Enabling Act of 1933

Enabling Act of 1933
Reichstag
  • Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich
CitationRGBl. I S. 141
Enacted byReichstag
Enacted byReichsrat
Signed byPresident Paul von Hindenburg
Signed23 March 1933
Commenced23 March 1933
Repealed20 September 1945
Legislative history
First chamber: Reichstag
Introduced byHitler cabinet
Passed23 March 1933
Voting summary
  • 444 voted for
  • 94 voted against
  • 109 absent
Second chamber: Reichsrat
Passed23 March 1933
Voting summary
  • 66 voted for
  • None voted against
Repealed by
Control Council Law No. 1 - Repealing of Nazi Laws
Status: Repealed
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Hitler's Reichstag speech promoting the bill was delivered at the Kroll Opera House, following the Reichstag fire.

The Enabling Act of 1933 (German: Ermächtigungsgesetz), officially titled Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich (lit. 'Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich'),[1] was a law that gave the German Cabinet – most importantly, the Chancellor – the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or Weimar President Paul von Hindenburg, leading to the rise of Nazi Germany. Critically, the Enabling Act allowed the Chancellor to bypass the system of checks and balances in the government.

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, was appointed as chancellor, the head of the German government.[2] On 27 February, the German parliament building – the Reichstag – caught fire.[3] Acting as chancellor, Hitler immediately accused the Communists of being the perpetrators of the fire and claimed the arson was part of a larger effort to overthrow the German government. Using this justification, Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to enact the Reichstag Fire Decree.[4] The decree abolished most civil liberties, including the right to speak, assemble, protest, and due process. Using the decree, the Nazis declared a state of emergency and began a violent crackdown against their political enemies.[5] As Hitler cleared the political arena of anyone willing to challenge him, he contended that the decree was insufficient and required sweeping policies that would safeguard his emerging dictatorship.[6] Hitler submitted a proposal to the Reichstag that if passed would immediately grant all legislative powers to the cabinet, and by extension Hitler. This would in effect allow Hitler's government to act without regard to the constitution.[7]

Despite outlawing the communists and repressing other opponents, the passage of the Enabling Act was not a certainty. Hitler allied with other nationalist and conservative factions,[8] and they steamrolled over the Social Democrats in the 5 March 1933 German federal election. Germans voted in an atmosphere of extreme voter intimidation perpetrated by the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA) militia. Contrary to popular belief, Hitler did not win an outright majority in the Reichstag as the majority of Germans did not vote for the Nazi Party.[9] The election was a setback for the Nazis; however, it was insufficient in stopping the ratification of the Enabling Act.

In order to obtain the act's passage, the Nazis implemented a strategy of coercion, bribery, and manipulation. Hitler removed any remaining political obstacles so his coalition of conservatives, nationalists, and Nazis could begin building the Nazi dictatorship. Once the Enabling Act was introduced, it was hastily passed by the Reichstag and Reichsrat on 23 March 1933.[10][11][12] Later that day, the Enabling Act was signed into law by President Paul von Hindenburg.[13] Unless extended by the Reichstag, the act would expire after four years. With the Enabling Act now in force, the cabinet (in practice, the chancellor) could pass and enforce laws without legislative oversight.

The combined effect of the Enabling Act and the Reichstag Fire Decree transformed Hitler's government into a legal dictatorship and laid the groundwork for his totalitarian regime. By July, the NSDAP was the only legally permitted party in Germany. The Reichstag from 1933 onward effectively became the rubber stamp parliament that Hitler had desired.[14] The conservative elite, which included the vice-chancellor Franz von Papen, who miscalculated the true intention of the Nazis to monopolize state power, were soon marginalized by the Nazi regime.[15][16] By mid-March, the government began sending communists, labor union leaders, and other political dissidents to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp.[17]

The passing of the Enabling Act marked the formal transition from the democratic Weimar Republic to the totalitarian Nazi dictatorship. From 1933 onward, Hitler continued to consolidate and centralize power via purges and propaganda. In 1934, Hitler and Heinrich Himmler began removing non-Nazi officials together with Hitler's rivals within the Nazi Party, culminating in the Night of the Long Knives. Once the purges of the Nazi Party and German government concluded, Hitler had total control over Germany. Armed with the Enabling Act, Hitler could begin German rearmament and achieve his aggressive foreign policy aims which ultimately resulted in the Second World War.

The Enabling Act was renewed twice, but was rendered moot when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies in 1945, and was repealed by a law passed by the occupying powers in September of that year.

  1. ^ Rabinbach, Anson; Gilman, Sander L. (2013). The Third Reich Sourcebook. University of California Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0520276833.
  2. ^ "Enabling Act Exhibition" (PDF). German Bundestag.
  3. ^ "The Reichstag fire – Nazi rise to power – National 5 History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  4. ^ "The Reichstag Fire Decree (1933)". Nazi Germany. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  5. ^ Kellerhoff, Sven (2016). The Reichstag Fire: The Case Against the Nazi Conspiracy. Stroud: History Press.
  6. ^ "Reichstag Fire Decree". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  7. ^ Pinfield, Nick (2015). A/AS Level History for AQA Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945 Student Book. Cambridge University Press. p. 98.
  8. ^ Jones, Larry (June 2011). "Franz von Papen, Catholic Conservatives, and the Establishment of the Third Reich, 1933–1934". Journal of Modern History. 83 (2): 272–318. doi:10.1086/659103. S2CID 143231402. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  9. ^ "The 1933 election and Enabling Act – Consolidation of power – WJEC – GCSE History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  10. ^ "The Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act of March 23, 1933". Britannica Blog. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  11. ^ von Lüpke-Schwarz, Marc (23 March 2013). "The law that 'enabled' Hitler's dictatorship". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  12. ^ Mason, K. J. Republic to Reich: A History of Germany 1918–1945. McGraw-Hill.
  13. ^ Kitson, Alison (2001). Germany, 1858–1990: Hope, Terror, and Revival. Oxford University Press. pp. 153–154.[ISBN missing]
  14. ^ Edinger, Lewis J. (April 1953). "German Social Democracy and Hitler's 'National Revolution' of 1933: A Study in Democratic Leadership". World Politics. 5 (3): 330–367. doi:10.2307/2009137. ISSN 1086-3338. JSTOR 2009137. S2CID 153745010.
  15. ^ "The role of the conservative elite in the Nazi rise to power – The Holocaust Explained: Designed for schools". 10 April 1933. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  16. ^ Beck, Hermann (2010). The Fateful Alliance: German Conservatives and Nazis in 1933: TheMachtergreifungin a New Light (new ed.). Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-84545-680-1. JSTOR j.ctt9qdcpj.
  17. ^ "Communists to be interned in Dachau". The Guardian. 21 March 1933. Retrieved 12 July 2021.