Was the Reichstag Fire the Main Reason Why Hitler Was Able to Establish a Dictatorship by 1934?

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Hitler was appointed chancellor on 30th January 1933. However, he was not a dictator but he was part of a democracy and had to work with President Hindenburg who still had a lot of power including the power to change the chancellor. Within the space of 18 months Hitler had established the legal foundations of his dictatorship and removed any potential threats to his position, even from within the Nazi party. On the evening of the 27th February 1933, the Reichstag building was destroyed by a massive fire. A young Dutchman, a communist supporter named Van der Lubbe, was caught at the site with matches and firelighters. Van Der Lubbe was found guilty and executed. Van der Lubbe’s execution was not enough for Hitler; he saw the Reichstag fire as an opportunity to attack communists. Goering and Hitler claimed that the evidence showed that Van der Lubbe was part of a communist conspiracy against the government. Hitler used the Reichstag fire to make President Hindenburg declare a state of emergency. As long as Hindenburg supported him, Hitler could now use decrees to govern Germany. Next he persuaded Hindenburg to declare an election on the 5th March 1933. He hoped the Nazis could get more seats in the Reichstag. However, before the election took place: Hitler issued the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State. This gave him powers to suspend the basic civil rights of German citizens. He was able to imprison political opponents and ban communist newspapers. Since he now controlled Germany’s police force Hitler could make sure that they were hopeless to the activities of the SA. This was a good platform for Hitler to establish dictatorship because the Reichstag fire was an excuse to blame the communists, something he mentioned in ‘Mein Kampf.’ Also with this happening it allowed him to make Hindenburg pass the decree for the protection of people and the
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