Critically assess the role of terror and violence in the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship between 1933 and 1939
After Adolph Hitler was appointed chancellor on 30th January 1933, Germany witnessed the rapid transformation of the Weimar republic into the single - ruling Nazi Dictatorship. Between the years 1933 - 1939 Hitler was able to attain the legal framework needed to single handily rule Germany and remove all major aspects of opposition. Two major factors for the National Socialists achieving their revolution so quickly was arguably the extensive use of terror and violence. After the Reichstag fire Hitler was able to begin to implement an emergency decree, which not only suspended certain restraints of the constitution, but also permitted increased state and police powers. Furthermore, Hitler advocated the implementation of the enabling act, thus subordinating all institutions and organisations towards Nazi control. The Night of the long knives also saw the enormous and unruly SA brought under control by a massacre of its leadership bringing it under the direct control of Himmler.
Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring performing the sa...
plaque - Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under ...
Hitler (left), standing behind Hermann Göring at ...The SS along with the Gestapo thus became the main enforcers behind the terror and violence campaign. They soon became the principle means used to maintain its control of Germany by eliminating any aspects of non - conformity to Nazi rule. A key instrument in the terror campaign was the role of the concentration camps. At first used as protective custody for political prisoners the concentration camp system was to evolve after 1936, when Himmler was appointed head of SS and German police system, to house all perceived enemies of the state. Through the actions of the SS and Gestapo and the fear of the concentration camp system the Nazi dictatorship was established with all major opposition removed both inside and outside the legal framework of the German...