Analyse the process by which Hitler transformed himself from legal chancellor to legal dictator by 1

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"In two months we'll have pushed Hitler into a corner so hard that he'll be squeaking." This was the widely held view among the German conservatives voiced by Von Papen in 1933. He emphasised their perceived position of dominance over Hitler when they were forced to appoint him as chancellor in January 1933. However by August 1934 Hitler had complete dominance over every sector of Germany and had become a legal dictator. This essay will examine and analyse Hitler's rise from legal chancellor to legal dictator.

On January 30^th 1933 Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, this however was not the position of power which it appeared to be as only four of the fourteen members of the cabinet were Nazis. The rest was made up of conservatives like Von Papen. Hitler realised that he was weak in this situation and needed to rectify it. So he called new elections within his first twenty-four hours in power. The aim of this was to give the Nazi party a majority within the Reichstag. Hitler believed that new elections could only serve to increase the Nazi vote and increase his profile within Germany.

The Nazi's campaign for the Reichstag was bloody and contained few characteristics of a democracy. The Storm Abteilung (Stormtroopers -SA) using violence and terror broke up socialist and Communist meetings. Hitler blamed terrorist activities of the Communists for the way in which the election campaign was undertaken. The Nazis were confident of winning a majority in the Reichstag by using the large sums of money donated to them by leading industrialists and Goebbels' expert manipulation of the media. The Nazis' position was strengthened by a strange incident, which occurred on the night of 27^th February 1933 five days before the election. The Reichstag building was set on fire by a Dutch Communist named der Lubbe. Many believed this to be a Nazi plot but it has never been proved either way. Hitler did however exploit the incident to his advantage. The next day he persuaded Hindenburg the German President to sign the "Decree for the Protection of People and State." This document suspended most civil and political liberties and strengthened the power of central government over that of local authorities. This meant that the last week of the election campaign saw an increase in violence with hundreds of the Nazis' political opponents arrested.

The elections were held on March 5^th 1933 and the Nazis surprisingly only increased their majority from 33.1 per cent to 43.9 per cent. This meant that they still did not have a majority in the Reichstag and could only claim majority via the help of the Nationalist party.

Hitler's next step towards full control of Germany was to control the media. He decided that the best way to do this was to create a Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. This ministry was lead by Joseph Goebbels whose "cynical understanding of mass psychology" made him a formidable figure. The aim of the ministry was to control and censor all the sources of mass media and use them to work for the Nazis. In this way the Nazis eradicated freedom of speech on a wide scale legally.

Despite Hitler's problems with majority within the Reichstag he decided to propose the passing of an Enabling Act which would suspend parliamentary procedure and legislation for a period of four years. If this were passed the dictatorship which Hitler aimed to create would be grounded in legality. However in order to pass this decree he needed to gain the support of other parties in the Reichstag to give him two thirds of the vote. The first meeting to discuss the passing of the Enabling Act on 23^rd March 1933 was an ugly affair with Communists being refused admittance and arrested and other members of the Reichstag facing badgering from the assembled masses of the SA who surrounded the building.

The Nazis realised that they still needed two-thirds majority and as they could assume that the Social Democrats would vote against them they looked to gain the support of the Catholic Centre party. Hitler promised in a speech made on the 23^rd March to respect the Catholic Church's rights and to uphold moral and religious values within Germany. So on the 24^th March it was only the Social Democrats who voted against the Enabling Act and it was passed by 444 votes to 94. Germany had by now succumbed to what Bracher called "legal revolution". Hitler did not hold full power in Germany yet though he spent the next seventeen months consolidating his power until he had created a "legal dictatorship".

Hitler's next major step toward complete power was to finally remove any influence the Communists might have within Germany by on 7^th April 1933 introducing the Restoration of Professional Civil Service. This aimed to purge all public jobs such as courts, schools and universities of known political opponents particularly Communists, and also of Jews. On the 2^nd June all trade union offices were seized and incorporated into a German Labour Front, which could be easily controlled by the Nazis.

Hitler completely eradicated the influence other political parties had in Germany when on 14^th July 1933 he passed the law on the formation of new parties. This law forbade the creation of new political parties and as the Communist party the KPD and the Social Democrat party the SPD were already banned and many other parties had dissolved themselves Germany essentially became a one party state. This policy was complemented by the signing six days later of the Concordat between the State and the Catholic Church. In this Concordat the Vatican promised to not become involved in politics in return for protection of Catholic religious freedom and an allowance for the church to administer its own affairs.

The final major conflict in Germany, which was preventing Hitler gaining overall power in Germany, was that between the army and the SA. Hitler was by July 1933 becoming increasingly concerned by the actions of party activists, which were damaging his relationship with the conservative elite whose support he still needed. In a speech made on July 6^th 1933 Hitler warned of the threat a permanent state of revolution would cause and formally declared an end to the revolution asking for all energies to be channelled into evolution. This speech demanded that the Nazi party accept the current compromise situation between the Nazis and the conservative elite.

These calls were ignored by many within the party particularly within the SA. These groups called for a second revolution attacking the forces of the German establishment. The SA was made up of working class people many of whom could not understand the need for the compromise with the conservative elite. They were also disappointed by the small personal gain they were getting now the Nazis had gained power. The leader of the SA Ernst Rohm began to become increasingly disillusioned with Hitler's politics during this period and was one of the major supporters for the "Genuine National Socialist Revolution". The main concern for Rohm was the future of the SA; he did not want to see the SA become merely a propaganda weapon for the Nazis now that the street fighting was over. Rohm wanted the SA to become integrated with the army into a people's militia, which he would command.

Hitler was caught in a difficult position. On one side was two and a half million loyal Nazis led by his oldest political friend Rohm and on the other was the army who were the only threat to Hitler left in Germany. The army although being small (100,000 men as stated in the Versailles treaty of 1919) had the military skills to overthrow Hitler. Hitler also needed the army if he was to ever complete his ambitious foreign policies. The army's support was also necessary if Hitler was to become Head of State when President Hindenburg died. Another factor in the problem was that President Hindenburg still had power over Hitler and he was a major supporter of the army who saw their traditions and standing being threatened by the proposed merger. So he forbade Hitler from completing the merger lest he be removed from his position as Chancellor.

Hitler attempted to avoid the issue but the crisis finally came to a head in the spring of 1934 when it became apparent that Hindenburg did not have much longer to live. It was therefore a necessity for Hitler to gain the army's unequivocal support for him so that he could ascend to the position of Head of state with no opposition. The army desired the elimination of the SA as a powerful force. By agreeing to this Hitler could gain their support.

On 30^th June 1934 the SS under the orders of Hitler responded to the rumours spread by Hitler of a SA coup by removing the major leaders of the SA. This was done with ruthlessness and in all four hundred people were executed. This period of Nazi history became known as the "Night of the Long Knives". The consequences of the "Night of the Long Knives" were that the SA never again became an influential force within Germany. Hitler also gained the support of the army. This was emphasised by the speech made by the leader of the army Blomberg on the 1^st July in which he thanked Hitler and promised to support from then onwards.

Consequently when Hindenburg died on 2^nd August 1934 Hitler merged the offices of Chancellor and President with no opposition and in the space of seventeen months Hitler had gained complete power in Germany. In conclusion it can be seen that there were many stages towards Hitler's transformation from legal chancellor to legal dictator. Each one of these stages was key to his overall success but overall the "Night of the Long Knives" was the most important stage in the development. This was because it showed that Hitler was willing to sacrifice something of his own, the SA and Rohm, to gain overall power within Germany.

Bibliography

Dictionary of Twentieth Century History Alan Palmer

Modern Europe 1870-1945 Christopher Culpin & Ruth Henig

Hitler & Germany William Simpson

Germany: The Third Reich 1933-45 Geoff Layton

Nazi Germany 1933-1945 John Laver

The Nazi Dictatorship
Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation Ian Kershaw

The Third Reich D.G. Williamson