Hitler's Dictatorship: Words As Laws

Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany was enabled by a series of events that began with his appointment as chancellor in 1933. Hitler exploited the economic hardships faced by the Weimar Republic, including hyperinflation and the effects of the Great Depression, to gain support for his Nazi Party. Through intimidation, persecution, and manipulation, Hitler and the Nazis passed the Enabling Act of 1933, which gave him the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or President Paul von Hindenburg, marking the transition from a democratic Weimar Republic to a totalitarian Nazi dictatorship. This, along with the Reichstag Fire Decree, allowed Hitler to dismantle democratic institutions, imprison or murder opponents, and impose his ideology of biological racism into the country's legal system, enabling his regime to commit atrocities with legal impunity.

The Reichstag Fire Decree

On the evening of February 27, 1933, a fire broke out in the Reichstag chambers, causing extensive damage to the building that had long been a symbol of German unity. The fire was set by Marinus van der Lubbe, a 24-year-old Dutch militant with Communist sympathies. Van der Lubbe was arrested at the scene and later tried and beheaded in January 1934.

Hitler and the Nazis quickly capitalised on the fire, using it as a pretext to seize absolute power in Germany. They blamed the fire on the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), claiming it was part of a larger Communist plot to overthrow the government. This narrative played on the widespread fear of communism in German society. Within hours of the fire, dozens of Communists had been thrown in jail.

Hitler and his cabinet quickly drew up a decree—the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, commonly known as the Reichstag Fire Decree—which was passed on February 28, 1933. The Reichstag Fire Decree was issued by German President Paul von Hindenburg, on the advice of Chancellor Hitler, and it nullified many key civil liberties of German citizens.

The decree consisted of six articles. Article 1 indefinitely suspended most of the civil liberties set forth in the Weimar Constitution, including habeas corpus, freedom of expression and of the press, the right to public assembly, and the right of free association. Articles 2 and 3 allowed the Reich government to assume powers normally reserved for the federal states. Articles 4 and 5 established harsh penalties for certain offenses, including the death penalty for arson to public buildings. Article 6 stated that the decree took effect on the day of its proclamation.

The Enabling Act of 1933

On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, was appointed chancellor of Germany. On 27 February, the Reichstag building caught fire, and Hitler, acting as chancellor, accused the Communists of perpetrating the fire as part of a larger effort to overthrow the government. Using this as justification, Hitler persuaded President Paul von Hindenburg to enact the Reichstag Fire Decree, which abolished most civil liberties, including freedom of speech, assembly, and due process. The Nazis used the decree to declare a state of emergency and crack down on their political enemies.

Hitler's proposal to the Reichstag, that legislative powers be immediately granted to the cabinet, was ratified on 23 March 1933. This proposal, known as the Enabling Act, allowed Hitler's government to act without regard to the constitution. The Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag and Reichsrat, and signed into law by President Hindenburg.

The Enabling Act gave the German Cabinet, and by extension, the Chancellor, the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or President Hindenburg. This allowed Hitler to bypass the system of checks and balances in the government, and effectively transformed his government into a legal dictatorship.

The Enabling Act was to expire after four years unless extended by the Reichstag. However, by July 1933, the NSDAP was the only legally permitted party in Germany, and Hitler had total control over the country. The Enabling Act was renewed twice, in 1937 and 1941, but was rendered moot when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies in 1945.

The Nuremberg Race Laws

The Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their civil rights, including the right to vote, and prohibited them from working for the government. The laws also forbade marriages and sexual relations between Jews and non-Jewish Germans. Jews were also forbidden from employing female citizens of German blood under the age of 45 as domestic workers.

The Nuremberg Laws were based on family lineage, with people having three or four Jewish grandparents considered Jewish. This definition of Jewishness was based on religion, not the supposed racial traits attributed to Jews by the Nazis. However, the laws also categorized some people as "mixed-race", or "Mischlinge", who had one or two Jewish grandparents. These individuals were neither German nor Jewish in the eyes of the law and enjoyed the same rights as "racial" Germans, although these were curtailed over time through subsequent legislation.

The Nuremberg Laws were an important step in the Nazi regime's process of isolating and excluding Jews from German society. They provided the legal framework for the systematic persecution of Jews in Germany and, later, in occupied territories. The laws also applied to other groups, including Roma (Gypsies), Black people, and their descendants, who were also denied full citizenship and the right to marry or have sexual relations with "people of German or related blood".

The Nuremberg Laws were part of a broader shift in Germany from a traditional legal system, or "normative state", to the Nazis' ideological mission, or "prerogative state". This shift enabled all of the subsequent acts of the Hitler regime, including its atrocities, to be performed legally.

The Führerprinzip (leader principle)

The Führerprinzip was integral to the political cohesion of the Nazi Party, with Hitler as the supreme leader, answering only to the German people. This principle was imposed on the government and civil society of Germany, with business organisations and civil institutions led by an appointed leader, rather than an elected committee of experts. Schools, sports associations, and factories were all brought under the Führerprinzip, with Hitler's word as the final authority.

The Nazi interpretation of the Führerprinzip drew on Germany's historical ultranationalist values and the cultural interpretation of past leaders, such as King Frederick the Great and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Hitler's vision of an authoritarian state, with himself as the supreme leader, was outlined in his book, Mein Kampf, where he wrote:

> "They never understood that the strength of a political party lies by no means in the greatest possible independent intellect of the individual members, but rather in the disciplined obedience with which its members follow the intellectual leadership. The decisive factor is the leadership itself."

The Führerprinzip was a key tool in Hitler's rise to power and the transformation of Germany into a totalitarian state. It allowed him to dictate the ideology and policies of the Nazi Party and the country, with the support of the German people, who hailed him as a national saviour.

The Gleichschaltung

The Nazi term Gleichschaltung, roughly translated as "coordination", was the process by which Adolf Hitler established totalitarian control over all aspects of German society. The term is derived from an electrical engineering concept, which refers to putting all switches on the same circuit so that they can be activated by a single master switch.

Gleichschaltung was applied to the economy, trade associations, media, culture, and education. It was enabled by multiple legal measures enacted by the Reich government, including:

The Reichstag Fire Decree (February 28, 1933)

President Paul von Hindenburg, acting at Hitler's request, issued this decree the day after the Reichstag fire. It suspended most civil rights and liberties enshrined in the Weimar Constitution, including habeas corpus, freedom of speech, press, assembly, and privacy of communications. This allowed for the arrest of political adversaries, mainly Communists, and the intimidation of voters by the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazi paramilitary branch.

The Enabling Act (March 23, 1933)

The newly elected Reichstag, excluding Communist delegates, passed this act, which gave the government (the Reich Chancellor and his cabinet) the right to enact laws for four years without the involvement of the Reichstag or the Reich President. These laws could, under certain circumstances, "deviate from the Constitution." As a constitutional amendment, it required a two-thirds majority to pass. Through intimidation and promises of religious freedom to the Catholic Centre Party, the required supermajority was obtained, with only the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in opposition.

The Provisional Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich (March 31, 1933)

Enacted using the Enabling Act, this law dissolved the sitting parliaments of all German states except Prussia, which the Nazis already controlled. It ordered the state parliaments to be reconstituted based on the state votes cast in the March 5 Reichstag election, excluding Communist seats. The Nazis and their allies thus attained working majorities in all the parliaments.

The Second Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich (April 7, 1933)

This law deployed one Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) in each state, appointed by the President on the Chancellor's recommendation. These officers were responsible to the Interior Minister and acted as local proconsuls, with near-complete control over state governments.

The Law for the Restoration of a Professional Civil Service (April 7, 1933)

This law mandated the "coordination" of the civil service at the federal, state, and municipal levels, and authorized the removal of Jews and Communists from these positions, with limited exceptions for those who had served in World War I or lost a family member in combat.

The Law on the Trustees of Labour (May 19, 1933)

This law established the position of Trustee of Labour, one for each of thirteen large economic areas. They were charged with ensuring industrial peace and regulating employment contracts, including wage-setting and the resolution of employer-employee disputes. This effectively ended collective bargaining and strikes, as the trustees' decisions were legally binding.

The Law Against the Formation of Parties (July 14, 1933)

By early July 1933, all other parties had been intimidated into dissolving themselves rather than face arrests and imprisonment in concentration camps. This law declared the Nazi Party as the country's only legal political party, formalizing what had already been accomplished through terror and the capitulation of the opposition.

The Law to Secure the Unity of Party and State (December 1, 1933)

With the Nazi Party as the only remaining legal party, this law, enacted under the provisions of the Enabling Act, established the party as a public corporation with jurisdiction over its members. The Party and the SA became official organs of the German Reich. The Deputy Führer of the Party and the Stabschef of the SA became ex officio members of the Reich government as ministers without portfolio, further intertwining the leadership of the Party and State.

The Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich (January 30, 1934)

Passed on the one-year anniversary of Hitler coming to power, this law, in the form of a constitutional amendment, abolished the concept of a federal republic. The state parliaments were abolished, and state sovereignty passed to the Reich government. The states were reduced to mere administrative bodies subordinated to the Reich, effectively converting Germany into a highly centralized unitary state.

The Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat (February 14, 1934)

This law formally abolished the Reichsrat, the second chamber of the national parliament that represented the states. This was a clear violation of the Enabling Act, which explicitly protected the existence of the Reichstag and Reichsrat.

The Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich (August 1, 1934)

With Reich President von Hindenburg fatally ill, this law, signed by the entire Reich cabinet, combined the offices of Reich President and Reich Chancellor under the title of "Führer and Reich Chancellor." Hitler thus became Germany's head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. It also removed the last check on Hitler's power, as he could no longer be legally removed from office.

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