What Happened During Hitler’s First Year As German Chancellor?

When Hitler was made Chancellor on January 30th, von Papen was appointed vice-chancellor and only two other Nazis were made ministers. In this setup, President Hindenburg and von Papen thought they could control Hitler, but yet make use of his widespread support of the country. However, the Nazis soon had the control of the Police, especially in Berlin. Hitler persuaded the president to hold elections in March to get public support for his policies. One week before the elections, the Nazis gained a great piece of luck when the Reichstag (parliament building) was burned down.
Whatever its cause, the Reichstag fire gave Hitler the chance to clamp down at once on the Communist Party. He got Hindenburg to sign a decree suspending civil liberties and giving the Government the power to arrest communists and other opponents of the regime.

Using the "Law for the Protection of the People and State", thousands of socialists and communists were rounded up and placed in newly built concentration camps. In the March elections, Hitler won 288 seats but this was only 45% of the votes. To change the constitution he needed a 2/3 majority.

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