Conflict and dictatorship · GCSE History
Nazi dictatorship
GCSE History how Hitler turned a chancellorship into a dictatorship: Reichstag Fire, 28 February decree, Enabling Act 23 March 1933, Night of the Long Knives 1934, then Führer.
Legal-looking steps, street terror and a deal with the army — dictatorship in eighteen months, not a single magic election.
The important bits
What you need to know
- 1
Hitler was still in a coalition on 30 January 1933. He called new elections, used state radio, and unleashed the SA. The Reichstag Fire (27 February 1933) was blamed on a Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe.
- 2
The Reichstag Fire Decree (28 February 1933) suspended civil liberties: arrest without trial, press controls, raids on the KPD. Terror now had a legal stamp.
- 3
In the 5 March 1933 election the Nazis won 43.9 per cent — still not a majority, even with DNVP allies. intimidation was already shaping the vote.
- 4
The Enabling Act (23 March 1933) allowed Hitler to make laws without the Reichstag, including ones that deviated from the constitution, for four years. SA pressure and the banning of KPD deputies mattered; the Centre Party’s yes was fatal. Only the SPD voted no.
- 5
Gleichschaltung coordinated states, unions (replaced by the German Labour Front, May 1933), parties (banned by July 1933), and police. Dachau opened in March 1933 for political prisoners.
- 6
The Night of the Long Knives (30 June–2 July 1934) murdered Ernst Röhm and SA rivals, plus old enemies (Schleicher, von Kahr). Hitler reassured the army and conservatives that the revolution would not become a brownshirt socialist coup.
- 7
When Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, the offices of chancellor and president fused. The army swore a personal oath to Hitler. A plebiscite rubber-stamped the Führer state.
- 8
Terror (SS, Gestapo, camps) worked with propaganda (Goebbels, Ministry of Enlightenment) and visible “order”. Examiners want coercion and consent, not only one.
Quotations worth analysing
Short evidence. Real method.
“The government can now make laws without the Reichstag.”
Parliament voted itself to the margins. That is why “legal revolution” is a useful phrase — terror plus a statute, not only a putsch.
“I am ready to answer for this before history.”
He claimed to be the nation’s judge. The army’s relief and Hindenburg’s thanks showed elite complicity. Purpose of the speech: to turn murder into statecraft.
“One People, one Reich, one Führer.”
The fusion of offices made the slogan constitutional. Use it to date the completed dictatorship, after the Enabling Act, not instead of it.
Go deeper
Law, terror and the Centre Party’s yes
Dictatorship was built at speed but not by a single decree from nowhere. The fire decree created a state of emergency that never really ended. The Enabling Act, passed in the Kroll Opera House amid SA intimidation, let Hitler legislate through the cabinet. Catholic Centre leaders hoped a yes would protect the Church; the Concordat (July 1933) seemed to confirm that bargain and instead helped isolate Catholics politically. Gleichschaltung then ate the federal states. In essays, sequence February–March–July 1933 before jumping to 1934. Students who start with the Gestapo miss how much was done with emergency law that Weimar had already normalised under Article 48. Continuity of decree-rule plus a new willingness to destroy opponents is the accurate mix.
Go deeper
Why kill the SA in 1934
Röhm wanted a second revolution and a merger of SA with the army. Generals, industrialists and Hindenburg found that intolerable. Hitler chose the army, the SS (Himmler, Heydrich) and conservative quiet over his old street fighters. The murders also settled scores. Consequence: the army’s oath in August was a payment for services rendered; the SS rose as the regime’s true ideological weapon. For “how did Hitler secure power” questions, 1934 is the army chapter, 1933 the legal-terror chapter. Without the Night of the Long Knives, a clash with the officer corps could have toppled him while Hindenburg still lived. It is not a side-story about gangsters; it is a coalition realignment written in blood.
See the idea in action
Question: “The Enabling Act was the most important reason Hitler was able to establish a dictatorship.” How far? Judgement: it was the most important legal step, but it depended on the Fire Decree’s terror and was completed by the 1934 army deal. Support: 23 March 1933, laws without Reichstag, constitution suspended in practice. Challenge: 28 February already destroyed liberties; SA violence; banning parties; Night of the Long Knives; Hindenburg’s death and the oath. Conclusion: the Enabling Act turned a chancellorship into a law-making machine; 1934 turned it into an unchallenged Führer state. Main legal reason, not the only reason.
Exam technique
Turn knowledge into marks
Compulsory dates: 27–28 February, 23 March 1933, 30 June 1934, 2 August 1934. Attach a law or murder to each. “He became a dictator” is a headline, not a mechanism.
Common mistakes
Do not give these marks away
- 01
Dating the Enabling Act to 1934 or calling it an election.
- 02
Ignoring that Nazis still lacked a majority in March 1933.
- 03
Writing the Night of the Long Knives as “Hitler killed some people” without the army/SA conflict.
What did the Enabling Act of 23 March 1933 allow Hitler to do?
AInvade Poland immediately
BMake laws without the Reichstag, including laws that departed from the constitution
CRestore the Kaiser
DJoin the League of Nations
Show the answer
Make laws without the Reichstag, including laws that departed from the constitution. It is the statutory core of the dictatorship. Pair it with the Fire Decree (liberties) and 1934 (army/Führer) for a full sequence.
Quick questions
If this is the bit you searched
Was the Reichstag Fire a Nazi false flag?
Historians still debate van der Lubbe’s isolation versus wider plots. For GCSE, what matters is that Hitler used the fire to smash the left and suspend rights. Consequence over conspiracy trivia.
What was Gleichschaltung?
Coordination: bringing states, unions, parties and associations into line. A process through 1933, not a single day.
Did the Gestapo watch everyone?
It was powerful and feared, but also relied on denunciations. Terror plus neighbours’ cooperation. Do not invent an agent on every corner, and do not minimise the fear.