History glossary
Enabling Act
the March 1933 law that let Hitler's cabinet pass laws without normal Reichstag approval.
- Category
- Law
- Region
- Germany
- Date range
- 1933
What it means
The Enabling Act, formally the Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich, was passed on 23 March 1933. It allowed Hitler's cabinet to make laws, including laws that departed from the constitution, without normal Reichstag approval. It became the legal foundation of Nazi dictatorship.
Related terms
Stories using this term
Nazi Germany
From Weimar collapse to WWII, Nazi Germany imposed totalitarian rule, expansion, and genocide.
Weimar Republic
A fragile democracy marked by crisis and innovation, whose collapse paved the way for Nazi rule.
The Causes of the Second World War
From the flawed peace of 1919 to the invasion of Poland in 1939, this story traces the interlocking causes of the Second World War across two decades of crisis, ideology, and failed deterrence.
The Rise of Adolf Hitler
From the ashes of World War I to the Night of the Long Knives, this story traces the political rise of Adolf Hitler and the collapse of the Weimar Republic.
