Once Hitler had passed the enabling act, he then introduced new laws to consolidate his power. He created a law against the establishment of new parties which effectively made Germany a one party state and a dictatorship. This shows that Hitler now had massive power in Germany. Hitler and the Nazis did consolidate their grip on power very successfully through the changing in law and constitution because he now has absolute power due to the passing of the enabling act and he could make any laws he wanted to suit him and give him more
Hitler was considered to be incapable of making a decision and as a result his government lacked any form control of important decisions and his general poor leadership skills it is clear to see why Hitler can be seen to be a weak dictator. Hitler was purely the figurehead of the Nazi party being kept afloat by his loyal following of ‘henchmen’. Although from an outside perspective it would seem as though Hitler was a strong dictator this is purely as a result of Nazi propaganda, without the work of Goebbels Hitler would not have gained such a high status. On the other hand internationalists believe that although there were divisions within the Nazi party this was all part of Hitler’s ‘divide and rule’ strategy. They believe that this approach maintained Hitler’s personal power.
Between the years of 1890 and 1914, the Wilhelmine government faced a number of problems. Under William I, it was Bismarck who was left in charge of all political matters but the new Kaiser wanted to play a major part in politics. Each of the chancellors he appointed during this period, Caprivi, Hohenlohe, Bulow and Bethmann Hollweg had certain issues they had to deal with in German politics, both in terms of foreign and domestic policy. The first in line to succeed the legendary Bismarck was Caprivi. His major problem was that he tried to stand above politics and rally support from issue to issue in the Reichstag.
This essay will examine the main factors that enabled Hitler to create his empire and argue that all these factors accounted to the legality of his control over every aspect of Germany’s society, enabling Hitler to establish a dictatorship. The means that enabled him to do this were the manipulation of the legal system and the control of three branches of society: the media, the unions and the army. The manipulation of the legal system formed a foundation for Hitler to establish a dictatorship. After the previous Chancellor resigned within a month, it was obvious that the Weimar system of government was not working. Hindenburg needed a Chancellor who had realistic support in the Reichstag and Hitler was given the position.
The political establishment in Germany succeeded in maintaining the political status quo through a policy of moderate reform. How far do you agree with this judgement? The political establishment in Germany did succeed in maintaining its power through a policy of moderate reform; however, it can also be argued that this was also achieved by using extreme reforms as well for instance the suppression of the SPD. The moderate reforms gave a small power to the Reichstag which looked great but as a whole it was completely useless in the part of the Reichstag because of the Kaiser’s power to easily dissolve it. Bismarck who recognised the appeal to Germany's growing working classes, initiated a "carrot and stick" approach of simultaneous repression and an overt effort to acquire popular support.
Also there was a growth in Nationalist interest and citizens started to become proud of German culture and language which encouraged them to unite as one. The final reason why the states united was because Prussia which was the leading German state had 3 successful wars against Demark, Austria and France this showed together they were a formidable military power which also contributed to why the states united. The second Reich was a autocratic government this means that the it was solely ruled by one person who is known as the Kaiser who at this time was Wilhelm II he had the ruling of all government decisions, under him were the Reichstag which were the countries parliament, the Reichsrat who represented the 25 states and could approve laws and The chancellor who was in charge of the government and was appointed personally by the Kaiser. All of these could be undermined by the Kaiser this is an Autocracy. The strengths of the second Reich were that it had made Germany one of the economic super powers of Europe, as by 1913 the population had grown by 50% and urbanisation started to occur meaning people started moving to the cities and industry began to boom.
Hindenburg couldn't oppose against the public's choice otherwise he would be going against the democratic ‘Weimar republic’ regulation of including the people’s views. Overall, Hitler’s popularity with the nation was one of the main reasons why he was appointed as chancellor. He promised things to a variation of people that not many other politicians had offered. Secondly, because of the propaganda that was responsible for the change of peoples view's of the
But at the same time, he gained control of all sources of power. Bullow, chancellor from 1900 till 1909, for instance, realized how his own position is dependant on the Kaiser. Moreover, by 1914, many political parties did not try to challenge the power of the Kaiser of the fear to seem unpatriotic. Many Germans had conservative attitudes and
3, One of Hitlers main aims whilst being in power was to create the perfect Aryan race. Hitler’s main reason for the perfect race was that he wanted Germany to be on top of the world again. And cease the suffering that was caused from WW1. 4, Hitler needed an extremely strong army to achieve what he wanted but it was made quite difficult due to the treaty of Versailles which was signed at the end of WW1. It included the fact that Germany was only aloud to have a very small army.
Along with supporting their claim for a “Great Germany”, this revanchism would allow for the necessary lebensraum (living space) for all Germans. Another point in the Nazi’s ideology was their anti-Communism. Communism was a main factor at the time and the spread of a Bolshevik Communism was feared especially by businessmen and the right wing, which lead to their support of the Nazi party who aimed to keep Communism at bay. After