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Sean Lauterbach's List: The Reichstag Fire

  • Feb 22, 12

    On the day the Reichstag building was burned down, German history had forever been altered, foreshadowing the beginning of the third Reich. Upon first hearing about the smoldering, Adolf Hitler had described the fire as a beacon from heaven, believing this to be the beginning of a great epoch in German history. Hitler had immediately blamed the Communists for this event, saying they would go to such lengths to achieve more power and inflict fear in the nation. A Dutch Communist by the name of Van der Lubbe was later arrested and charged guilty for setting the building on fire. It is still unsure whether the Communists committed the act or if it was a huge conspiracy, but Hitler had used this event to his advantage to rise up and become leader of his nation.

  • Common Knowledge

    The Reichstag Fire happened in February, 1933. It lead to the rise of Hitler as chancellor and dictator of Germany. He had annexed Austria and prepared Germany for war. The burning of the Reichstag had also led up longterm to the beginning of the second world war, as it had given Adolf Hitler full control and dictatorship over Germany.

  • Feb 21, 12

    On February 27th, a fire began that demolished the Reichstag building. Even though it was blamed on the communists, many historians believe it was planned by the Nazis as a way to gain power and control over Germany. After Hitler had been appointed chancellor, he had passed the "Enabling Law', stripping basic civil and human rights for four years. The Nazi party also created the Gestapo, or secret state police to hunt down enemies and opponents of the government. Hitler also assumed the title Führer. He had also began to prepare Germany for war by mobilizing it and openly violating the Treaty of Versailles.

    Hoffman, Peter. The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book publications, 2009. Pages 267-268

  • Feb 17, 12

    "The History Place - Rise of Hitler: The Reichstag Burns." The History Place. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

    www.historyplace.com/...burns.htm Hilter burns rise place history hitler

    • At first glance, Hitler described the fire as a beacon from heaven.

      • Hitler had seen the burning as a way to gain power.

    • "You are now witnessing the beginning of a great epoch in German history...

      • Hitler had not seen this event as something negative, but rather as his chance to shine and rise up.

      • "The History Place - Rise of Hitler: The Reichstag Burns." The History Place. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

      • 1 more sticky notes...

  • Feb 22, 12

    "The Reichstag Fire Of 1933." Essortment. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

    www.essortment.com/reichstag-fire-1933-47198.html fire

    • The following day, Chancellor Hitler took the radical steps of denying all legal guarantees of personal liberty, freedom of speech and the right of assembly by official decree. This step sent a shiver up many Berlin spines, as the people saw the destroyed Reichstag building as a symbol of the death of German democracy.

      • The Enabling Act stripped civilians of many rights, and people soon came to realize how very different this new era was going to be.

  • Feb 17, 12

    "Nazi Germany - The Reichstag Fire." Nazi Germany. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

    www.historyonthenet.com/...reichstag_fire.htm germany nazi fire

    • The Nazi Party were the largest party in the Reichstag but did not have a clear  majority, elimination of the Communist party would give them a clear majority

    • Without Communist opposition the Nazi Party gained 44% of the vote in the March  1933 elections. The German National People's Party, who supported the Nazi Party  gained 8% of the vote. This gave Hitler a majority in the Reichstag.

       

       With a majority in the Reichstag Hitler was able to pass the Enabling Act 23rd  March 1933. The Enabling Act gave Hitler the power to pass laws independently of  the Reichstag for a period of 4 years. This effectively made him Dictator of  Germany.

       

      In July 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe, Ernst Torgler, Georgi Dimitrov, Blagoi Popov, and Vassil Tanev  were tried on a charge of arson and attempting to overthrow the government. Van  der Lubbe, who confessed to the crime, was found guilty but the others were  aquitted as there was insufficient evidence against them. Marinus van der Lubbe  was beheaded on 10th January 1934.

      • Since the Nazis had blamed the communists for this action, many were tried guilty and executed.

      • Hitler had acquired the power he had wanted to have, and could basically do whatever he wanted. He passed the Enabling Act, making him dictator of Germany.

      • 2 more sticky notes...

  • Feb 17, 12

    For the Nazis, who had been in power less than a month, since January 30, 1933, the Reichstag fire was the excuse for a hitherto unparalleled persecution of Communist and Social Democratic workers, intellectuals and party leaders. On February 28, 1933 alone, just one day after the fire, thousands of persons active in, or allied with, the workers movement were arrested. The first to be arrested also included writers Egon Erwin Kisch, Ludwig Renn and Carl von Ossietzky, later murdered by the Nazis in a concentration camp.

    www.wsws.org/...reic-j05.shtml fire

      • "World Socialist Web Site." The Reichstag Fire, 68 Years on. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

      • This fire was used as an excuse for the Nazi Party to gain control of the parliamnet

  • Feb 22, 12

    The significance of the burning was huge. This event alone led to the end of the old Germany up to Hitler’s rise and the power and influence he exerted upon the people. The burning of the Reichstag Fire was the main cause for the beginning of World War II, with Hitler gaining control over Germany. Even if the Nazis found other ways to dominate the country, instead of using the Reichstag to their advantage, they would have surely come into power one way or another, but since this tragic event did unfortunately happen, it became forever embodied in the explanations of World War II. Like the spark that had started World War I, with Franz Ferdinand being murdered, the Reichstag Fire was the spark of World War II.

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