How important was the Reichstag fire in Hitlers consolidation of power?

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Luis A. Sanchez

How important was the Reichstag fire in Hitler’s consolidation of power?

Throughout the 14 year period in which Hitler attempted to consolidate his power several events made it easier for him to achieve his goals and some other made it more difficult. Among these events we can find the Reichstag Fire of February 27th, 1933.  In the years after the Second World War there have been speculations of how important this event was in comparison with other events, such as Hitler’s appointment as chancellor. Before the Reichstag Fire Adolf Hitler was in a very weak position to achieve his goals, he had been appointed chancellor by President Hindenburg, who was a war hero and disliked Hitler, the 30th of January, 1933. In addition, there was only two other members of the Nazi party in the cabinet which became an obstacle for Hitler. Yet, this was one of the most important steps, along with the “Night of the Long Knives” and the passing of the “Enabling Act”, that made Adolf Hitler’s consolidation of power easier. The moment Hitler was appointed chancellor the government believed that they could control him and suppress his extremist ideas, shortly after they were proved wrong and the final rise of Hitler to power began with the Reichstag Fire.

The Reichstag Fire was an important turning point in Hitler’s consolidation of power, but perhaps not as important as events like “The Night of the Long Knives” or other factors that had been present since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. This incident brought the Nazis many advantages and some disadvantages. When the police managed to enter the building they found a man named Marinus Van Der Lubbe, who was a Dutch communist. The fact that he was a communist enabled Hitler to use this against the communists and have 4,000 communist leaders imprisoned days before the elections. In addition, it allowed Hitler to persuade Hindenburg to pass the “Enabling Act”, which suspended all the articles in the constitution, which guaranteed personal freedom. Furthermore, the Enabling Act enabled the chancellor to pass decrees without having to go through the Reichstag first. This decree was active for 12 years, even though it was meant to be an emergency measure only. During this period of terror for Germany the police could do anything, more specifically the Nazi police. Hitler made the most out of this situation; he used the police to intimidate voters and to disrupt communist party meetings. The fact that a communist was found burning the Reichstag building made all of this possible for Hitler, although it has been argued that the fire might have been started by the Nazis and that Van Der Lubbe was framed for the crime. Shortly afterwards Van Der Lubbe was tried and executed. After the fire was put out, a secret passage between Goering’s and the Reichstag was found which can be linked to the theory that claims that the Nazis started the Reichstag Fire. Some years after this Goering claims to have started the fire, this statement is confirmed by a Nazi General at the war crimes trial. Both of these theories are still being argued today.

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Another factor that was important to Hitler’s consolidation of power is the Enabling Act. In March 5th the Nazis got the highest number of seats of the Reichstag (288), but still it was not the 50% that Hitler needed to get to power. With the passing of the Enabling Act, Hitler got all that he needed to finally secure his power. The Enabling Act gave the chancellor the ability to pass decrees without having to consult the Reichstag before; this was the beginning of his dictatorship. Even though the Nazi party had the support of the nationalists, they never were able ...

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