C2: Case Study of Nazi Germany (2261 ELECTIVE HISTORY)

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSOLIDATION OF NAZI RULE IN GERMANY The Reichstag Fire (27 February 1933) - On 27 February 1933 , the Reichstag building was burnt down by a lone and mentally unstable communist. - Hitler immediately declared that the fire was the beginning of a communist uprising. He persuaded Hindenburg to pass the Decree for the Protection of People and State, giving Hitler sweeping emergency powers. - The SA and SS (Police) arrested 4000 communists - Opposition party meetings, newspapers and radio broadcasts were also banned. - This made it difficult for the opposition parties to campaign. - In the elections of 5 March, the Nazis gained 288 seats. They had 52% of the seats. The Enabling Act (24 March 1933) - Hitler wanted to introduce a new measure called the Enabling Act, which would allow him to make and pass laws without consulting the Reichstag. - Only the SPD voted against Hitler during the elections. (Since the communists were in prison) - The Enabling Act was passed on 24 March. Gleichschaltung (April-July 1933) - Hitler continued to strengthen his power in a process called Gleichschaltung , or Coordination. - This involved bringing all aspects of the state under Nazi control. - April 1933: Hitler passed a law which banned Jews from the civil service. - May 1933: Trade unions were banned, and all local councils had to have a Nazi majority. - By July , Hitler passed a law banning all other political parties, resulting in Germany being a one-party state.

The Night of the Long Knives (29-30 June 1934) - By the middle of 1934, Hitler was starting to see the SA (particularly its leader, Ernst Rohm) as a threat. - The members of the SA were fiercely loyal to Rohm and supported his calls to tax elite groups, but Hitler had been put into power by said elite groups. - The army commanders also became suspicious of the SA and were unsettled by Rohm’s talk of making the SA into a second German army. - On the weekend of 29-30 June 1934 , squads of SS men arrested Rohm and other leading figures in the SA. Hitler accused Rohm of plotting to overthrow and murder him. Rohm and possibly as many as 400 others were executed. This purge came to be infamously known as the Night of the Long Knives. - Although the SA was not disbanded afterwards, it lost much of its prestige and influence. Many of its members were absorbed into the army and the SS. - The SA was not the sole target of the purge. Hitler also targeted his old rivals. For example, von Papen was placed under house arrest. Hitler offered him