What was Hitler's parliamentary majority?

Answer 1

Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933, and at that time held about 33% of the seats; however he also agreed to hold a general election at the beginning of March. Just a few days prior to the election, the Reichstag (parliament) building was set on fire, and Communists were blamed for it. The President passed an emergency law that suspended civil rights and gave Hitler more power to arrest Communists- which Hitler did, but he also arrested other political opponents, and used the police to intimidate voters. The Nazi Party's own paramilitary force called the Sturmabteilung ("Assault Section"), or SA, likewise helped intimidate voters and opposition politicians.

In the March 1933 election, thanks to his misuse of the police and SA, Hitler's Nazi Party won about 44% of the seats. This was not quite a majority, however, so the Nazis made a coalition with another right-wing party, namely the German National Peoples' Party or DNVP (which won 8% of the seats). Together, the coalition had 52% of the seats.

However, Hitler wanted to be able to amend the German constitution, so he was forced to make a deal with the Centre Party (a conservative, Catholic-oriented party). The Centre Party had 11% of the seats- with the Nazi-DNVP coalition's 52%, this made for over 60%, enough to pass an amendment. In return for the Centre's support, Hitler promised to make a treaty with the Pope, wherein they basically promised not to bother each other too much. In the late 1800s, Bismarck's Germany had a nasty fight with the Church, and the Centre Party wanted to avoid repeating that.

At the end of March 1933, the Nazi-Centre-DNVP coalition passed the Enabling Act, a constitutional amendment which basically gave all government power to Hitler himself. Many politicians did not want to be seen as voting against it, so it wound up passing with about 70% of the vote- however, even this was rigged, as many leftists had been banned, arrested, or were afraid to show up. Hitler quickly used his new power to eliminate allother parties and politicians who would stand against him- even his coalition allies from the DNVP and Centre.

Less than eight months later, the Nazis were the only political party, and they won over 92% of the vote in the November 1933 elections- and since no other parties were allowed, the Nazis won 100% of the seats. Things would remain this way until the Nazis were removed from power at the end of World War II.

Answer 2

Adolf Hitler did not have an outright parliamentary majority when he became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. However, his Nazi Party, along with other right-wing parties, formed a coalition government that eventually granted him significant power. Hitler used various strategies, including intimidation and consolidation of power, to eventually transform Germany into a one-party state under Nazi rule.