How Did Hitler Create A Dictatorship by 1934? (Edexcel GCSE History)

Hitler's Path to Dictatorship - Timeline & Summary

The Reichstag Fire

• Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933, but still did not have complete control of Germany:

  • The Nazi Party only controlled one-third of the Reichstag

  • Hindenburg was President of Germany

  • The Weimar Constitution limited the power of the chancellor

• A fire destroyed the Reichstag building on 27th February 1933:

  • A Dutch communist named Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested at the scene and later executed

  • The fire resulted in the arrests of around 4,000 communists

• Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree:

  • The Reichstag Fire gave Hitler the opportunity to scapegoat the Communist Party (KPD)

  • Political opponents were imprisoned legally and communist newspapers were shut down

  • The SA was able to justify using violence and intimidation towards political opponents

• The Nazi Party increased their seats to 288 in the March 1933 election, giving them a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag

The Enabling Act

• The Enabling Act became law on 24th March 1933 by 444 votes to 94:

  • All 81 members of the Communist Party were absent

  • Only the SPD opposed the vote

  • Other members of the Reichstag were intimidated by the SA before the vote took place

• The Act gave the Nazi Party a number of powers:

  • As chancellor, Hitler could propose new laws

  • Hitler’s cabinet could pass these laws

  • These laws could overrule the Weimar Constitution

• The Enabling Act was only valid for four years, but it was renewed again in 1937

• Parties in the Reichstag could no longer oppose new laws, marking an end to democratic rule in Germany

Removing Public Opposition

• The Enabling Act provided Hitler and the Nazi Party the power to pass laws without the consent of the Reichstag

• Hitler used the powers of the Enabling Act to remove forms of public opposition:

A flow diagram showing how vital the Enabling Act was to Hitler

The Night of the Long Knives

• The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to remove external opposition to the Nazi Party

• Hitler was concerned about internal opposition, particularly from the head of the SA - Ernst Röhm:

  • Röhm was a suspected homosexual, which did not align with Nazi Party values

  • Röhm led around three million SA members, around 60% of which were unemployed by 1933

  • Röhm wanted a greater focus on supporting the working class, which contrasted with Hitler’s desire to help the rich

  • Röhm’s SA clashed with the SS, led by Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich

• Hitler arranged a meeting with Röhm and other SA leaders at a hotel in the town of Bad Wiessee on 30th June 1934:

  • Röhm and around 400 SA members were arrested and later shot

  • Other opponents such as von Schleicher, Gregor Strassor and von Kahr were also arrested and killed

  • The public were informed that Röhm had been planning to replace Hitler, and therefore his death served the interests of the country

The Death of Hindenburg

• Paul von Hindenburg had been President of Germany since 1925

• On 2nd August 1934, he died of lung cancer aged 86

• Hitler combined the positions of president and chancellor to make himself Führer

  • 90% of the public voted in favour of Hitler becoming Führer

• Hitler forced every soldier to swear an oath of loyalty to him

• This marked the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of Hitler’s Nazi Germany