March 1933 German federal election
Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on January the 30th and just six days after the Reichstag fire. The election saw Nazi stormtroopers unleash a widespread campaign of violence against the Communist Party (KPD), left-wingers, trade unionists, the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. They were the last multi-party elections in a united Germany until 1990. The 1933 election followed the previous year's two elections and Hitler's appointment as Chancellor. In the months before the 1933 election, SA and SS displayed "terror, repression and propaganda... across the land", and Nazi organizations "monitored" the vote process. In Prussia 50,000 members of the SS, SA and Der Stahlhelm were ordered to monitor the votes by acting Interior Minister Hermann Göring, as auxiliary police. The Nazi Party (NSDAP) registered a large increase in votes in 1933 and gained a Reichstag majority together with its coalition partner, the German National People's Party (DNVP). This was the first time since 1930 that a governing coalition had held a parliamentary majority; however, despite waging a campaign of terror against their opponents, the Nazis only tallied 43.9 percent of the vote on their own, well short of a majority to govern alone. This would be the last contested election held in Germany until after World War II. Despite now holding a bare working majority in the Reichstag, Hitler wanted more. Two weeks after the election, he was able to pass an Enabling Act on 23 March with the support of the Nazi Party, the DNVP and the Centre parties, which effectively gave Hitler dictatorial powers. Within months, the Nazis banned all other parties and turned the Reichstag into a rubberstamp legislature comprising only Nazis and pro-Nazi "guests".
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