OCR GCSE History A (J410) — Non-British Depth Studies
Hitler did not become a dictator the moment he was appointed Chancellor in January 1933. At first, his power was heavily restricted by the Weimar Constitution and President Hindenburg. However, on 27 February 1933, the German parliament building burned down, and a Dutch Communist named Marinus van der Lubbe was found inside with fire-lighting materials.
This event provided Hitler with a "heaven-sent opportunity" to claim a massive Communist conspiracy was underway. The very next day, Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to use Article 48 of the constitution, which allowed the President to rule by emergency decree.
Hindenburg signed the Decree for the Protection of the People and State (often called the Reichstag Fire Decree). This law immediately suspended basic civil liberties, stripping citizens of their rights to free speech, assembly, and privacy.
Crucially, the decree granted the police sweeping powers to search properties and arrest individuals without trial. Within days, around 4,000 Communists (KPD) and other political opponents were imprisoned. Before the 5 March 1933 election, socialist newspapers were banned and the SA violently broke up rival political meetings. Despite this intense intimidation, the Nazis only secured 44% of the vote, leaving them short of the two-thirds majority required to change the constitution legally.
Understanding how democracies fall often comes down to legal loopholes rather than sudden military coups. Because Hitler lacked a parliamentary majority to change the constitution, he proposed the Enabling Act on 23 March 1933 to bypass the Reichstag entirely.
To secure the necessary two-thirds majority, the Nazis used a mixture of intimidation and negotiation. The SS and SA surrounded the temporary parliament building to threaten politicians, while all 81 Communist deputies were notably absent due to arrest or exile. Furthermore, Hitler convinced the Centre Party to vote in favour by promising to protect the rights of the Catholic Church.
The Act passed overwhelmingly by 444 votes to 94, with only the Social Democrats (SPD) voting against it. This law allowed Hitler's cabinet to pass legislation for four years without the consent of the Reichstag or the signature of President Hindenburg. By achieving this, Hitler established a system of "pseudo-legality", permanently dismantling parliamentary democracy and introducing the .
Imagine waking up one day to find your local council dissolved, your trade union banned, and your political party outlawed. This was the reality of Gleichschaltung, the systematic process of "coordinating" all aspects of German life under Nazi control to build a unified Volksgemeinschaft.
The first step was neutralising the trade unions, which had historically defeated political uprisings (like the Kapp Putsch) by calling General Strikes. On 2 May 1933, the SA occupied union offices across Germany, arresting leaders and sending them to the first concentration camp at Dachau. Independent unions were replaced by the Nazi-controlled German Labour Front.
Next, the Nazis systematically eliminated rival political parties. The SPD was officially banned in June 1933, and a campaign of intimidation forced other parties to voluntarily disband. On 14 July 1933, the Law Against the Formation of New Parties legally declared the Nazis as the only permitted political organisation in Germany.
State governments and cultural institutions were also targeted. By January 1934, all state parliaments were officially abolished and replaced by Nazi Reich Governors. Meanwhile, cultural opposition was crushed through public book burnings (May 1933) and the closure of over 1,600 independent newspapers.
You might expect a dictator's greatest threat to come from their enemies, but for Hitler in mid-1934, the biggest danger came from his own supporters. The SA had grown into a massive paramilitary force of 3 million men under the command of Ernst Röhm.
Röhm demanded a Second Revolution to nationalise businesses and merge his SA with the traditional German army (the Reichswehr). This deeply alarmed the traditional military generals and conservative elites, whose support Hitler desperately needed to secure his future position as head of state.
Between 30 June and 2 July 1934, Hitler used the SS to arrest and execute the SA leadership at Bad Wiessee. Key victims included Röhm, former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, and other old political rivals. Roughly 400 people were murdered during this purge.
Immediately after the massacre, the government passed a law retroactively making the murders legal as an act of "state self-defence". This demonstrated to the public that the Nazi regime was completely above the law and that terror was a legitimate tool of government.
What happens when the last remaining check on a leader's power suddenly disappears? On 2 August 1934, the 86-year-old President Hindenburg died of lung cancer.
Because Hindenburg was the only constitutional figure with the authority to dismiss the Chancellor, his death removed the final obstacle to Hitler's Machtergreifung. Hitler immediately merged the offices of President and Chancellor into a single, supreme position: Führer.
Because Hitler had successfully neutralized the SA threat during the Night of the Long Knives, the traditional army leadership agreed to support his new role. On the day of Hindenburg's death, every soldier in the Reichswehr swore a personal oath of allegiance directly to Adolf Hitler as an individual, rather than to the German state.
To cement this total consolidation of power, a public plebiscite was held on 19 August 1934. Under heavy SS intimidation at the polling stations, approximately 90% of voters (38 million people) confirmed Hitler's new absolute powers.
Students often state that Hitler became a dictator as soon as he was appointed Chancellor in January 1933. He did not; his power was severely restricted until the Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act.
Make sure you can clearly distinguish between the two key laws of early 1933: the Reichstag Fire Decree gave Hitler emergency police powers to arrest, whereas the Enabling Act gave him permanent legislative power to make laws.
When describing the elimination of opposition, OCR examiners heavily reward a clear chronological structure: always sequence your answer from the Fire, to the Enabling Act, to the banning of trade unions, and finally the banning of political parties.
Use the specific phrase 'pseudo-legality' to impress examiners when explaining how Hitler used constitutional tools (like Article 48) to justify building a dictatorship legally.
In questions about why Hitler purged the SA, explicitly mention the connection to the regular army: the army high command only agreed to support Hitler's succession to the presidency because he violently removed the SA threat.
Article 48
A clause in the Weimar Constitution that allowed the President to take emergency measures and pass laws without the prior consent of the Reichstag.
Decree for the Protection of the People and State
An emergency law passed in February 1933 that suspended basic constitutional civil liberties and granted the police sweeping powers to arrest opponents.
Enabling Act
A 1933 law that gave the Chancellor the power to enact legislation independently without parliamentary approval, effectively ending German democracy.
SS
Originally Hitler's personal bodyguard organisation, which became the main instrument of terror and carried out the purges against the SA.
Führerprinzip
The Nazi 'leadership principle' which demanded absolute obedience to the leader, placing his will above all written laws.
Gleichschaltung
The process of 'coordination' where the Nazis brought all political, social, and cultural aspects of German life under strict party control.
Volksgemeinschaft
The Nazi concept of a unified, racially pure 'People's Community' where individual rights were entirely subordinate to the needs of the state.
Second Revolution
The ambition of SA leader Ernst Röhm to continue the Nazi uprising by replacing the traditional German army with his own paramilitary forces.
Machtergreifung
A Nazi term meaning 'seizure of power', referring to Hitler's step-by-step consolidation of dictatorial control between January 1933 and August 1934.
Führer
Meaning 'Leader', this was the supreme title adopted by Hitler in August 1934 when he merged the roles of President and Chancellor.
Plebiscite
A direct public vote or referendum by the entire electorate on a specific national proposal.
Put your knowledge into practice — try past paper questions for History A
Article 48
A clause in the Weimar Constitution that allowed the President to take emergency measures and pass laws without the prior consent of the Reichstag.
Decree for the Protection of the People and State
An emergency law passed in February 1933 that suspended basic constitutional civil liberties and granted the police sweeping powers to arrest opponents.
Enabling Act
A 1933 law that gave the Chancellor the power to enact legislation independently without parliamentary approval, effectively ending German democracy.
SS
Originally Hitler's personal bodyguard organisation, which became the main instrument of terror and carried out the purges against the SA.
Führerprinzip
The Nazi 'leadership principle' which demanded absolute obedience to the leader, placing his will above all written laws.
Gleichschaltung
The process of 'coordination' where the Nazis brought all political, social, and cultural aspects of German life under strict party control.
Volksgemeinschaft
The Nazi concept of a unified, racially pure 'People's Community' where individual rights were entirely subordinate to the needs of the state.
Second Revolution
The ambition of SA leader Ernst Röhm to continue the Nazi uprising by replacing the traditional German army with his own paramilitary forces.
Machtergreifung
A Nazi term meaning 'seizure of power', referring to Hitler's step-by-step consolidation of dictatorial control between January 1933 and August 1934.
Führer
Meaning 'Leader', this was the supreme title adopted by Hitler in August 1934 when he merged the roles of President and Chancellor.
Plebiscite
A direct public vote or referendum by the entire electorate on a specific national proposal.
