Did Hitler ever invoke emergency powers?

submitted by kiwiheretic from (self.history)

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[–]magnora7 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

I think after the burning of the Reichstag (The national congress building in Germany) he invoked the emergency powers that basically made him dictator for life.

But I'm sure there likely were earlier attempts at him trying to grab power through emergency acts, I would be curious to learn about them too.

[–]kiwiheretic[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

This is a response I found on wikipedia (which may not be considered an authoritative historical source).

Four weeks into his chancellorship, the Reichstag building caught fire in the middle of the night.[4] Hitler blamed the incident on the communists and was convinced the arson was part of a larger effort to overthrow the German government. Using this justification, Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to enact the Reichstag Fire Decree. The decree abolished most civil liberties including the right to speak, assemble, protest, and due process. Using the decree the Nazis declared a state of emergency and began to arrest, intimidate, and purge his political enemies.

It seems to me that there really was insufficient grounds for accessing these emergency powers. I wonder why the others in the parliament didn't question whether it was just cause or not.

[–]Brewdabier 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

What you found is about right, my grandparents lived through the nazi control. My uncle went to prision never to be seen again when he refused to do the salute for a commander passing by.

[–]Markimus 4 insightful - 4 fun4 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 4 fun -  (1 child)

What you found is about right, my grandparents lived through the nazi control. My uncle went to prision never to be seen again when he refused to do the salute for a commander passing by.

LMAO he was fed to bears and eagles after riding the holocauster prolly. Good one👍

[–]BravoVictor 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

And then made into a lampshade, I bet.