2.2 Rise of the Nazis

Seite 1

Hitler was Chancellor

- made a rule that all meetings of political parties had to be announced to government = SA broke up meetings

- communist fighting

- police worked with SA and SS

Call

Called new elections for March

Days before the election: Reichstag was set on fire

- communist confessed

Hitler said communists were plotting against Weimar

- used that in elections

Reichstag represented:

- government

- order

- importance

Convinced Hindenburg to pass Emergency Decrees:

- took away right to speech. assembly, press

- could arrest people without trial

- used them to:

- arrest communists

- arrest other political opponents

- use intimidation tactics at elections

Nazi Party gained a lot of support as people didn't support Communists as much anymore

did not have majority in elections

- banned communists and gained majourity

gave Hitler total power

- did not have to consult anyone to make decrees

- article 48 without need for state of emergency

passed it by intimidating opposition through SA

- only Social Democrats voted against

Army

- well trained

- organized

- disciplined

- only organisation that had the power to remove Hitler

- had support of bg businesses and conservatives

- efficient army was needed for Hitler to retake the land lost in the TOV

- small -- 100000 men (TOV)

- loyalty to Hitler was unknown

- some of the generals disliked Hitler and the Nazis

- didn't trust or like SA

SA

- Rohm was an old friend of Hitler

- SA fought for Hitler at Munich Putsch and in later fights (against Communists)

- committed Nazis

- grown to over 2,500,000 men - much larger than the army

- getting out of hand -- interfering in the running of the country and law

- disapproved of many Nazi leaders

- if Hitler used the SA to control army, he would have to listen to their other demands

- Hitler didn't agree with many of their anti-capitalist policies and working class aims

- they were hinting at a Socialist revolution

- wanted SA to replace army

- didn't trust or like army

- Hitler had banned other political parties so he didn't need the SA (they were embarrassing)

- Hitler told the SS that the SA wanted a revolution

- killed many members of the SA (Ernst Rohm included)

- also used it as an excuse to murder political opponents who had nothing to do with the SA (like von Schleicher)

m

SA was not disbanded afterwards

- became unimportant

- many members were dissolved into the army or the SS

Circumstances

Reichstag Fire

Enabling Act

Night of the Long Knives Circumstances

Night of the Long Knives