Hitler celebrates his anniversary

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of the German Reich, which was the official name of Germany during the Weimar Republic. This day is considered the date of the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship. In German historiography, what happened on this day is called by different words - “seizure of power”, “coming to power”, “transfer of power”. The choice of term is determined by the view of the “complicity” of the German people. After the war and until the mid-1980s, they preferred to talk about “seizure,” then they began to more often use the more neutral term “arrival.” Still, Hitler did not stage a putsch and was appointed chancellor by law.

There is a very widespread myth in Russia that Hitler came to power “democratically”, that the voters of the Weimar Republic voted for him and his party. From this it is very convenient to conclude that democracy itself is rubbish, voters are also rubbish, and you shouldn’t trust them. Well, then depending on the circumstances - “thank you, it’s not Hitler” or “just give it to them, they won’t choose something like that for themselves.”

Few people know that with the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany, the same political system was formally preserved in the country; no one even thought of repealing the Weimar Constitution. Its operation was “suspended” on completely legal grounds - after the Reichstag fire, a state of emergency was introduced in the country. The collapse of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich teach many things, including the fact that compliance with the laws of a democratic country in no way guarantees the preservation of either democracy or the rule of law. And that democracy and the rule of law are not so much about following the letter of the law, but about its spirit and adherence to procedure. The Weimar laws, hastily written after the defeat in the First World War - they concerned mainly civil liberties and the political system - no one liked or respected in Germany, so they could be turned this way and that without violating anything particularly. Nobody cared. Another thing is the solid criminal and civil codes adopted back in the days of the Kaiser - in general terms, they are still in effect to this day. Good laws sometimes happen to be written without democracy. But when democracy was abolished in Germany, law was also abolished. This is also an important lesson from the Third Reich.

In the last elections before Hitler's appointment as chancellor (they took place in November 1932), the National Socialists received a third of the votes and just under 30% of the seats in the Reichstag. The Social Democrats and Communists had more in total. For Hitler, this was a significant success - in principle, it roughly reflected the level of support for the National Socialists (or at least their slogans about getting up from your knees and Germany for the Germans) among German voters. The rise of the Nazis was rapid - until 1930 they were absolute political marginals and received about 3% in Reichstag elections. Their first success came in the September 1930 elections - they received 18% and finished second. The leaders were the Social Democrats (24%), the third place was taken by the Communists (13%). A total of 15 parties entered the Reichstag; the left was the strongest group, but neither they nor the right could form a stable majority. This distribution of forces remained until Hitler's appointment as chancellor - coalitions formed and fell apart as a result of political intrigue and behind-the-scenes agreements and had nothing to do with the will of the voters. The formal head of state, conservative and monarchist Paul von Hindenburg, did not like the left and despised the Nazis - he sympathized with the moderate right. As Reich President, he had the power to dissolve parliament and call new elections, and Hindenburg generously used this power in the hope of strengthening the power of his centrist favourites. Elections in Germany happened twice a year, but the desired coalition of right-wing forces did not take shape - when the left weakened, the ultra-right strengthened. Having gained a foothold in the Reichstag, even before the final seizure of power, the Nazis moved on to political terror against communists and social democrats and active intimidation of voters. The party structures of the SS and SA already existed then, long before the National Socialists gained real power.

Hitler's appointment as chancellor was the actual, but not formal, beginning of a dictatorship. This required several more steps - all in full compliance with the law. After the Reichstag fire (the fact that it was a provocation does not matter from a legal point of view) at the end of February 1933, Hindenburg declared a state of emergency in the country and by his decree suspended the operation of some articles of the constitution - primarily on civil rights and freedoms: on freedom words and meetings, about the secrecy of correspondence, the inviolability of home and property. Left parties were virtually destroyed, but not yet formally banned. Under these conditions, in March 1933, the eighth elections in the 14 years of the republic’s existence (and the fifth in three years) were held - but even in them the Nazis received not a majority, but 43.9% of the votes, and the Social Democrats and Communists together received a little more than 30%. . Well, the next elections were already in November, and no opposition parties participated in them anymore. The turnout was 95% (voters were dragged to the ballot boxes by SA militants), 92% voted for the National Socialists. No violations were recorded. The Weimar Constitution remained in force until June 1945, when it was officially abolished by the victorious countries. Some of its articles were included in the Constitution of Germany and are still in force. Among the new articles is Article 20. It proclaims Germany a democratic and social state and guarantees its citizens the right to rebel if law and democracy cannot be protected by other means.