The creation of a dictatorship, 1933-34
In January 1933 Hitler became In the Weimar Republic, the Chancellor was the head of the government, appointed by the President. of Germany and by August 1934 he had declared himself F眉hrer - the sole leader of Germany. During this time Hitler eliminated all sources of opposition to himself, both within the Nazi Party and in Germany as a whole.
Initially, Hitler needed more support in the The name of Germany's parliament. if he was to be head of a strong government and then eventually gain absolute power, as was his aim. He therefore convinced President Hindenburg to call a new Reichstag election for March 1933. This set off a series of events that ended with Hitler becoming a dictator.
| Date | Events | How this helped Hitler to gain power |
| 27 Feb - 5 Mar 1933 | Reichstag Fire and Reichstag election: on 27 February the Reichstag building was set on fire. A Dutch communist, van der Lubbe, was caught red-handed in the burning building. Days later in the election 44 per cent of the population voted for the Nazis, who won 288 seats in the Reichstag 鈥 still not an overall majority. Hitler had to join with the nationalists to form a majority. | Hitler used the fire to persuade Hindenburg to pass an emergency law restricting personal liberty. This enabled him to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them campaigning during the election. Although the Nazis did not gain the overall majority that Hitler had hoped for in the Reichstag, it gave them enough seats - after Hitler had arrested all the communist deputies and the other parties had been intimidated by the SA - to pass the Enabling Act. |
| 23 Mar 1933 | The Enabling Act: with the communist deputies banned and the SA intimidating all the remaining non-Nazi deputies, the Reichstag voted by the required two-thirds majority to give Hitler the right to make laws without the Reichstag鈥檚 approval for four years. | Arguably this was the critical event during this period. It gave Hitler absolute power to make laws, which enabled him to destroy all opposition to his rule. This removed the Reichstag as a source of opposition. |
| 14 July 1933 | Political parties were banned: only the Nazi party was allowed to exist. | Banning political parties made Germany a one-party state and destroyed democracy in the country. This removed other parties as a source of opposition. |
| 30 June 1934 | Night of the Long Knives: Many members of the SA, including its leader Ernst R枚hm, were demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. Hitler could not afford to annoy businessmen or the army, so the SS (Hitler's personal body guards) murdered around 400 members of the SA, including R枚hm, along with a number of Hitler's other opponents like the previous Chancellor, von Schleicher. | This destroyed all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi Party and gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler. |
| 19 Aug 1934 | Hitler became F眉hrer: when Hindenburg died, Hitler declared himself jointly president, chancellor and head of the army. Members of the armed forces had to swear a personal oath of allegiance not to Germany, but to Hitler. | This formally made Hitler the absolute ruler of Germany. This neutralised any sources of opposition to Hitler within the army. |
| Date | 27 Feb - 5 Mar 1933 |
|---|---|
| Events | Reichstag Fire and Reichstag election: on 27 February the Reichstag building was set on fire. A Dutch communist, van der Lubbe, was caught red-handed in the burning building. Days later in the election 44 per cent of the population voted for the Nazis, who won 288 seats in the Reichstag 鈥 still not an overall majority. Hitler had to join with the nationalists to form a majority. |
| How this helped Hitler to gain power | Hitler used the fire to persuade Hindenburg to pass an emergency law restricting personal liberty. This enabled him to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them campaigning during the election. Although the Nazis did not gain the overall majority that Hitler had hoped for in the Reichstag, it gave them enough seats - after Hitler had arrested all the communist deputies and the other parties had been intimidated by the SA - to pass the Enabling Act. |
| Date | 23 Mar 1933 |
|---|---|
| Events | The Enabling Act: with the communist deputies banned and the SA intimidating all the remaining non-Nazi deputies, the Reichstag voted by the required two-thirds majority to give Hitler the right to make laws without the Reichstag鈥檚 approval for four years. |
| How this helped Hitler to gain power | Arguably this was the critical event during this period. It gave Hitler absolute power to make laws, which enabled him to destroy all opposition to his rule. This removed the Reichstag as a source of opposition. |
| Date | 14 July 1933 |
|---|---|
| Events | Political parties were banned: only the Nazi party was allowed to exist. |
| How this helped Hitler to gain power | Banning political parties made Germany a one-party state and destroyed democracy in the country. This removed other parties as a source of opposition. |
| Date | 30 June 1934 |
|---|---|
| Events | Night of the Long Knives: Many members of the SA, including its leader Ernst R枚hm, were demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. Hitler could not afford to annoy businessmen or the army, so the SS (Hitler's personal body guards) murdered around 400 members of the SA, including R枚hm, along with a number of Hitler's other opponents like the previous Chancellor, von Schleicher. |
| How this helped Hitler to gain power | This destroyed all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi Party and gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler. |
| Date | 19 Aug 1934 |
|---|---|
| Events | Hitler became F眉hrer: when Hindenburg died, Hitler declared himself jointly president, chancellor and head of the army. Members of the armed forces had to swear a personal oath of allegiance not to Germany, but to Hitler. |
| How this helped Hitler to gain power | This formally made Hitler the absolute ruler of Germany. This neutralised any sources of opposition to Hitler within the army. |
Hitler also extended his power in other ways:
- Local government was reorganised 鈥 with Nazi Party officials put in charge of each area of Germany.
- Trade unions were abolished and their leaders arrested.
- A Concordat (agreement) was signed with the Pope, which allowed Hitler to increase his power in Germany without opposition from the Catholic Church, as long as he left the Church alone.
- People's courts: Hitler set up the Nazi people's courts where judges had to swear an oath of loyalty to the Nazis.
By the autumn of 1934 Hitler was in complete control of Germany.
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