Communists or the KDP also saw the opportunity that Hitler saw but with the democracy on its way out there was only room for one government, and Hitler new this. The ploy had so many advantages to Hitler that it would be hard to see how Hitler could not have been involved. This one event allowed him too effectively dishevel his main adversary, the foremost blockade that stopped Hitler’s dictatorship. How he went about “blaming” the communist for the event and thus eliminating them, was also a catalyst for all the events to come. By convincing Hindenburg that there was a large communist threat the country was put into a state of emergency and, with Hindenburg’s backing, Hitler was allowed to pass decrees to govern Germany anyway he liked, with the financial backing of krupp and bosch etc, which in this case is fortunate for the question at hand.
It is clear that Terror and intimidation were important factors in allowing the Nazis to consolidate power 1933, for the reason that violence still had an impact on political developments, for example, even negotiations between Hitler, von Papen and Hindenburg took place against the conditions of well publicised acts of SA (Storm troopers) violence. In May 1933 ¬, ¬SA members stormed trade union headquarters and disbanded it. This violence cuased many leaders of the SPD to flee abroad and in June its party was officially banned. The majority of the 3000 members of the party that remained were arrested and taken to the Dachau concentration camp where they were later tortured and killed. This ulitmately potrays the brutality of the Nazis, which effectively contributed to their consolidation of power.
However the Reichstag fire plus emergency decrees was also another important factor in Hitler’s rise to power because they were able to take advantage of the situation when the Reichstag build burned down as he was able to then blame the communists for this a declared that it was the start of a communist uprising and that he needed to act and got Hindenburg to grant him the emergency decrees to help deal with this uprising. This now meant the Nazis were legally allowed to arrest suspects and hold them without trial so basically anyone that opposed them or they didn’t like they could arrest on legal terms without trial. Also Hitler was able to take over regional governments. The night of the long knives was a key factor to Hitler’s rise to power because the S.A were now becoming an embarrassment to Hitler by attacking innocent people and also wanting to merge the army with the S.A with the S.A in charge of it. Hitler had to choose between the S.A and the army.
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.
all took place in the Reichstag. It was no different from many national government buildings in Europe and its destruction would have had great symbolic significance for many. Hitler had made it clear in the days immediately prior to January 30th 1933 that he would not be able to work with the Reichstag that had been elected in the November 1932 election. While the Nazi Party was the largest single party in it, this did not give Hitler a working majority as the two largest parties after the Nazis were both on the left – the Social Democrat Party and the Communist. New elections for the Reichstag had been called for March 5th 1933.
Due to the Depression making people want a drastic change in political party in ower there was an increase in communist support and as a result an increase in Nazi support because people were scared of communism and the Nazi's promised to deal with them. The depression was taken advantage of by Nazi propaganda and they convinced a lot of people that electing Hitler would solve their problems. This means that the Depression was the most important factor in the election of Hitler because with out it then nobody would want to change the current party in power because before the depression then German was extremely prosperous. Therefore, the Depression was the most important factor that lead to the election of Hitler. It could be argued that the Hitler attributes was the most important reason for why Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933.
The police, helped by the SS and the Gestapo, tried to prevent all open opposition to the regime. (Lowe, 2005) Hitler ordered the SS to murder suspected SA officers on the Night of the Long Knives on June 13 1934 to ensure his absolute control of the party. The judges of the courts were Nazis, and they were not fair and impartial to the trials. Hitler’s opponents, mainly comprised Communists, Social Democrats, Catholic priests and Protestant pastors were arrested by the Gestapo and many of them were sent to concentration camps. In Nazi Germany the police were allowed to arrest anyone they suspected to be a threat to the party and anyone who openly opposed Nazi in public would be tortured, even to death.
Some historians say it was the consent and willingness of the German people that took him to Fuhrer but there are other strong arguments such as the Enabling Law, the demolishment of other political parties and trade unions, his agreements with the church, media and industrialists and the Night of the Long Knives. One of the main reasons Hitler was able to come into power was the consent from the German people. Without their willingness to believe and back Hitler, he wouldn’t have been able to gain any real momentum. On the 5th of March in 1933 the Nazis increased their vote from 33.1% to 43.9%, securing them 288 seats. One of the ways Hitler got the backing of the German people was by telling them what they wanted to hear.
Indeed, Hitler did not act unconstitutionally by declaring himself Fuhrer as the enabling act gave him dictatorial power via democratic means. Moreover, the emergency decree given after the Reichstag fire “for the protection of people and state” gave the police the power to detain without charge, a tool which was used to great effect by Hitler to quell any political opposition that arose after the Nazi seizure of power. The total legislative power afforded to the Nazis as a result of the enabling act allowed for the Communist Party to be banned, as well as the SPD, whilst the remaining parties faded away in fear of the same fate. By manipulating the constitution Hitler had eliminated all opposition to the Nazi regime and therefore organised and democratic insurrection in Nazi Germany was effectively impossible, thus consolidating Nazi power. Whilst the danger of any organised political opposition to the Nazis had been successfully crushed by the enabling act and subsequent legislation, there was still the chance that a populist uprising of the people could take down the regime if it had enough support.
The Impact of Hitler’s Rise to Power on Germany When examining whether or not Hitler was successful … it is important to bear in mind the following objectives Hitler aimed to achieve while in power: 1. Restoration of Germany as the leading country of Europe 2. Ensuring the racial purity of the German nation 3. Establishment of complete Nazi control over the state |POLITICAL |SOCIAL |ECONOMIC | |Democracy in Germany was Destroyed |The German People had Little Freedom |Three Main Economic Aims: | | | |To reduce unemployment | |Hitler used his power as Chancellor to |Fear: |To build up the German weapons industry | |wipe out democracy as he felt it was an |Emergency Laws were passed which suspended |To achieve economic self-sufficiency | |obstacle to restoring Germany’s greatness|political and civil rights. People could be |(autarky) | | |arrested on suspicion of anti-government | | |In order to allow the Nazis to gain full |activities and held indefinitely in prison.