The Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship, 1933 - 34

The 'Legal Revolution'

Hindenburg thought that Hitler's power as Chancellor would be limited. Initially, this appeared to be the case as there were only 3 Nazis in a Cabinet of 12. In addition to Hitler there were Wilhelm Frick as Minister of the Interior and Herman Göring as minister without portfolio. The Nazi-Nationalist government still lacked a majority in the Reichstag. The President had the power to dispose of the Chancellor at will. Despite these restrictions it took Hitler only 2 months to establish a effective dictatorship!

The conservatives, fearing that a civil war would ensue, felt obliged to work with Hitler. Once in office the Nazis had access to the resources of the state. Göring was additionally Minister of Interior in Prussia and had responsibility for the police in this federal state. He used his power to harass opponents of the Nazi regime. Goebbels remained a master of political propaganda. Above all, Hitler was a skilful political tactician, and was determined to achieve absolute power.

Hitler called a further election the day after his appointment as Chancellor. It was another campaign dominated by violence. Göring used his power in Prussia to draft an additional 55,000 policemen, who were nearly all members of the SS and SA. There were 69 deaths during the first week of campaigning. On 31st January 1933 Hitler made an address to the German people — his Appeal to the German People — in which he attributed the violence to democratic government and to the activities of the Communists. At the same time the Nazis were financially stronger, owing to receipts of large sums from industry and commerce. Hitler met with 20 leading industrialists on 20th February 1933 and received pledges of substantial financial support.

The Reichstag building was burnt to the ground on 27th February. No one has been able to offer a satisfactory explanation for the event. Although an investigation in 1962 attributed the blame to a lone left-wing activist, van der Lubbe, the West Berlin authorities subsequently acquitted him posthumously 18 years later. The main point is that, whoever did organise the burning of the Reichstag, Hitler was particularly adept at exploiting the situation. On 28th February Frick proposed a Decree for the Protection of People and the State which Hindenburg signed, as a result of which most civil and political liberties were suspended. During the last week of the campaign opponents of the Nazis were arrested and further violence ensued.

The Nazis increased their vote from 33.1% to 43.9% and had 288 seats in the Reichstag, but with the help of the Nationalists' 52 seats the government had a majority. The Social Democrats (SPD) had 120 seats; the Communists (USPD) 81 seats, the Centre Party 73 seats and Others had 33 seats — a total of 647 seats in all. In order to change the constitution, the Nazis required a 2/3rds majority in the Reichstag. With the support of the Nationalists, they had on 340 votes, which was still short of the 432 seats they required. To change the constitution, they would still need the support of at least one other party.

Hitler prepared an enabling act that would legitimate the transference of power from the Reichstag to the government for a period of 4 years. Hitler, meanwhile, prepared to ditch the lower ranks of the Nazi party and do a deal with the conservative establishment. This was symbolised by the opening of the new Reichstag on 21st March at Potsdam Garrison Church, where Hitler appeared alongside Hindenburg, the Crown Prince (that is the son of Kaiser Wilhelm II) and leading generals. The Reichstag met for the first time on 23rd March at Kroll Opera House, and started to debate the Enabling Bill. Those communists that had not been arrested were prevented from attending, and the deputies were surrounded by SA paramilitaries. In order to pass the bill Hitler required a 2/3rds majority. He obtained this by offering the Centre Party a promise to respect the rights of the Catholic church. The Enabling Bill was passed by 444 votes to 94.

Gleichschaltung

The Weimar constitution was never formally revoked, but in practice a dictatorship was now established. The term Gleichschaltung, which means 'bringing into line', refers to the process of the destruction of the remaining elements of a liberalist and pluralist society in Germany. The Nazis sought to Nazify all aspects of German society, but initially Nazi institutions had to coexist with existing institutions. Over time, the Nazi forms gained ascendancy.

The first phase was the destruction of the federal structure of Germany. In April 1933 two laws were issued which enabled the state governments, dominated by Nazis, to supersede provisional parliaments. Eighteen regional governors (Reich governors — Reichstatthalter) were appointed. They were usually the local Nazi party bosses. In January 1934 the provincial parliaments were abolished altogether, and the governors were made answerable to the Ministry of the Interior only.

On 1st May 1933 the government declared a national holiday. On the next day all trade union premises were occupied and trade union leaders were arrested. A Nazi institution, the DAF (Deutscher Arbeitsfront — the German Labour Front), was created and all trades unions were absorbed into it. The German trade union movement ceased overnight to exist.

The Communist party was banned following the Reichstag fire, and on 22nd June the Social Democrats were also banned. Other parties adopted self-Gleichschaltung during June and July 1933. The Nationalists decided upon self-dissolution. On 14th July the government declared that the Nazi party was the only legitimate party and Germany became a one party state.

Hitler did not directly attack the Church, the army and industry. However, this was resented by the lower ranks of the party, and internal party conflict developed during June 1934.

The Night of the Long Knives

Hitler spoke to Reich governors on 6th July 1933 declaring that the “revolution” was now at an end — in other words, he sought to maintain the support of the conservative elements of German society. He was not successful by this means in quelling discontent within the Nazi movement. The SA called for further revolutionary action along the lines of anti-capitalist policies. The leader of the SA was Ernst Röhm, who demanded a genuine 'National Socialist Revolution'. Röhm also aimed to unite the SA and the army into a single organisation of which he would be the head. The SA had 2.5 million members. Hitler sought to compromise with Röhm and offered him a seat in the cabinet. In February 1934 he held a meeting between leaders of the army, the SS and the SA in order to seek an agreement, but this did not succeed. During the spring of 1934 Hindenburg became very ill and it was clear that he had not long to live. Hitler, partly under the influence of Göring and Himmler, decided to ally himself with the army. On 30th June 1934 there was the 'Night of the Long Knives'. Using weapons provided by the army the SS conducted a purge of the SA: Röhm and the leaders of the SA were shot. Other opponents of Hitler were murdered — including Schleicher and Strasser, who was the leader of the anti-capitalist faction in the Nazi party. About 400 people were killed.

At the subsequent cabinet meeting, defence minister, General von Blomberg, expressed his gratitude to Hitler for acting resolutely to protect the German people from civil war. There was a post-facto legalistic justification for the murders: “The measures taken on 30th June and 1st and 2nd July to suppress the acts of high treason are legal, being necessary for the self-defence of the State.” By this means the army had categorically endorsed the Nazi regime. The events also signified the emergence of the SS as the Nazi instrument of terror. Hidenburg died on 1st August, and Hitler simply combined the offices of Chancellor and President.

The question is whether the events culminating in the Night of the Long Knives and Hitler's assumption of the Presidency can be regarded as a revolution. But these events did not constitute a revolution since there was no decisive break with past political developments. The Weimar Republic had ceased to exist before Hitler became Chancellor. Furthermore, significant German institutions, that did not derive their power from the Nazis, continued to exist both before and after these events. The army, industry, the Church and the civil service were not directly affected by the political developments. The regime compromised with these elements and sought not to antagonise them, especially during its early years: one could view the early years of the Nazi regime as merely another political manifestation of the socio-economic forces which had dominated Germany's political development since 1871.