took over key posts in local governments. Jews and other political enemies were removed from the civil service.
  • In July 1933, other political parties were banned. The Law Against the Formation of New Parties meant only the Nazi Party was allowed to exist. Therefore, when the Reichstag and local governments met, which was infrequently, all the deputies were Nazis.
  • In January 1934, the Law for the Reconstruction of the State abolished Germany’s state governments, apart from Prussia.

These changes made Germany a one-party state and destroyed democracy in the country. When a new Reichstag election was held in December 1933, the Nazis won 92 per cent of the vote.

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the beginnining the Night of the Long Knives

The last threats for Hitler were- The Army, president Hindenburg, SA&Rohm.

Hitler had a number of motives for wanting to eliminate the SA:

  • The SA was demanding the Nazis introduce major social change, but Hitler was worried their left-wing ideas would alienate the groups he depended on most, i.e. the middle class, businessmen and industrialists.
  • The SA had two million members and it wanted to take over the much smaller army. Hitler did not want to annoy the military because it could overthrow him and he needed them to co-operate with his ambitious foreign policy.
  • Hitler believed the SA was the only group that could stop him from achieving a dictatorship.
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The Night Of The Long Knives

  • On June 30 1934 Rohm was invited to a meeting and Hitler personally accompanied him to his cell where he was shot.
  • Other leaders were also killed so the SA was disbanded and a new force called ** became Hitler's bodyguards.
  • There was a law passed that legalised these actions using the enabling act and Hitler told the people that Rohm was a homosexual and was found guilty of plotting against Germany.
  • The Army took an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler in august 1934 as they were impressed that Hitler got rid of the **.
  • The President also died in august meaning all the threats were neutralised
  • Hitler then combined the two offices of President and Chancellor into one office of Reich Fuhrer                                                      
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