CONSOLIDATION OF POWER AND ESTABLISHMENT OF ONE PARTY RULE

Reichstag Fire and Emergency Powers

Hitler called for elections in March 1933 , hoping to gain majority in the Reichstag .
However in Feb 1933 , the building was burnt down .
The Nazi used this opportunity to blame the Communists for trying to overthrow the government .
Hitler convinced President Hinderburg to invoke article 48 , declaring a state of emergency and restricting the freedom of press and assembly , all civil liberties of the people were suspended .
Hitler broke up the communists meetings and communists and socialists parties were banned from the 1933 elections
This eliminated Communists as a threat to the Nazis in the Reichstag .

Enabling Act (March 1933)

The Nazis won majority in the Reichstag without the Communists .
Hitler passed the enabling act , giving him the power to pass laws without the approval of the president .
This made Hitler a dictator and he also banned the left-wing parties (eg. communists) from taking part in future elections .

One Party Rule

Hitler used his powers to make the Nazi party the only legal political party in Germany , Germany was now a one party state.
Trade unions were banned and all trade union leaders were arrested .
All members of other political parties from all government department were replaced by nazi officials .

Night Of The Long Knives

The German army disliked Hitler's SA , it outnumbered the army and had poor discipline . The SA leader , Ernst Roehm also talked about taking over the army .
Hitler needed the support of the army and get rid of Roehm as he was starting to become a threat to Hitler .
In june 1934 , Hitler ordered the SS to execute Roehm and arrest other SA members .
By getting rid of the SA , Hitler now had the support of the German army and total control of Germany

Creation of the Fuehrer

After the death of president Hindernburg , Hitler took the opportunity to consolidate his power .
Hitler merged the powers of president and chancellor and proclaimed himself as the Fuehrer of Germany (supreme leader) with limitless powers

DID HITLER'S POLITICAL CONSOLIDATION OF POWER BENEFIT THE GERMAN PEOPLE ?

AGREE

Strong government which was desired by the people who were weary of squabbling within the government .

Before 1933 , the German proportional representation system meant numerous political parties in the Reichstag which made decision making difficult . Parties Squabbled among themselves instead of governing the country .
The German wished for a strong central government who would decisive in running the country

A strong government enabled Germany to move towards helping Germany recover from the devastation

By eliminating the opposition and establishing strong central control over the government , Hitler had total control over decision making which is crucial in strengthening Germany and help to recover from WWI

Failure of democracy

Loss of personal freedom and rights

Under Hitler's dictatorial rule , the German people lost all their rights and freedom . Any one who opposed to his rule were punished severely .
Newspapers , any media which critised Nazi policies were banned .

Climate of Fear and Suspicion

Nazis controlled the people through fear .
The germans were spied upon and the secret police had the rights to arrest anybody suspected of being anti Nazi .
Hence the Germans lived in a climate of fear and suspicion as the secret police were everywhere and they could not trust anybody .