In addition, Hitler's image as a strong leader appealed to people. He was all set to unite the population and put an end to political discord. The Nazis focused on voters from all walks of life, rather than on just one group, such as the workers or Catholics.
They also attracted many people who had never voted before. Still, in November the party seemed to be past its peak. The conservative parties did not manage to win enough votes. They pressured president Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler chancellor. The fact that they expected to use Hitler for their own agenda would turn out to be a fatal underestimation. The National Socialists celebrated their victory with a torchlight procession through Berlin.
From the balcony of the chancellery, Hitler looked on approvingly. In spite of the glory, he was still far from being all-powerful at that point. The new cabinet counted only two NSDAP members, but Hitler succeeded in getting them appointed to important positions. He was a minister without portfolio who got to control the police force of Prussia, the larger part of Germany. For the Nazis, this was reason to celebrate their 'national revolution', but many Germans were indifferent to the news.
They had seen many governments come and go and did not expect the new government to last any time at all. Before long, Hitler claimed more power. The fire in the Reichstag, the parliament building, was a key moment in this development. On 27 February , guards noticed the flames blazing through the roof. They overpowered the suspected arsonist, a Dutch communist named Marinus van der Lubbe. He was executed after a show trial in Evidence of any accomplices was never found.
The Nazi leadership was quick to arrive at the scene. Not a moment must be lost! Anyone who stands in our way will be cut down. It formed the basis for the dictatorship. The civil rights of the German people were curtailed. Freedom of expression was no longer a matter of course and the police could arbitrarily search houses and arrest people.
The political opponents of the Nazis were essentially outlawed. In this atmosphere of intimidation, new elections were held on 5 March The streets were full of Nazi posters and flags. Nevertheless, the great victory hoped for by the Nazis did not materialise. With Meanwhile, the arrests and intimidation were on the increase. The government banned the Communist Party. By 15 March, 10, communists had been arrested. In order to house all these political prisoners, the first concentration camps were opened.
It will first explore this topic in chronological order, from the Reichstag Fire through to the death of President Hindenburg, and then explore it thematically in the last section. On the 31 January , Hitler, conscious of his lack of a majority in the Reichstag, immediately called for new elections to try and strengthen his position. The Nazis aimed to increase their share of the vote so that they would have a majority in the Reichstag.
This would allow them to rule unopposed and unhindered by coalition governments. On 27 February , as the campaign moved into its final, frantic days, the Reichstag, the German Parliament building, was set on fire and burnt down. An atmosphere of panic and terror followed the event.
The Nazi Party used the atmosphere of panic to their advantage, encouraging anti-communism. This hysteria helped to turn the public against the communists, one of the Nazis main opponents, and people were imprisoned. This decree suspended the democratic aspects of the Weimar Republic and declared a state of emergency.
This decree gave the Nazis a legal basis for the persecution and oppression of any opponents, who were be framed as traitors to the republic. People could be imprisoned for any or no reason. The decree also removed basic personal freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, the right to own property, and the right to trial before imprisonment. Through these aspects the Nazis suppressed any opposition to their power, and were able to start the road from democracy to a dictatorship.
The atmosphere of uncertainty following the Reichstag Fire secured many voters for the Nazi party. The SA also ran a violent campaign of terror against any and all opponents of the Nazi regime. Many were terrified of voting of at all, and many turned to voting for the Nazi Party out of fear for their own safety. The elections were neither free or fair. The Nazis secured Despite this improvement, the Nazis still did not command a majority in the Reichstag.
This new law gave Hitler the power to rule by decree rather than passing laws through the Reichstag and the president. If passed, the law would establish the conditions needed for dictatorial rule.
The law needed two thirds of the Reichstag to vote for it to pass. The SA and the SS had also been on a month long campaign of violence to scare or imprison other opponents to the party.
They had placed many in the first concentration camp , Dachau , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March After Hitler had promised to protect the interests of the Catholic Church, the party conceded and supported the bill.
Only the SPD opposed it. Although President Hindenburg and the Reichstag continued to exist, Hitler could now govern by decree. Carried out primarily by the SS and the Gestapo, over people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. In August there were approximately , members of the SA.
By June this had grown to over 3,, members. They were often given a free rein on their activities and were violent and difficult to control. In addition to this, there was a mutual dislike between the traditional conservative elite — who maintained many key positions in the government and the army during the first years of the Third Reich — and the SA. During the years of the rise of the Nazi Party, the SA had been instrumental in helping the party to gain support.
Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership disagreed with their approach. They understood the need to appear moderate and take over slowly by democratic means where possible, maintaining the stability and illusion of a democracy. The tension between the SA and the Nazi leadership grew. On 30 June these tensions came to a head. Political and economic instability, coupled with voter dissatisfaction with the status quo, benefitted the Nazi Party.
Before the onset of the Great Depression in Germany in —, the National Socialist German Workers' Party or Nazi Party for short was a small party on the radical right of the German political spectrum.
In the Reichstag parliament elections of May 2, , the Nazis received only 2. During —, the mood in Germany was grim. The worldwide economic depression had hit the country hard, and millions of people were out of work. The unemployed were joined by millions of others who linked the Depression to Germany's national humiliation after defeat in World War 1. Many Germans perceived the parliamentary government coalition as weak and unable to alleviate the economic crisis.
Widespread economic misery, fear, and perception of worse times to come, as well as anger and impatience with the apparent failure of the government to manage the crisis, offered fertile ground for the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. Hitler was a powerful and spellbinding orator who, by tapping into the anger and helplessness felt by a large number of voters, attracted a wide following of Germans desperate for change.
Nazi electoral propaganda promised to pull Germany out of the Depression. The Nazis pledged to restore German cultural values, reverse the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles , turn back the perceived threat of a Communist uprising, put the German people back to work, and restore Germany to its "rightful position" as a world power.
Hitler and other Nazi propagandists were highly successful in directing the population's anger and fear against the Jews; against the Marxists Communists and Social Democrats ; and against those the Nazis held responsible for signing both the armistice of November and the Versailles treaty, and for establishing the parliamentary republic. Hitler and the Nazis often referred to the latter as "November criminals. Hitler and other Nazi speakers carefully tailored their speeches to each audience.
For example, when speaking to businessmen, the Nazis downplayed antisemitism and instead emphasized anti-communism and the return of German colonies lost through the Treaty of Versailles. When addressed to soldiers, veterans, or other nationalist interest groups, Nazi propaganda emphasized military buildup and return of other territories lost after Versailles. Nazi speakers assured farmers in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein that a Nazi government would prop up falling agricultural prices.
Pensioners all over Germany were told that both the amounts and the buying power of their monthly checks would remain stable. To dissolve the parliament, the president used Article 48 of the German constitution.
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