The Consolidation of Power 1933-4

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The Consolidation of Power 1933-4

Hitler becomes president, fuhrer of Germany on the 2nd of August 1934, and the Nazis have complete control. To get there Hitler had to effectively braps out his opposition, firstly while Hitler is chancellor, he catches (frames) the communists for the Reichstag Fire on the 27th Feb 1933, so he issued a decree for the ‘protection of the people and the state’ then he took over all state governments and put all his opponents in prison, including the communists. Although in the election they only got 44% of the vote they gained 288 seats with Hitler now having only a majority of 16 seats, the Reichstag then pass the ‘enabling act’ which enabled him to ignore both the Reichstag and the President. The Nazis then seize the trade unions, and the Social Democrats decided to call it a day. Then Hitler orders the SS to take out the SA and his pal Rohm because of their dangerous revolutionary ideas, on the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ the SA got tonked so to speak. On the 2nd August Hindenburg dies, and Hitler then becomes Dictator, Fuhrer, Supreme Commander and what not.

So how did Hitler go from Chancellor with only two other Nazis in the 11 strong cabinet to an all powerful dictator? The conservatives in the cabinet, including Von Papen, thought that they would back Hitler into a corner, where he could “squeal to his hearts content.” However, they underestimated Hitler’s political skill.

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The final democratic election campaign 1933

Hitler comes to power and the first thing he does is to call an election on the 5th of March. He expected the German population to vote for the Nazis on masse, but he was not going to take any chances. Big business gave min 3million marks and Communist meetings were banned. The SA broke up the Social Democratic and Catholic Centre Party rallies. 50 anti-Nazi and 18 Nazis died in street fights.

The Reichstag Fire  

On the 27th of February 1933 the parliament building (the Reichstag) caught fire. The police ...

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