The Reichstag Fire led to the Enabling Act because Hitler had managed to convince Hindenburg that it was a ‘communists uprising’. This manages Hitler to prove to Germany that communists were bad people and he would have get more votes, in the next elections. However, I also disagree with the statement ‘the Reichstag Fire more important than the Enabling Act in allowing Hitler to consolidate power’ because of other several reasons. Firstly, the Enabling Act made a Hitler a virtual dictator. Nobody could stop him, even Hindenburg.
Source A is about removing opposition and the use of propaganda to control what the population thought and did this is challenging the question as the consent is not given but actually forced out of the none Arian people of Germany. The source suggests that the Nazis removed the peoples basic rights like freedom of speech because they feared that the people would speak out against the laws that had been created to keep them under control. This is a strong argument against the Germans giving support towards the regime because it suggests that the Germans. Source A also suggests that after the war Germany still wasn’t ready politically so Hitler had an easy task in taking power the
However structuralists have argued that mass political movements in Germany were on the rise and did in fact influence politics. The power the Kaiser has was overwhelming because he didnt have to answer to neither the reichstag or the bundesrat, he ultimately has complete utter control over domestic and foreign policy. This would suggest that Wilhelmine Germany was an authoritarian state under the kaisers rule, but many historians such as Wehler suggested his own version of the argument which states that Wilhelmine Germany was in fact shaped by the elites (junkers) and the army which simply controlled the Kaiser from the shadows. In this essay i will discuss these interpretations offering the view that Wilhelmine Germany was an 'authoritarian' state under the rule of elites and ultimately the kaiser. Kaiser Wilhem II was an unpredictable, intelligent man with a poor judgement, hardly the kind of person you would give almost unchallenged political powers.
He did not let anything stand in his way; unfortunately, the S.A was in the way. Hitler had many goals for Germany, and was able to succeed but he was only able to do that because he got rid of the S.A. Once he gained absolute power World War 2
Furthermore, it can be argued that propaganda was crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as they portrayed Hitler as powerful and showed him to be good for the country, making sure people continued to show support for the Nazis and it portrayed Hitler as above all party politicking and as a figure for national focus and loyalty. This would have made sure people continued to support Hitler even after he was voted in as they would feel a kind of loyalty towards him. However, Propaganda cannot be described as the only crucial factor in the maintenance of power by the Nazis as propaganda alone cannot change an entire countries views. The introduction of new social controls further aided in the Nazi’s maintenance of power. Anti-Nazi judges were removed and replaced by those
For example, if one where to kill Hitler, who is to say that someone smarter or more evil than Hitler would not have come into power? (Rhetorical question). This is actually quite feasible since Germany in the 1930’s was the perfect breeding ground for the Nazi movement. Someone else, who would choose not to break the non-aggression pact with Stalin, and who would not invade Russia with troops dressed more suitably for the climate in Hawaii. These mistakes made by Hitler were critical to the Allies winning the war.
This allowed the far right to exploit the Germans hate of the treaty of Versailles and connect the treaty to democracy, so the people wouldn’t blame the loss of ww1 on the army but the democratic politician’s. This led to an increase in public support for a more authoritarian dictatorial system the strengthening the far-right. The other main reason the loss
One major revelation was that he could not reach power by violence, and must go by the democratic process and enter into the Reichstag. This did not mean that Hitler would stop using violence to gain power however. Hitler's main opposition in the Reichstag were the communists, the communists had many seats in the Reichstag and had links with other smaller parties. The Communist Party's own methods were perhaps more violent than the Nazi's. The Red Fighting Force was an organisation of militant communists who beat people up and forced them to support the communist party.
Assess the significance of the “Night of the Long Knives” The Night of the Long Knives is significant, because it can be seen as the event that shut down Hitler’s opposition from both sides, through forcibly removing the Conservative elite and the SA as a political threat, while simultaneously gaining the armies support. The event in itself set a bad precedence for Nazi rule and can be seen as the beginning of the Nazi terror state. However, it is suggested Hitler’s removal of the SA, was necessary to stop revolution, on the other hand, it could be said the Night of the Long Knives was Hitler’s way of taking complete control of Germany. One effect of the Night of the Long Knives is its significance in the rise of the SS, led by Himmler, from its minimal standing as an extension of the SA, to independence. Bullock says that: “Himmler’s SS were now given their independence of the SA, and placed directly under Hitler’s orders with Himmler as SS Reichsfuehrer”# this source suggests that Himmler and the SS only became powerful through Hitler’s direction.
The Nazi party now forced to think tactically and with the burning of the Reichstag building through a communist Hitler was able to blame the extremist party for the beginning of a revolution and with President Hindenburg's approval he arrested the ‘enemies of the state’. With this fortunate accident, the ‘missing’ SPD party and the agreement with Zentrum Hitler was able to get his two thirds majority to pass the Enabling Act which entitled him to pass laws without parliamentary approval. Although on the surface Hitler seemed to have a lot of control, this was not complete, due to the fact that President Hindenburg could over rule him and perhaps even terminate him as chancellor. This power, however, led to multiple sudden adjustments to Germany, after becoming a one party state by July 1933, through making the SPD party and all other competitors illegal, he continued to set loose on Germany’s very powerful and threatening trade unions. Trade unions posed a strong threat to the NSDAP due to their power in Germany, considering their support for the SPD and even KPD.