How did Hitler transform Germany from the Wiemar republic to the totalitarian Nazi Third Reich..?
First, he wasn’t “elected” to diddly-squat. In the Weimar Republic, although the Chancellor had to have the support of the Reichstag, it was the President who appointed the Chancellor. Several leading conservatives, led by Von Papen, convinced the senile President Hindenburg to appoint Hitler Chancellor in a right-wing coalition cabinet. Von Papen and the others were convinced they could control and/or manipulate Hitler, thus taking advantage of the popularity the Nazis enjoyed with a significant (but by no means a majority) segment of the public. They were very wrong. Hitler, using a variety of legal, semi-legal, and extralegal methods, including the Reichstag Fire, was able to consolidate his position and eventually, absorb or destroy all other political parties in Germany. By the time Hindenburg died in ’34, Hitler had already gotten the Enabling Act passed, giving the cabinet (read: himself) the power to make laws without consulting the Reichstag. The dissolution of the office of P
