chapter twelve Flashcards
after hitler was appointed on 30 January 1933 hitler held his first cabinet meeting
in which the nazis hold 3 posts out of a total 12 minsters reinforcing papens view that no fundamental. political change would occur incl the nazis
papen holding the position of vice chancellor and also the minster president of Prussia won the right ..
to be present any time hitler met with hindenburg
papen believed hitler would not be able to dominate his own cabinet
hitler was determined to establish a nazi dictatorship asap
1 feb 1933
hitler dissolved the reichstag and called new elections
27 feb 1933
reichstag building was set on fire
28 feb 1933
decree for protection of the people and the state
5 march 1933
reichstag elections
nazis won 288 seats 49.3% of the vote
still short of a majority
6-7 march 1933
nazis began taking over state government
8 march 1933
first permanent concentration camp was established
13 march 1933
ministry for public enlightenment and propaganda was established
24 march 1933
enabling act passed
later in the evening 30 jan 1933 hitler stood on the balcony of the reich ..
to watch a torchlight procession of 100,000 nazi members , organised by hitlers propaganda chief Joseph goebbels
what was the demonstration designed to show
hitlers appointment as chancellor wasn’t going to be a normal change of gov .
a demonstration of triumph and victory of the nazi movement
start of their ‘ national revolution ‘
a prominent factor in hitlers rise to power was
the violence of nazi stormtroopers SA
once in power hitler used state resources to consolidate his power and rapidly expanded the SA
nazis had a membership of around 500,000 in 1933 jan a year later
it had surpassed 3 million
in late feb 1933 the SA and the stahlhelm were merged and became recognised as
auxiliary police
orders were issues to regular police forces forbidding them from interfering with SA activities
the nazi ‘ legal revolution ‘ and the ‘ revolution from below ‘ in which the SA unleashed a reign of terror against socialist and communist opponents …
were opposite sides of the same coin
using their new powers the SA unleashes a series of sustained assaults…
on trade union and KPD offices as well as the homes of left wing politicians
gangs of storm troopers broke up SPD and KPD meetings
5 feb 1933
a young nazi shot dead the SPD mayor of a small town in Prussia
later feb 1933
a communist was killed in clashes with the SA
these incidents in feb 1933 ..
were ignored by the police but when the SPD newspaper condemned the killings , the paper was banned
the centre party also became a target after its newspapers criticised the nazi regime
centre party newspapers were banned and stormtroopers attacked the party meetings
thousands of communists , socialists and trade unionists were rounded up and imprisoned in
make shift old factories or army barracks
the first permant concentration camp was set up on the 8th march 1933 with
accommodation for 5000
located at dachau near Munich
by July 1933
26,789 political prisoners had been arrested by the SA
or taken into protective custody
and imprisoned into some 70 camps
hitler convinced hindenburg to dissolve the reichstag with the belief the nazis could win an outright majority during the election campaign..
their was a significant intensification of nazi terror against their opponents
by the time of the election 5 march the SPD and the KPD had virtually gone underground due to
the atmosphere of terror and intimidation generated by Nazis
a key moment in the campaign was the
burning down on the reichstag 27 feb 1933
the reichstag fire …
suspect/truth
a young dutch communist marinus van Der lubbe was arrested and charged with causing the fire
there have been suspicions ever since that the nazis deliberately set up the communist , in order to justify introducing repressive measures
- no definitive evidence of this
the nazi regime gained the most from the fire as they claimed it was
a communist plot to start a revolution in Germany and the event was used to justify the immediate suspension of civil liberties
- terror had now become a legal means to crush opposition
hitler was appointed as chancellor in a legal way that corresponded to the rulings of weimar however after the reichstag fire …
hitler was able to convince hindenburg to sign a decree giving him ‘ emergency ‘ powers
these emergency powers was the decree for the protection of the people and the state which
suspend civil and political rights that had been guaranteed under the weimar constitution
thus the police were given increased powers to arrest and detain without charge those deemed to be a threat to state security
also gained increased powers to enter and search private premises
while the gov had the power to censor publications
in practice these powers were used to
arrest communists
and socialists
ban their newspapers
disrupt their organisations
the decree also gave the central government the power to take over state governments if
they refused to act against the nazis political opponents
the decree was designed primarily to legalise a full scale assault on the communists backed by
a propaganda campaign in which the nazis claimed that Germany was on the brink of a ‘ bolshevik revolution’
the SA launched a large campaign of violence across Germany
the police arrested 10,000 communists in two weeks including most of the leaders
although the KPD wasn’t banned yet and still put up candidates in the march election
party membership was considered treason and many communists were given long sentences
civil servants judges and the police who were overwhelmingly conservative and nationalist in their political sympathies
were only too willing to give legal sanction to the nazis campaign of terror
the march 1933 was difficult for opposition
as it was conducted on the backdrop of nazi terror making it impossible for the left to orgnanise election meetings and their posters were removed as put up
anyone distributing leaflets for the SPD/KPD was liable to be arrested
meanwhile the nazi propaganda was heavy the country was flooded with posters leaflets radio broadcasts election rallies and parades despite this
and the fact their opponents were practically banned from campaigning they did not get the success they wanted
MARCH 1933
KPD
12.3%
MARCH 1933
SPD
18.25%
MARCH 1933
CENTRE
11.25%
MARCH 1933
DVP
1.1%
MARCH 1933
NSDAP
43.9%
MARCH 1933
DNVP
8%
the nazi vote
had increased from the prev election in November but not as much as hitler had expected
the Spd and kpd vote
despite the violence and the terror then Spd and kpd held up well
significant point
64% of voters had voted for non nazi parties
nazis with the support of DNVP allies had a
REICHSTAG MAJORTY
the first meeting of the new reichstag was held
in Kroll opera house on 23 march
hitlers sole aim was too secure the necessary two thirds majority for his enabling act that would allow
him to make laws without the approval of the reichstag and without reference to the president for a period of 4 years
the enabling act was passed on the
24 march 1933
aswell as the enabling act hitler was also given the power too
make treaties with foreign states without the Reichstags approval
as it was a change to the constiutuion it needed two thirds majority in the reichstag
communist deputies unable to take their seats
DNVP willing to support the nazis
- need to gain support of the centre party too pass
hitler assured the centre party by saying that he would not use these powers without consulting Hindenburg first
HITLER WON THE SUPPORT
only the SPD deputies voted against the bill and the enabling act became law this meant for hitler
he had full executive and legislative powers
hitler could rule without needing a reichstag majority and after 1933 the reichstag rarely met
the enabling act was the final piece in the legal framework that legitimised the nazi dictatorship
hitler was able to issue decrees without needing Hindenburgs approval
- although it was presented as a temporary fix for 4 years in practice it was a permeant fixture of the nazi regime
with the new law in force the nazis could now begin to construct the one party terror state that hitler wanted
