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HIST2134
The Third Reich through Documents,
1933-1945
Lecture 3:
‘Seizure of Power’ and
‘Co-ordination of the Will’, 1933/34
5 February 2013
‘Seizure of Power’ (‘Machtergreifung’)
• Phase 1: Jan-Mar 1933:
Hitler’s government → Reichstag elections
• Phase 2: Mar–Jul 1933:
Consolidation/Coordination (Gleichschaltung)
• Phase 3: Jun-Aug 1934:
‘Night of the Long Knives’ (Röhm Putsch’)
Phase 1: Jan-Mar 1933 (1)
• Hitler legally appointed Chancellor by
President Hindenburg: Art. 53 Weimar
Constitution)
(30 Jan 1933)
• Hitler’s government:
3 NSDAP (Hitler, Frick, Göring) in key
positions + 8 DNVP Conservatives
• Conservatives’ fatal miscalculation about
Hitler’s ruthlessness !
Phase 1: Jan-Mar 1933 (2)
• SA (Brown-shirts) terror + NSDAP propaganda
• General enthusiasm + weak resistance
• Nazis’ legal power base: ‘Presidential
Government’ (Art. 53 Weimar Constitution)
► Dissolution of Reichstag + election campaign
► Hitler’s promises + Führer myth
► Subduing Prussia: Civil servants + police force purged
► Reichstag fire (27 Feb)
► Decree for the Protection of People and State (28 Feb)
► Final ‘democratic’ Reichstag elections (5 Mar)
Phase 1: Jan-Mar 1933 (3)
• Reichstag elections (5 March):
NSDAP 43,9% + Conservative DNVP 8%
► Results disappointing for Nazis
► NS strongholds: Rural regions ≠ urban-industrialCatholic regions
► New NS propaganda term coined: “The National
Socialist Revolution”
→ Phase 1 of ‘Seizure of Power’ completed
Phase 2: Mar-Jul 1933 (1)
Consolidation/Co-ordination (Gleichschaltung):
• Destruction of Weimar’s political system
• Dissolution of established networks
→ Possible with legal means + force + with
general attitude of non-resistance
► Main areas: Federal states, professional +
cultural associations, political parties
Phase 2: Mar-Jul 1933 (2)
SA terror: Concentration camps + persecution of
political opponents & Jews
‘Day of Potsdam’ (21 Mar)
► Propaganda term ‘National Reconciliation’ (but without
opponents SPD & KPD)
► Hitler’s ‘Third Reich’ (Drittes Reich) proclaimed successor of
Bismarck’s ‘Second Reich’
► Strong position of Conservatives (Hindenburg + aristocracy
+ DNVP) on surface but already totally undermined
= A well-staged NS propaganda show
Phase 2: Mar-Jul 1933 (3)
Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz) (24 Mar)
444 Yes ≠ 94 No (SPD)
= Formal legalisation of NS regime by Reichstag
majority
↓
Final steps of consolidation/coordination
→ Phase 2 of ‘Seizure of Power’ (‘Machtergreifung’)
completed (14 Jul)
Phase 3: Jun-Aug 1934
‘Night
of the Long Knives’ (‘Röhm Putsch’)
•
Röhm’s ideas of SA as national army ≠ Hitler’s interest in regular army
•
SA’s push for ‘second NS revolution’ ≠ Hitler’s wish to consolidate power
•
Growing Conservative’s dissatisfaction with dictatorial NS rule
► NSDAP’s double-hit against SA + Conservatives (30 Jun)
→ Strengthened Führer myth: Hitler as ‘Saviour’ vs. SA
→ Established closer relationship Hitler & Army leadership
→ Begin of SA’s gradual replacement by SS
► President’s office († Hindenburg, 2 August) merged with
Chancellor/Führer
→ Phase 3 of ‘Seizure of Power’ (‘Machtergreifung’) completed
Why did German bureaucracy & society
cooperate with Hitler’s government?
• Hitler’s serious image as statesman ≠
impression of him as wild NS agitator
• Strong wish for authoritarian government ≠
Weimar’s instable party system
• Self-interest in possible gains: Hope for own
social + material achievements
• Miscalculations about Hitler’s ruthlessness
Conclusion
• ‘Seizure of power’ + consolidation/coordination
= No NS master-plan
≠
• Result of real & faked crises, chaos, conflicts, terror,
particular power interests, strong ambition for
power, historical accidents …
= Transfer of power ≠ ‘seizure of power’