To what extent can the Nazi Revolution be described as a "legal revolution"? Discuss in relation to the period January 1933-August 1934.

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Andrew King MMT

To what extent can the Nazi Revolution be described as a “legal revolution”? Discuss in relation to the period January 1933-August 1934.

The Nazi revolution of power was as extraordinary as it was unique. It was a revolution that placed the ‘unknown soldier’ or the ‘nobody of Vienna’ in charge of government in one of Europe’s most powerful countries. It had not been too long before, that Adolf Hitler had been in prison and it had not been too long before, that the Nazi party was a fringe party on the edge of the political spectrum, which most people considered to be irrelevant. The amazing fact is that to the general observer, the revolution would appear to be completely legal. After all, the Nazi party did receive the largest share of the votes in the Reichstag elections and the Enabling Act, which secured Hitler dictatorial powers, was passed through the Reichstag. However, if the general observer was to look beneath the surface, there is no doubt that he would discover elements of illegality, which were crucial in assuring the Nazi ascension to power.  

As Ian Kershaw points out, Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor was an extraordinary political drama and one, which unfolded largely out of sight of the German people (1). It was the result of several meetings between Hitler and Von Papen and several more between Hindenburg and Von Papen. It was not the result of elections, which should have been the case considering the Weimar Republic claimed to be a democracy. At the end of the talks it was decided that Hitler should be appointed Chancellor as Germany needed a strong leader with public support and one who had the ability to crush Communism.

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As mentioned above, the Nazis did receive a large amount of the vote and was by far the largest party in the Reichstag. When elections were again called in March 1933, whilst Hitler was the Chancellor (der Kanzler), the Nazi party again received the biggest share of the vote with 43.9% of Germans demonstrating their preference for Nazi leadership. It is therefore customary to declare this as legal because over forty percent of the German population had demonstrated their support for Hitler by giving him their vote. However this is only part of the truth. The election campaign witnessed ...

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