Nazi Consolidation of Power in 1933 free essay sample

It is to an certain extent that Nazi consolidation of power in 1933 was due to the use of terror and violence. However the terror and violence was very limited because the Nazis weren’t in a strong enough position to exert terror and violence alone. Nazi propaganda against the communists made most Germans fearful of Communism therefore allowing Nazis to consolidate a bit more power through means of terror. On the other hand the Nazi party’s policy of legality and the threat of communism are to a large extent the underlining most important factor in explaining how the Nazis were able to destroy political opposition and become dominant and consolidate power in 1933. Legality was a policy where Hitler’s objective was to legally consolidate power which was suitable and pleased most of the German people. Hitler and the Nazis ability to exercise terror and violence later on was secured through legal means. We will write a custom essay sample on Nazi Consolidation of Power in 1933 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Which although arguably immoral were still technically legal, for example the enabling act allowed the Nazis to do this without being held legally accountable as it was made legal through the act. The Nazis policy of legality was vital in giving the Nazis legal means to begin the seizure of power and thereby consolidate their power. This was to gain support from the majority of the population of Germany. This was evident from the result of the Reichstag fire. The Reichstag Fire allowed the Nazis to legally consolidate their power by issuing the emergency decree ‘For the protection of the people and state’ on 28th February 1933. The result of this was freedom of speech; press and assembly in the Weimar constitution to be suspended. The decree also enabled the cabinet to intervene in local governments of the states. This showed a clear shift in power which allowed the Nazis to therefore consolidate their power as they were able to simultaneously hide the collapse in the rule of law by keeping a legal front whilst at the same time eliminate the dual layer of federalism and create a republic with more centralised power. Due to the decree being extremely popular the Nazis therefore gained more results this was evident as they gained 228 seats in a high electoral success in the general elections of March 1933. The importance of this is that the Nazis were able to consolidate their power due to legality and not by using terror and violence because the emergency decree allowed them to stop the communist KPD members from the Reichstag voting on legislation. As a result Hitler had more power and the consolidation of power was being gained legally. This consolidation of power can also be considered significant as it gained the Nazis support in the General election showing that they faced reduced opposition. The enabling act passed in March 1933 gave Hitler power as it effectively gave him fours years of dictatorship. So this meant that the Nazis in the 1933 election were able to destroy political opposition, therefore showing that the Nazis use of violence and terror wasn’t primarily due to the consolidation of power. Hitler’s reassurances to the leader of the centre party that the churches position wouldn’t be affected made them support the enabling act. The act was passed 444 votes to 94 resulting in democracy and Reichstag influence vanishing. The emergency decree and enabling act were important and legal so it allowed Hitler to gain power and support so therefore the Nazis were able to legally to consolidate power without any opposition, violence and terror. Gaining centre party support was through means of negotiation which is in stark contrast to terror and violence further showing that legality was more of an underlining factor as it involved negotiation within the party and out in order to pass through legislation that would lead to consolidation of power. On the other hand even though Hitler’s ways of consolidating power was legal, violence and terror was used to enable the Nazis to consolidate power. This was done ruthlessly which is significant in itself as the use of violence and terror was balanced by the attempt to ensure that the consolidation of power had the veneer of legality. This is evident as on February 1st 1933 Hitler (through mediums such as the radio) broadcasted his â€Å"Appeal to the German People† and the SA began to attack the enemies of National Socialism. As a result of this terror and encouraging the use of violence, twenty one days later the police were reinforced with the SA. This was significantly important in the Nazi consolidation of power as it removed threats and made people support the Nazis and Hitler even if the support was drawn out of fear of them being targetted through means of violence and terror, thus increasing support for them. Hitler stressed the issue of the Communist threat which was more important as it meant that more people would oppose hem and even go as far as supporting Hitler to effectively legalise violence which their voters believed was needed in order for them to consolidate power and put a stop to the supposed threat. An example of this is that the Reichstag Fire allowed the police to legally arrest suspects without reference to the courts. Another way that the Nazis consolidated their power through violence was at the appointment of 50,000 SA, SS and Stahlhelm members on 22nd February 1933 to create a wave of violence against communists and SPD supporters. There was a failure on the left which weakened the importance of the terror in violence in consolidating power. This is because, the communists and the SPD didn’t believe that the Nazi party would last and that Hitler like his predeccors would leave the chancellorship in a matter of months. Therefore their plan of action was to do nothing and wait. Therefore terror and violence wasn’t a necessity at that specific time as communists weren’t as much as a threat. However the methods of violence and terror can to some extent indicate that was their main way of consolidating power but to provide a veneer of legality in order to make the whole process seem more legitimate so as to avoid disenfranchising voters and reaching further out to gain more voters who were growing ever more dissident as they associated democracy and Weimar republic with the Versailles treaty, hyper inflation and the great depression despite not being directly responsible for the causes. Nazi propaganda highlighted the threat of communism which people were afraid of, so the Nazis exploited this in order to consolidate their power further. Before The Enabling Act 1933, Hitler used the opening of the Reichstag in Potsdam as a propaganda tool where he wore morning dress instead of uniform, bowed deeply in front of Hindenburg and gave an impressive speech. This showed that Leading generals saw Hitler’s actions as commitment to traditional German values and submitting to Hindenburg. This shows that the primary reason of his consolidation of power and the Nazis was due to the legality as it gained the Nazis and Hitler support by first moulding their image to the public as co-operative with Weimar democracy and respecting its constitution and more importantly President Hindenburg. Another burst of terror and violence in order to consolidate power was evident after the Nazi elections in March 1933. This is when Hitler destroyed political opposition in order to consolidate power, e. g. oncentration camps were set up to hold vocal opposition, minoritys and jews as prisoners. This showed Hitler consolidating power by using violence and terror to not only silence current opposition but also to deter anyone else from speaking out in fear of dhire consequences. Hitler was able to remove political threats whilst at the same time fulfil his irrational hatred and anti-Semitic ideology by persecuting the jews while disguising it as â€Å"protective custody† which allowed consolidation of power for the Nazis. The result was a success in the eyes of the Nazi party as the violence made SPD leaders flee abroad. Around 3,000 well known socialists were arrested and some killed, so terror was significant as it meant more political parties broken up and therefore allowed Nazi to create and mould a one party state. However it was a combination of the terror and violence with the propaganda and legality which allowed the Nazis to consolidate their power. Legality as the underlining factor as without it, other ways of further consolidating power wouldnt of been realized without first legalising and in the view of the German people giving it perceived legitimacy. Therefore terror and violence on its own was limited and legality methods allowed it to continue. In conclusion the Nazis were able to consolidate their power mainly due to Hitler’s implementation of legality such as the emergency decree and enabling act and the numerous legislation that followed which paved the way for violence, terror and propaganda to further consolidate power. He kept this use of legality throughout his time in consolidating power and therefore allowed him to gain support for himself and the Nazis in Germany. This is shown through the enabling act and the emergency decree. However we must acknowledge that the use of terror and violence are also important factors as they allowed the Nazis to consolidate their power further more, even to the point of absolute power some would argue. It was used to increase the perceived threat of communism through propaganda and reduce opposition forcefully through concentration camps. The SA and SS were a key factor in which terror was enforced and therefore the political parties breaking up as they were scared to be treated the same way as the communists. But overall Hitler’s scheme of legality allowed the Nazis to consolidate their power throughout because it was tactical and practical to do so. It made them dominant in the Reichstag through the constitutions own PR system and then above the rule of law and the constitution when passing through the enabling act. Effective Terror and violence methods to consolidate power further to the point of absolute power were realized only because of legal means in which otherwise without legality would not have occurred. Therefore Legality was primarily the most significant factor in Nazi consolidation of power in which violence and terror could blossom because of it.