Which of the following was of greater importance for the creation of the Nazi dictatorship in 1933-4?
i. The use of violence and terror
ii. The sympathy of the conservative elites.
The use of violence and terror was of greater importance for the creation of the Nazi dictatorship. This is because whilst the sympathy of conservative was very important concerning the creation of the Nazi dictatorship, in comparison it was not as important. The sympathy of conservative elites was important in eliminating the opposition and encouraging violence. To explain, Blomberg and Fritsch encouraged Hitler to eliminate Rohm and the SA. This lead to the Night of Long Knives, showing that whilst sympathy of conservative elites was important, on its own it was not as significant as the violence and terror used by the Nazis. In addition, the collapse of Trade Unions allowed the Nazi party to increase power to the German Labour Front. This was done on the basis that the leaders of Trade Unions thought that they could work with the Nazis, which was a mistake. However their misunderstanding meant that the Nazi party’s power increased which ultimately did help them to create a dictatorship. Additionally, the sympathy of conservative elites meant that the Gestapo could rule by fear, especially in Prussia where Goring could easily abuse his power position in order to benefit the Nazi party and encourage their violence. Although on its own, this was not enough to establish a dictatorship, because of many different instances where power was dissolved from one institution to the Nazis, this ultimately helped them to become and maintain the most powerful party in Germany. This, and the fact that they were able to rid of Communist parties through the use of violence in the Reichstag fire, able to rid of the Catholic party with permission from the Pope and other parties resigning on their own accord, also increased the power. Therefore, the sympathy of conservative elites was important in order to increase the Nazi party’s power and because in some instances it encouraged the violence of the Nazi party, however on its own, in comparison to the use of violence and terror of the Nazi party, it was not as important in creating the Nazi dictatorship.
The main reason for creation of Nazi Dictatorship between 1933-4 was the use of violence and terror by the Nazi party, which can be seen through the election campaign for the 5th March and the Night of the Long Knives. Firstly, the Reichstag fire gave Hitler an opportunity to encourage the ‘Decree for the protection of People and State’ and allowed hundreds of anti-Nazis to get locked up considering that the fire was blamed on a communist. This lead to an election on the...
