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The Third Reich: Consolidation of Power
Hitler rapidly transformed the Weimar Republic into a dictatorship. The
National Socialists accomplished their "revolution" within months, using
a combination of legal procedure, persuasion, and terror. Because the
parties forming the cabinet did not have a parliamentary majority, Hindenburg
called for the dissolution of the Reichstag and set March 5, 1933, as
the date for new elections. A week before election day, the Reichstag
building was destroyed by fire. The Nazis blamed the fire on the Communists,
and on February 28 the president, invoking Article 48 of the constitution,
signed a decree that granted the Nazis the right to quash the political
opposition. Authorized by the decree, the SA arrested or intimidated Socialists
and Communists.
The election of March 5 was the last held in Germany until after World
War II. Although opposition parties were severely harassed, the NSDAP
won only 43.9 percent of the vote. Nonetheless, with the help of political
allies, Hitler presented the Reichstag with the proposal for an Enabling
Act that, if passed by a two-thirds majority, would allow him to govern
without parliament for four years. On March 23, the proposal was passed
with the support of the Center Party and others. All Communists and some
Social Democrats were prevented from voting.
The architects of the purge: Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, and Hess. Only Himmler and Heydrich are missing.
Hitler used the Enabling Act to implement Gleichschaltung (synchronization),
that is, the policy of subordinating all institutions and organizations
to Nazi control. First, left-wing political parties were banned; then,
in July 1933, Germany was declared a one-party state. The civil service
and judiciary were purged of "non-Aryans" (Jews) and leftists. Local and
state governments were reorganized and staffed with Nazis. Trade unions
were dissolved and replaced with Nazi organizations. Even the NSDAP was
purged of its social-revolutionary wing, the SA. The enormous and unruly
SA was brought under control by a massacre of its leadership at the end
of June 1934 in the "night of the long knives." Other opponents were also
killed during this purge, among them Schleicher. After Hindenburg's death
in early August 1934, Hitler combined the offices of the president and
the chancellor. With the SA tamed, Hitler assured the army that he regarded
it as Germany's military force, and the soldiers swore an oath of personal
allegiance to Hitler, pledging unconditional obedience. Heinrich Himmler's
Guard Detachment (Schutz-Staffel--SS) replaced the SA as Hitler's private
army.
Once the regime was established, terror was the principal means used
to maintain its control of Germany. Police arrests, which had focused
originally on Communists and Socialists, were extended to other groups,
most particularly to Jews. This systematic use of terror was highly effective
in silencing resistance. Some enemies of the regime fled abroad. However,
all but a tiny minority of those opposed to Hitler resigned themselves
to suppressing their opinions in public and hoping for the regime's eventual
demise.
Like its secular institutions, Germany's churches were subjected to Nazi
pressure. They resisted incorporation into the regime and retained a substantial
degree of independence. This situation was tolerated by the regime, provided
that the churches did not interfere with its efforts to control public
life. When the churches were outraged by such Nazi practices as euthanasia,
they protested. The regime responded by more carefully concealing such
medical procedures. Otherwise, with the exception of a few brave isolated
clergymen, the churches rarely spoke out against the regime. The regime's
chief victims--Jews, Communists, Socialists, labor leaders, and writers--generally
had not been close to the churches, and their persecution was witnessed
in silence.
Joseph Goebbels, the minister of propaganda, contributed to the regime's
consolidation with the establishment of the Reich Cultural Chamber, which
extended Gleichschaltung to the educational system, the radio,
and the cultural institutions. However, an elaborate system of censorship
was not considered necessary to control the press. Non-Nazi party newspapers
had already been suppressed. The editors of the remaining newspapers soon
were able to figure out what was deemed suitable for public consumption.
Goebbels also took an interest in Germany's substantial film industry,
pressuring it to make pleasant, amusing films that would distract the
German public in its leisure hours.
The regime soon achieved its desired consolidation. Many Germans supported
it, some out of opportunism, some because they liked certain aspects of
it such as full employment, which was quickly achieved. The regime also
brought social order, something many Germans welcomed after fifteen years
of political and economic chaos. Many were won over by Hitler's diplomatic
successes, which began soon after he came to power and continued through
the 1930s and which seemed to restore Germany to what they saw as its
rightful place in the international community.
- Foreign Policy
- The Outbreak of World
War II
- Total Mobilization, Resistance,
and the Holocaust
- Defeat
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