Lin Wei received the news of the fire in the Reichstag and remained silent for a long time. Then he quickly gathered the SS and rushed to the Reichstag. An hour later, Lin Wei received Hitler's order and immediately captured the culprit of the arson in the Reichstag. The roaring voice sounded in Lin Wei's ears again, "Lampard, you must capture the leader of the Communist Party. If there is resistance, kill him on the spot."
Lin Wei secretly said, "This is a society where people cannibalize people. Don't blame me." Then he turned around and ordered, "Brothers of the SS, the Führer ordered that all Communist Party members and left-wingers be arrested. If there is any resistance, arrest them on the spot." Kill."
"Loyalty is my only honor, Hi! Hitler" After receiving the order, all members of the SS immediately went into arrest.
According to the order of the leader of the stormtroopers Röhm, all the stormtroopers in Berlin were assembled in just two hours. Two hours after the fire broke out, the National Socialist Party carried out mass arrests and massacres of communists and progressives. . On the night of the 27th alone, 10,000 anti-fascist fighters were arrested. In the next three or four months, the number of arrests reached 60,000 to 70,000. Thälmann, the famous leader of the German labor movement and chairman of the German Communist Party, was illegally arrested. The German fascists also illegally interrogated Dimitrov, a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International and leader of the Bulgarian working class. Dimitrov used the Leipzig court as a platform to righteously expose the National Socialist Party as the real arsonists and waged a heroic struggle against fascism.
The German working class firmly opposed Hitler's revolution, and lightning demonstrations were held in hundreds of towns and cities across the country. A banner like this was hung on the Workers' Street in Dortmund, which read: "Nero (the tyrant of Rome) burned Rome and blamed the Christians; Hitler burned the Reichstag and blamed the Communists!"
The day after the fire, on February 28, Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to sign a decree "for the protection of the people and the country." This decree not only temporarily suspended the implementation of the seven articles guaranteeing personal and civil liberties in the constitution, canceling the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association, but also authorized Hitler to take over all powers of the states when necessary, and to impose certain "serious disturbances" Those who "violate law and order" are sentenced to death.
This was the Germans' first taste of government-sponsored Nazi terror. Vehicles full of stormtroopers rumbled through the streets of various cities in Germany. Without permission, doors were broken into, searches were conducted, and the victims were taken away, thrown into stormtrooper barracks, and tortured. Communist newspapers and political rallies were banned, Social Democratic newspapers and many liberal newspapers were also ordered to cease publication, and mass gatherings were either banned or disrupted.
The National Socialists now have all the power of the national government and the Prussian government at their disposal, and their treasury is fully funded by big business. Therefore, their campaign propaganda in March is unprecedented in German history. For the first time, state-run radio carried the voices of Hitler, Goering and Goebbels to every corner of the country. On the streets decorated with swastika flags, the sound of the boots of stormtroopers can be heard as they file past. There were also countless mass rallies and torchlight processions. The billboards are full of eye-catching posters of the Nazi Party. At night, a bonfire was lit on the top of the mountain. The two-pronged approach of threatening and luring voters, sometimes luring them with German paradise, sometimes threatening them with brown terror on the streets, and sometimes intimidating them with "exposing" the Communist revolution, has put millions of German middle class and peasants in fear. If they do not vote for the National Socialist Party in the election a week later, they will suffer. This opportunity brought out the voters who already supported the National Socialist Party and set off a religious fanaticism. Its overwhelming momentum made all countries Believers in the Socialist Party will never forget it. In this way, on March 5, 1933, the day of the last democratic election in Hitler's life, the Nazis won 17,277,180 votes, accounting for 44% of all votes. But it is still far from the 2/3 majority required to require Congress to pass an "authorization law"!
Hitler tried all his tricks. He believed that this problem could be partially solved by the "absence" of 81 Communist members in the Reichstag, and the remaining problems could be easily solved by not allowing some social democrats to attend. At this time, Hitler was in a high mood and quite confident. Because, according to the February 28 decree that he induced Hindenburg to sign the day after the fire in the Reichstag, he could arrest any number of opposition members at will to ensure his 2/3 majority.
After conspiring with Goebbels, Hitler decided that the opening ceremony of the new Reichstag would be held in the Potsdam Garrison Church. This church is a holy place of Prussianism. In the hearts of many Germans, it can evoke memories of the glory and greatness of the empire, because the body of Frederick the Great is buried here, and all the previous kings of the Hohenzollern dynasty have worshiped here. , the current President Hindenburg also made his first pilgrimage here in 1866. At that time, he was still a young Guards officer and had just returned triumphantly from the Austro-Prussian War that brought Germany the first unification.
It is meaningful to choose March 21 as the grand opening date of the First Reichstag of the Third Reich, because this day happened to be the day when Bismarck presided over the opening of the First Reichstag of the Second Reich in 1871. When the old field marshals who were left over from the imperial era wearing glittering uniforms, and the navy and army generals wearing skull hussars helmets, were led by the former Crown Prince Field Marshal von Mackensen in a majestic uniform. When entering the venue, the spirit of Frederick the Great and the Iron Chancellor was as impressive as before. Hindenburg was obviously greatly moved. Goebbels, who arranged the performance and directed the national broadcast, noticed at one point during the ceremony that the old field marshal had tears in his eyes. The president wore a gray military uniform with a black eagle ribbon on his chest. He held a pointed helmet in one hand and a field marshal's staff in the other. Accompanied by Hitler, who looked a bit restrained in formal attire, he strolled into the venue. He stopped midway to greet the empty audience in the royal gallery. Kaiser Wilhelm II saluted at his seat, and then went to the altar to read a short speech expressing support for Hitler's new government.
Hitler's reply was extremely cunning, designed to impress the sympathy of the assembled representatives of the old order and gain their trust. He said: "Neither the emperor nor the government nor the people want war. It is only the collapse of the country that forces a humiliated nation to violate its extremely sacred beliefs and bear the sin of this war." At this point, he turned around Addressing Hindenburg, who was sitting majestically not far in front, he said: "Thanks to a unique change that has taken place during the past few weeks, our national honor has been restored, and thanks to you, Your Excellency, Army Marshal, a symbol of past greatness and a new strength has been restored." Symbols of unity. We salute you. Thank God that the new strength of our country can be led by you."
In order to show his respect for the president, Hitler stepped down from the podium, bowed deeply in front of Hindenburg, and shook hands with him tightly. At this time, the cameras, movie recorders, and tape recorders arranged by Goebbels all started working at the same time. The flash of magnesium and the roar of the machines recorded the solemn handshake scene between the German Field Marshal and the Austrian corporal symbolizing the unity of new Germany and old Germany. It can be seen and heard across the country and around the world.
After Hitler made dazzling guarantees in Potsdam, the Reichstag discussed and passed the so-called Enabling Act on March 23 at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin. Its official name is the "Law to Eliminate the Suffering of the People and the Country," with only five sections in total. It takes the legislative power, the power to ratify treaties with foreign countries, and the power to amend the constitution from the hands of Congress and transfers it to the cabinet for a period of four years. Additionally, the law stipulates that laws enacted by the cabinet are drafted by the prime minister and can differ from the constitution. But no law shall "affect the standing of Congress." This must be the cruelest travesty in the world.
From March 23, 1933, Hitler became the unfettered dictator of the country. Under Lin Wei's eyes, Germany's most powerful institutions were surrendering to Hitler one after another, disappearing without a word or resistance.
The state governments, which had always insisted on their own separate power throughout German history, were first disbanded and the Nazi regime controlled by Hitler was reorganized. On the night of March 9, two weeks before the Enabling Act was passed, General von Epp, on orders from Hitler and Flick, and with the help of a handful of SA troops, drove out the Bavarian government and established a Nazi regime. less than
Within a week, Hitler had sent state commissioners to take over every other state except Prussia, where Göring was already firmly in control. On March 31, Hitler and Flick invoked the Enabling Act for the first time and announced a law dissolving the parliaments of states other than Prussia and ordering them to be reorganized in proportion to the results of the latest parliamentary election. The Communist Party's seats were left vacant. However, this method was only implemented for a week. The impatient Hitler promulgated another law on April 7, appointing governors of each state. They have the power to appoint and remove local governments, dissolve parliament, and appoint and remove officials and judges in each state. The new governors are all Nazis, and they "must" implement "the new general policy formulated by the prime minister."
Lin Wei benefited a lot from his dazzling actions. No one dared to resist the current Hitler, so Lin Wei had to wonder if Hitler would be able to avenge his shame with just these rags and rice bags.
The winners are princes and the losers are thieves. The losers will be completely swept into the garbage heap of history. It only takes a little time and no one will be able to remember those politicians who once shocked the world. People will only remember the beginning of the election. Then came the era of the Third Reich.
On May 3, 1933, Hugenberg's German National People's Party was renamed the "Deutsche National Front". Prior to this, Franz Selter, the leader of the "Steelhelm", merged the regiment with the National Socialist Party. However, even if Hugenberg canceled the "party" name, it would not help. On June 27, 1933, when he was forced to withdraw from the government, he had to sign a decree disbanding the "Deutsche National Front". A day later, the National Party disappeared from the political scene. On July 4, 1933, the German People's Party dissolved itself. The leader of the party, Dingelldai, wrote a letter of flattery to the fascists, ensuring that members of the People's Party would serve law-abidingly in the Nazi state. On the same day, the Bavarian People's Party similarly declared political suicide.
The Center Party, the largest bourgeois party with 4.3 million votes and 70 parliamentary seats, also tragically dissolved itself. The statement of voluntary dissolution issued on July 5, 1933 did not make any protest against Hitler's continuous reneging on his promises, but only a groveling request not to confiscate the party's property and to release arrested party members. It also issued the following political instructions to its past members and voters: "Today, when we are all working together to rebuild the country and make sincere efforts for the unity of the people, the members of the Central Party will never be content to lag behind, nor will they lag behind. Others."