Furthermore there were various key events which helped Hitler consolidate his power, perhaps the most important and vital event was the Reichstag fire. This event was important as it increased Hitler's power, it allowed him to intimidate and threaten people with the help of the S.S and the S.A. As a result of the Reichstag decrees Hitler had the right to arbitrary arrest, this meant that he could arrest people without trial and could send them to concentration camps with the help pf the S.A and S.S, this was a suspension of civil liberties. From the fire emergency decrees were made which created a police state in which the S.A and S.S benefited, this also helped Hitler as they were being used by Hitler to intimidate and threaten people. Source 3 supports this view of terror and intimidation, it says “Northeim’s SPD was not allowed to hold meetings or to pass out campaign literature” this shows that Hitler intimidated other political parties and was in control of them as he restricted them from expressing themselves to gain support. This was Hitler's use of terror, he enforced censorship by threatening other political parties and this limited the effect of the opposition. Censorship was a key issue and this helped Hitler not only by helping him create a dictatorship but by also limiting the support that other political parties had.
The next key event was the March elections. This election was called by Hitler as he wanted to legitimise his power, he wanted to gain two thirds of the majority vote and this would allow him to be in control and therefore introduce an enabling act which could cause chaos amongst other political parties. However in the march election Hitler only gained 44% of the vote and this was not two thirds of the vote therefore it ruined his plans by creating a dictatorship though legal means. These elections were important because if Hitler was to gain the majority vote he could have changed the Weimar Constitution and introduced an enabling act however he never gained enough votes which ruined his plans. Hitler had many methods to power and one of those was by legal means but this plan held back when he never gained enough support.
Although he never gained enough support Hitler never gave up, on the 15th of March Hitler held a meeting with the DNVP and gained their support and on the 20th of March he made agreements with the Catholic centre party that if they gave him support he would not Nazify their institutions such as their schools and youth clubs. Hitler agreed to this and in return the centre party supported the Nazi party, this gave Hitler two thirds majority vote and allowed him to introduce the enabling act. The enabling act was known as the ‘foundation stone of Hitler’s dictatorship’ and it was definitely extremely important for Hitler as it allowed him to pass decrees without the Reichstag getting involved, this allowed Hitler to express his power freely without restrictions. The enabling act allowed the process of nazification to begin, this meant that all of Germanys social and political institutions would be changed for example schools would be forced to raise the Nazi flag. The decrees issued by Hitler saw the rights of German people being stripped away, he also removed all non-Nazi members of the civil service and banned all other political parties and unions. This enabling act rapidly saw the movement of majority vote to total power and control for Hitler. These swift actions left Hitler with little political opposition and he now had a one party state with total control over most means of communication.
Hitler also had many different methods to power which he thought would help him build his dictatorship. The first method was through legal means and this was to get two thirds majority vote so he could change the Weimar constitution and introduce an enabling act. The next method was to create a police state, this would allow him to impose terror and intimidation into other political parties and institutions, linked to this was the process of nazification whereby social institutions would be forced to support the Nazi party and also other non-Nazi institutions would be banned, finally was his method of propaganda and this was vital as it allowed him maximise the positive image of the Nazi party and moreover it legitimised and validated his party, the use of censorship which is linked to propaganda meant Hitler could limit the effectiveness of other political parties which would increase the number of supporters he has.
In conclusion the Nazis used various methods to consolidate their power, also various key events took place that helped them for example the Reichstag fire meant that Hitler could arrest anyone without a trial and send them to concentration camps through the use of the S.A and the S.S. furthermore the enabling was extremely important in consolidating the Nazi party’s power as it gave them freedom to express themselves freely without restrictions and it also allowed them to get rid of any obstacles and political parties which stood in Hitler's pathway to dictatorship. Various methods to power were also important such as the intimidation of political opponents, the use of censorship and propaganda, the creation of a police state, their co-ordination such as the nazification process and most importantly their method to gain control through legal means by gaining two thirds majority vote to introduce an enabling which is regarded as the foundation stone of Hitler's dictatorship.
