Why did the Nazis set fire to the Reichstag?
It is clear that the Nazis had set fire to the Reichstag building, and there are various benefits which had motivated them for this action. Hitler had two aims, to win an overall majority in the Reichstag and to eliminate oppositions. The burning of the Reichstag could obtain both his aims and to act as part of their terror tactics to warn potential political opponent. The propaganda value brought by the burning of Reichstag is also beyond measure. It also provided the Nazis with maximum opportunity for media exposure. The Reichstag fire had also given Hitler a perfect opportunity to outwit Von Papen and other politician who had misjudge him and though they could easily control him. It had also provided Hitler an excuse to persuade President Hindenburg to pass the 'Decree for the Protection of people and state' and the 'Enable Act' which will both put Hitler and the Nazis in great position to compete in the forth coming election in March. However, some would argue that it was the communist who had set fire to the Reichstag since there was much evidence that shows it was a young communist Van der Lubbe who was the cause of the whole incidence.
It was the clear that the Nazis themselves had set fire to the Reichstag building for a number of reasons. The fire not only provided Hitler a chance to get rid of the communist by blaming the plot on them and had helped to remind the Germans that he is the one who could stamp out the communist threat throughout the country. In order to consolidate his power, Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree, the 'Decree for the protection of people and State' which suspending all articles in constitution which guaranteed personal liberty, freedom of speech, press and assembly. And over the next eighteen months Hitler eliminated all political oppositions and was on his way to absolute power and Germany soon became a one-party state. The mean of this is to consolidate their power throughout the government since the communist was always their biggest threat. And with the communist out of the way Hitler can now take control of the government and have more significant advantages in the forth coming election. And the first thing the Nazis did was to outlaw the KPD which gave them a majority without the support of the DNVP. Through gaining power, Nazis now had the excuse they need to tighten the screw on their oppositions. Nazis could execute and arrest their political enemies without considering any other factors. They can intimidate their votes and control the voters’ decision by watching over them as they crossed their ballot papers. Hitler was also fast on acting against his opposition, the day after the Reichstag fire; truckloads of storm troopers were sent looking for their opponents throughout Germany seizing communists and socialists. Officers of the communists and SPD were wrecked and arrested. Their meeting banned or disrupted. And through all these, communist was at last swept away from the political stage of Germany. In essence, the Reichstag fire had also shifted balance of power from the cabinet and government to the street. It has acted as part of the Nazis terror tactics, and somehow used Van der Lubbe in order to blame the communist. By doing so, the Nazis had created sense of crisis by arresting and imprisoning 4000 communist leaders in the night of 27th February. Police was given emergency power to search houses, detain people indefinitely without trail and decreed the death penalty for a wide range of crimes. Political opponents would be dragged off to the hastily organised concentration camps and detention centres.
