On the evening of 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building Germany’s Parliament burnt down and Hitler used this to his advantage by imprisoning many communist leaders without any case or warrant which prevented them from being part of the Reichstag. It enabled the Nazis to say that the country was in danger from the communists during its election campaign these actions helped the Nazis to become the most favourable party. This then helped Hitler on the road to dictatorship. The Reichstag fire was caused by a communist which gave Hitler the perfect excuse to completely destroy the Nazi’s biggest rival, the communist party. Hitler then persuaded President Hindenburg, who was anti-communist himself, to pass an emergency decree to suspend civil …show more content…
Before the fire, Hitler had limited commands, but the fire enabled Hitler to introduce the Enabling Act because he no longer had to KPD (communist party) to compete with them. The enabling Act empowered Hitler to eventually consolidate his power because it gave him the opportunity to rule Germany with no interruptions from the Reichstag. This is a short-term impact but had long term consequences that affected the German people because it removed their democracy because Hitler’s goal was to ultimately have a one party state where only Nazi views were …show more content…
Germany was a federal republic, Germany was divided into states, which meant that so much governmental power was in local hands. In January/February 1934 Hitler eliminated this system, therefore putting all power in his hands. Children were taught from a young age that Hitler was good for Germany and the rightful leader. Hitler knew that they were the future for Germany and were effectively a ‘blank canvas’. Youth groups, such as the ‘Hitler Youth’ were set up, so children spent less time at home where their family could influence their views. Churches were another dangerous influence on Hitler’s regime as they too could tell people what to believe. Hitler's agreement The Concordat (20 June 1933), with the Pope, was a short-term break that permitted Hitler to ban the Catholic Zentrum party without opposition from the Catholic Church plus they agreed on not interfering with each other. The Protestant Church, on the other hand, could be Nazified: Hitler appointed a Reich Bishop called Ludwig Mueller to lead a ‘German Christian’ movement within the Church which combined Protestant tradition with Nazi ideology. The Nazi government also combined Christian worship with Nazi Party celebrations that adopted religious ritual but glorified the Party and Hitler. Therefore, Hitler limited one of the most dangerous influences in Germany. ‘Gleichschaltung’
After Germany’s humiliating defeat in World War I, Germans had little faith in their government, and in the early 1930s following the stock market crash in New York, Germany was economically struggling . Millions of people were out of work due to the world wide catastrophe making it an opportune time for Hitler and the Nazis to rise into power. Hitler, who was a powerful and spellbinding speaker, attracted Germans desperate for change. He promised to make Germany a better country and promised the disenchanted, a better life. Nazis appealed especially to the youth, unemployed, and members of the lower to middle class. Hitler’s rise to power seemed instantaneous. Before the economic depression, Nazis were virtually unknown, winning less than 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag, which was the German Parliament. However, in the 1924 elections, the Nazis won a whopping 33 percent of the votes which was more than any other party. In January of 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the head of German Government . The Germans were convinced that they had found a savior for the Nation. The timing of his rise made it very easy for Hitler to gain power in a democratic government because people were hopeless and wanted a fast solution to the deficit. He promised things like a stronger economy, prosperity, and anything that they desired . He focused on first getting noticed and then grew from there. He didn’t say anything but what the people wanted to hear. Getting the people of Germany to trust him was how he started to gain so much control. Unfortunately, Hitler’s charm and persuasion was not the sole reason why Hitler gained so much power in a democratic
Due to the failure of the Weimar Republic and general public dissatisfaction arising from poor economic conditions exacerbated by the Treaty of Versailles, coupled with the 1929 Wall Street Crash, German citizens were understandably desperate for change. Until this point in time the Nazi party, and Hitler, had been essentially unpopular. However, the economic situation ensured Hitler’s increasing popularity as the people looked toward more extreme but non-communist ideals. The initial consolidation of Nazi power in 1933 arose from key events such as the support of the Nationalist Party with the Nazis to form a coalition government, implementation of the Enabling
The night of May 10, 1933, German students from some of the best universities in the world, gathered in Berlin to burn books with un-German ideas. The students, along with Nazi officials, threw hundreds of books into a bonfire while giving the Hitler salute and singing Nazi anthems. The students gave up everything that they had believed in due to their unwavering adoration for Hitler and his beliefs.
In order to gain full control of the country they had to remove or eliminate their political rivals. Hitler used excuses to blame and imprison his political rivals. One good example would be when he used the Reichstag fire as an excuse to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them from campaigning during the election so that he could win more seats and power. He also used fear and terror by creating a group known as S.S or Black
On The 30th of January 1933, President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor. In the 18 months succeeding this, Hitler became, essentially, a dictator. This essay will look at what a dictatorship is and how it operates, how the population is brought to a point where they accept a dictatorship, and examine and analyze the vital events that took place in Germany which lead to Hitler assuming dictatorial power: the Reichstag fire, the Emergency Decree, the Enabling Act, the banning of trade unions and other political parties, the Night Of The Long Knives, the death of President Hindenburg, and the German army’s oath of loyalty to Hitler. It will
There was a power struggle in Germany after the 1932 election. Many of the political parties thought they could use Hitler's popularity to their advantage. The power struggle ended in the President asking Hitler to become Chancellor in January 1933. As chancellor, Hitler encouraged fear of communism and imprisoned thousands of his political opponents. In February 1933 the Reichstag building was set on fire and Hitler cleverly blamed the Communists, who were feared by many Germans. By August 1934 Germany was a single-party state and Hitler was dictator. Hitler used his power to reverse key decisions and limitations imposed by the treaty of Versailles.
The Nazi group had a major impact on the government and influenced the decision for the next Chancellor of Germany. “...Paul von Hindenburg, had appointed Hitler Chancellor. Having won more than 37 percent of the vote in the previous year's legislative elections, Hitler's Nazi party had enough power to effectively paralyze Germany's democratic government, which had been in place since 1919,” Smith says (pg.15). This shows that Hitler's Nazi group was extremely powerful and explains how Hitler arose to power. This quote reveals that Hitler had the most power since 1919, which demonstrates how powerful Hitler will become in the future. “By the early 1930’s, Germany was in desperate shape. Its defeat in World War One and the harsh conditions imposed by the United States, Britain, and France in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles - included debilitating reparation payments to the victors - had left Germany humiliated and impoverished, with ruinous inflation eating away at its economy. The worldwide Depression that followed the 1929 U.S. stock market crash exacerbated the situation as banks
On the night of the 27th of February, 1933, the Reichstag building in Berlin burned down in an act declared by the Nazi Party to be the inception of a widespread communist uprising. The Reichstag Fire, as it was called, can be observed as one of the most significant events in the formation of Nazi Germany through its pivotal role in the reduction of civil liberties of Germany’s citizens and the emergence of a near dictatorial regime within the Weimar Republic. The significance of the fire lies in its role as a catalyst towards effecting the power that the Nazi Party would hold throughout the 1930’s as a result of the various decrees and laws passed in response to it. There is little doubt that the
Even though Germany was left in a period of struggle and economic weakness after WW1, Adolf Hitler would take a stand by creating a party that would help refine the structure of the economy. This party, when abbreviated, was called Nazi, would also create harsh laws and unrelentless punishment. Due to the Nazi party’s quick growth, there was an immediate impact on lifestyle and politics for the people of Germany. The long term impact brought forth by the consequences or legacy of the Nazi party included a population decrease and an increase in deaths. To make both of these impacts, Hitler had to overcome many hard challenges.
The rise and subsequent take-over of power in Germany by Hitler and the Nazi Party in the early 1930s was the culmination and continuation not of Enlightenment thought from the 18th and 19th century but the logical conclusion of unstable and cultural conditions that pre-existed in Germany. Hitler’s Nazi Party’s clear manipulation of the weak state of the Weimar Republic through its continued failure economically and socially, plus its undermining of popular support through the signing the Treaty of Versailles all lead to the creation of a Nazi dictatorship under the cult of personality of Hitler. This clear take-over of power and subsequent destruction of any
Luck played an extremely significant role in the contribution to the Nazi consolidation of power. Hitler had been made Chancellor, however real power still eluded him. He did not have a majority in the Reichstaf and President Hindenburg had not supplied him with emergency power. The Reichstag Fire on
He did the signing of the Nazi-Vatican Concordat in 1933 which was a pact that the Catholic Church would support Hitler politically and he would give freedom of religion. Hitler went through all of this to make sure that Christians did not interfere with his plan which was to not only destroy the Jewish faith but wanted to destroy the Christian religion too. In 1933, Germany’s economy was not doing so good and as Hitler gained more power his faith in Christianity was just not there anymore. He created a church called the Reich Church, which was a religion which he was the one and only God. In 1942 Hitler published in the New York Times his 30 plans for the Reich Church.
When Hitler banned all the political parties, the first party to be banned was the communist KPD. The socialist SPD party was then banned, and a 'Law Against the Formation of Parties' was passed, removing the threat of any new upstarts threatening the Nazis. The leaders of socialist and communist parties were put in concentration camps, as well as half of the members of the parties. This allowed Hitler to have complete control by showing the people of Germany what he was made of and preventing any opposition.
Hitler gained even more power when he was named chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg. Hitler used propaganda as a strong tool, and right at the center of his campaigning were anti-Semitic messages and a hatred for communism. In 1933, there was a mysterious fire at the Reichstag building, which allowed Hitler to instate the Enabling Act. This act allowed him to create laws without the
One could argue that the Reichstag Fire was vital as a mean for Hitler to strengthen his control of Germany since it increased anti-communism and decreased the Communist vote.Hitler used the Reichstag fire as evidence that the Communists were plotting against his government (as found in Lacey and Shepard,63),this increased fear of Communists and therefore increased support of the Nazi party.In March elections 1933 the Nazis gained 288 seats and became the largest party in the Reichstag, this is the result of anti-communism since the Catholic Center party only collaborated with the Nazis since in a Communist country, religion is banned (as found in Walsh,159).The Reichstag fire did not only mean increasing anti-communism and more support for Hitler, but also meant less support for the Communists. In March election 1933 Communists had only