Political Effects and Significance of Reichstag Fire. Free Essay Sample.

The destructive fire of the Reichstag building in Berlin became the cause of so many political consequences as it was found out that the fire was caused voluntarily by scattering flammable material on the floor of the building though the person who caused it remained unknown. The fire occurred a few days after Hitler have been chosen a chancellor. One of the political consequences was that the fire led to the suspension of most civil liberties in Germany. People were denied freedom of speech and had no choice in deciding which side to support in politics as they were told what to choose. The Nazi party was a cohort to Hitler who was chosen as the chancellor after the fire and they used the fire as an answer to their problems since they wanted to ascend to power (Roberts, 2006).

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There was political chaos that the communist was trying to overthrow the government and Hitler used that to accuse the communists of having caused the fire publicly and ordered for their arrest. One of the communist members was arrested without any evidence that he was the one who caused the fire. Hitlers main aim was to eliminate his political opponents and the Reichstag fire made it easy for him to succeed in his plans.

The propaganda that went on was another political consequence since so many stories reflected in the news and even in the movies and was all against the communist party. Everyone praised Hitler and people believed that the decision he made about the arrest of the communist member was to the benefit of the nation (Drew, 2014). That Hitler was trying to save the nation and keep it protected always. The propaganda eliminated the communist party from politics since it resulted in the arrest of its member which lowered their strength and their morale too.

The Reichstag fire also led to the imposition of restrictions on the press which is used by political parties to air their views. The decree which was ordered worked effectively to the Nazis group since they were able to define their goals clearly. Their aim was to marginalize the other parties. Hitler and his group were happy since they knew they had succeeded in silencing their opponents by doing that. The communist party which was highly suspected to be the cause of the fire and which was the target of Hitler was silenced.

Another political consequence which resulted from the Reichstag fire was the banning of political parties meetings and marches and the police was ordered to make sure that no meetings were carried out by parties (The Reichstag Fire, 68 years on - World Socialist Web Site, 2016). This was applied to all political parties apart from the ones approved by Nazi party. The political meetings were very important to the party members since it was during the meeting that they discussed the party issues and all their plans made known to every member. By banning the parties meetings, Hitler and his supporters the Nazis knew that they had succeeded in dividing the party members and could not give them a chance to think together and plan together. The banning of political parties also interfered with election campaigns. The political marches which helped in bringing together different parties together and the ideas shared were banned and this weakened the parties structures since their way of communication as interfered with.

The concept of habeas corpus which was legal was also suspended. The concept was the one that protected the rights of people and no one could have been detained without a charge. Suspending the concept meant that people could be detained without charge or trial and no law could protect them. The Hitlers regime detained many people who were considered suspects without charges or prove that they were guilty. This was Hitlers plot of ascending to power. He wanted everything he said to be followed without questioning. The detained people were not to ask for protection from the police and their properties could be in custody too.

The Enabling Act which was passed by the Nazis allowed Hitler the chancellor to rule without considering the Constitution. The act enabled Hitler to govern without reference to the Reichstag. Hitler and his ministers could rule by decree and bypassed the Constitution anyhow. They posed taxes and spending and also had the power to determine the foreign policy and they did all this without the approval of the Reichstag or any legislation (Drew, 2014). The Enabling Act was passed by rigging the votes since the communist members were eliminated by arresting many of them. The Nazis did this because they wanted Hitler to win as they supported him. Hitler had also promised to remove the troublemakers and secure the state by the use of his powers. He did that to convince people to vote for him. A good number of the social democratic members of Reichstag were also arrested to reduce any competition during the voting. Reichstag representatives who were supposed to vote were also threatened and so they did not turn up on that day. Hitler made his way with the help of the Nazis. The Enabling Act made Hitler a dictator since no one had the power to question his actions including the constitution.

The Reichstag fire led to the denial of so many rights of the individuals. The powers that Hitler was interested in consolidating were for his interest. He never used the power to protect the right of ordinary people but only protected the people who supported him. His greed for power came along with so many killing and political assassinations for fear of being thrown away by the groups he felt were his threat. Though he had all the power he had wished to have as he controlled everything, he had no peace and lived with fear and that was what pushed him to kill innocent people every time he thought he was facing a threat from anyone.

The Reichstag fire led to the death of other parties in Germany like the Social Democratic party and the communist party since they were the target for Hitler. Hitler knowing that they were the only existing enemies for him to undertake his plans in being the ruler of Germany, he concentrated so much in frustrating the lives of the party members. He ensured that many of them were arrested and others killed to suppress the opposition he was facing.

All the police investigation was restrained and this had a negative effect on politics of the nation. The communist member who was arrested for a crime of causing the Reichstag fire could not get someone or even an opportunity to prove his innocence. The police who could have investigated the case and find the person who caused the fire were not allowed to do any investigation activities. By doing this, Hitler knew that the evidence was ever concealed something that could have brought the communist party back to its toes in politics. Being the only strong opposition he had he was sure that he had no one to fight him. Many communist members were killed as a result of lack of investigation and that was what Hitler targeted.

The Reichstag fire resulted in the suspension of the right to assembly. People with a specific purpose were not allowed to come together for their meetings. Hitler was controlling everything and the groups were not allowed to discuss anything concerning what had happened something that could have led to coming up with some solutions to the fire incident. The groups were also supporters of some parties for example the social democratic party which involved everyone and by hindering them from having their meetings will mean that some political parties will lose supporters.

Reichstag fire caused the political consequence is the decree which was pronounced and denied people the right to access the media or press. The newspaper and the leaflets were all banned such that there was no news in the country (How significant was the Reichstag fire? - The Holocaust Explained Website, 2014). Press means everything in every country and by denying people access to it meant that the views of the people could not be heard. Nazi was the only party that was allowed to access the press which supported Hitler and they were doing everything to make sure that Hitler wins. People were denied the opportunity to say what they felt since the press was the only way they can be heard even by their president.

The Reichstag fire led to the political assassination. When Hitler overthrew the government after the fire he felt his political friend a member of the SA was his potential threat and this is because his friend always complained about his new style of ruling and he was not comfortable with his leadership. Hitler thought that if he eliminated him, he would have been done by one of his enemies. He went ahead and organized for his assassinations by the army. He also killed other members of the SA whom he considered his potential threats too.

The event was significant to the politics in Germany since it marked the era when Hitler was able to consolidate his power something he had always wished to. The Reichstag fire made it easy for Hitler to achieve his goals with the support of the Nazi party which was his cohorts. Before the event, Adolf Hitler had been appointed the chancellor by the president who never liked him and Hitler was not in good terms with the president too. Hitler wished that he was the one running all the activities in the country something that created enmity between him and the president. This gave him the urge and desire to have the powers to rule the country as a whole (Mage & Tigar, 2016). The event was significant since it opened up peoples minds and eyes to see who Hitler was. The Nazi party had also two individuals whom Hitler felt were a threat to him and having the support of all other members with him he had no fear and was looking for the opportunity to get the powers he wanted. The Reichstag fire became the ladder for him to ascend to whatever height he wished to.

The Reichstag fire was also important to Hitler since it led to the accusation of one of the members of the communist party as the cause of the fire. Hitler used that to destroy and divide the communist party completely. Many communists were arrested and some were killed and others even injured with the order from Adolf Hitler. Hitler went ahead and got a letter which stated that the communists wanted to overthrow the government and also used that to fight them back as the evidence that they were the ones who were involved in causing the fire. Hitler did all this to make sure that the party which was stronger and posed some threat was no more and competition in ascending to the power was reduced.

The Reichstag fire incident and the fact that the communist were the immediate suspects made the incident even more important to Adolf Hitler who used that in persuading President Hindenburg to pass the Enabling Act. When the President approved of the law, this made Hitler even more powerful than before. He had powers to pass decree without consulting the Reichstag house and every decree he passed was the communist and left the communist suffering (Ferguson & Voth, 2008). Hitler never thought of the well-being of the people but only thought of himself. He wanted the good for him. Hitler used the SA and the SS members in threatening anyone standing against the decree he had proposed. A few people who tried to be against were a small number and could not outnumber him and this made him the winner. Hitler now worked without consulting the President or Reichstag and he changed all the power in Reichstag since he saw the Second World War coming.

Reichstag fire was also significance to the Germans since it opened them to the era of dictatorship. The era marked a history in the lives of the Germans as they experienced so much cruelty that they had never experienced before. During that...