March 23rd

On this day - March 23rd 1933 - The passing of the "Enabling Act" made Hitler a dictator

The enabling act, or Ermächtigungesetz, which was passed in 1933 was an amendment to the German constitution. The act gave the German Cabinet the power to enact laws without the approval of the Reichstag. Effectively this act gave Adolf Hitler the power to create whichever law he saw fit. The law was passed in the Reichstag, led by Hermann Göring on March 23rd 1933, after ruls of procedures were changed to make it easier to pass the act.

This act, together with the limitations of civil rights after the Reichtags Fire Decree passed in February 1933, made Hitler into the de facto dictator of Germany. The Enabling act was to last for four years before it had to be re-instated by the Reichstag, which was done in

Hitlers speech after the act was passed. From the Bundesarchive. 

November 8th

On this day - 8th November 1923 - The Beer Hall Putsch 

The Beer Hall Putsch that is also known as the Munich Putsch, was a failed coup-attempt by by the Nazi party. The idea was to seize power in Munich in the state of Bavaria. The attempt was two thousand men that gathered in the center of Munich. In the city center they confronted the police. The confrontation led to sixteen Nazis deaths and four policemen. Hitler himself was wounded in the confrontation. The coup attempt was inspired by Mussolini's successful attempt in Rome in October. Two days after the attempt Hitler was arrested and charged with high treason, some of his conspirators were arrested, while some fled to Austria. Hitler was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. He only served 9 months of the sentence and Hitler saw three benefits with the failed attempt. The first benefit was the attention, the second benefit was that he used the time in prison to write "Mein Kampf" and the final benefit was that Hitler realized that the path to power was trough legitimate means.

Bundesarchiv, Bild 119-1486