Significance of the Night of the Long Knives for Hitler's Power

Significance of the Night of the Long Knives for Hitler's Power

In the interwar years of 1933 to 1939, Europe saw the rise of Nazi

Germany, which was to become the capstone of the inter-war period, and

led to the eruption of World War II, shattering the fragile peace

overseen by the League of Nations. But how did a party that was in a

state of political decline manage this? The Nazi regime's advancement

was paralleled by the life of its leader, Adolf Hitler, who perfected

his oratorical skills and worked for the advancement of the Nazi

party. Such advancement was slow in coming through the years 1925 to

1929, a fairly stable period in Europe. However, as the world became

hindered in depression and unemployment rose, so did support for the

Nazi Party, which promised employment and a return to the glorious

past for the nation. In 1932 the Nazis won 37.3 percent of the popular

vote and occupied 230 seats in the German Reichstag.

In this period, the Nazis were the single largest party in the

Reichstag, but still could not pass laws, and therefore change liberal

democracy into the desired totalitarian dictatorship, without the

assistance of other parties (they did not have the two thirds majority

needed). At this time, there was little stability in the German

government, and seeking a solution to this instability, President Paul

von Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor on January 30, 1933. As

Hitler would not settle for the vice-chancellery, Hindenburg's current

chancellor Franz Von Papen agreed to be demoted to that position. He

and Von Papen thought that they could control Hitler and therefore

also the increasingly menacing threat ...

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...re Decree, the Enabling Law, and

Gleichschaltung helped to secure Hitler's power. The Fire Decree

allowed Hitler to purge the communists and gain support for the

election campaign, and was the building block for increasing Nazi

rule. The Enabling Law rendered the president and the government

obsolete and Hitler as the dictator. Gleichschaltung accustomised

Germany to a Government under the Nazis and most importantly under

Hitler. Nonetheless, I believe that the most significant step wasn't

even implemented by Hitler or the Nazi's, it was employed by President

Hindenburg and the Weimar republic when they decided to assign the

leader of a declining party the position of chancellor. Their

underestimation of Hitler was in my opinion the most significant

factor in the enabling and consolidating of Hitler's power in Germany.