Consolidation of Power, 1933-1934

Hitler moved with extraordinary speed. By August 1934 — just eighteen months after becoming Chancellor — Germany was a one-party dictatorship with Hitler as its supreme leader.

The Reichstag Fire, February 1933:

On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag (German parliament) building was set on fire. A young Dutch Communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was found at the scene and arrested. Whether the Nazis planned the fire or merely exploited it remains debated by historians. What is clear is that Hitler used it immediately: the Reichstag Fire Decree (28 February) suspended civil liberties — freedom of speech, the press, and assembly were abolished. Thousands of Communists and Social Democrats were arrested overnight. The emergency powers gave Hitler the pretext to crush opposition before the elections.

The Enabling Act, March 1933:

In the elections of 5 March 1933 — held in an atmosphere of SA intimidation — the Nazis won 44% of the vote. Not a majority, but Hitler needed the Enabling Act passed to give him dictatorial powers. On 23 March 1933, the Reichstag voted on the Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich (Enabling Act). With the SA surrounding the building and Communist delegates already imprisoned, the vote was 444 in favour, 94 against. The Act gave Hitler the power to rule by decree for four years without Reichstag approval. Germany had voted itself out of democracy.

Building the One-Party State, 1933:

Within months of the Enabling Act, Hitler systematically dismantled all other power structures:

• May 1933: Trade unions dissolved; leaders arrested; replaced by the Nazi-controlled German Labour Front
• June-July 1933: All political parties except the NSDAP banned
• January 1934: State governments (Länder) dissolved; Germany became a centralised state under Nazi control
• Press and radio: All media brought under Nazi control through the Reich Chamber of Culture (Goebbels); non-Nazi journalists dismissed

The Night of the Long Knives, 30 June 1934:

By mid-1934, Hitler faced a challenge from within his own movement. The SA (Stormtroopers), now 3 million strong, were led by Ernst Röhm, who wanted to merge the SA with the German Army — a prospect the army leadership found intolerable. Röhm also wanted a "second revolution" against Germany's conservative establishment. Hitler, needing the army's support and fearing Röhm's ambitions, acted decisively.

Over 30 June-1 July 1934, SS units arrested and shot SA leaders across Germany. Ernst Röhm was murdered in his prison cell in Munich when he refused to shoot himself. Dozens of others were killed, including former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and his wife. In total, at least 85 people were murdered (some estimates say several hundred). Hitler explained it to the Reichstag as a necessary action against treasonous conspirators. Germany accepted the explanation. The SA was reduced to a ceremonial role. The SS emerged as the dominant paramilitary force.

Death of Hindenburg and the Führer, August 1934:

On 2 August 1934, President Paul von Hindenburg died. Hitler immediately combined the offices of Chancellor and President into a single role: Führer (Leader). He required the German Army to swear a personal oath of loyalty — not to Germany or its constitution, but to Adolf Hitler personally. This was crucial: it made any military resistance to Hitler a violation of a solemn oath.