Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party

            History could not be complete in Germany without Hitler. He is well known for shedding blood of more than four million people in world war 11. Adolf Hitler was a great politician from Germany and the leader of the Nazi Party. He moved from Austria, his birthplace to Germany for military operations in the Germany Army in the First World War. Hitler grew up with a passion for artistry and did not embrace formal education. He was opposed to his father, who wanted him to follow his career guide path. He ended up performing poorly in school to disapprove his father, having the hope he will leave him to pursue his ambitions. In his early days, Hitler lived a loner and was secretive. Later, these characters became outstanding in the military field. In war times, he was a brave and highly respected commander. When Hitler gained full power, he initiated World War 11 in Europe. Hitler’s ambition for military and power enabled him to maneuver in different ways in military arena until he gained the top most power with the Nazi Party.

In February 1932, Hitler became the administrator of the State’s Delegation in Berlin. Hitler had dropped his Australian citizenship back in 1925 and failed to obtain citizenship of German for the next seven years. Consequently, he was not allowed to hold any position in any public office. Upon election as the administrator, he became a citizen of Germany. During the presidential elections, he ran against Hindenburg, where he became the second even after conducting the polls twice. Hindenburg had a backup from several groups such as the Catholic, monarchists, and other republican parties. During his campaigns, Hitler used aircraft and was recorded as the first politician to make campaigns with an airplane. Despite him having lost to Hindenburg, the elections positioned him in a high rank in German politics. The elections acted as a ladder to rise in power and military grounds.

However, the government was ineffective because it was not full of the majority. Two established politicians, Alfred Ehrenberg and Franz Papen, and other men raised the alarm. They urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as a leader of the government. As a leader, he would rule independent of the parliamentary parties. He reluctantly agreed to choose him as the chancellor. The appointment was after conducting two more parliamentary elections. Hitler led a temporary coalition government formed by Nazi and Gutenberg’s party (“Nazi Party,” 2019). He was an excellent spokesperson and threatened to leave the party on failure to appoint him as a leader. A brief party held in the president’s office in January 1933 spearheaded swearing-in of a new cabinet. More representatives of his party got a position in the government. Nazis managed to secure three seats: acquired by Hitler, Wilhelm Frick, and Hermann. They secured ministerial positions, which was a plan of Hitler to obtain higher surveillance over the police force in large part of Germany.

Hitler opposed the majority government. He wanted a government where the Nazis would be the only ruling party. As the chancellor, he worked against groups fighting Nazi. The state of government could not allow any decision to be made on power and military issues. Hitler urged Hindenburg to terminate the Reichstag (Stachura, 2014). Hence elections were planned to take place in March. At the end of February, the Reichstag building went on fire. Many of the historians alleged Van der Lube to have started the fire. Other men such as Allan Bullock and William Shirer argued that Nazi was responsible for the destruction. Hitler urged Hindenburg to respond to the issue. In turn, he came up with the Reichstag Fire Decree, where the president had the legal authority to execute emergency measures for the nation to be in the state of peace and order. The functions of the Communist Party got into suppression. Many of its members were under arrest. Nazi got an opportunity to engage in military violence and in escalating anti-communist propaganda, a few days to elections. On Election Day, Nazi votes increased to 43.9%, with the majority number of seats in the parliament. However, they did not acquire the absolute majority in the elections.

Notably, the new Reichstag got into the constitution with the opening ceremony held in Potsdam. Hitler, in the pursuit, to establish a full political ruling in the parliament, his government came up with the Enabling Act, which mandated the Hitler’s cabinet with powers to impose decisions without the knowledge of the Reichstag (McDonough, 2003). Many laws made were contrary to the constitution. And thus, the act required support from two-thirds of the members of the constitution. The Reichstag Fire decree gave the Nazis power for purposes of arresting 81 communist deputies. Also, the powers enabled them to hinder some Social Democrats from availing themselves to a meeting intended to legalize the act. The Reichstag meeting happened in the Kroll Opera House, where a vote of 441-84 passed an Act by the name Enacting Act, although many members were forced to vote for it and thus had no option. As a result, Hitler’s government became dictatorial.

Besides, Adolf had fully achieved ruling power over the government. His supporters set a move to dissolve any party threatening opposition. Nazis seized The Social Democratic Party assets and dissolved it. Moreover, on 2 May 1933, all the trade unions were disbanded forcefully. The union’s leaders were put under arrest (Ullrich & Chase, n.d.). Nazi’s coalition partner, the DNVP, was not an exception where Hitler ordered Gutenberg to leave office in June. In July 1933, Hitler’s party gained superiority as the only recognized state party. SA was in demand for more military and political power, and this induced anxiety in many of the political, industrial, and military leaders. Hitler targeted Ernst Rohm, some SA leaders, and other adversaries who were threatening his government. They were put under arrest and murdered. Their murders shocked many Germans and the international community (Hitler, n.d.). However, a large number of people believed Hitler was in pursuit of restoring order.

Hindenburg’s death occurred On 2 August 1934. Before his death, Hitler’s cabinet passed a law which stated that on president’s death, his office would no longer be functional, and his powers would be added up to the chancellor’s powers (Redlich, 1936). Hitler acquired the position of head of the government and state. His new position gave him powers of both government leader and chancellor. He later dropped the chancellor as there were chances of the position to make him leave the office. Being the state head, Hitler was the commander-in-chief of Germany military forces. He forced the war minister to resign from his work after a false allegation of his wife’s record of prostitution. Hitler enacted a new loyalty oath of soldiers that required affirmation of loyalty to him by name. In August, the electorate voting approved the merging of both the presidency and chancellorship powers in a referendum. Hitler became the leader of Germany entirely, and the Nazi gained more skills. He was keen to ensure his dictatorial governing appeared legal to people, and thus did not complain.

In summary, Adolf Hitler started his political journey with a strong will. He made attempts to engage fully in the leadership of Germany and failed during the elections. As the leader of the Nazi, he worked towards it, gaining supremacy over every other power. The position of the chancellor gave him a better ground for advancing in politics. He executed laws and acts in favor of his group. After the fire in Lichtenburg, he worked hand in hand with the president to ensure the laws given are favorable to him. When the president died, he got into powerfully and dissolved the position of Chancellor Hood, which posed a danger of it being a loophole to step out of office. He started ruling in a dictatorship way where he could sack people on false allegations. Eventually, Hitler got into full power, with the Nazi Coalition being the leading party.

References

Hitler, A. Mein, Kampf.

McDonough, F. (2003). Hitler and the rise of the Nazi Party. London: Pearson/Longman.

Stachura, P. (2014). Nazi Machtergreifung (RLE Nazi Germany & Holocaust). Florence: Taylor and Francis.

Nazi Party. (2019). Retrieved 2 December 2019, from https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/nazi-party

Redlich, J. (1936). German Austria and Nazi Germany. Foreign Affairs, 15(1), 179. doi: 10.2307/20030788

Ullrich, V., & Chase, J. Hitler