Hitler's Enabling Act Essay

The Enabling Act was a key event that contributed to Hitler gaining power over Germany in the period 1933-1939. The Enabling Act, which was officially named 'Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich', was the result of the Reichstag building fire which took place on 27 February 1933. The Enabling Act granted Hitler the authority to make laws without the consent of the Reichstag for four years. According to Hitler, the Enabling Act was needed to ‘protect from the threat of communism’ (dailykos). Hitler promised the German community that if the Enabling Act passed, he would end unemployment and develop peace with France, Britain and Russia. In his speech Hitler declared, "the government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures... the number of cases in which an internal necessity exists for having recourse to such a law is in itself a limited one" (Historyplace).
With the Enabling Act in place Hitler made a number of changes such as making it illegal for people to criticize the government, opening a new concentration camp named Dachau, banning trade unions and curtailing the freedom of press. By July 14, Hitler had proclaimed a law that states the Nazi party was the only political party allowed in Germany. Another change made was after the Enabling Act the secret police named Gestapo immediately began arresting people who were ‘unreliable’, such as Ernst Rohm and political opponents. Although the Social Democrats were against the Enabling Act, it passed with 441 votes for and 94 votes against. This meant that the Reichstag voted itself out of existence. The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to rule as a dictator. Due to the reasons stated above, the Enabling Act was a key event that helped Hitler gain utter power over Germany in the period