Hitler's Enabling Act Essay

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After Hitler was appointed chancellor, he made it his duty to take complete control of the state. The most significant efforts toward achieving his goal were those based on the premise of eliminating opposition. The enabling act, the army oath of loyalty, & Hitler's three enforcement units; the gestapo, the SS, & the SA. In my opinion, the enabling act was the most significant feature.

The enabling act empowered Hitler to make laws without having them approved by parliament. Essentially, with the passing of this act, Hitler became the law. He could now eliminate opposition parties at will. This may have aggravated many german citizens, if not for Joseph Goebbels keeping the public completely in the dark. Also, the act made it possible for Hitler to pass the infamous Nuremberg laws. Laws that stripped jews of their german citizenship and paved the way for the holocaust. With Anti-Semitism as Germany's primary ideology, the Nazis were free to harass and abuse the jews as much …show more content…

If one is to put themselves into the shoes of an ordinary German in 1936, they would be completely perplexed. Germans had a multitude of fears, ranging from the control of information, the threat of the brown shirts, the fear of being exploited by corporations, the risk of becoming unemployed and not contributing to german autarky, &c… What Hitler did was, he took all of these fears and directed them away from his party and onto the jew. Furthermore, the Anti-Semitism allowed Hitler to pass police state protocols. In effect, causing the SS, SA and Gestapo to grow to undefiable proportions, making it impossible for any civilian uprising to take affect. A lot like the the way the United States government today uses the fear of terror to pass laws such as detaining without trial, the patriot act & the NDAA. In effect, causing events such as the Ferguson riots to be shut down

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