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P1253037275ZjYdL
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... presidential succession as well as the Enabling Act of 1933 which forbade Hitler ... of registered voters went to the polls, and 98.8% voted 'yes' to the ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation
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Title: P1253037275ZjYdL
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The fuehrers democratic weapon
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What is a plebiscite?
- Easy, a plebiscite is a referendum!
- Okay, a referendum is where a vote takes place on
a particular question e.g. Do you agree that I
am the rightful Fuehrer of Germany? - So, a plebscite could be described as being a
democratic weapon because it can be democratic,
or in Hitlers case it can appear to be
democratic.
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There were four major referendums that Hitler
conducted
- The first was on Nov. 12, 1933, in which the
German people were called upon to ratify Hitler's
decision to withdraw from the Geneva Disarmament
Conference and the League of Nations. Ninety-six
percent of registered voters turned out to vote,
and 95 of them ratified the withdrawal. It was
even reported, that 2,154 of 2,242 inmates at the
Dachau concentration camp voted "yes" to
withdrawal!
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Now we are going to focus on the second of these
plebiscites in detail.
- In 1934, after the Night of the Long Knives,
nothing stood between Hitler and absolute power
in Germany, except 87-year-old German President
Paul von Hindenburg, who now lay close to death
at his country estate in East Prussia.
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- Hitler, of course, decided that he should succeed
Hindenburg, but not as president, instead as
Führer (supreme leader) of the German people.
Although he was already called Führer by members
of the Nazi Party and popularly by the German
public, Hitler's actual government title at this
time was simply Reich Chancellor of Germany. So
on August 2nd 1934 Hitler passed a law making
himself undisputed dictator of Germany Der
Führer
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- The law was technically illegal since it violated
provisions of the German constitution concerning
presidential succession as well as the Enabling
Act of 1933 which forbade Hitler from altering
the presidency. But that didn't matter much
anymore. Nobody raised any objections. Hitler
himself was becoming the law.
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- Immediately following the announcement of the new
Führer law, the German Officer Corps and every
individual soldier in the German Army was made to
swear a brand new oath of allegiance - "I swear by God this sacred oath I will render
unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the
Führer of the German Reich and people, Supreme
Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready
as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time
for this oath."
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- The unprecedented oath was to Hitler personally,
not the German state or constitution, as were
previous Army oaths. Obedience to Hitler would
now be regarded as a sacred duty by all men in
uniform, in accordance with their military code
of honor, thus making the German Army the
personal instrument of the Führer.
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- On August 7, during Hindenburg's elaborate State
funeral, General Werner von Blomberg, caught up
in the pomp and circumstance of the moment,
offered to have the Army officially refer to
Hitler as "Mein Führer" instead of the customary
"Herr Hitler." Hitler immediately accepted
Blomberg's offer. - After the funeral, the Nazis prepared to hold a
nationwide vote (plebiscite) giving the German
people an opportunity to express their approval
of the Führer's new powers and thus legitimize
Hitler's position in the eyes of the world.
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- The Nazis published Hindenburg's alleged
political testament giving an account of his
years of service to the Fatherland and containing
complimentary references to Hitler. The testament
was almost certainly Nazi forgery and was
skillfully used as part of the intensive
propaganda campaign to get a big 'Yes' vote for
Hitler in the coming plebiscite.
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- On August 19, about 95 percent of registered
voters in Germany went to the polls and gave
Hitler 38 million "Ja" votes (90 percent of the
vote). Thus Hitler could now claim he was Führer
of the German nation with the overwhelming
approval of the people. - By using a plebiscite, Hitler, at long last, had
achieved total power in Germany.
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- Two weeks later, during the annual Nazi rally at
Nuremberg, the Führer's grand proclamation was
read "The German form of life is definitely
determined for the next thousand years.."
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- Hitler had summoned movie director Leni
Riefenstahl to film the 1934 Nuermburg Rally. Her
film, "Triumph of the Will," ensured that
Hitlers assumption of total power was a
propaganda success.
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So Hitler used two more major plebiscites The
third plebiscite was held on March 29, 1936, for
the purpose of ratifying Hitler's military
occupation of the Rhineland, which, according to
the Treaty of Versailles, was to have remained
demilitarized. 99 of registered voters went to
the polls, and 98.8 voted "yes" to the
occupation. The fourth plebiscite was held on
April 10, 1938, in order to ratify Hitler's
Anschluss, (annexation) of Austria. Over 99 of
registered voters voted "yes" on that
question. For Hitler plebiscites were a useful
method of claiming popular support. While there
is no doubt that Hitler was very popular in
Germany for much of his rule, the historian
treats such evidence with a degree of caution -
why?
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