Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Setting up the Nazi dictatorship - Coggle Diagram
Setting up the Nazi dictatorship
The Reichstag fire
On the 27th of February 1933, The Reichstag building was destroyed in a great fire
A communist was found on site with matches and firelighters
His name was van der Lubbe, and he confessed to starting this fire, after which he was instantly put on trial
He was found guilty and was executed by the guillotine
Due to the fire starter being a communist, Hitler was able to use this to his advantage.
Consequences to the fire
After the fire, Hitler was advised by the new Nazi chief of police, Hermann Goering, to destroy the communist opposition
Thus, the night of the fire, Hitler arrested 4000 members of the communist party
The next day, Hitler used his power as chancellor in order to pass an emergency decree called "Decree for protection of the people and state"
This decree would enable him to....
A. Search any communist home
B. Arrest any communist without trial
C. Ban communist meetings
D. Close communist newspapers and radios
The March 1933 election
After becoming chancellor, Hitler called for an election for a new Reichstag
This was held 6 days after the reichstag fire, on the 5th of March 1933
Hitler arranged this meeting in order to arrange maximum supremacy, and secure the maximum amount of seats for the Nazis in the reichstag
In order to secure as many votes as possible in the elections, Hitler.....
A. Told people that communsists were dangerous (proved by the Reichstag fire) and that people should vote for the Nazis in order to avoid this danger
B. Replaced police officers with members from the SA. This allowed Hitler to continue a campaign of violence during the elections
C. Arrested members of the communist party
D. Told the SA to disrupt meetings from opposing parties
E. Closed newspapers which did not support the Nazi party
F. Intimidated voters during the elections so that they would be forced to vote for the Nazi party
The Nazis were now the largest single party in the Reichstag, but they still didn't have the majority.
Not having the majority meant that parties in the Reichstag could easily vote against his decisions
So, he proposed the enabling act
Enabling act
The enabling act was the new law that would declare Hitler as supreme in the Reichstag. He didn't need the permission of any parties to pass any laws or sign any treaties
In order to get the Reichstag to pass this law, he took several measures:
A. He used article 48 to ban the entirety of the communist party
B. Persuaded all seats in the nationalist party to agree with the act, as they mainly had the same ideologies as Hitler anyway
C. He promised the Centre party to protect the Catholic church, which earned all theier seats
Thus, the act would be passed, with the grand majority voting for it.
Consequences
The Enabling act ended any form of democracy in Germany and the entirety of the Weimar republic after all
He used his power in the Reichstag to ban all parties in the Reichstag, along with trade unions and the local government
A. This is known as the "Nazi Revolution"
The Nazi revolution
Local government
Hitler closed the idea of 18 different states in Germany
He reorganized the parliments in each state so that the Nazis would be supreme
He appointed 18 different Nazi leaders to make rules in each state
Trade unions
The nazis broke into trade union offices, shut them down and arrested their leader
Hitler created his own trade union (German worker's front) and forced every worker in Germany to join it
Other political parties
Hitler banned all parties from the reichstag, giving him the ability to pass any law he wanted to