Describe the steps by which Hitler transformed himself from Chancellor to Dictator (January 1933 August 1934).

by cherrinashiugmailcom (student)

Cherrina Shiu

L5G1

Describe the steps by which Hitler transformed himself from Chancellor to Dictator (January 1933 – August 1934). Which step(s) was/were the most important? Was Hitler a political genius?

Although Adolf Hitler could be named as one of the most brutal politicians in history, having orchestrated the deaths and sufferings of millions of Jews, there was little evidence to incriminate him as an outlaw – he obtained all his powers through legal means, all of his actions could be justified by the German law.

Adolf Hitler was appointed as the Chancellor of the Reichstag on 30 January 1933 by the German president, Hindenburg, following the suggestion of Franz von Papen, who would later be appointed Vice Chancellor. Hitler did not seize power, he was given it. Through taking steps such as passing the Enabling Act, Hitler became the ultimate power of Germany within 18 months of Chancellorship.

The first step in Hitler’s ascension to power was the Reichstag Fire on 27 February 1933. The Reichstag building was set on fire, and later burned down. A Dutch Communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was found inside the burning Reichstag building with a lighter and flammable material. He was charged with burning down the Reichstag despite sayings that the Nazis were the real culprits. The Nazis exploited the Reichstag Fire to accuse the Communists of plotting against the government and deliberately causing harm to Germany. They took this opportunity to severely weaken their political opponents. In Prussia alone, 4000 Communist leaders were arrested and potentially imprisoned by the police, who was led by Hermann Goering, a prominent Nazi and a close friend of Hitler. On 28 February, ‘Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the Nation and the State’ was issued by Hindenburg after being persuaded by Hitler, stating that all constitutional civil rights (i.e. personal liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the freedom of assembly etc.) were suspended. Furthermore, the police were given emergency powers to search houses and indefinitely place people in ‘protective custody’. They could ban meetings, close newspapers, and detain any German. The death penalty was brought back, van der Lubbe, the Communist who was said to have caused the Reichstag fire, was the first person who received the death penalty. Hitler abused this decree to seize his political opponents – the Communists and shut down anti-Nazi press and radio stations. Even though it was only meant to be an emergency decree, this decree lasted throughout the period of Hitler’s rule.

Password

Confirm Password

I agree to the terms of service and privacy policy

This is a preview of the whole essay

The next to come was the General Election of 5 March. Even though Hitler was the Chancellor, the Reichstag only had three Nazis in the Cabinet. It was not what Hitler desired. Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and hold a new election of the Reichstag, hoping that the Nazis would gain a majority vote. This was the origin of the General Election of 5 March. The Nazis published propaganda using the radio and the police and intimidated voters by placing uniformed Nazis at every polling station. However, the Nazis still failed to obtain a majority in the Reichstag. Hitler only got 44% of the votes while his allies, the Nationalists, got 8%. In order to obtain a majority (i.e. two-thirds seats or 66%), Hitler took several steps to take out obstacles in his way. First, he banned the Communists from the Reichstag using the Reichstag Fire decree. Then, at the first meeting of the new Reichstag members, he tried to intimidate the other parties with the SA and SS. Nazis crowded the square in front of the Kroll Opera House (which was where the temporary Reichstag was housed). Armed SA and SS men filled the Opera House. Many other political parties gave in to the Nazi pressure, and Hitler could obtain sufficient votes to pass the Enabling Act.

The Enabling Act, subtitled ‘Law for Terminating the Suffering of the People and the Nation’, gave Hitler the power to make his own laws without the approval of the Reichstag or the President – it made Hitler the dictator of Germany. With the Enabling Act, Hitler was unstoppable; he could do anything he wanted legally. From that day onwards, the Reichstag did not meet except to hear Hitler speak and to renew the Enabling Act. The Reichstag had no significant purpose anymore.

On 1 May, Hitler declared that all Germans were to have a holiday, ‘Day of National Labour’, with his newfound power obtained from the Enabling Act. However, on the next day, all trade union offices were seized with their leaders thrown in prison. All unions were merged into the new Nazi-controlled German Labour Front. The German Labour Front gave workers a higher wage and made it harder for business owners to dismiss workers, so the German workers were satisfied with what the German Labour Front offered.

To eliminate political competition, ‘Law against the Formation of New Parties’ was instated on 14 July. It forced political parties other than the Nazis to dissolve themselves and banned the formation of new parties. As the Nazis were the only legitimate party left in Germany, Germany became a one-party state. It was an offence to belong to a political party that was not the Nazis. The Nazi Party members were given the best jobs, better houses and special privileges over ordinary people. Many businessmen joined the Nazis just to obtain these benefits.

Religion held a great sway over ordinary German citizens, so Hitler had to do something to prevent religion from affecting his regime. On 20 July, he signed a Concordat with the Pope. The concordat stated that the church is to refrain from interfering in Germany’s politics and the German government would protect the Roman Catholic Church in return. Many Catholics then were happy to accept the Nazi rule as the Church did not oppose it. Protestants and Jehovah’s Witnesses, not protected by this Concordat, would be thrown into jail if they opposed the Nazi regime.

By 1934, Hitler could already be considered the dictator of Germany, but there were still many factors that could potentially threaten Hitler’s power: President Hindenburg who was just as powerful as Hitler with Article 48 granting him powers to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag; The army which was independent and not loyal to Hitler; The state governments which were not dedicated to the Nazis; Internal power struggles within the Nazi Party. In 1934, Hitler would concentrate on removing potential threats to his rule.

On 30 January 1934, ‘Law for the Reconstruction of the State’ was introduced. From March 1933 onwards, many state governments had been overthrown by the SA. The new law formally appointed commissioners to these states. Elected state assemblies were dissolved and Reich Governors (often Nazi Gauleiter) were put in control of these states. This law further consolidated Hitler’s powers.

The Night of the Long Knives, 30 June 1934, cleansed the Nazi Party of Hitler’s potential threats. Ernst Rohm, the leader of the SA and a long-time friend of Hitler, was assassinated by the SS under Hitler’s orders. Many SA leaders were also shot dead. This event greatly weakened the SA (which was getting out of control) and ridded the Nazi Party of Hitler’s rivals.

August was the month that Hitler became the absolute power of Germany. On 1 August, ‘Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich’ merges the role of the President and the Chancellor into the new ‘Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor’. The next day, President Hindenburg died, allowing Hitler to claim the job of Fuhrer. With the death of Hindenburg, Hitler became the head of the German government. He was the Fuhrer of Germany. The army, which was previously neutral, swore an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler, swearing that they would be unconditionally loyal not to the country, but to Adolf Hitler himself.

Adolf Hitler was now the undisputed leader of Germany. All his potential threats had been dealt with, he had control over all of Germany and he was the Supreme Commander of the German army. He had transformed himself from a Chancellor, who had the Reichstag and the President overseeing his actions, to the Fuhrer, the absolute power in Germany.

The Enabling Act was without a doubt the key steps to Hitler’s ascension to power. It gave him the powers to make his own laws without approval of the Reichstag or the President. It literally meant that Hitler was free to do anything he wanted. It effectively eliminated the Reichstag from the German politics scene. It also removed the need to pass the laws by the President. Without the Enabling Act, Hitler could not carry out many of his later actions. Without the Enabling Act, he could not possibly eliminate all his political opponents and potential threats to his rule. He could not ban other political parties or detain opponents. As the Nazis’ popularity had been declining by the time Hitler was appointed Chancellor, as evident by the decreasing number of votes they obtained from the July election in 1932 to the November election of the same year, if Hitler did not have the power to ban all other political parties, another political party could rise and prevent Hitler becoming a dictator. Hitler would not be able to orchestrate the Night of the Long Knives – he would not be able to remove Ernst Rohm and therefore would not be able to obtain the support of the German army. It could not be said that the Enabling Act was the key factor to Hitler become a dictator, but it is certain that Hitler’s climb to power would be greatly hindered if not for the Enabling Act.

In my opinion, Adolf Hitler was helped by a great deal of people to become the Fuhrer: Ernst Rohm, who was later murdered in the Night of the Long Knives, led the SA to intimidate and maim Hitler’s political opponents; Josef Goebbels, who was in charge of Nazi propaganda, produced continual propaganda which was organized to make Germans love Hitler and promoted that all Germans were a part of a great movement; Franz von Papen, whose continuous power struggle with von Schleicher made him persuading President Hindenburg into giving Hitler the job of Chancellor.

Adolf Hitler was also backed up by the German people, who were not ready for the Weimar Republic and craved for a charismatic, totalitarian leader. Even though the Weimar Republic was almost a perfect parliamentary democracy, it had two major faults that could be exploited by people like Hitler: Proportional Representation – which allocated Reichstag seats proportionate to the number of votes the party received and Article 48 – which gave the President emergency powers to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag. Proportional Representation made having a majority party impossible, the government had to be made up of a coalition.

The Sturmabteilung, or the Stormtroopers, were the bully boys of the Nazi Party; they intimidated the Nazis’ opponents and attacked those who dared to speak up against Hitler. Many opponents kept quiet out of fear for the SA. They were very effective in silencing Nazis’ opponents and eliminating threats to Hitler’s power.

Hitler himself had many personal qualities that made him a very good politician. He was a brilliant speaker and his eyes were reputed to be able to sway over people. He was a good planner and organiser. Moreover, Hitler was extremely determined: He continued with his belief throughout many obstacles that might have caused others to give up. Hitler was also a very ruthless man, he did not care who had once offered him help, and he would eliminate all threats to his powers, even if they were once friends of him. He ordered the death of Ernst Rohm, who controlled the SA, because of Rohm wanting to meddle in the affairs of the army.

In conclusion, Adolf Hitler had to rely on a combination of his personal qualities and external factors to turn himself into the Fuhrer. He obtained powers through well-timed accidents (such as the Reichstag Fire), backstage intrigues (power struggle between von Papen and von Schleicher), and the existing weaknesses in the Weimar constitution (Proportional Representation and Article 48). While he was able to exploit these events to give him an advantage, he did not cause them. Therefore, I do not consider Hitler a political genius.