• The Nazi 'Legal Revolution', January-March 1933
  • Although Hitler had been appointed chancellor, his power was by no means absolute
  • Hindenburg had not supported Hitler's appointment until satisfied the chancellor's power would remain limited
  • Papen boasted: "In two months we'll have pushed Hitler into a corner so hard that he'll be squeaking."
• The limitations of Hitler as chancellor
  • Hitler's position was weak in purely constitutional terms:
    • There were only two other Nazis in the cabinet of 12: Wilhelm Frick (minister of the interior) and Hermann Göring (minister without portfolio)
    • There were nine other non-Nazi members, all from conservative-nationalist backgrounds
    • Hitler's coalition government did not have a majority in the Reichstag
    • The chancellor's post was dependent on the whim of President Hindenburg, who openly resented Hitler
    • Hitler was aware of the potential power of the army and the trade unions
• Hitler's strengths
  • Within two months, the weaknesses were shown not to be real limitations
  • Power was achieved by carrying on with the policy of legality (pursued since 1925)
  • Hitler already possessed several key strengths:
    • He was the leader of the largest political party in Germany
    • Political realism forced the conservatives to work with him
    • The Nazi Party had now gained access to the resources of the state
      • Göring was also minister of the interior in Prussia, with responsibility for the police
      • He used this responsibility blatantly to harass opponents, while ignoring Nazi crimes
      • Goebbels exploited propaganda opportunities: "Radio and press are at our disposal."
    • Hitler was a masterly political tactician; Papen was "politically naïve"
• The Reichstag election, 5 March 1933
  • Within 24 hours of his appointment, new Reichstag elections had been called
  • The campaign had few characteristics of a democracy: violence and terror dominated
  • Meetings of Socialists and Communists were regularly broken up by Nazis
  • In Prussia, Göring used his authority to enrol an extra 50,000 into the police; nearly all were SA and SS members
  • 69 people died during the five-week campaign
  • Hitler's 'Appeal to the German People' (31 January 1933) blamed poor economic conditions on democratic government and Communists
  • He cultivated the idea of the government as a 'national uprising'
  • Another key difference was the improved Nazi financial situation
  • At a meeting on 20 February with 20 leading industrialists, Hitler was promised three million Reichsmarks
• The Reichstag fire
  • 27 February: The Reichstag building was set on fire
  • A young Dutch Communist, van der Lubbe, was arrested
  • At the time, many believed it was a Nazi plot to justify repression
  • It is probable the true explanation will never be known
  • The real significance is the cynical way it was exploited by the Nazis
  • 28 February: Frick drew up, and Hindenburg signed, the 'Decree for the Protection of People and State'
    • Most civil and political liberties were suspended
    • Power of central government was strengthened
    • Justification was the threat posed by Communists
  • In the final week of the election, hundreds of anti-Nazis were arrested
• Election result
  • Polls held on 5 March
  • Very high turnout of 88 per cent
  • Nazis increased vote from 33.1 per cent to only 43.9 per cent, securing 288 seats
  • Hitler could claim a majority only with help of 52 seats won by Nationalists
  • This was a political blow, since changing the Weimar Constitution required a two-thirds majority
• The Enabling Act, March 1933
  • Hitler proposed an Enabling Act to transfer full powers to the chancellor and government for four years
  • In this way the dictatorship would be "grounded in legality"
  • Successful passage depended on gaining support for a two-thirds majority
  • A further problem was the momentum of the 'revolution from below', as Party members impatiently took law into their own hands
  • This threatened Hitler's image of legality
  • 21 March: Goebbels orchestrated the Day of Potsdam ceremony at Potsdam Garrison Church
    • In presence of Hindenburg, the Crown Prince, and army generals, Hitler symbolically aligned National Socialism with "old Germany"
  • 23 March: New Reichstag met in the Kroll Opera House
    • Communists (not already in prison) were refused admittance
    • Deputies faced intimidation from ranks of SA surrounding the building
    • Nazis needed backing of the Centre Party (ZP)
    • Hitler promised to respect the rights of the Catholic Church
  • The ZP deputies "deceived themselves" into believing these false promises
  • Only the Social Democrats voted against
  • The Enabling Act was passed by 444 to 94 votes
  • Karl Bracher called it a 'legal revolution'
  • Within a few weeks, Hitler had legally dismantled the Weimar Constitution
• Co-ordination: Gleichschaltung
  • The Enabling Act was the "constitutional foundation stone of the Third Reich"
  • Gleichschaltung (co-ordination) refers to the Nazifying of German society and establishment of the dictatorship, 1933-4
  • It was generated by a 'revolution from below' (power exploited by SA at local level)
  • It was also directed by a 'revolution from above' (Nazi leadership in Berlin)
  • Priority in spring/summer 1933 was to 'co-ordinate' federal states, political parties, and independent trade unions
• Main features of co-ordination
  • The federal states
    • Weimar Constitution (1919) agreed on federal structure with 17 Länder (regional states)
    • This contrasted with Nazi desires for a fully unified country
    • The situation was resolved in three legal stages:
      • Law of 31 March 1933: Dissolved regional parliaments (Landtage) and reformed them with Nazi-dominated majorities
      • Law of 7 April 1933: Created Reich Governors (Reichstatthalter), who were often local party Gauleiters
      • January 1934: Process of centralisation completed; regional parliaments abolished
    • By early 1934, the federal principle of government was "as good as dead"
  • The trade unions
    • Germany's trade union movement was powerful; in 1920 it had ended a putsch with a general strike
    • German organised labour was hostile to Nazism
    • By May 1933, it was a "spent force," already weakened by the depression
    • Union leaders "deceived themselves" into believing they could work with Nazis
    • Nazis declared 1 May (traditional socialist labour day) a national holiday
    • The following day, 2 May, SA and SS occupied union premises, confiscated funds, and arrested leaders (sending them to camps like Dachau)
    • Independent unions were banned; workers' organisations absorbed into German Labour Front (DAF), led by Robert Ley
    • DAF became largest organisation (22 million members) but was an "instrument of control"
    • By end of 1933, power of German labour movement "decisively broken"
  • Political parties
    • Gleichschaltung could not allow other political parties; Nazism aspired to one-party state
    • Communists outlawed since Reichstag fire
    • Social Democrats' assets seized, banned on 22 June
    • Major remaining parties (even Nationalists) willingly dissolved themselves in late June 1933
    • Catholic Centre Party followed suit on 5 July 1933
    • Decree of 14 July: Nazi Party proclaimed only legal party in Germany
• Success of Gleichschaltung in 1933
  • By end of 1933, process was well advanced, but "far from complete"
  • Failed to make impression on churches, the army, and big business
  • Civil service and education only partially co-ordinated
  • Internal party conflict laid basis for events of June 1934
• From Chancellor to Führer
  • Within six months, Hitler turned Germany into one-party dictatorship
  • 6 July 1933: Hitler's speech to Reich Governors formally declared an end to the revolution
  • Hitler caught in political dilemma: Party activists' behavior risked relations with conservative forces (big business, civil service, army)
• The position of the SA
  • Hitler's appeal failed; SA ranks called for 'a second revolution'
  • SA membership grew from 100,000 (1931) to 3,000,000 (1934)
  • SA represented radical, left-wing, working-class membership, emphasized socialist elements
  • Frustrated by limited nature of revolution and lack of personal gain
  • Epitomised by leader Ernst Röhm, who openly called for a genuine 'National Socialist Revolution'
  • Röhm (early 1934): "Adolf is a swine... He only associates with the reactionaries now..."
  • Röhm wanted to amalgamate the army and SA into a people's militia, with himself as commander
• The power struggle between the SA and the army
  • Röhm's plan was "anathema" to the German army
  • Hitler caught between SA (three million members) and army (only organisation that could unseat him)
  • Army officer class was suspicious of Hitler, had close ties to civil service and Junkers
  • Army possessed skills vital to Hitler's foreign policy aims
  • Political realities dictated Hitler had to retain army's backing
  • February: Meeting between army, SA, SS leaders failed to ease tension
• The Night of the Long Knives
  • Crisis came to a head in April 1934 as President Hindenburg's death was imminent
  • Hitler wanted to assume presidency without opposition, needed army's backing
  • The army desired the SA's elimination
  • Probable agreement made between Hitler, Blomberg, and Fritsch on battleship Deutschland in April 1934
  • Göring and Himmler also manoeuvred against Röhm to further own ambitions
  • Mid-June: Vice-Chancellor Papen gave speech criticising SA excesses, seen as a challenge
  • Hitler now recognised he had to destroy the SA's power
• The purge
  • 30 June 1934: Night of the Long Knives; Hitler eliminated SA as political/military force
  • Röhm and SA leaders shot by SS members
  • Weapons and transport provided by the army
  • Old scores settled: Schleicher and Strasser also killed
  • Estimated 200 people murdered
  • Cabinet approved law on July 3 declaring measures taken on 30 June and 1-2 July "are legal"
• The significance of the Night of Long Knives
  • Hitler overcame radical left in his Party and conservative right
  • Effects of purge:
    • German army aligned behind Nazi regime; agreed to take personal oath of loyalty to Hitler
    • SA rendered unarmed, reduced to showpiece force at rallies
    • Marked emergence of the SS as Party's "élite institution of terror"
    • Hitler secured personal political supremacy; "managed to legalise murder"
  • Regime shown to be personal dictatorship
  • 2 August: Hindenburg died
  • Hitler merged offices of chancellor and president, took new title of Führer
  • Threat of 'second revolution' completely removed
• Conclusions: Why was Weimar Germany Replaced by a Nazi Dictatorship?
  • July 1932: Only 43 per cent voted for pro-Republican parties
  • 63 per cent of Germans never voted for Nazis, but 37 per cent did, making them strongest party
  • Key factors for establishment of dictatorship:
    • Terror: Use of violence (Night of the Long Knives, arrest of Communists), intimidation at local level
    • Legality: Use of law gave justification (Enabling Act, Emergency Decree, dissolution of parties)
    • Deception: Hitler misled powerful groups (trade unions, SA)
    • Propaganda: Goebbels cultivated powerful images (e.g., Day of Potsdam)
    • Weaknesses of the opposition: Left divided between Social Democrats and Communists
    • Sympathy of the conservative right: Traditional interests (army, civil service) not committed to Weimar, accepted Night of the Long Knives