Nazi Germany

Germany's Weimar Republic had been struggling for years. Economic collapse, street violence between rival political groups, and a parliament unable to form stable coalitions had left the country close to breaking point.

Conservative politicians around President Hindenburg believed Hitler could be used. By making him chancellor — with conservatives filling most of the cabinet — they expected to win his popular support while keeping him in check.

“They underestimated him in every possible way.”

On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor. It was a legal, constitutional act — not a coup. But it gave power to a man who intended to destroy the very system that had placed him there.

The conservatives' plan collapsed almost immediately. Within weeks, Hitler had begun dismantling everything they thought would contain him.

A young Dutch communist was arrested at the scene. The Nazis blamed a vast communist conspiracy — though the fire was almost certainly the act of one individual acting alone. The truth barely mattered. The regime had its emergency.

The following morning, Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to sign an emergency decree. At a stroke, it suspended freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and protection from arrest without warrant.

“Rights that took decades to build were suspended in a single morning.”

Communist politicians were arrested immediately. Thousands of opponents — trade unionists, journalists, lawyers, Social Democrats — were detained in the weeks that followed. The first concentration camps opened to hold them.

Germany had entered a state of emergency that would never be lifted.

The Enabling Act required a two-thirds majority, so the Nazis needed other parties to vote with them. They achieved this through a combination of physical intimidation and political persuasion. SA stormtroopers surrounded the parliament building on the day of the vote.

Communist members had already been arrested. Most other parties either voted in favour or were too frightened to resist. Only the Social Democrats voted against — and they did so knowing they faced arrest.

“Democracy ended not with tanks in the streets but with a vote in a parliament surrounded by armed men.”

The Enabling Act gave Hitler's government the power to pass laws — including unconstitutional ones — without the Reichstag. The legal framework for dictatorship was now complete.