Hitler consolidates power, 1933-34 Flashcards
Give TWO ways in which Hitler’s power was limited when he became Chancellor on 30 January 1933
Any two from:
- Chancellor was controlled by the Weimar Constitution
- Hindenburg retained all the powers of the President (including sacking the Chancellor)
- Only two of Hitler’s 12 cabinet members were Nazi members
- Only one-third of the Reichstag were Nazis
When was the Reichstag building destroyed by a massive fire?
27 February 1933
Who was caught on the site with matches and firelighters on the evening of the Reichstag Fire?
Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist
What did Hitler and Hermann Goering claim about van der Lubbe and the Reichstag Fire?
Van der Lubbe was part of a communist conspiracy against the government
How many communists were arrested on the night of the Reichstag Fire?
4,000
What did Hitler pressure Hindenburg to do the morning after the Reichstag Fire?
Declare a state of emergency and call Reichstag elections
Before the election of March 1933, Hitler pass the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State. What two things did this do?
1) Gave Hitler powers to imprison political opponents
2) Allowed Hitler to ban communist newspapers
How many deaths were there during the March 1933 Reichstag election campaign?
70
What happened to the Nazis’ number of seats in the Reichstag in the March 1933 elections?
Increased, to 288
Why could the Communists not take up their 81 seats in the Reichstag after the March 1933 elections?
Hitler banned them using his emergency powers (Article 48)
Why was it important that Hitler teamed up with other nationalist parties in the Reichstag following the March 1933 elections?
It gave him a two-thirds majority - enough to change the Weimar constitution
What did Hitler want to destroy using the Enabling Act of March 1933?
The power of the Reichstag
Under the Enabling Act, who would PROPOSE new laws?
The Chancellor (i.e. Hitler)
Under the Enabling Act, who would PASS new laws - and why was this a change?
Hitler’s Reich Cabinet (government)
Previously, it was the Reichstag (parliament)
For how long did the Enabling Act give Hitler the right to make laws without the Reichstag?
4 years
By what margin in the Reichstag was the Enabling Act passed?
444 votes in favour, to 94 votes against
What happened to the Enabling Act four years after it was first passed?
It was renewed
Why were trade unions potential sources of opposition to Hitler?
Communists could control them and use strikes to undermine the government
Who did the Nazis arrest on 2 May 1933?
Trade union officials
What did Hitler ban using the Enabling Act on 2 May 1933?
Trade unions and strikes
What did the SA do to the offices of the KPD and SPD in May 1933?
Broke in, destroyed their newspapers and confiscated their funds
In what month and year were all political parties except the Nazis made illegal in Germany?
July 1933
What was the name given to the 18 parliaments of each region of Germany?
Länder
What did Hitler do to the Länder parliaments in January 1934?
Abolished them
Who replaced the Länder parliaments when Hitler abolished them?
Governors (Gauleiters) appointed by Hitler himself
How many members of the SA were there by 1933?
3 million
What percentage of the SA were permanently unemployed by 1933?
60%
How did Ernst Röhm (leader of the SA) criticised Hitler’s policies in 1933?
Röhm wanted more socialist policies and opposed Hitler’s links with rich industrialists
Why did the leaders of the SS, Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich, oppose Röhm?
They wanted to reduce the power of the SA to increase their own power and the status of the SS
What did leaders of the SS and army tell Hitler about Röhm in 1934?
He was planning to seize power in a ‘second revolution’
What happened to Röhm and other SA officials when they arrived at a meeting with Hitler on 30 June 1934?
They were arrested, imprisoned and shot
How many people were shot over the course of four days in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’?
400
How many of the 400 shot dead in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ were senior SA members?
150
Give TWO examples of people shot dead in the Night of the Long Knives who were not members of the SA
Von Schleicher (former Chancellor)
Gregor Strasser (a Nazi with socialist views)
What happened to von Papen during the Night of the Long Knives?
He was told to return home for his own safety - his home was surrounded and his telephone was cut off
How did Hitler defend the ‘Night of the Long Knives’?
He said he was defending Germany against Röhm and the ‘degenerate homosexuals’ around him
How did most ordinary Germans respond to the Night of the Long Knives?
Grateful that the SA had been restrained
In what month and year did President Hindenburg die?
August 1934
What did Hitler declare following the death of Hindenburg?
He was now the Führer - the President’s powers would be combined with his own as Chancellor
What did every soldier now have to do following Hindenburg’s death?
Swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler
What percentage of voters voted to accept Hitler’s position as Führer in a public vote?
90%
