Editing Wilhelm Frick (section)

==Reich Minister==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H28422, Reichskabinett Adolf Hitler.jpg|thumb|left|Press session after the first meeting of Hitler's cabinet on 30 January 1933: Frick standing 4th from left]]
When Reich president [[Paul von Hindenburg]] appointed Hitler chancellor on [[Machtergreifung|30 January 1933]], Frick joined his government as ''[[Reichsminister]]'' of the Interior. Together with Reichstag President [[Hermann Göring]], he was one of only two Nazi ''Reichsministers'' in the original Hitler Cabinet, and the only one who actually had a portfolio; Göring served as [[minister without portfolio]] until 5 May. Though Frick held a key position, especially in organizing the [[March 1933 German federal election|federal elections of March 1933]], he initially had far less power than his counterparts in the rest of Europe. Notably, he had no authority over the police; in Germany law enforcement has traditionally been a [[States of Germany|state]] and local matter. Indeed, the main reason that Hindenburg and [[Franz von Papen]] agreed to give the Interior Ministry to the Nazis was that it was almost powerless at the time. A mighty rival arose in the establishment of the [[Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Propaganda Ministry]] under [[Joseph Goebbels]] on 13 March.

Frick's power dramatically increased as a result of the [[Reichstag Fire Decree]] and the [[Enabling Act of 1933]]. The provision of the Reichstag Fire Decree giving the cabinet the power to take over state governments on its own authority was actually his idea; he saw the fire as a chance to increase his power and begin the process of Nazifying the country.<ref>{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Richard J.|author-link=Richard J. Evans|title=[[The Third Reich Trilogy#The Coming of the Third Reich|The Coming of the Third Reich]]|publisher=[[Penguin Group|Penguin Press]]|location=[[New York City]]|date=2003|isbn=978-0141009759}}</ref> He was responsible for drafting many of the ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' laws that consolidated the Nazi regime.<ref name=":0" /> Within two weeks of the Enabling Act's passage, Frick helped draft the "[[Second Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich]]" (7 April 1933) appointing ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' (Reich Governors) to take over the state governments. He also initiated and drafted the [[Law Against the Formation of Parties]] (14 July 1933) that formally made the NSDAP the only legal party in Germany. Under the 30 January 1934 "[[Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich]]", which converted Germany into a highly centralized state, state parliaments were dissolved and the newly implemented ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' were made directly responsible to him. He also drafted the [[Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat]] (14 February 1934) that abolished the upper chamber of the Reich parliament.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2011525363_NT_Nazi_Vol-II/|title=Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Office of the United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality ("Red Series"): Volume 5, pp. 658–659|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA|accessdate=8 May 2023}}</ref> Frick also was made a member of [[Hans Frank]]'s [[Academy for German Law]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2011525363_NT_Nazi_Vol-V/|title=Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Office of the United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality ("Red Series"): Volume 5, p. 231, Document 2481-PS|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA|accessdate=8 May 2023}}</ref> 

On 10 October 1933, Hitler appointed Frick a ''[[Reichsleiter]]'', the second highest political rank in the Nazi Party. On 1 May 1934, he replaced [[Minister-President]] Göring as [[Free State of Prussia|Prussian]] Minister of the Interior, which gave him control over the police in Prussia. As a member of the Prussian cabinet, he also became an ''[[ex officio]]'' member of the [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lilla |first=Joachim |title=Der Preußische Staatsrat 1921–1933: Ein biographisches Handbuch |publisher=Droste Verlag |location=Düsseldorf |year=2005 |pages=31, 295 |isbn=978-3-770-05271-4}}</ref> By 1935, he also had near-total control over local government. He had the sole power to appoint the mayors of all municipalities with populations greater than 100,000 (except for the [[city state]]s of [[Berlin]] and [[Hamburg]], where Hitler reserved the right to appoint the mayors himself if he deemed it necessary). He also had considerable influence over smaller towns as well; while their mayors were appointed by the state governors, as mentioned earlier the governors were responsible to him.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 121-0008, Sudetenland, Besuch Wilhelm Frick.jpg|thumb|Frick (2nd from left) with [[Konrad Henlein]] on visit in Sudetenland, 1938]]
Frick was instrumental in the [[racial policy of Nazi Germany]] drafting laws against [[History of the Jews in Germany|Jewish]] citizens, like the "[[Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service]]" and the notorious [[Nuremberg Laws]] in September 1935.<ref name="Rulers Index" /> Already in July 1933, he had implemented the [[Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring]] including [[Compulsory sterilization|forced sterilizations]], which later culminated in the killings of the [[Action T4]] "euthanasia" programme supported by his ministry. Frick also took a leading part in [[German re-armament|Germany's re-armament]] in violation of the 1919 [[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles Treaty]]. He drafted laws introducing universal military conscription and extending the [[Wehrmacht]] service law to [[Austria]] after the 1938 ''[[Anschluss]]'', as well as to the "[[Sudetenland]]" territories of the [[First Czechoslovak Republic]] annexed according to the [[Munich Agreement]].

In the summer of 1938 Frick was named the patron ''(Schirmherr)'' of the [[Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest 1938|Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest]] in [[Wrocław|Breslau]], a patriotic sports festival attended by Hitler and much of the Nazi leadership. In this event he presided the ceremony of "handing over" the new [[Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen|Nazi Reich Sports League]] (NSRL) standard to ''Reichssportführer'' [[Hans von Tschammer und Osten]], marking the further nazification of sports in Germany. On 11 November 1938, Frick promulgated the Regulations Against Jews' Possession of Weapons.

From the mid-to-late 1930s Frick lost favour irreversibly within the Nazi Party after a power struggle involving attempts to resolve the lack of coordination within the Reich government.<ref>A legalistic follower, rather than an initiator, Frick the servant increasingly lost favour with his master, apparently because he misunderstood the basic nature of the Fuhrer's governance. Whereas the Third Reich thrived on inconsistencies, rivalries, and constant evolutionary change, Frick's juristic mind longed for order and legal stabilization. The incongruity was [[wikt:insuperable|insuperable]] and it was thus logical enough that in 1943 the minister, whose share of practical power had rapidly diminished in the second half of the 1930s, ultimately even lost his official post.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3686/is_/ai_n28622877 Udo Sautter, Canadian Journal of History]</ref> For example, in 1933 he tried to restrict the widespread use of "protective custody" orders that were used to send people to concentration camps, only to be begged off by ''[[Reichsführer-SS]]'' [[Heinrich Himmler]]. His power was greatly reduced in June 1936 when Hitler named Himmler the Chief of German Police, which effectively united the police with the SS. On paper, Frick was Himmler's immediate superior. In fact, the police were now independent of Frick's control, since the SS was responsible only to Hitler.<ref>Longerich, Peter (2012). ''Heinrich Himmler: A Life'', Oxford University Press, p. 204.</ref><ref>Williams, Max (2001). ''Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography: Volume 1'', Ulric, p. 77.</ref> A long-running power struggle between the two culminated in Frick's being replaced by Himmler as ''Reichsminister'' of the Interior in August 1943. However, he remained in the cabinet as a ''Reichsminister'' without portfolio. Besides Hitler, he and [[Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk]] were the only members of the [[Hitler Cabinet|Third Reich's cabinet]] to serve continuously from Hitler's appointment as Chancellor until his death.

Frick's replacement as ''Reichsminister'' of the Interior did not reduce the growing administrative chaos and infighting between party and state agencies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ghi-dc.org/publications/ghipubs/bu/027/b27mommsenframe.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807133453/http://www.ghi-dc.org/publications/ghipubs/bu/027/b27mommsenframe.html|url-status=dead|title=Hans Mommsen, ''The Dissolution of the Third Reich (1943–1945)''|archivedate=7 August 2008|accessdate=8 May 2023}}</ref> Frick was then appointed as [[List of rulers of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|Protector of Bohemia and Moravia]], making him Hitler's personal representative in the [[Czech lands]]. Its capital [[Prague]], where Frick used ruthless methods to counter dissent, was one of the last [[Axis powers|Axis]]-held cities to fall at the [[end of World War II in Europe]].<ref>[http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/profile/db/facts/wilhelm_frick_247.html Trial:Wilhelm Frick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202100547/http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/profile/db/facts/wilhelm_frick_247.html |date=2 December 2008 }}</ref>