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Why Did Political Parties In Nazi Germany Agree To Give Hitler Almost Unlmited Powers?
an analysis of the Enabling Act of 1933
Date : 19/02/2024
In order to get the Enabling Act passed, Hitler needed two thirds of the deputies to support it (any change to the constitution needed two thirds to vote for it - conventional laws required simply a majority). That meant Hitler had to get all the moderate and other right wing parties to agree to vote for it as he knew the SPD and KPD wouldnt. He dealt with them by locking most of them up so only 94 SPD deputies were able to vote. Not a single KPD deputy could vote as they were all dead, in prison or had fled. Centrum - Hitler bought them off with promises to protect the rights of Catholics. The Centre party (Centrum) was set up to mainly represent Germanys 40% Catholic population. As for the other parties like the DNVP, Hitler had bought them off with promises to maintain the status quo (i.e. to make sure the government looked after the interests of the wealthy) and they were more than happy to see democracy destroyed as it would prevent socialists introducing any legislation that would negatively impact on the rich. Hitler also reassured the deputies via article 5 of the Enabling Act that it was only a stop-gap measure to be in place for just 4 years so he could sort out the mess Germany was in. After that, he said that normal Parliamentary democracy would return. In 1937, the Act was simply renewed for another 4 years. Hitler had lied, and not for the first time.
This resource was uploaded by: Nick
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