1. Consolidation Of Power Flashcards
When was Hitler elected chancellor?
January 1933
Who was the President of Germany in 1933?
President Von Hindenburg
What did Hitler convince the President to hold for March 1933?
A Reichstag election.
When was the Reichstag Fire?
27 February 1933
What happened in the Reichstag Fire?
The Reichstag building was set on fire.
Who was caught at the scene of the Reichstag Fire?
A Dutch communist named Marinus van Der Lubbe.
What did Hitler use the Reichstag fire as?
He used it as an excuse to persuade President Hindenburg that there was a communist plot to overthrow the government, resulting in Hindenburg approving a decree.
What decree did the President approve and what did it do?
The decree for the Protection of People and State. It removed many people’s civil rights: the right to speak freely, the right to meet or form groups for meetings, the right to print opinions in newspapers and the right to send private post and have private phone conversations.
What had to be set up because of the high number of people being arrested due to the decree?
The first concentration camp named Dachau concentration camp.
What were the Nazis results in the March elections?
44% of German people voted for the Nazis and they won 288 seats in the Reichstag.
What law did the Nazis want to pass to secure greater powers after the March elections, what would it allow them to do and what did they need to pass it?
The enabling law, it would allow the Nazis to pass laws without the Reichstag for 4 years, to pass the law they needed 66% support in the Reichstag.
How did the Nazis pass the Enabling law?
They allied with the German National Party and made a deal with the Catholic Centre Party - if the Nazis got rid of the Decree for the Protection of People and State and protected the rights of the Catholic Church within Germany they would ally with them.
What does Gleichschaltung mean?
It means ‘to bring in alignment’, in Gleichschaltung the Nazis coordinated all aspects of life to Nazi preferences.
What did the Nazis do in Gleichschaltung?
They used the enabling law to bring other areas of the German state under control:
- They closed down state parliaments and reopened them with Nazi majorities.
- They removed Jews and political opposition from jobs in the media and civil service.
- They outlawed trade unions and replaced them with the DAF.
- They passed the ‘Law Against the Establishment of Political Parties’ which meant that no new parties could be created.
Who was causing issues for Hitler by 1934 and why?
The SA (led by Ernst Rohm) were beginning to cause problems for Hitler. They wanted a second revolution that worried Germany’s rich industrialists that Hitler needed the support of. They also wanted to replace the Wehrmacht as Germany’s army. Many of the leading Nazis were also unhappy about Rohm’s ambition and the openly gay lifestyles of many of the SA leadership (including Ernst Rohm).
