The Enabling Act, formally the Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich, was passed by the German Reichstag shortly after Adolf Hitler became chancellor and the Reichstag fire had given his government a pretext for emergency measures. It gave Hitler's cabinet the power to enact laws without the Reichstag's consent for four years, including laws that departed from the constitution, and in practice ended Weimar democracy. Because it needed a two-thirds majority, the Nazis excluded the arrested Communist deputies and intimidated others by surrounding the Kroll Opera House, where the Reichstag met, with SA and SS men. It passed by 444 votes to 94, with only the Social Democrats voting against. It was renewed several times and became the legal basis of the Nazi dictatorship.
Before and after
- 1933Construction of Sydney Airport
- 1933Origins of Ligue 2
- from 1933 to 1945The Holocaust
- 1933Construction of Lacoste
- 1933Enabling Act of 1933
- 1933Construction of Heydar Aliyev International Airport
- 1933Karl Jansky detects radio waves from the Milky Way
- 1933Fritz Zwicky infers dark matter
- 5 January 1933Death of Calvin Coolidge
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 8 March 1917 to 16 March 1917February Revolution
- 3 March 1923Time
- from 1 August 1927 to 1 May 1950Chinese Civil War
- from 7 July 1937 to 9 September 1945Second Sino-Japanese War
- 7 December 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor
- 1944Golden Globes
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.