After the March election, the German Communist Party was no longer able to carry out any legal activities and could only fight underground. After that, the Social Democratic Party was also banned on June 22. On July 14, Hitler announced with the "Enabling Act": The only political party in Germany is the National Socialist German Workers' Party! From this day on, any organizational combination of other political parties or any activity to establish a new party will be punished by hard labor. punishment. In this way, there is only one "legal" Hitler's party left in Germany, a party that practices the most brutal terror, and the most despicable fascist party that deceives the masses.
Thus, within three months of receiving full power from the Reichstag, Hitler had accomplished what Bismarck, Wilhelm II, and the Weimar Republic had never dared to attempt: he abolished the separate powers of the historic states and vested them in under the central power of the state in his own hands. He truly unified Germany for the first time in its history, destroying its historic federal character. On January 30, 1934, the first anniversary of Hitler's inauguration as chancellor, he promulgated a "National Reconstruction Act" to officially complete this task. This law abolished the "People's Assembly" of each state, transferred the sovereignty of each state to the country, the state government was subordinate to the national government, and the governor of the state was under the jurisdiction of the minister of interior of the national government. The law's preamble declares that the law was "passed by a unanimous vote of Congress." This is not wrong, because by this time, except for the Nazi Party, all political parties and groups in Germany had been wiped out. This one-party totalitarian state was established with almost no resistance within four months after Congress abdicated its democratic responsibilities.
Papen, mocked by history, despite his cunning and scheming, was now completely powerless. He himself was fired from the post of Prussian Chancellor and was replaced by Göring. Although he still holds the position of deputy prime minister in the national government, as he bitterly admitted, "this position is in vain." Hugenberg, the apologist for business and finance, has resigned and his party has been dissolved. Goebbels, the third most powerful figure in the Nazi Party, joined the cabinet on March 13 as Minister of National Education and Propaganda. Hitler had completed the unification of the country and the transfer of power, and many conservative politicians lamented that they had been deceived. But by that time, it was too late for anyone to turn the tide in front of Hitler.
Although Hitler conquered Germany easily, by the time the summer of 1933 came, he still faced many thorny problems to solve.
Although Hitler used his machinations to defeat his political opponents one by one, seized power across the country, and became the supreme dictator in German history; however, when the summer of 1933 came, he still had many problems to solve. Chief among them was the prevention of a "second revolution" and the resolution of the troubling relationship between the SA and the Army.
The slogan "Second Revolution" was coined by Stormtrooper Röhm, who firmly advocated the realization of "Second Revolution". The Nazis destroyed the left, but big business, finance, the nobility, and the Junker landowners still had a firm grip on the Prussian generals in the Army. Röhm, Goebbels and the "radical elements" in the Nazi movement demanded their liquidation. At that time, the stormtroopers under Röhm had grown to about 2 million, almost 20 times the number of the army. In August, Rohm said in a speech: "Today there are still people in official positions who have no understanding of the spirit of the revolution. If they dare to put their reactionary ideas into practice, we will mercilessly punish them." Get rid of it."
However, Hitler had different ideas. In his opinion, the "socialist" slogan of the Nazi Party was nothing more than propaganda and a means to win over the masses on the road to power. Now that he has seized power, he is no longer interested in this slogan. He now needs time to solidify his position and that of the country. For now, he has to curry favor with business, the Army and the president. He did not intend to plunge Germany into chaos and thereby jeopardize the survival of his own regime. There must be no "second revolution" allowed. He made this clear in his speech to the leaders of the SA and SS on July 1. What Germany needs now, he said, is order. "I will crush any attempt to disrupt the existing order as ruthlessly as the so-called 'second revolution', because it will only cause chaos."
Göring regarded Röhm as a thorn in his side, and was always looking for opportunities to overthrow Röhm to consolidate his position. To this end, he found Himmler and exchanged control of his secret police for Himmler's support. Himmler Lai had long wanted to be independent from the SA, but the strength of the SA in the hands of Röhm and the lack of expression of Lampard and Krupp, another powerful figure in the SS army, prevented him from taking any action. Now Röhm After falling out with Hitler, Himmler once again approached Linwei, hoping to cooperate in getting rid of Röhm. After bargaining, Linwei finally agreed to Himmler's help.
What prompted Lin Wei to make the final decision was that the then commander-in-chief Röhm actually wanted to join the army controlled by the officer corps, and proposed to merge the stormtroopers and the Wehrmacht to form the future Wehrmacht. The army expansion had not yet begun, but there were three million soldiers in the country. As members of the SA, Röhm clearly wanted to take the opportunity to eat up the Wehrmacht. The Juncker bosses put pressure on the National Socialist Party through various aspects to prompt Hitler to get rid of Röhm. Lin Wei's Gustav was also putting pressure on Lin Wei. The letter directly asked Lin Wei to find an opportunity to kill Roma. Lin Wei replied in the letter, "Father, please believe me, I will never do anything harmful to the Juncker landlord. Now the fate of Roma is decided." The person in charge is Hitler. As long as Hitler does not express his position, no one in the party's anti-Roma forces will dare to take action. So what we (we refer to Juncker) have to do now is to put pressure on Hitler instead of doing these useless things. As long as Hitler takes a stand, Röhm's fate is already doomed, and Röhm will disappear before long."
Disillusionment was strong among rank-and-file Nazis, and especially among the SA, Hitler's core force in the mass movement. Most of them are among the ranks of the disaffected unemployed, inherently opposed to capitalism because of their own experiences. They believe that by fighting in the streets and contributing to the "revolution", the "revolution" will definitely bring them rewards, whether in companies or in the government, and they should receive generous and generous positions. Their hopes, which had been intoxicated for a time by a burst of excesses in the spring, were dashed. The original people, regardless of whether they are party members or not, will still retain their original positions and have the power of appointment and dismissal.
Both the Wehrmacht and the bourgeoisie, both inside and outside the party, put tremendous pressure on Hitler. Under the tremendous pressure, Hitler still wanted to spare Röhm's life.
The old quarrels between Hitler and Röhm over the status and purpose of the SA had now flared up again. From the beginning of the National Socialist movement, Hitler advocated that the SA should be a political force rather than a military force. They were supposed to provide the violence and terror the National Socialists needed on their way to power. In Röhm's view, the Stormtroopers were not only the backbone of the Nazi revolution, but also the core of the future revolutionary army. The time had come to push aside the reactionary Prussian generals and organize a "revolutionary" army, an army of the "people", led by him and his powerful assistants who conquered the streets of Germany .
This idea is very different from Hitler's idea. He knew better than Röhm or any other Nazi that he could not come to power without the support of the army generals, or at least their acquiescence; at least for the moment, if he was to remain in power, this was partly It depends on the continued support of the army generals, because they still have the actual power to drive him away. Moreover, Hitler also foresaw that in the not too distant future, when the 86-year-old Commander-in-Chief Hindenburg passed away, he would need the Army's personal loyalty to him at this critical moment.
Furthermore, the Nazi leader believed that only the officer corps, with its military traditions and talent, could help him achieve his goal of building a strong and disciplined army in the short term. The stormtroopers are nothing more than a group of thugs and mobs who can only beat and cause trouble in the streets, and have little value in a modern army. Moreover, its mission has now been completed. From now on, it must be strategically removed from the stage of history. Hitler's views and Röhm's views were therefore irreconcilable.
So starting in the summer of 1933, these two veterans of the National Socialist Party and close friends had been engaged in a life-and-death struggle.
After a long period of communication, Hitler finally began to lose confidence in Röhm. Goering and Himmler frequently spoke ill of Röhm in front of Hitler, which made Hitler's impression of Röhm worse and worse. However, after all, Röhm was a member of the country. The existence of the Socialist Party second only to Hitler had to make Hitler wary. Although he was dissatisfied, Hitler still suppressed the matter and continued to deal with matters he considered important.
After Hitler seized power, he secretly made guarantees to the army, thus winning many senior officers to his side. On February 2, 1933, two days after his inauguration, he spoke for two hours to senior army and navy generals at the home of Army Commander-in-Chief General von Hammerstein. Admiral Erich Raeder revealed at the Nuremberg interrogation the gist of Hitler's first meeting with the officer corps. Hitler, he said, had reassured his senior generals and assured them that the Army and Navy could now devote themselves to the primary task of rapid rearmament. Admiral Raeder admitted that he was extremely pleased at the prospect of building a navy. General von Blomberg later said in his memoirs, "The Führer opened up a room for activities that will have endless opportunities in the future." Blomberg hurriedly assumed the position of commander on January 30, 1933, and also This eliminated any intention by the Army to oppose Hitler's appointment as Chancellor.