The Reichstag fire in 1933 allowed Hitler to pass legislation that made him a dictator, sparking debate over who started the fire. The suspect was a Communist, but some believe the Nazis may have started it.
The Reichstag fire was an arson attack that played a pivotal role in the history of 20th-century Germany. This fire was used as a pretext for the Nazi Party to gain control of Germany, with Adolf Hitler taking advantage of the event to pass several pieces of legislation which effectively allowed him to become a dictator, despite the fact that Germany was technically a country democratic republic. Because fire played such an important role in the Nazi rise to power, it has been scrutinized by numerous historians.
In the German government of 1933, the Reichstag was the German parliament. Parliament met in a central building known as the Reichstag building, located in Berlin. On February 27, 1933, not long after Hitler had been appointed chancellor, a fire broke out in the building late at night. Firefighters were called and responded quickly, but the fire was out of control and had gutted the building, rendering it unusable. A Dutch man, Marinus van der Lubbe, was found in the building and proudly proclaimed that he set the fire as a political act.
The suspect’s Communist affiliations have led some people to conclude that the fire was actually a Communist plot, part of a ploy to take over Germany. The Nazis took advantage of this, pushing for more Nazis to be elected to the Reichstag, arguing that only they could protect Germany. This in turn led to the passage of the Act of Delegation, which allowed the German government to pass laws without the consent or participation of the Reichstag.
Soon after the Reichstag fire, Hitler pushed for the passage of the Reichstag Fire Decree, which severely curtailed civil liberties for the German people. The decree was meant to be a temporary measure to protect Germany from external threats, but it also happened to easily remove opposition to the Nazi Party, setting the stage for Hitler to take control of the German government.
The origins of the Reichstag fire continue to be debated. Marinus van der Lubbe probably started the fire, but he may have been working alone, not in collusion with the communists. It’s also possible that someone else started the fire and took the credit, and specifically that the Nazis started the fire and framed him. If the Nazis were not involved, the Reichstag fire certainly occurred at a convenient time for them, and if they were, it was a coldly calculated act that had very serious repercussions for Germany.
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