In the general election the Nazis got 44% of the vote, more than ever before and won them 288 seats. But this still meant the Nazis didn’t have full control of the Reichstag, but were helped and supported by the Nationalists, who gave the Nazis their 52 seats, which gave the Nazis control of the Reichstag.
Hitler passed the Enabling act, which meant that he could make decisions without the Reichstag’s approval. But Hitler did not have a 2/3 majority in the Reichstag. Hitler banned the 81 communists from the Reichstag by using the emergency powers act that Hitler had been given. Members of the SDP were attacked by the SA on the day of the voting and many did not turn up. This meant that the enabling law was passed by 444 to 94 votes. The enabling law gave Hitler the power to pass any law without consulting the Reichstag and the president. Hitler used this to his advantage and banned the SDP; the communists had previously been destroyed. Other parties followed and Hitler banned the formation of new parties in July. This meant that there was a one party state, - the Nazis. Trade unions which were against the Nazis were abolished and their offices were destroyed and officers arrested and sent to prison. Nazi officials were put in charge of local governments which ran the states of Germany.
Despite putting all of this in force in Germany Hitler identified one more threat to his power, and it came from inside his own party. Hitler was worried that the SA would try and dispute him. Hitler had good reasons not to keep it;
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Roehm and other SA men wanted a 2nd socialist revolution.
- Roehm wanted the SA to take control of the German army
- The SA was unpopular with businessmen- whom Hitler had received lots of financial help off during his election campaign.
- The SA was unpopular with the army who saw the SA as a rival and Hitler would need the army’s support if Hitler was to take over Germany when Hindenburg died.
Throughout 1933 Hitler met with the army’s leaders trying to get their support for a Nazi take over. But Hitler started to lose support so he had to make a decision, whether to support Roehm and keep the SA or the army. Hitler supported the army and on the 30th June 1934 ‘the night of the long Knives’ took place. The SS arrested most of the members of the SA, including Roehm who was shot. Hitler explained his actions in the Reichstag and said that he had saved Germany, and Hitler had also removed any opposition to him from within the party.
Despite Hitler doing all of this Hindenburg was still president. But on 2nd August Hindenburg died, Hitler declared himself the Fuhrer. On the same day the members of the army declared an oath of loyalty to Hitler. Hitler was now in full control as the only people with the power to oppose Hitler was the army and they had just given Hitler their support.
To conclude, the main reasons why Hitler was able to transform his political position to one of dictatorship was because: - The opposition to him was weak and divided. The Nazis used violence and aggression to destroy political opposition and he removed any opposition from within the Nazi party and outside the party, with ease.