Hitler As Dictator PDF

HITLER AS DICTATOR The Path to Dictatorship & The Reichstag Fire THE LEGAL DICTATOR Between 1923-1933 Hitler placed special emphasis on the need for legality Kept up this appearance until he became Chancellor legally Government had expected t...

HITLER AS DICTATOR The Path to Dictatorship & The Reichstag Fire THE LEGAL DICTATOR Between 1923-1933 Hitler placed special emphasis on the need for legality Kept up this appearance until he became Chancellor legally Government had expected that power would remain with President Hindenburg and Vice-Chancellor Von Papen underestimated Hitler and the Nazis Following Hitler’s concept of leadership outline in Mein Kampf he sought total power Within two months of legally being appointed Chancellor he moved to being the legal dictator of Germany First step: demanded new elections at the first meeting of the cabinet of the new government 2  THE USE OF Nazis used force and intimidation from the FORCE start The SA were given free will during the 1933 election campaign Main targets of violence were communists and socialists First concentration camps were opened for political opponents in Dachau (outside Munich) and Oranienburg (outside Berlin) Operated by the SA “It is not my business Nazi use of force was made easier as 2/3 to do justice, it is my of the Nazis in government controlled the business to annihilate police and exterminate- Hermann Göring & Wilhelm Frick that’s all” Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo/Secret Herman Göring on his role of controlling the police State Police) were established 3 THE REICHSTAG FIRE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4RGDM_q0l8 4 THE REICHSTAG FIRE 27th February 1933 One month before election Reichstag building in Berlin burnt down Much historical debate surrounding who started the fire Evidence suggested Dutch Communist Marinus van der Lubbe Some suggest the Nazis were responsible Nazis took full advantage of the consequences of the fire Gave Hitler an opportunity to campaign against the Communists right before the election 5  CONSEQUENCES OF THE REICHSTAG ATTACKS ON GERMAN COMMUNISTS FIRE INTRODUCTION OF DECREE One day after fire the emergency Nazis played on the theme of a decree For the Protection of People Communist conspiracy against the and the State was introduced. state. Communist publications banned Prepared by Nazis but issued by and almost 4000 arrests took President Hindenburg - had been place in the following days shaken by the fire and believed (including members of the communist plot against the state was Reichstag) real. Under Article 48 sections of the KPD was not banned- used as constitution that guaranteed the focus on Nazi propaganda basic rights of Germans was to create fear. suspended. Nazis did not want to eliminate the Decree was legal as it was allowed Communists as opposition in the under Article 48 and allowed the elections to early so that the support of beginning of a totalitarian state to be the SPD would not grow established and remained in place for 12 years. 6  YOUR TASK 1. Complete Questions 1-5 under ‘Path to Dictatorship & the Reichstag Fire’ on p.7 of your Questions booklet 2. Conduct research to find at least two different theories surrounding who started the Reichstag Fire and make notes on these theories. 3. Using the information you found about different theories regarding who started the Reichstag Fire, write a paragraph response to the following question: Explain how and why the Reichstag Fire is a contestable event in German history. 7