Editing Gleichschaltung (section)

==Coordination of the German ''Länder''==
[[File:Weimar Republic states map.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|While the [[States of the Weimar Republic|German states]] were not formally abolished (excluding [[Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Mecklenburg-Strelitz]] in 1934 and [[Greater Hamburg Act|Lübeck in 1937]]), their constitutional rights and sovereignty were eroded and ultimately ended. [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]] [[Preußenschlag|was already under federal administration]] when [[Machtergreifung|Hitler came to power]], providing a model for the process.]]
[[File:Greater_German_Reich_NS_Administration_1944_Variant.png|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany|Nazi Party Gaue]] effectively replaced the federal government structure.]]

When Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor on 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party had control of only five of the 17 German ''Länder'' (states).{{sfn|Orlow|1969|p=277}} But the Nazis acted swiftly to eliminate any potential centers of opposition in the remaining states. Immediately after the Reichstag election of 5 March 1933, the central government began in earnest its campaign to take over the state governments it did not yet control, and within a very short period it achieved dominance over the administration in every state.

<blockquote>The pattern was in each case similar: pressure on the non-Nazi state governments to place a National Socialist in charge of the police; threatening demonstrations from SA and SS troops in the big cities; the symbolic raising of the swastika banner on town halls; the capitulation with hardly any resistance of the elected governments; the imposition of a Reich Commissar under the pretext of restoring order … Despite the semblance of legality, the usurpation of the powers of the ''Länder'' by the Reich was a plain breach of the Constitution. Force and pressure by the Nazi organizations themselves—political blackmail—had been solely responsible for creating the 'unrest' that had prompted the alleged restorations of 'order'. The terms of the emergency decree of 28 February provided no justification since there was plainly no need for defence from any 'communist acts of violence endangering the state'. The only such acts were those of the Nazis themselves.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=278-279}}</blockquote>

Most coalition cabinets that the Nazis formed were with the participation of their conservative nationalist ally, the [[German National People's Party]] (DNVP). The "Law Against the Founding of New Parties" (14 July 1933) banned all parties except the Nazi Party. The DNVP members of the remaining coalition cabinets eventually either joined the Party or were replaced by Nazis, resulting in one-party government in all the ''Länder''.{{sfn|Evans|2003|pp=372–373}}

The following table presents an overview of the process of ''Gleichschaltung'' as it was applied to the Nazification of the German ''Länder'' governments. While, strictly speaking, ''Gleichschaltung'' did not start until after the Nazi seizure of power at the Reich level at the end of January 1933, the table also presents earlier Nazi Party successes in infiltrating and taking charge of several German state administrations during 1930–1932. In most of these instances, they took the portfolio of the state interior ministries from which they controlled the police, installing Nazi adherents and purging opponents. 

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|Key:
|style="background:#dfffdf"|Entered into a coalition government led by a non-Nazi
|style="background:#cfcfff"|Formed a coalition government led by a Nazi 
|style="background:#ffbbbb"|Formed an all-Nazi government
|}

{| class="wikitable float-right"
|-
! colspan="3"|Nazi Seizure of Power in the ''[[Länder]]''{{sfn|Broszat|1981|pp=96–104}}
|-
! ''Länder''
! Date
! Event
|-
| [[Free State of Thuringia|Thuringia]]
| 23 January 1930
| style="background:#dfffdf"| First Nazi enters a coalition cabinet with [[Wilhelm Frick]] appointed Minister of the Interior and Public Education
|-
| 
| 26 August 1932
| style="background:#cfcfff"|Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Minister-President [[Fritz Sauckel]]
|-
| [[Free State of Brunswick|Brunswick]]
| 1 October 1930
| style="background:#dfffdf"| Nazis enter coalition cabinet with [[Anton Franzen]] appointed Minister of the Interior and Public Education  
|-
| 
| 9 May 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|All Nazi cabinet formed under Minister-President [[Dietrich Klagges]]
|-
| [[Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Mecklenburg-Strelitz]]
| 8 April 1932
| style="background:#dfffdf"| Nazis enter coalition cabinet with [[Fritz Stichtenoth]] appointed ''Staatsrat'' (State Councillor)
|-
| 
| 29 May 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|All Nazi cabinet formed under Minister of State [[Fritz Stichtenoth]]
|- 
| [[Free State of Anhalt|Anhalt]]
| 21 May 1932 
| style="background:#cfcfff"|First Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under [[Minister-President]] [[Alfred Freyberg]]. 
|-
| [[Free State of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]]
| 16 June 1932
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|First all Nazi cabinet formed under Minister-President [[Carl Röver]]
|-
| [[Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]
| 13 July 1932
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|All Nazi cabinet formed under Minister-President [[Walter Granzow]]
|-
| [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]]
| 30 January 1933
| style="background:#dfffdf"|Nazis enter coalition cabinet formed under ''[[Reichskommissar]]'' [[Franz von Papen]]; [[Hermann Göring]] becomes  Minister of the Interior
|-
| 
| 11 April 1933
| style="background:#cfcfff"|Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Minister-President Hermann Göring
|-
| [[Free State of Lippe|Lippe]]
| 7 February 1933
| style="background:#cfcfff"|Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Chairman of the ''Landespräsidien'' (State Presidency) [[Ernst Krappe]]
|-
| [[Hamburg]]
| 8 March 1933
| style="background:#cfcfff"|Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Senate President and ''[[Burgomaster|Bürgermeister]]'' [[Carl Vincent Krogmann]]
|-
| [[Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe|Schaumburg-Lippe]]
| 8 March 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|Appointment of ''Reichskommissar'' [[Kurt Matthaei]]; on 1 April, an all Nazi cabinet formed under State Councillor [[Hans-Joachim Riecke]]
|-
| [[Free State of Bavaria|Bavaria]]
| 10 March 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|All Nazi cabinet formed under ''Reichskommissar'' [[Franz Ritter von Epp]]
|-
| [[Free State of Saxony|Saxony]]
| 10 March 1933
| style="background:#cfcfff"|Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under ''Reichskommissar'' [[Manfred Freiherr von Killinger]]
|-
| [[Republic of Baden|Baden]]
| 10 March 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|All Nazi cabinet formed under ''Reichskommissar'' [[Robert Heinrich Wagner]]
|-
| [[Free City of Lübeck|Lübeck]]
| 11 March 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|Appointment of ''Reichskommissar'' [[Friedrich Völtzer]]; on 31 May, [[Otto-Heinrich Drechsler]] named Senate President and ''Bürgermeister''
|-
| [[People's State of Hesse|Hesse]]
| 13 March 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|All Nazi cabinet formed under ''Staatspräsident'' [[Ferdinand Werner]]
|-
| [[Free People's State of Württemberg|Württemberg]]
| 15 March 1933
| style="background:#cfcfff"|Nazi-led coalition cabinet formed under Minister-President [[Wilhelm Murr]]
|-
| [[Bremen (state)|Bremen]]
| 18 March 1933
| style="background:#ffbbbb"|All Nazi cabinet formed under Senate President and acting ''Bürgermeister'' [[Richard Markert]]
|-
|}