The Rise of the Nazis - Nazi Consolidation of Power

Question 1

What was the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 1

The Reichstag Fire was an arson attack on the German parliament in Berlin - the Reichstag building. Hitler used the attack as an excuse to severely curtail civil liberties and restrict the activities of the Communist Party.

Question 2

When did the Reichstag Fire happen?

Answer 2

The Reichstag Fire happened on 27th February, 1933.

Question 3

Who was involved with the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 3

A Dutch communist called Marinus van der Lubbe was accused of starting the arson attack.

Question 4

What were the results of the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 4

• Van der Lubbe was put on trial and executed.
• 4,000 communists were arrested.
• Hitler persuaded President von Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency and use Article 48.
• Hitler issued the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State which ended people’s civil rights.
• Hitler announced a new general election for 5th March, 1933.
• Hitler was able to use this increase in his powers to attack his greatest rival, the Communist Party.

Question 5

Why was the Reichstag Fire important?

Answer 5

• The Reichstag Fire enabled Hitler to persuade President Hindenburg that communists were a danger to the country.
• Hitler was able to rule using decrees through Article 48 and he used that power to end people’s civil rights. This meant he had increased his powers.
• It meant Hitler could introduce measures that banned leading communists from taking part in the upcoming election campaign.
• This was important because Hitler at this point still did not have the seats in the Reichstag he needed to form a majority.

Question 6

What happened to Van Der Lubbe after the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 6

Marinus van der Lubbe was put on trial and executed.

Question 7

What happened to communists after the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 7

• The Decree for the Protection of the People and the State enabled Hitler to ban them from participating in the March election.
• They were targeted, rounded up and arrested with 4,000 thrown in prison.
• All their newspapers were shut down, preventing them from campaigning in the election.

Question 8

What decree was created after the Reichstag Fire?

Answer 8

The Reichstag Fire led to the creation of the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, which ended people’s civil rights and meant Hitler could remove all opposition.

Question 9

What was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State?

Answer 9

The Decree for the Protection of the People and the State allowed Hitler to suspend the civil rights of all citizens. The decree also removed all restraints on police investigations which meant people could be arrested and imprisoned without evidence.

Question 10

When was the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State signed?

Answer 10

The Decree for the Protection of the People and the State was signed on 28th February, 1933.

Question 11

What were the results of the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State?

Answer 11

• The Nazis had the power to repress all political opposition through arrests, shutting down meetings, and banning publications.
• They specifically targeted the Communist Party to remove them as rivals in the upcoming March election.
• It was the beginning of the end of democracy in Germany.

Question 12

What were the results of the March 1933 general election?

Answer 12

The Nazi Party increased the number of seats it held in the Reichstag to 288.

Question 13

What happened in the run up to the March 1933 general election in the Weimar Republic?

Answer 13

The Nazi government used the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State to arrest communists and ban their newspapers. Hitler persuaded industrialists like Krupp to donate large sums of money to the Nazi Party’s election campaign.

Question 14

Why was the March 1933 election in Weimar Germany important?

Answer 14

• The Nazis didn’t secure the majority that they needed in the March elections so they needed the support of other parties to pass legislation.
• The Communist Party were banned from the 81 seats they had won in the March election by Hitler’s emergency powers.
• The Nazi Party gained the support of the National Party, which had 52 seats, and the Centre Party (ZP), which had 74, by promising to protect the interests of the Catholic Church.
• This gave the Nazi Party the majority it needed to pass laws and, more importantly, to gain 2/3 of the seats that they needed to successfully alter the constitution.

Question 15

What was the Enabling Act?

Answer 15

The Enabling Act was a law that enabled Hitler and the Nazis to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag for a period of four years.

Question 16

When was the Enabling Act passed to get Hitler into power?

Answer 16

The Enabling Act was passed on 23rd March, 1933.

Question 17

How did the Enabling Act help get Hitler into power?

Answer 17

• The Nazi government was able to pass the act by gaining the support of the Centre Party (ZP) and the German National People’s Party (DNVP) so that they had the two-thirds majority needed in the Reichstag to change the constitution.
• They also used violence and intimidation to ensure members of the Reichstag supported them.

Question 18

What were the results of the Enabling Act for Hitler’s power?

Answer 18

Hitler used the power of the Enabling Act to create his dictatorship by removing any opposition from other political parties, trade unions, local government and the army.

Question 19

Why was the Enabling Act important for Hitler’s power?

Answer 19

The Enabling Act was important because it, in effect, ended democracy in Germany. Hitler used his new powers to remove all possible opposition.

Question 20

What did Hitler do to create a dictatorship?

Answer 20

Hitler consolidated his power by creating a dictatorship. He used the Reichstag Fire to gain the power he needed to be able to pass the Enabling Act in March 1933. This law enabled him to remove all groups, institutions or organisations that could oppose him.

Question 21

When did Hitler create a Nazi dictatorship?

Answer 21

Hitler created his dictatorship and consolidated his power between January 1933 and August 1934.

Question 22

What did Hitler do to create a dictatorship?

Answer 22

• He used the Reichstag Fire to gain emergency powers under the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State which suspended all civil rights.
• He used this power to attack his rivals, the Communist Party.
• After the March 1933 election, he gained the support of the Centre Party and the German National People’s Party to achieve a 2/3 majority in the Reichstag so he could pass the Enabling Act.
• Nazi officials were put in charge of all local government on 7th April, 1933.
• All independent trade unions were banned and replaced with the Nazi German Labour Front on 2nd May, 1933.
• The ‘Law against the Formation of the New Parties’ was passed on 14th July, 1933 which made all political parties illegal except the Nazi Party.
• In January 1934, all local governments were taken over and Hitler appointed governors to run them instead.
• During the Night of Long Knives, on 30th June, 1934, Hitler had the SS murder possible rivals in the SA.
• When President von Hindenburg died on 2nd August, 1934, Hitler declared himself Germany’s Führer, a role that combined the powers of the chancellor and the president.
• The army then swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler

Question 23

How did Hitler control the trade unions in his dictatorship?

Answer 23

• He banned all independent trade unions on 2nd May, 1933 and replaced them with the Nazi German Labour Front to control the workers.
• Workers could no longer complain about pay and conditions or go on strike.
• Trade union leaders were thrown in jail.

Question 24

How did Hitler control political parties in his dictatorship?

Answer 24

• The ‘Law against the Formation of the New Parties’ was passed on 14th July, 1933 and this made all political parties, except the Nazi Party, illegal.
• Now, the Nazis could round up all political opposition, arrest them and put them in concentration camps.
• All other political parties were closed down, including their newspapers.

Question 25

How did Hitler control local government in his dictatorship?

Answer 25

• By April 1933, Hitler’s puppet local governments were in charge of the local police forces. The Gestapo was formed and the first concentration camp for political prisoners opened in Dachau.
• In January 1934, the Nazis took control of all regional, or Länd, governments by abolishing the regional, or Länder, parliaments.
• Hitler appointed governors who answered directly to him to run the regions instead.

Question 26

What did Hitler do to the role of president in his dictatorship?

Answer 26

When President von Hindenburg died on 2nd August, 1934, Hitler declared himself Germany’s Führer. It was a role that combined the powers of the chancellor and the president.

Question 27

What was the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 27

The Night of the Long Knives was the deliberate and organised murder of Nazi and SA leaders that the Führer believed posed a threat to his position. The killings were carried out by the SS.

Question 28

When was the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 28

The Night of the Long Knives began on 30th June, 1934 and continued until 2nd July.

Question 29

Why did the Night of the Long Knives happen?

Answer 29

• Ernst Röhm had become too powerful with 3 million SA loyal to him. Röhm was a potential rival to Hitler’s position.
• Röhm was very critical of Hitler’s policies of working with rich businessmen and the army. He wanted the Nazi Party to focus on socialist policies to support the working classes, not on policies which would benefit the businessmen.
• Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich, the leaders of the SS, disliked Röhm and wanted to undermine him. They resented the influence Röhm had over the party, so they told Hitler that Röhm was plotting to seize power.
• The German Army saw the SA as a threat because they believed the SA wanted to take over the army, which was a much smaller force of only 100,000 soldiers.

Question 30

Who was killed during the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 30

At the end of the Night of the Long Knives about 400 people had been murdered. These included Ernst Röhm (leader of the SA), General von Schleicher (the ex-chancellor) and Gregor Strasser (a former leading member of the Nazi Party).

Question 31

What were the results of the Night of the Long Knives?

Answer 31

• Approximately 400 people close to Hitler, who had been regarded as a threat, were now dead.
• The SS, led by Himmler, emerged more powerful and they, along with Gestapo, now formed the basis of the police state.
• The SA was never again a leading force.
• Hitler got away with having his opposition openly murdered. This established a pattern for the Nazi dictatorship.