Creating the Dictatorship: Reichstag Fire to Führer

The Reichstag Fire — 27 February 1933

On the night of 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set ablaze. A young Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was found inside and arrested. Hitler immediately declared that the fire was evidence of a Communist plot to overthrow the government. He persuaded President Hindenburg to sign the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State (the Reichstag Fire Decree), which suspended key civil liberties — freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to hold political meetings.

Historians still debate whether van der Lubbe acted alone or whether the Nazis started the fire themselves to create an excuse. Either way, Hitler exploited the crisis brilliantly. In the March 1933 election, the Nazis won 288 seats (43.9%) — still not a majority, but with the support of the nationalist DNVP, Hitler had enough votes to push through his next move.

The Enabling Act — 23 March 1933

The Enabling Act was the single most important step in Hitler’s destruction of democracy. It gave the Chancellor the power to pass laws without the Reichstag’s approval for four years. To pass the Act, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag. He achieved this by:

• Banning the 81 Communist deputies from attending (already arrested under the Reichstag Fire Decree).
• Using the SA to intimidate remaining opponents — Brownshirts surrounded the opera house where the vote took place.
• Promising the Centre Party that Catholic rights would be protected (a promise he later broke).

Only the Social Democrats (SPD) voted against it. Their leader, Otto Wels, made a courageous speech defending democracy, but it was too late. The Act passed 444 votes to 94.

Banning Other Parties and Trade Unions

With the Enabling Act in place, Hitler moved swiftly to eliminate all remaining opposition. In May 1933, trade unions were banned and their leaders arrested. Their offices were raided by the SA, and all workers were forced to join the new German Labour Front (DAF), controlled by the Nazis. This destroyed workers’ ability to strike or negotiate independently.

In July 1933, the Law Against the Formation of New Parties was passed, making the Nazi Party the only legal political party in Germany. The SPD was banned, and the remaining parties dissolved themselves under pressure. Germany was now a one-party state.

The Night of the Long Knives — 30 June 1934

By 1934, the biggest threat to Hitler came not from the opposition, but from within the Nazi Party itself. Ernst Röhm, the leader of the SA, commanded over 3 million Brownshirts and wanted a “second revolution” — he believed the SA should absorb the regular army and that the Nazi revolution should go further, redistributing wealth from the rich. This alarmed Hitler for several reasons:

• The German army would never accept being merged with the undisciplined SA. Hitler needed the army’s support.
• Industrialists who funded the Nazis feared Röhm’s socialist ideas.
• Himmler and Göring were jealous of Röhm’s power and fed Hitler intelligence (some possibly fabricated) that Röhm was planning a coup.

On 30 June 1934 the SS arrested Röhm, who was shot the next day. At least 85 people were killed in the purge. The purge also targeted non-Nazis whom Hitler wanted removed, including former Chancellor von Schleicher (shot dead along with his wife). The event became known as the Night of the Long Knives.

Death of Hindenburg — Hitler Becomes Führer

On 2 August 1934, President Hindenburg died at the age of 86. Within hours, Hitler merged the offices of President and Chancellor, declaring himself Führer (leader) of Germany. There would be no new presidential election. The German army immediately swore a personal oath of allegiance — not to Germany, not to the constitution, but to Adolf Hitler personally. This bound every soldier to obey Hitler, regardless of orders.