Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich

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The Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich, commonly known as the Enabling Act of 1933, was the Nazi German law that gave Adolf Hitler’s cabinet the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag, effectively establishing his dictatorship.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Enabling act
German federal law
Nazi law
constitutional law
alsoKnownAs Enabling Act of 1933
Ermächtigungsgesetz
appliesToJurisdiction German Reich
cameIntoForce 1933-03-24
countryOfOrigin Germany
dateEnacted 1933-03-24
endOfValidity 1945
extendedOn 1937-01-30
1939-01-30
1943-01-30
hasConsequence destruction of parliamentary democracy in Germany
facilitation of totalitarian rule in Germany
headOfGovernmentAtEnactment Adolf Hitler
historicalPeriod Nazi Germany
interwar period
legalBasisFor Gleichschaltung policies
centralization of German federal states
dissolution of political parties
suppression of trade unions
legalStatus constitutional amendment in practice
legislativeBody Reichstag
mainEffect allowed cabinet to enact laws without Reichsrat
allowed cabinet to enact laws without Reichstag
allowed laws to deviate from the Weimar Constitution
concentrated legislative power in the hands of Hitler’s cabinet
enabled rapid Nazification of state and society
facilitated establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship
legalized rule by decree by the cabinet
marginalized the Reichstag
undermined separation of powers in Germany
originalLanguage German
placeOfEnactment Kroll Opera House, Berlin
politicalContext Nazi seizure of power
Weimar Republic crisis
proposedBy Adolf Hitler
Nazi Party
repealedBy Allied Control Council
Control Council Law No. 1
requiredMajority two-thirds majority of the Reichstag
signedBy Paul von Hindenburg
subjectOf debates on emergency powers and authoritarianism
historical research on collapse of Weimar democracy
timeLimit initially four years
votingMethod roll-call vote

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Enabling Act of 1933
hasEnglishName

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