How did Hitler become Dictator in 1934?

By Richard Ward

Hitler, having been appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg in January 1933 announced himself Führer in August 1934 after Hindenburg’s death. Hitler’s ascent to the position of Dictator was a combination of luck, ruthlessness and the support of Hindenburg before his death in August 1934. There were, previous to Hindenburg’s death several obstacles that prevented his ascension to total command of Germany.

Firstly, Papen still had a majority in the German cabinet. His eight members to Hitler’s three made it impossible for the Nazis to pass a resolution without the consent of Papen’s ministers. Secondly, there was the small matter of the German army and their unchangeable loyalty to Hindenburg on two grounds. It was required by the Weimar constitution that the army be under the control of the President, and the army kept very close to this article as Hindenburg had been commander of the German army between 1916 and 1918, the last two years of the Great War. The third obstacle was Hindenburg himself. He had only appointed Hitler as Chancellor reluctantly at the request of Papen and, although warmed to the Nazi cause by the damage done to the Communist party and Potsdam day, was not going to give up his own command of Germany to the man he had so famously referred to as ‘that little Austrian corporal’. Fourthly, the Communist party and their paramilitary ‘Red Front’ were particularly strong in Berlin. The Red Front regularly fought on the streets with the SA and stood in the way of any Nazi attempt to grab power. If the Nazis had attempted to grab control of Germany before the death of Hindenburg, they would have been opposed by the Army, the Communists and any other opponents to Nazi rule. The fifth obstacle to total Nazi control was the existence of the other political parties (such as the Centre Party) and the trade unions. These parties controlled the workers.

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Hindenburg, at over 80, had turned a little senile in his advanced age. Visibly not the great commander of men that he had been, he was set in his antiquated ‘old-right’ views. These did not often agree with Hitler’s ‘new-right’ ideology. This being said, Hindenburg did help the Nazi ascension to total power in several ways. He was won over in part by Hitler’s destruction of the Communist Party after the Reichstag fire in February 1933. Hindenburg was concerned about a possible SA coup after the March 1933 election and so approved the Night of the Long Knives in June 1934. As part of Hitler’s agreement with the army, he secured his ascension to power on the death of Hindenburg. Potsdam Day, manufactured brilliantly by Goebbels, was a resounding success with Hindenburg. Hitler agreed to bow his head to Hindenburg for the cameras, a picture that quite probably adorned the desk of Hindenburg for the last few months of his life as a little ego-boost. The Hindenburg problem was solved by several masterstrokes of political cunning on the part of Hitler and Goebbels.

The Communist Party was destroyed by the SA and the police after the advantageously-timed Reichstag fire of January 1933. Hitler blamed the KPD and the organisation of Communists throughout Germany and Berlin was shattered. A previously formidable opposition had been smashed overnight – once again a stroke of political cunning but this time combined with a dash of luck, if the fire was not engineered by the Nazis (it was almost certainly not orchestrated by the KPD, as there was no apparent motive for the action and following Communist response).

The other political parties were dealt with by the Enabling Act of 1933, as gullibly supported by the Centre Party. The Enabling Act effectively ‘banned’ all social and political opposition, including trade unions. This meant that any organisation wishing to speak out against the Nazis was now illegal – making post-1934 Germany a totalitarian state.

The problem of the then 2.5 million strong SA and its ever increasing in confidence leadership was resolved by the Night of the Long Knives, 30 June 1934. Hitler arrested over 150 political opponents, including Ernst Röhm, leader of the SA. This stroke of political ruthlessness set Hitler and the Nazis in good stead for any further advances towards power later that year.

In conclusion, it appears that Hitler’s rise to Dictatorship was the result of the combination of several factors; some of which interlinked, others not. The Reichstag fire and resulting measures of 1933 were the result of a fortuitous event (provided it was not engineered by the Nazis) and a ruthless manipulation of available ‘obvious facts’. Goebbels’ success at organising Potsdam Day went a great way to getting Hindenburg on-side. The winning over of the Centre Party was ruthless in its organisation, but only lucky in that it succeeded. Had the Centre Party not agreed to the Enabling Act, it is arguable that come August 1934, there would have been a violent destruction of all opposition. Ernst Röhm’s trust and reluctance to be more brutal in his advances went a way towards the success of the Night of the Long Knives. It must not be forgotten, though, that all this was made possible by Papen’s commendation of Hitler to Hindenburg in 1932. It is, therefore, advisable to separate the causes into long (relative) and short term causes. In the long term, the most important cause must surely be Hindenburg’s appointment of Hitler as Chancellor. Had this not happened, it is extremely questionable as to whether Hitler would ever have succeeded in getting near to power in Germany. In the short term, it seems clear that the Reichstag fire was the most prominent of the causes. Had the Reichstag fire not happened, there would have been no precedent for the destruction of the Communists, Hindenburg’s ensuing support for Nazism and his following support of the Night of the Long Knives.

Hitler became dictator in 1934 as a result of two main causes, Hindenburg’s appointment of Hitler as Chancellor in 1933 and the Reichstag fire of 1934.