How did Hitler become Chancellor?/Hitler consolidates his position

Question 1

July 1932

Answer 1

• After the Reichstag elections of July 1932 the Nazis were the largest single party with 230 seats but didn’t have an overall majority
• Hitler demanded the post of Chancellor
• Hindenburg was suspicious of Hitler and refused
• Allowed the current Chancellor Franz von Papen to carry on
• However, von Papen was soon in trouble since he had barely any support in the Reichstag
• So he called another election

Question 2

November 1932

Answer 2

• In the November 1932 elections the Nazis again came out as the largest party, although their share of the vote fell
• Hitler saw the election as a disaster
• Lost more than 2 million votes along with 38 seats in the Reichstag
• The Nazis started running out of funds
• All looked hopeless (yay!)
• Hitler threatened to commit suicide (I swear he did anyway)

Question 3

December 1932 (Card 1)

Answer 3

• Hindenburg again refused to appoint Hitler as Chancellor
• In December 1932 he chose Kurt von Schleicher as Chancellor
• Within a month Schleicher was forced to resign
• It was clear the Weimar system of government wasn’t working

Question 4

December 1932 (Card 2)

Answer 4

• The system of balances and proportional representation meant that no political group was able to provide strong rule
• This had left President Hindenburg to use his emergency powers to rule
• In one sense, Hindenburg had already overthrown the principles of democracy by running Germany with emergency powers
• In order to save the democratic system, he needed a Chancellor who actually had support in the Reichstag

Question 5

January 1933

Answer 5

• Hitler became Chancellor
• To everyone’s surprise Hindenburg let Hitler become Chancellor
• With only a few Nazis in the Cabinet and von Papen as Vice Chancellor they were confident they could limit Hitler’s extremist demands
• BUT THEY WERE WRONG
• The idea was that policies would be made by the Cabinet, which was filled with conservatives like von Papen

Question 6

What is ‘easy to forget’, according to the textbook?

Answer 6

• It’s easy to forget, but when Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 he was in a very precarious position
• Few people thought he would hold onto power for long

Question 7

Step 1: Reichstag Fire

Answer 7

• Once he was Chancellor, Hitler took steps to gain a Nazi take-over of Germany
• He called another election in March 1933 to try to get an overall Nazi majority in the Reichstag
• He now had the resources of state media and control of the streets
• Then on 27 February the Reichstag building burnt down

Question 8

Step 1: Reichstag Fire (Card 2)

Answer 8

• Hitler blamed the Communists and said that the fire was the beginning of a Communist uprising
• Demanded special emergency powers to deal with the situation
• Nazis used these powers to arrest Communists, break up meetings and frighten voters
• Many Germans at the time thought the Nazis started the fire themselves (THEY DID)

Question 9

Step 2: The Enabling Act (23rd March 1933)

Answer 9

• In the election, the Nazis won the largest-ever share of the votes
• They finally had an overall majority
• Using the SA and SS he intimidated the Reichstag into passing the Enabling Act which allowed him to make laws without consulting the Reichstag
• Only the SDP voted against him
• Following the election, Communists had been banned
• The Enabling act made Hitler a virtual dictator
• For the next 4 years if he wanted a new law he could just pass it
• Even now, Hitler wasn’t secure
• He wasn’t yet strong enough to remove his opponents so he set about a clever policy (see pg. 262 Factfile of textbook)

Question 10

Step 3: The Night of the Long Knives (Card 1)

Answer 10

• Within a year any opponents or potential opponents of the Nazis had either left Germany or been taken to concentration camps run by the SS
• Other political parties were banned
• Hitler wasn’t entirely secure still
• The leading officers in the army weren’t impressed by him and were suspicious of the SA
• Hitler had to chose between the army and the SA

Question 11

Step 3: The Night of the Long Knives (Card 2)

Answer 11

• On the weekend of 29-30 June squads of SS men broke in the homes of the SA and arrested them
• Hitler accused the leader Ernst Röhm of plotting to murder him
• Over the weekend Röhm and 400 others were executed, including Schleicher who was a fierce critic of Hitler
• Others who had no connection with Röhm were also killed
• Known as the Night of the Long Knives
• The army was satisfied and Hindenburg thanked Hitler
• The SA remained a Nazi paramilitary organisation

Question 12

Step 4: The army oath

Answer 12

• Hindenburg died (2nd August 1934)
• Hitler took over as Supreme Leader (Führer) of Germany
• On 2nd August 1934 the entire army swore an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler
• Army agreed to stay out of politics and serve Hitler
• In return, Hitler spent vast sums on Rearmament, brought back Conscription and made plans to make Germany a great military power again