2.2 Rise of the Nazis

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 confessedHitler 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