Editing Weimar Republic (section)

====Nazification====
{{See also|Gleichschaltung}}
In the months following the passage of the Enabling Act, all German parties aside from the NSDAP were banned or forced to disband themselves, all trade unions were dissolved<ref name=":1" /> and all media were brought under the control of the [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/ministry-of-propaganda-and-public-enlightenment |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=Holocaust Encyclopedia}}</ref> The Reichstag was then dissolved by Hindenburg and [[November 1933 German parliamentary election|a snap one-party election was called]] in November 1933. It gave the NSDAP 100% of the seats in the chamber.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Socialism (1933 – 1945) |url=https://www.bundestag.de/en/parliament/history/parliamentarism/third_reich/third_reich-200358 |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=Deutscher Bundestag}}</ref> In February 1934, the [[Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich]] abolished all state parliaments and passed state sovereignty to the Reich government.<ref name=":1" />

The constitution of 1919 was never formally repealed,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiik |first=Astrid |date=June 2017 |title=Weimar Constitution (1919) |url=https://oxcon.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law-mpeccol/law-mpeccol-e44#:~:text=Never%20formally%20repealed%2C%20the%20Weimar,following%20Hitler's%20rise%20to%20power. |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=Oxford Constitutional Law}}</ref> but the Enabling Act meant that it was a dead letter. The Reichstag was effectively eliminated as an active player in German politics. It met only sporadically until the end of [[World War II]], held no debates and enacted only a few laws; for all purposes, it was reduced to a mere stage for Hitler's speeches.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Scheinparlamentarismus" in der NS-Zeit |trans-title=Pseudo-Parliamentarism in the Nazi Era |url=https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/190458/e8f380a84d78d9ad730377ad9320285f/scheinparlament.pdf |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=Deutscher Bundestag |language=de}}</ref> The other chamber of the German parliament (the [[Reichsrat (Germany)|Reichsrat]]) was officially abolished on 14 February 1934 by the [[Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 March 2009 |title=Vor 75 Jahren wurde der Reichsrat aufgelöst |trans-title=75 Years Ago the Reichsrat Was Dissolved |url=https://www.bundesrat.de/SharedDocs/texte/09/20090303-reichsrat.html |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=Der Bundesrat |language=de}}</ref> It was in clear violation of the Enabling Act, which stipulated (Article 2) that any laws passed under its authority could not affect the institutions of either chamber.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The "Enabling Act" (March 24, 1933) |url=https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1496 |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=German History in Documents and Images (GHDI)}}</ref> By then, however, the Nazis had become law unto themselves, and the actions were never challenged in court.

Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934 eliminated any remaining obstacle to full Nazi dominance. The day before he died, the Hitler cabinet passed the [[Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich]], the final major part in the Nazification process called ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' ("coordination"). It transferred the president's powers upon his death, including as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to the new post of "''Führer'' and Reich Chancellor",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gesetz über das Staatsoberhaupt des Deutschen Reichs. Vom 1. August 1934 |trans-title=Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich. From 1 August 1934 |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/ns/stobrhpt.html |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=documentArchiv.de |language=de}}</ref> giving Hitler complete power over the entire Reich without any possibility of checks and balances. The action was later ratified by [[1934 German referendum|a highly non-democratic referendum]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gesetz über das Staatsoberhaupt des Deutschen Reichs und Erlaß des Reichskanzlers zum Vollzug des Gesetzes über das Staatsoberhaupt des Deutschen Reichs vom 1. August 1934, 1. und 2. August 1934 |trans-title=Law on the Head of State of the German Empire and Decree of the Chancellor on the Implementation of the Law on the Head of State of the German Empire of 1 August 1934, 1 and 2 August 1934 |url=https://www.1000dokumente.de/index.html?c=dokument_de&dokument=0242_fue&object=context&l=de |access-date=17 July 2024 |website=100(0) Schlüsseldokumente zur deutschen Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert |language=de}}</ref> which shed the last remains of the Weimar Republic.