ABSTRACT
When President Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor on 30 January 1933 there were only two other Nazis, Hermann Göring and Wilhelm Frick, in the cabinet. That the Nazis were able to consolidate their power so quickly in the months that followed was in part a consequence of Hitler’s position as both Chancellor and leader of the Reich’s largest party. With Hindenburg’s support he could rule through emergency decree. The position of Göring, as Prussian Minister of the Interior, was also crucial, for he used his power in Germany’s largest and most important state to control police appointments and put an end to any police action against the SA, the SS or the nationalist paramilitary organisation, the Stahlhelm. In fact these three organisations were coopted into police operations on 22 February 1933 and were responsible for the beating and detention of large numbers of Social Democrats and Communists, as well as Jews. The position of Hitler was further enhanced by the fact that the Nazis first took action against the German left, against Communists and Social Democrats, which was often welcomed by and bred a false sense of security among the middle-class parties, which were virulently anti-socialist.
