Hitler and gleichchaltung
Hitler and gleichchaltungThis essay addresses the Nazi movement called Gleichschaltung, also called Co- ordination or Nazification. In the essay the stages of the co- ordination will be examined. The co- ordination involved three major components. The first and most important area of the co- ordination was the nazification of the government institutions. The second stage involved ridding Germany of its democratic constitution. Hitler had to face seven foundations of constitutional order that inhibited his exercise of power. The foundations were the constitution, the federal structure of the Reich, the Parliament, the Reich President, the civil service, and the courts. The final stage involved gaining control of the Army. Success at each stage was very crucial for Hitler to construct his total dictatorship over the German people and country. It was alarming how swiftly he was able to achieve co- ordination and virtual lack of effective opposition he encountered. Hitler used an enticing slogan of "unity," that made the German people abandon their inhibitions and thoughts of opposition in the first few months of 1933 and they failed to realize to stand up against what was happening to them and their country
On February 4, 1933 the Reich President Hindenburg issued an ordinance for the protection of the German people under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The ordinance allowed made it possible for Hitler to ban periodicals, newspapers, and even assemblies. With this power Hitler began to sever the people's constitutionally guaranteed freedom of opinion which gave him power to suppress peoples feelings but more importantly allowed for the suppression of political groups. A major catalyst in moving the co- ordination forward was the Reichstag fire. It caused minimal damage to the building. The Reichstag fire was the dagger in the heart on February 27, 1933. Hitler was able to convince Hindenburg that the Reichstag fire was a Communist planned attempt to stage a coup. Therefore Hindenburg again issued the Ordinance for the Protection of the Nation and State on February 28. In the name of defending the state against "Communist acts of violence," the ordinance suspended indefinitely all basic rights guaranteed in the Weimar Constitution and placed Germany in a permanent state of emergency "in which every constitutional safeguard was suspended insofar as the purposes of the regime required it. Hindenburg made a massive error by giving Hitler major power even though he believed the Communist threat was a real and serious problem to Germany. The move armed the government, in effect Hitler himself, with tyrannical powers of enormous scope and were destined to remain in force until the Third Reich's downfall twelve years later. With the ordinance of February 28 one could say that the Constitution was effectively co- ordinated.
The next step taken to gain more power was the enactment of the "Enabling Act."...
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