Significance of the facken fire Flashcards
What is the Reichstag and what is communism
Reichstag: the lower house of the parliament in Germany.
Communism: The belief in a society without different social classes, everyone works as much as they can and receives what they need.
When did the fire happen ?
when the police arrived who did they see on the ground?
And how was the fire significant for the election for hitler
February 27, 1933 the Reichstag (German Parliament) Building caught fire.
When police arrived they found 24-year-old Marinus van der Lubbe on the grounds.
-He did deny that he was part of a Communist conspiracy.
but no one believed him
The fire was only weeks before the March Elections- where Hitler needed to win seats, more than what communists KPD party would.
what was hitlers reaction to the fire
the top of his voice - ‘Now we’ll show them. Anyone who stands in our way will be shot, mown down. The German people have been soft too long. Every Communist official must be shot. All Communist M.P.s must be hanged this very night. All friends of the Communists must be locked up.’
Basically he got motivated or took advantage of the situation to start his movement to kill the communist
who was the official verdict of the fire
Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch member of the Communist Party, broke in to the Reichstag and burnt it down. He admitted to it at his trial and was executed
How did the Reichstag Fire help Hitler?
- Hitler used the Reichstag fire to convince everyone that there was a real threat of a communist revolution
- Emergency powers: Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to pass the ‘Law for the Protection of People and State’. This ended freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of the press
- Election success: Hitler called fresh elections. He used his new powers to make life difficult for non-Nazi
candidates.
What happened after the election aka aftermath
-March 23rd he became the supreme dictator of Germany
The fire also basically let him to take control of peoples rights because passed the Enabling Act which gave him the power to make laws in Germany.
the secrecy of the post and telephone.
Gestapo
the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
