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In this article it talks about the person who people thought was responsible for the fire

This article is based around who did the Reichstag Fire and who did it. According to Time its a “Semi-mystery that is over eight decades long”.  The burning is so controversial that in 1981 Berlin declared it was “a miscarriage of justice”. The person of interest that was connected to the fire was a unemployed dutch bricklayer, Marinus Van Der Lubbe, who was also tied to the communist party. He was tried and convicted for the fire and he was executed.

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On Feb. 27, 1933, the building was destroyed - and no matter who did it, the Nazis got what they wanted

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While Nazi the Party was the largest single party in it, this did not give Hitler a working majority as the two largest parties after the Nazis were both on the left the Social Democrat Party and the Communist      Rudolf Diels, head of the Prussian Political Police, arrived after Hitler, Goebbels, and Goering. Diels later claimed that Goering told him that the fire was the start of a communist revolt and that "not a moment must be lost." Diels claimed that Hitler ordered that every communist official should be "shot where he is found" and that "communist deputies must be hanged this very night".  Curiously during his interrogation by the Prussian Political Police in the immediate aftermath of the fire, van der Lubbe offered a free and full confession that Rudolf Diels found so fanciful that he refused to accept it, describing van der Lubbe as a "maniac"

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Citation: C N Trueman "The Reichstag Fire of 1933"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 9 Mar 2015. 22 Feb 2018.

The Reichstag fire took place on February 27 th1933. The Reichstag building was where Germany's parliament sat and the fire that destroyed it has to be seen as one of the defining moments in the early days of Nazi Germany.

The Reichstag was the heart of German politics. Debates, political struggles, political scheming etc. all took place in the Reichstag. It was no different from many national government buildings in Europe and its destruction would have had great symbolic significance for many.

Hitler had made it clear in the days immediately prior to January 30 th1933 that he would not be able to work with the Reichstag that had been elected in the November 1932 election. While the Nazi Party was the largest single party in it, this did not give Hitler a working majority as the two largest parties after the Nazis were both on the left - the Social Democrat Party and the Communist. New elections for the Reichstag had been called for March 5 th 1933. The danger for Hitler was that he might not get as much support in the new election as in the previous one. He was playing a dangerous political game that could have ended his political career.

On the night of February 27 th Hitler and Goebbels were having dinner at Goebbel's Berlin home. Just after 21.00, Goebbels received a phone call from Dr. Hansfstaengl that the Reichstag building was on fire. Goebbels later claimed that he felt the news was so fanciful that he did not inform Hitler even though he was in the same house. It was only when he received another phone call that confirmed the news, that Goebbels informed Hitler. They immediately left for the Reichstag where they met Goering. All three declared that the fire was the work of the Communists and Socialists and the SA was put on alert to maintain order if and when the communist insurrection started.

Rudolf Diels, head of the Prussian Political Police, arrived after Hitler, Goebbels and Goering. Diels later claimed that Goering told him that the fire was the start of a communist revolt and that "not a moment must be lost." Diels claimed that Hitler completely lost his temper and shouted "as I have never seen him do before" that he would show no mercy to those responsible. Diels claimed that Hitler ordered that every communist official should be "shot where he is found" and that "communist deputies must be hanged this very night". It is said that Hitler also ordered no leniency for the Social Democrats. ('Lucifer ante Portas' by Diels published in 1950).

However, some believe that van der Lubbe did not start the fire. At the Nuremburg War Trials, General Franz Halder claimed that in 1942, he had been invited to attend a birthday lunch for Hitler. The lunch invite was also extended to senior Nazi Party members, one of whom was Hermann Goering. Halder claimed that he clearly heard Goering boasting that he had been responsible for the fire. However, if this is true it may have been done by the ever vain Goering to impress Hitler. Martin Sommerfeldt, who worked in the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin, believed it was carried out by men of the SA on the orders of Goebbels to boost the party's election chances in March 1933. Men from the SS then killed the SA men involved to ensure that no witnesses survived. Sommerfeldt claimed that his story was backed by Berlin Gestapo chief, Rudolf Diels who even knew where the bodies were.

The March 5 th election went ahead as planned but now in the shadow of the 'attempted communist revolt'. Even so, the Nazis only polled 288 seats and in the unlikely event that all the other parties voted as one against the Nazis, they would have lost the vote. It was a situation that Hitler was not prepared to tolerate or risk. He had already decided that the Reichstag as a properly working entity should cease to exist and be replaced by himself - all 'legally' done via the Enabling Act of March 1933.

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The Reichstag Fire of 1933 - History Learning Site

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The Reichstag Fire of 1933 The Reichstag fire took place on February 27th1933. The Reichstag building was where Germany's parliament sat and the fire that destroyed it has to be seen as one of the defining moments in the early days of NaziGermany. The Reichstag was the heart of German politics.

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The Reichstag Fire happened on February 27, 1933. This Was the burning of the parliament  building in Germany. The Government said it was the communists trying to overthrow the country, but this was false. Hitler used his constitutional powers to issue a decree of protection. The basics of the decree was to constraint the press and ban political meetings and marches, because of that it got in the way of electoral campaign. Being temporary at first it was then made permanent.

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Justified on the false premise that the Communists were planning an uprising to overthrow the state, the Reichstag Fire Decree permitted the regime to arrest and incarcerate political opponents without specific charge, dissolve political organizations, and to suppress publications. It also gave the central government the authority to overrule state and local laws and overthrow state and local governments.

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This article is about the rise of Hitler. It starts out in a setting, that setting is a grim and dull Germany. Around the time when the economic depression hit. Still being humiliated since the defeat of WW1 they did not have any confidence in the government knows as the Wiemar Republic. This would soon change with Hitler in office. His party is the 🤬 party. (National Socialist German Workers party) The Nazis had a rapid rise to power. Before the crisis they were not very well known but after it they were well known after Hitler was appointed Chancellor (head of the German government). Many people though they have found their nations savior when Hitler was Chancellor.

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Hitler Comes to Power In the early 1930s, the mood in Germany was grim. The worldwide economic depression had hit the country especially hard, and millions of people were out of work. Still fresh in the minds of many was Germany's humiliating defeat fifteen years earlier during World War I, and Germans lacked confidence in their weak government, known as the Weimar Republic. These conditions provided the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi party for short.

Hitler was a powerful and spellbinding speaker who attracted a wide following of Germans desperate for change. He promised the disenchanted a better life and a new and glorious Germany. The Nazis appealed especially to the unemployed, young people, and members of the lower middle class (small store owners, office employees, craftsmen, and farmers).

The party's rise to power was rapid. Before the economic depression struck, the Nazis were practically unknown, winning only 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag (German parliament) in elections in 1924. In the 1932 elections, the Nazis won 33 percent of the votes, more than any other party. In January 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of the German government, and many Germans believed that they had found a savior for their nation.

Key Dates

June 28, 1919
Treaty of Versailles ends World War I
In the Treaty of Versailles, which followed German defeat in World War I, the victorious powers (the United States, Great Britain, France, and other allied states) impose severe terms on Germany. Germany, under threat of invasion, is forced to sign the treaty. Among other provisions, Germany accepts responsibility for the war and agrees to make huge payments (known as reparations), limit its military to 100,000 troops, and transfer territory to its neighbors. The terms of the treaty lead to widespread political discontent in Germany. Adolf Hitler gains support by promising to overturn them.

October 24, 1929
Stock market crash in New York
The plummet in the value of stocks that is associated with the New York stock market crash brings a rash of business bankruptcies. Widespread unemployment occurs in the United States. The "Great Depression," as it is called, sparks a worldwide economic crisis. In Germany, six million are unemployed by June 1932. Economic distress contributes to a meteoric rise in the support for the Nazi party. As a result, the Nazi party wins the votes of almost 40 percent of the electorate in the Reichstag (German parliament) elections of July 1932. The Nazi party becomes at this point the largest party in the German parliament.

November 6, 1932
Nazis lose support in parliamentary elections
In the Reichstag (German parliament) elections of November 1932, the Nazis lose almost two million votes from the previous elections of July. They win only 33 percent of the vote. It seems clear that the Nazis will not gain a majority in democratic elections, and Adolf Hitler agrees to a coalition with conservatives. After months of negotiations, the president of Germany, Paul von Hindenburg, will appoint Hitler chancellor of Germany in a government seemingly dominated by conservatives on January 30, 1933.

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Hitler Comes to Power In the early 1930s, the mood in Germany was grim. The worldwide economic depression had hit the country especially hard, and millions of people were out of work. Still fresh in the minds of many was Germany's humiliating defeat fifteen years earlier during World War I, and Germans lacked confidence in their weak government, known as the Weimar Republic.

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Once hitler became the new chancellor had no intention of abiding by the rules of the former democracy. He intended only to use those rules to legally establish himself as dictator as quickly as possible then begin the 🤬 revolution of germany. Before he was at work he was at work on the elections.Hitler's plan was to establish a majority of elected Nazis in the Reichstag which would become a rubber stamp, passing whatever laws he desired while making it all perfectly legal.  But now Hitler's storm troopers were about to reach new heights of power of their own and begin a reign of terror that would last as long as the Third Reich.

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The History Place - Rise of Hitler: The Reichstag Burns

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Part 23 of a complete online history, The Rise of Adolf Hitler - From Unknown to Dictator of Germany, at The History Place.