Hitler's Consolidation of Power, March 1933 to August 1934

On what date was SA leader Ernst Rohm murdered?

30th June 1934, after refusing to commit suicide in Stadelheim Prison, stating "If I am to be killed, let Adolf do it himself"

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During which event was Rohm captured?

The Knight of the Long Knives

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By the time that the Enabling Act had passed Hitler had great constitutional powers, but what limitations did he have?

President Hindenburg still had the final say in constitutional matters and the army was loyal to him, not Hitler. There were a number of political parties that were independent of the regime. Aside from Prussia, elected governments in other states were un

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What did the period between March 1933 and August 1934 mark?

The Nazi's attempt to remove the remaining obstacles to their exercise of dictatorial power

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What did the new Nazi dictatorship mark for Hitler?

A chance to acquire dictatorial powers, eliminate non-Nazi political parties and other independent organisations and control the institutions of state at both central and local government level

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What was Hitler's view on more conventional political parties?

He felt that they were election machines, which represented narrow, sectional interests rather than the interests of the nation as a whole

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What was Hitler's view on his own party?

It believed it was made up of superior Germans and he was committed to fighting and sacrificing on behalf of the entire German people

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What was a key idea surrounding the Volkgemeinschaft?

That there could be no other parties than the Nazi party

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The KPD

Following the Reichstag Fire on he 17th February, the KPD was banned and most communists who had not been arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps fled into exile

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The SPD

Having stood up to Hitler in the Reichstag debate on the Enabling Act in March 1933, the SPD continued to voice it's opposition to the regime until it was banned on the 22nd June 1933, as a party that was "hostile to the nation and the regime"

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The DNVP and Centre Party

Upon realising that their days as political parties were numbered, the DNVP and Centre Party dissolved themselves. The DNVP on the 27th June 1933 and the Centre Party on the 5th July 1933

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14th July 1933

The Law against the Formation of New Parties is passed, outlawing all non-Nazi political parties

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Components of the federal state of the Weimar Republic

A large amount of governmental power was given to state governments, with each state controlling it's own police force. Prussia, the largest of the states, comprised 60% of German territory and 50% of the country's population

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What did Papen do in Prussia in July 1932?

He dismissed the Prussian state government and a Reich Commissioner was appointed to run the state

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Who held the position of Reich Commissioner when the Nazis took power in January 1933?

Hermann Goering

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What were Nazi leaders at state level known as?

Gauleiters, who wanted to control local government and many of them took over the roles of Reich Governors within their areas

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What other ways did the Nazis ensure that governmental posts were replaced with Nazi Party nominees

They instituted violent campaigns to oust political opponents from important local positions, such as town mayors, to replace them with Nazi Party members

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First Law for the Coordination of the Federal States
(31st March 1933)

Dissolved the existing state assemblies and replaced them with Nazi-dominated assemblies

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The Second Law for the Coordination of the Federal States
(7th April 1933)

Created the new post of Reich Governor (RG) to oversee the government of each state (Prussia was exempt because they had a Reich Commissioner). RG's were accountable to the Minister of Interior and ensured state governments followed policies set out by ce

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The Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich]
(30th January 1934)

State assemblies were abolished and the governments of the states were formally subordinated to the government of the Reich. This meant that the posts of RGs had become redundant, but Hitler did not abolish the posts

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The Reichsrat is abolished
(14th February 1934)

This was the parliamentary assembly to which the state assemblies sent delegates. Since the state assemblies no longer existed, it was a logical next step to abolish the Reichsrat

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The Civil Service under the Kaiser

Under Wilhelm, civil servants had a stratus that was on par with soldiers. Higher ranks of the Civil Service were recruited exclusively from the aristocracy and civil servants closely identified with the authoritarian views of the Second Empire

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What was the SA used for before January 1933?

As an instrument of terror and violence and one of the immediate results of the Nazis coming to power was the rapid expansion of the SA

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How did the membership change from January 1933?

500,000 people in January 1933 to 3 million s people a year later

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What two organisation were merged in late February 1933 to make the auxiliary police?

The SA and Stalhelm

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What was Hitler's attitudes towards the SA at the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship?

From February to June 1933, he was willing to go along with their unprovoked and unplanned violence against political opponents and Jews

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How did Hitler manage to top the SA from using their violence against the state?

He made sure that attacks on the army and the police were avoided, because Hitler was careful not to alienate those conservative forces that had helped him to come to power

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What was Hitler mindful of when it came to the SA?

He was mindful that their violence could be used for some good, but when it was used uncontrollably then it's usefulness was limited, warranting Hitler to call it to a halt

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When did Hitler finally declare that the Nazi Revolution was over?

July 1933, following the passing of the Law against Formation of New Parties

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What position did Hitler find himself in by July 1933?

He had managed to gain dictatorial powers, all other parties had been banned or had voluntarily dissolved themselves and the process of Gleichschaltung had been completed

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What was the opinion of Ernst Rohm following Hitler's declaration of the end of the Nazi Revolution?

Rohm felt that the Nazi Revolution was far from over and the SA was determined to continue with their violence until they had achieved a Second Revolution

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What was Ernst Rom's main aim with a Second Revolution?

He wanted the SA to replace the already existing army and with a combined SA and Stahlhelm membership of 4.5 million in January 1934, they vastly outnumbered the existing army

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The decline of the SA

Since the summer of 1933, the role and the importance of the SA had declined. In August 1933, they lost their auxiliary police" status and were subject to stricter regulations of arrest. By the November 1933 election, Germany was a one party state and the

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What was the effect of these regulations on SA members?

Lacking an outlet for their violence and feeling resentment towards the way that former conservative opponents of the Nazis were allowed to join the Nazi Party and take jobs in local and central government they became disillusioned and reckless

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What was the only institution by June 1934 that could remove Hitler from power?

The army because of their loyalty to Hindenburg rather than Hitler

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What governmental official was able to bring the army closer to Nazi ideology?

Werner von Blomberg, the Defence Minister

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What did the SA start to do which helped to reinforce the army's fears about the SA and Rohm's ambitions?

In the summer of 1934, SA units began stopping army convoys and confiscating weapons and supplies

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What speech did Franz von Papen make on the 17th June 1934?

The Marburg speech, held at Marburg University

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What did this speech detail?

In his speech, Papen criticised Nazi excesses. He also called for an end to terror and for Hitler to clamp down on the SA's calls for a Second Revolution. The speech had Hindenburg's approval and despite Goebbels' attempt to censor it, it was reported in

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What was Blomberg's role in getting Hitler to finally clamp down on SA activities?

Bloomberg threatened, with Hindenburg's support, to declare martial law and give the army power to deal with the SA. Hitler had dithered around the issue since the spring of 1934, but he knew by June he couldn't hold off any longer

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What was the Night of the Long Knives?

It was a ruthless purge of the SA, launched on 30th June 1934, where the ** acting on Hitler's orders eliminated the leadership of the SA and many political opponents of the Nazis

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How many victims were there of this purge?

84 confirmed executions, but more than a 1000 others were arrested

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Who were some of the most notable victims?

Ernst Rohm and other SA leaders, General Schleicher, Gregor Strasser and Gustav von Kahr. Von Kahr played a vital role in crushing the Munich Putsch in 1923. Members of Papen's staff were executed, including Jung who wrote the Marburg speech, but Papen wa

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Hitler's response to the purge

Hitler addressed the Reichstag on 13th July 1934 and he accepted full responsibility for the executions. He justified his actions as being able to save the country from an SA coup

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What effect did this Reichstag address have for Hitler?

He had managed to get the army's full support

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What happened to the SA after the Night of the Long Knives?

The SA declined sharply and by October 1935, SA membership had declined to 1.6 million. Without Rohm as leader, it's political power was destroyed, but violence and terror didn't end, but it was just used from the Nazis systematically and in a more contro

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Hitler's desperation

In the summer of 1934, 86-year-old Hindenburg was bedridden and dying of lung cancer, and the question of his succession was a matter of urgency for Hitler, particularly because in his political will he expressed his preference for a restoration of the mo

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What was Hitler's preference?

He wanted to merge the offices of Chancellor and President after Hindenburg's death, thus making himself undisputed head of the government and the State

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Hitler's position

As long as Hindenburg was alive, Hitler's power was not absolute. The army owed allegiance to the President and not Chancellor Hitler, thus Hitler could theoretically be removed from power at any time

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Hindenburg's position before his death

Before his death, Hindenburg had become so concerned by the excesses of the SA that he considered handing power to the army and dismissing Hitler. His views were shared by the army commanders and Papen, and Hitler was in doubt that unless he brought the S

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On what date did Hindenburg die?

2nd August 1934

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What was announced just hours after his death?

That the offices of President and Chancellor will be merged, and on the same day, the officers and soldiers of the army took an oath of allegiance to Hitler

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The Plebiscite

On 19th August, a plebiscite was held to get the German people's seal of approval on Hitler's appointment as Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor, a title by which he would henceforth by known

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The results of the Plebiscite

The result was that 89.9% of the voters approved of the change, but more shockingly is that 10.1% or four and a half million voters had the courage to vote "No".

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Hitler's Consolidation of Power, March 1933 to August 1934

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