More detail

If you are asked about how Hitler consolidated his power, remember that the question is not just about describing what happened and what Hitler did. You should explain how Hitler's actions helped him to consolidate his power - it is more about the effects of what he did. The table below describes how certain events that happened between 1933 and 1934 gave Hitler the opportunity to consolidate power.

Events and results 1933-1934

Event	Result
Reichstag fire	Hitler used the fire to his advantage in two ways: It gave him an opportunity to imprison many communist leaders, which stopped them campaigning during the election. It allowed the Nazis to say that the country was in danger from the communists during its election campaign. Both these actions helped the Nazis to win more seats in the election. When the courts convicted Dutch Communist van der Lubbe, but did not convict other Communist leaders, Hitler was furious and replaced the courts with the Nazi People's Courts.
General election	Although it did not give the Nazis the majority that Hitler had hoped for in the Reichstag, it gave them enough seats - after Hitler had arrested all the communist deputies and the other parties had been intimidated by the SA - to get the Enabling Act passed, which is all Hitler needed to do.
Enabling Act	Arguably the critical event - it gave Hitler absolute power to make his laws.
Local government	This put the Nazis in control of local government, and allowed the Gestapo to rule by terror.
Trade unions	Abolishing the trade unions allowed Hitler to destroy a group that might have opposed him. It also gave Hitler the opportunity to set up the German Labour Front, which gave him control over German workers.
Concordat	Hitler's agreement with the Pope was a temporary truce that allowed Hitler to ban the Catholic Zentrum party without opposition from the Catholic Church.
Political parties	Banning political parties made Germany a one-party state and destroyed democracy in the country. After this action, Germans could no longer get rid of Hitler in an election.
People's Courts	These were set up to give Hitler greater control over the judgements made in courts. Hitler was furious because the courts did not sentence the communists to death for starting the Reichstag fire.
Night of the Long Knives	This destroyed all opposition within the Nazi Party. It gave power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was.
Führer	This formally made Hitler the absolute ruler of Germany.

Many historians believe that Nazi Germany only appeared to be a dictatorship. In fact, officials were left to make most of the decisions themselves, and the Nazi government was badly-organised, and chaotic.

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