0:00:00.492,0:00:02.235 Narrator: Where we left[br]off in the last video, 0:00:02.235,0:00:05.077 in 1924, Hitler was in jail, 0:00:05.077,0:00:07.535 his famous coup d'état in 1923, 0:00:07.535,0:00:10.070 his famous Beer Hall Putsched[br]in Munich had failed. 0:00:10.070,0:00:12.740 He's now in jail, he's writing Mein Kampf. 0:00:12.740,0:00:15.404 When he gets out of jail, so[br]this is when he's in jail, 0:00:15.404,0:00:18.891 the Nazi party is banned[br]and a lot of the economic 0:00:18.891,0:00:21.898 turmoil that made the[br]possibility of overthrowing 0:00:21.898,0:00:24.515 the government more[br]likely, that we saw in the 0:00:24.515,0:00:27.251 early 20's, that hyperinflation[br]in Weimar Germany, 0:00:27.251,0:00:29.533 this was now under[br]control by the time Hitler 0:00:29.533,0:00:30.412 comes out of jail. 0:00:30.412,0:00:33.200 They had issued new currency,[br]it was far more stable. 0:00:33.200,0:00:36.412 To a certain degree the[br]Nazi's and Hitler were 0:00:36.412,0:00:39.747 starting from scratch,[br]although even at this point 0:00:39.747,0:00:43.497 Hitler continues to be an[br]ever growing influence. 0:00:43.497,0:00:45.934 He's a famous speaker,[br]there are more and more 0:00:45.934,0:00:47.748 people who are knowing about him 0:00:47.748,0:00:48.908 and who are following him. 0:00:48.908,0:00:51.202 Over the next few years[br]his book does get published 0:00:51.202,0:00:54.204 and it sells, actually,[br]tens of thousands of copies 0:00:54.204,0:00:56.996 over the next several[br]years, but for the most part 0:00:56.996,0:01:00.474 he's still a relatively small[br]actor in German politics. 0:01:00.474,0:01:03.829 But then we fast forward[br]as we get to the late 20s, 0:01:03.829,0:01:05.931 the Nazi's are gaining some influence, 0:01:05.931,0:01:08.353 but then in 1929, 0:01:08.353,0:01:09.911 (writing) in 1929, 0:01:09.911,0:01:13.684 you have a global change for the economy 0:01:13.684,0:01:16.531 of the world and that's the beginning of 0:01:16.531,0:01:17.766 The Great Depression. 0:01:17.766,0:01:20.665 In particular, what's often the first sign 0:01:20.665,0:01:22.744 that The Great Depression[br]was at hand is you have 0:01:22.744,0:01:26.989 the U.S. stock market[br]crashes in October of 1929, 0:01:26.989,0:01:28.550 famous Black Tuesday. 0:01:28.550,0:01:30.509 That was the mark of the beginning of a, 0:01:30.509,0:01:31.925 not just American Depression, 0:01:31.925,0:01:33.727 but a global depression. 0:01:33.727,0:01:39.992 So you have the whole world[br]going into a depression. 0:01:39.992,0:01:42.658 Anytime you have economic[br]turmoil it tends give more 0:01:42.658,0:01:44.854 energy to the more extreme parties, 0:01:44.854,0:01:46.851 whether it is the parties like the Nazi's, 0:01:46.851,0:01:49.929 who one could consider maybe to be on the 0:01:49.929,0:01:51.145 extreme right, or often considered to be 0:01:51.145,0:01:53.337 on the extreme right,[br]or maybe you could say 0:01:53.337,0:01:55.268 very nationalistic, or even the extreme 0:01:55.268,0:01:57.932 left parties who are obviously against 0:01:57.932,0:02:01.428 capitalist systems and whatever else. 0:02:01.428,0:02:04.220 So, by the election of 1930,[br]now we're talking about 0:02:04.220,0:02:06.267 Parliamentary elections and the Parliament 0:02:06.267,0:02:09.471 in Germany is the Reichstag. 0:02:09.471,0:02:12.204 (writing) The Reichstag, and I know 0:02:12.204,0:02:13.338 I'm mispronouncing it. 0:02:13.338,0:02:16.535 In the Reichstag[br]elections, the Nazi party, 0:02:16.535,0:02:19.021 for the first time is able to[br]have a significant showing. 0:02:19.021,0:02:23.616 It gets 18, it gets[br]roughly 18% of the vote 0:02:23.616,0:02:27.464 and a proportional[br]representation in the Parliament. 0:02:27.464,0:02:29.598 Now all of a sudden, this[br]kind of marks the beginning 0:02:29.598,0:02:32.761 of the Nazi's being significant, 0:02:32.761,0:02:36.430 significant players in German politics. 0:02:36.430,0:02:38.803 Then we get to 1932 and the economy is not 0:02:38.803,0:02:40.534 improving, it is only getting worse. 0:02:40.534,0:02:42.337 (writing) 1932. 0:02:42.337,0:02:45.873 Adolf Hitler actually[br]makes a run for President. 0:02:45.873,0:02:47.460 The current President at that point 0:02:47.460,0:02:50.144 is Paul von Hindenburg,[br]famous for the Hindenburg 0:02:50.144,0:02:52.562 line, later for the Hindenburg, 0:02:52.562,0:02:55.678 the Zeppelin, the famous[br]exploding Zeppelin disaster. 0:02:55.678,0:02:58.536 He was, with Ludendorff,[br]one of the two leaders 0:02:58.536,0:03:01.666 of the German military[br]effort during World War I. 0:03:01.666,0:03:05.681 He's President of the[br]Weimar Republic since 1925 0:03:05.681,0:03:09.078 and in 1932 he is able to get re-election, 0:03:09.078,0:03:13.070 but Hitler has a fairly good showing. 0:03:13.070,0:03:15.664 Hitler is able to get 35% of the vote. 0:03:15.664,0:03:20.587 (writing) Hitler gets[br]35% of the presidential 0:03:20.587,0:03:23.366 election votes, (writing) of the vote. 0:03:23.366,0:03:25.904 The Weimar Republic had[br]this strange system. 0:03:25.904,0:03:28.535 It wasn't quite a Presidential[br]system like the U.S. 0:03:28.535,0:03:30.671 and it wasn't quite a[br]pure Parliamentary system 0:03:30.671,0:03:32.747 like the current-day Germany. 0:03:32.747,0:03:34.940 The President was independently elected 0:03:34.940,0:03:36.724 and had some powers,[br]and then the Parliament 0:03:36.724,0:03:38.203 was also independently elected 0:03:38.203,0:03:40.193 and then they would[br]try to build coalitions 0:03:40.193,0:03:42.116 to have a ruling government. 0:03:42.116,0:03:45.866 Needless to say, 1932[br]Hitler is now a major actor, 0:03:45.866,0:03:49.056 the Nazi's also have a many, many, many 0:03:49.056,0:03:50.669 seats in Parliament. 0:03:50.669,0:03:53.329 Now, you have several[br]Parliamentary elections 0:03:53.329,0:03:56.924 as well in 1932 and as[br]we just talked about 0:03:56.924,0:03:58.129 two in particular. 0:03:58.129,0:04:00.945 In order for a government[br]to form in Parliament, 0:04:00.945,0:04:03.192 in order to find the[br]Cabinet and the Chancellor, 0:04:03.192,0:04:04.791 who essentially is the Prime Minister, 0:04:04.791,0:04:07.193 you have an election and[br]the different parties 0:04:07.193,0:04:09.589 get different amounts of votes. 0:04:09.589,0:04:13.169 If no party has a majority,[br]the parties have to form 0:04:13.169,0:04:15.562 a coalition that can make a majority. 0:04:15.562,0:04:17.270 There's a lot of horsetrading going on 0:04:17.270,0:04:19.617 with parties negotiating,[br]hey why don't we form 0:04:19.617,0:04:21.361 a coalition with each other, if we do that 0:04:21.361,0:04:23.205 maybe someone from my party can be 0:04:23.205,0:04:26.022 Minister of the Interior,[br]someone of your party 0:04:26.022,0:04:28.586 could be the Chancellor[br]and maybe we can get 0:04:28.586,0:04:32.520 a coalition together to[br]rule over the government. 0:04:32.520,0:04:34.452 But you have two Parliamentary elections 0:04:34.452,0:04:37.340 and no majority coalition forms. 0:04:37.340,0:04:40.075 (writing) So, two, two elections. 0:04:40.075,0:04:41.683 So this is Parliamentary. 0:04:41.683,0:04:43.253 So this is in the Presidential election, 0:04:43.253,0:04:44.916 Hindenburg is still President, 0:04:44.916,0:04:48.134 but Hitler has a good[br]showing and then you have two 0:04:48.134,0:04:49.852 Parliamentary elections. 0:04:49.852,0:04:51.163 (writing) Parliament elections, 0:04:51.163,0:04:54.554 or Reichstag elections[br]where you have no majority, 0:04:54.554,0:04:55.454 no coalition. 0:04:55.454,0:05:00.249 (writing) no majority, majority coalition. 0:05:00.249,0:05:02.648 The Nazi's continue to[br]be a major actor here, 0:05:02.648,0:05:06.513 they continue to have[br]more and more of a showing 0:05:06.513,0:05:08.917 inside the Reichstag. 0:05:08.917,0:05:12.225 Then by 1933 it's a bit of crisis. 0:05:12.225,0:05:15.022 So as we get in to early[br]1933 we have a little 0:05:15.022,0:05:16.241 bit of a crisis. 0:05:16.241,0:05:19.323 We have no government,[br]we have no Chancellor, 0:05:19.323,0:05:23.156 we have no Cabinet to[br]essentially be the executive, 0:05:23.156,0:05:26.297 the government of the[br]country because there's been 0:05:26.297,0:05:27.762 no major coalitions. 0:05:27.762,0:05:30.859 The Weimar Constitution[br]allowed a strange thing, 0:05:30.859,0:05:35.395 it allowed the President[br]to appoint a government, 0:05:35.395,0:05:38.930 appoint a Cabinet, a[br]Chancellor that might not 0:05:38.930,0:05:40.605 even be representative of what's 0:05:40.605,0:05:42.284 going on in Parliament. 0:05:42.284,0:05:45.648 So, Paul von Hindenburg[br]is convinced that ... 0:05:45.648,0:05:50.746 hey look, he was no fan, he[br]was no fan of Adolf Hitler 0:05:50.746,0:05:52.654 but he's convinced that look, 0:05:52.654,0:05:55.412 Adolf Hitler was your opponent if you make 0:05:55.412,0:05:58.631 Adolf Hitler the head of[br]an interim Government, 0:05:58.631,0:06:01.428 the head of an interim[br]Cabinet then that might 0:06:01.428,0:06:03.630 be a way to create some national unity 0:06:03.630,0:06:05.869 and then maybe we could[br]have some Parliamentary 0:06:05.869,0:06:08.910 elections that there can[br]be a majority coalition 0:06:08.910,0:06:10.441 and you could have, I guess you could say, 0:06:10.441,0:06:13.404 a more legitimate government take hold. 0:06:13.404,0:06:15.866 So, Paul von Hindenburg is convinced 0:06:15.866,0:06:19.741 and so he does, even[br]though the Nazi's are still 0:06:19.741,0:06:22.488 a minority party, even[br]though they weren't part of 0:06:22.488,0:06:24.010 any type of a majority coalition, 0:06:24.010,0:06:27.122 Paul von Hindenburg who is[br]not a fan of Adolf Hitler 0:06:27.122,0:06:29.133 appoints him as Chancellor. 0:06:29.133,0:06:30.943 This is in January. 0:06:30.943,0:06:33.693 So in January, Hitler, 0:06:33.693,0:06:37.377 (writing) Hitler is appointed Chancellor, 0:06:37.377,0:06:39.749 Chancellor, which is[br]essentially the Prime Minister 0:06:39.749,0:06:44.873 of the Reichstag of Germany. 0:06:44.873,0:06:47.465 Then we get to February[br]and events get really, 0:06:47.465,0:06:49.586 really, really interesting. 0:06:49.586,0:06:55.178 In February of 1933 you have a fire in the 0:06:55.178,0:06:56.941 Reichstag building in Berlin. 0:06:56.941,0:06:59.028 This is the Reichstag[br]building right over here 0:06:59.028,0:07:01.853 and it is on fire. 0:07:01.853,0:07:03.587 They find this gentleman[br]here on the scene, 0:07:03.587,0:07:07.551 Marinus van der Lubbe,[br]he is a Dutch communist. 0:07:07.551,0:07:09.385 It is essentially the blame is placed 0:07:09.385,0:07:11.614 as this was some type[br]of a, the beginning of 0:07:11.614,0:07:13.972 some type of a communist revolution. 0:07:13.972,0:07:16.333 This is used as a pretext. 0:07:16.333,0:07:19.027 Hitler then advises Paul von Hindenburg 0:07:19.027,0:07:21.532 to essentially use some[br]of his emergency powers 0:07:21.532,0:07:24.194 as President, which is[br]another strange thing 0:07:24.194,0:07:25.890 that the Weimar Constitution allowed for, 0:07:25.890,0:07:28.275 it allowed the President[br]under emergency conditions 0:07:28.275,0:07:30.600 to start to suspend civil rights. 0:07:30.600,0:07:32.443 This was an emergency situation 0:07:32.443,0:07:35.623 and so Paul von Hindenburg does that. 0:07:35.623,0:07:38.797 He essentially issues ...[br]once you have the Reichstag 0:07:38.797,0:07:42.698 fire (writing) Reichstag fire, 0:07:42.698,0:07:45.840 and then Hindenburg is[br]convinced by the Nazi's 0:07:45.840,0:07:50.496 to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree. 0:07:50.496,0:07:54.916 (writing) Fire decree,[br]which essentially suspends, 0:07:54.916,0:07:56.951 it gives the government emergency powers 0:07:56.951,0:08:00.535 and it suspends civil liberties,[br]which everything up to 0:08:00.535,0:08:02.280 this point now is actually legal, 0:08:02.280,0:08:04.040 this was actually allowed for in the 0:08:04.040,0:08:05.303 Weimar Constitution. 0:08:05.303,0:08:10.596 (writing) Suspends, suspends[br]civil, civil liberties. 0:08:10.596,0:08:13.145 And since there's no[br]coalition, the whole point that 0:08:13.145,0:08:15.572 Hitler's Cabinet was going[br]to be an interim one, 0:08:15.572,0:08:18.272 you have another Parliamentary election 0:08:18.272,0:08:21.722 coming in March with the hope of maybe 0:08:21.722,0:08:24.722 a majority coalition forms, but that March 0:08:24.722,0:08:27.252 election, especially with[br]civil liberties suspended 0:08:27.252,0:08:29.329 you could imagine that the Nazi's ... 0:08:29.329,0:08:33.071 and they have their paramilitary troopers 0:08:33.071,0:08:35.249 started intimidating other parties, 0:08:35.249,0:08:37.795 making sure that they had a better showing 0:08:37.795,0:08:39.666 at the polls, they started intimidating 0:08:39.666,0:08:40.935 other candidates. 0:08:40.935,0:08:43.662 The March election start to swing hugely 0:08:43.662,0:08:46.323 in the Nazi's favor, so[br]in the March election 0:08:46.323,0:08:50.744 they're able to get 44% of the vote, 0:08:50.744,0:08:53.221 which is still not enough, by themselves, 0:08:53.221,0:08:54.464 to form a government. 0:08:54.464,0:08:56.099 It's still not a majority,[br]but they're able now ... 0:08:56.099,0:08:59.244 they're now the largest[br]part in the Reichstag, 0:08:59.244,0:09:00.288 in the Parliament. 0:09:00.288,0:09:02.328 They're able to now form[br]a majority coalition, 0:09:02.328,0:09:04.408 and I guess you could[br]say more legitimately ... 0:09:04.408,0:09:08.325 although this was a[br]election of intimidation, 0:09:08.325,0:09:12.074 they were able to now form a government, 0:09:12.074,0:09:13.466 they're able to now form a government 0:09:13.466,0:09:15.553 based on a majority coalition 0:09:15.553,0:09:18.267 and Hitler remains Chancellor. 0:09:18.267,0:09:21.804 But then, this new Parliament passes the 0:09:21.804,0:09:23.971 Enabling Act in March. 0:09:23.971,0:09:27.883 (writing) Enabling Act, Enabling Act, 0:09:27.883,0:09:29.497 which is essentially an amendment 0:09:29.497,0:09:34.977 to the Weimar Constitution[br]which gives the Cabinet, 0:09:34.977,0:09:37.151 especially the Chancellor,[br]effectively the Chancellor 0:09:37.151,0:09:38.523 who's the head of the Cabinet, 0:09:38.523,0:09:41.805 legislative powers,[br]unlimited legislative powers 0:09:41.805,0:09:43.553 for the next four years. 0:09:43.553,0:09:46.480 So, it gives legislative powers 0:09:46.480,0:09:47.964 and remember we already have suspended 0:09:47.964,0:09:48.672 civil rights. 0:09:48.672,0:09:50.926 So, the Reichstag is[br]essentially giving over the 0:09:50.926,0:09:52.515 legislative powers, 0:09:52.515,0:09:57.995 (writing) legislative[br]powers, to the Chancellor 0:09:57.995,0:10:01.566 who happens to be, who[br]happens to be Hitler. 0:10:01.566,0:10:03.888 There was some check on[br]this by the President, 0:10:03.888,0:10:06.615 but then we have Hindenburg[br]dying the next year. 0:10:06.615,0:10:10.538 After this, after the[br]suspension of civil rights 0:10:10.538,0:10:12.971 and then the Enabling[br]Act shortly afterwards, 0:10:12.971,0:10:14.935 Hitler is essentially in full control, 0:10:14.935,0:10:17.781 Hitler and the Nazi's are[br]essentially in full control 0:10:17.781,0:10:19.381 of the German government. 0:10:19.381,0:10:22.275 At this point, Hitler is the dictator, 0:10:22.275,0:10:26.391 (writing) the dictator of, he[br]is the dictator of Germany. 0:10:26.391,0:10:28.756 They start to act fast,[br]they start to intimidate 0:10:28.756,0:10:30.792 other parties, they use violence, 0:10:30.792,0:10:36.044 they start to imprison[br]people and by July of 1933 0:10:36.044,0:10:40.417 ... so they're acting very,[br]very fast, by July of 1933 0:10:40.417,0:10:43.317 Nazi's are the only legal party. 0:10:43.317,0:10:47.004 (writing) only legal Pot party 0:10:47.004,0:10:49.378 and they essentially have full control. 0:10:49.378,0:10:51.274 Now, this is how Hitler came to power 0:10:51.274,0:10:53.053 and the question that's probably circling 0:10:53.053,0:10:55.414 in your mind is, "Who did this fire?" 0:10:55.414,0:10:57.200 This fire was the catalyst,[br]although Hitler was 0:10:57.200,0:10:59.161 already Chancellor and[br]maybe he would have found 0:10:59.161,0:11:00.871 some way to get to power regardless, 0:11:00.871,0:11:03.750 but this fire, even[br]though there was evidence 0:11:03.750,0:11:05.703 that it looked like maybe[br]Marinus van der Lubbe 0:11:05.703,0:11:08.091 did it, it was blamed on the communist, 0:11:08.091,0:11:09.967 it was the pretext that was used to give 0:11:09.967,0:11:12.348 the government even more power, 0:11:12.348,0:11:14.722 especially the Nazi's even more power. 0:11:14.722,0:11:16.476 This is an open question,[br]one of those great 0:11:16.476,0:11:19.278 open questions, one of[br]those great open questions 0:11:19.278,0:11:20.301 of history. 0:11:20.301,0:11:22.414 Some people feel that maybe it was just a 0:11:22.414,0:11:26.476 communist plot, maybe it[br]was Marinus van der Lubbe 0:11:26.476,0:11:29.145 acting on his own and maybe[br]it just happened to fall 0:11:29.145,0:11:32.439 into the hands of Hitler and[br]they were able to use it, 0:11:32.439,0:11:34.934 while other historians[br]think that this was actually 0:11:34.934,0:11:38.200 a plot by the Nazi's to[br]create this emergency state 0:11:38.200,0:11:41.155 and Marinus van der Lubbe[br]was kind of a puppet 0:11:41.155,0:11:42.480 in this whole plot. 0:11:42.480,0:11:45.897 So, open question of[br]history, but needless to say 0:11:45.897,0:11:50.226 as we go from 1919 to[br]1933, Hitler goes from 0:11:50.226,0:11:55.574 a fairly unknown individual[br]to full dictator of Germany.