Establishment of Hitler's dictatorship

Gleichschaltung

Coordination: who gets brought under control?

Pick a person or group from the tray, then pick the area of German life that Gleichschaltung brought under Nazi control.

5 of 5 still to sort.

Gleichschaltung means 'coordination'. By July 1933 it had produced a one-party state.

Predict, then check

The Enabling Act means Hitler can make laws without the Reichstag. But there's a threat inside his own movement.

Röhm's radical SA now threatens the army, the business elite and Nazi unity. What does Hitler do about it?

What you need to know

• Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933, not elected, and his power was limited.
• Few cabinet posts were Nazi, they had no Reichstag majority, and Hindenburg could still remove him.
• Have a goSam says: 'Hitler won a vote in January 1933 and was running Germany by teatime.' Give Sam two reasons he's wrong.

  Hitler was appointed, not voted in; and he had few cabinet posts, no majority, and could be removed by Hindenburg.

  Becoming chancellor was an appointment with strings attached, so full control had to be built later.

• Conservatives backed the appointment because they thought they could use Hitler and sideline him later.
• The Reichstag Fire (February 1933) was exploited as a communist uprising, and the Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil liberties.
• In the March election the Nazis made gains, and with the DNVP they had a 52% majority.
• The Enabling Act needed a two-thirds majority, and it passed on 23 March 1933 by 444 votes to 94.
• Have a goThe Nazis and the DNVP had 52% after the election. Was that enough, on its own, for the Enabling Act?

  No. 52% is a majority, but the Act needed two-thirds.

  A majority and a two-thirds majority are different targets, so election gains alone were not enough.

• It let Hitler make laws without the Reichstag or the president, which made Germany a dictatorship.
• Gleichschaltung, meaning 'coordination', then brought German life under Nazi control, creating a one-party state by July 1933.
• In 1934 the Night of the Long Knives removed opposition inside the SA and won the army's trust and loyalty.
• When Hindenburg died, the presidency and chancellorship were merged, the army swore an oath to Hitler, and he was Führer.
• Have a goPut these in order, earliest first: Hindenburg's death, the Enabling Act, the Reichstag Fire.

  Reichstag Fire (February 1933), then the Enabling Act (23 March 1933), then Hindenburg's death (1934).

  Dictatorship came in stages, not in January 1933, and Hindenburg's death was the last step of all.

The big picture

Hitler did not take total power in one move. He was appointed chancellor with limited power in January 1933, then used each step to unlock the next: the Reichstag Fire, the decree, the election, the Enabling Act, coordination, the purge of the SA and Hindenburg's death. By August 1934 he was Führer.

⚠ Watch out

Saying Hitler was voted in as chancellor and had total power from January 1933. He was appointed with limited power, and it took until August 1934 to build total control.

Memory hook

Hitler was handed the key, then picked every lock after it: fire, decree, vote, Act, coordination, Night of the Long Knives, oath.

Check yourself

Without looking back: name three limits on Hitler in January 1933, then pick one later event and say which of those limits it helped remove.