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Hitler is Invited into Power

Gap-fill exercise

Complete the gap fill exercise then try THIS DIAGRAM on how Hitler consolidated his position from 1933-1934
The diagram is an external link and will open in a new window

By July 1932, the were by far the largest party in the with 230 seats. Hitler was growing in popularity and he had given Hindenburg a good race in the elections of the same year. Despite Nazi political success, Hindenburg was reluctant to appoint Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.
Hindenburg used his powers to make Fritz Von Papen, the leader of the Party, Chancellor instead of Hitler. The did not really support Von Papen, so he had to step down. Hindenburg appointed one of his advisers, Von Schleicher, as Chancellor in December 1932. Von Schleicher failed to win support in the Reichstag and after eight weeks.
On 30th January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Chancellor. Von Papen had convinced the President, that he and other Weimar politicians could Hitler. In Hitler’s cabinet there were only Nazis, all the other positions were taken up by politicians from other parties. Von Papen became Hitler’s Vice-Chancellor, thinking that he could control Hitler and Germany through him.

Hitler and Hindenburg

On paper, it looked as if Hitler’s position was still quite . In reality, Hitler was Chancellor of Germany, Goring was in charge of much of the Prussian (by far the largest state in Germany) and Hitler knew that once in power he could pick off his one by one. Many of the other cabinet ministers, although not Nazis, were from the right wing parties and actually agreed with many of Hitler’s policies.
In the March 1933 elections, Hitler finally gained an overall by making an alliance with the nationalists and expelling the after the Reichstag . This majority gave Hitler the ability to pass the Act that gave him the powers of a dictator.
By the summer of 1933, Hitler’s position had been greatly strengthened. He had seized control of the government through political deals and manipulation, he had the Communists and he had passed the Enabling Act. Nevertheless, he still faced potential opposition from the ageing President and from other leading Nazis, in particular Ernst , head of the 2.5 million strong SA.