Nazi party leader, Adolf Hitler saw the instability of the Weimar Republic as an opportunity and used a number of events to gain absolute power over Germany in the period 1933-1939. During this time Hitler destroyed Germany's democracy and established a legal dictatorship. Hitler used the Enabling Act, his purge of the Night of the Long Knives and President Hindenburg's death to rise to power.
The Enabling Act was a key event that contributed to Hitler gaining power over Germany in the period 1933-1939. The Enabling Act, which was officially named 'Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich', was the result of the Reichstag building fire which took place on 27 February 1933. The Enabling Act granted Hitler the authority to make laws
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The only thing that was stopping Hitler from having total control over Germany was the German President Paul von Hindenburg. With President Hindenburg’s death on 2 August 1934, Hitler introduced a new law. This law combined the power of Chancellor and President into the new position of ‘Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor’. Hitler held a referendum on 19 August 1934 asking the German people if they agreed with merging the roles of Chancellor and President, 90% voted yes. This made Hitler the dictator of Germany. Every soldier was to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. The Army’s oath of loyalty which is, “I swear by God this sacred oath: that I will render unconditional obedience to the Fuhrer of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler” (Lacey,74), was taken very seriously and to go against this oath would be a serious crime. This new position of Fuhrer meant that Hitler was now Chancellor, President, and Commander of the of the Army, which meant he had total control over the government, police forces and army. While as Chancellor Hitler’s powers were limited by the laws of the German state, as Fuhrer his powers were unlimited because the German nation was under his control. Accordingly, President Hindenburg’s death ultimately gave Hitler absolute power over