Post by Mr Modica on Sept 26, 2015 20:50:28 GMT
The Move from Chancellor to Dictator
Hitler hated democracy and so wanted to destroy it. In the last election his seats had started to fall, but the Communists had started to gain. He needed a 2/3 majority in the Reichstag to do what he wanted. He needed to deal with the Communists first and then everybody else!
The Reichstag Fire 27 February 1933
•Dutch Communist Van de Lubbe accused, confessed, convicted and executed
•Nazis could have been behind it- Georring later confessed at a dinner party
•Communists were blamed, arrested and imprisoned. Hitler persuades Hindenburg to pass emergency laws reducing people’s freedom. They are in place for 12 years and form the legal basis of his power
•Main opposition to Nazis destroyed
Alliance with the Nationalists
•Could get his 2/3 majority by working with the Nationalists
•They were similar to Nazis but much smaller. They wanted a share of the power and weren’t big enough to stop the Nazis
Enabling Act March 1933
•It said Hitler could pass any law he wanted for four years without consulting the Reichstag
•Only the Social Democrats voted against it. The majority of the Reichstag voted themselves out of existence
•People saw it as strong leadership which would solve Germany’s problems
Bans all political parties July 1933
•All political parties banned including the Nationalists. Germany is a one party state under Hitler.
Night of the Long Knives 30 June 1934
•The destruction of internal opposition
•SA (Brownshirts) were a personal threat to Hitler because they wanted to take over the army and big business and their leader Roehm was the second most powerful man in Germany
•Middle class saw the SA as criminals and thugs
•By killing SA Hitler had the continued support of Big Business, the army and the middle class. He had also shown how serious he was at dealing with problems
Oath of Allegiance
•After the death of Roehm, the Army swore to obey Hitler (previously, the army had sworn allegiance to Germany)
Death of Hindenburg
•Hindenburg (President) was the only man who could challenge Hitler
•He was old and senile and close to death
•Died August 1934
Hitler combined jobs of Chancellor and President to become dictator or Fuhrer