Lit “bringing into line”, was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler — leader of the Nazi Party in Germany — established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society “from the economy & trade associations to the media, culture & education”.

Although the Weimar Constitution remained nominally in effect throughout Hitler’s dictatorship, near total Nazification was achieved by 1935 with the resolutions approved during that year’s Nuremberg Rally, fusing the symbols of the party and the state.

The Nazis were able to put Gleichschaltung into effect due to multiple legal measures enacted by the Reich government during the 20-months following January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany.

Reichstag Fire Decree. The day after the Reichstag fire [see blog post], President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg, acting at Hitler’s request and based on the emergency powers in article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, issued the Reichstag Fire Decree on February 28, 1933).

There then followed a series of measures that shifted control from the federated states and Reichstag to Adolf Hitler (Reich Chancellor):

Enabling Act. When the newly elected Reichstag convened – not including the Communist delegates whose participation in politics had been banned – it passed the Enabling Act on March 23, 1933). This gave the Reich Chancellor and his cabinet) the right to enact laws for a period of 4-years without the involvement of the Reichstag or the Reich President

Provisional Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich. Enacted by the Reich government using the Enabling Act, the “Provisional Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich” March 31, 1933, dissolved the sitting parliaments of all German states except the recently elected Prussian parliament, which the Nazis already controlled.

Further laws followed, but the dictatorial die was cast.

During the debate on the Enabling Act, Social Democrat party chairman Otto Wels spoke the last free words in the democratic Reichstag: “Freedom and life can be taken from us, but not our honor.” The subsequent passage of the Act did away with parliamentary democracy.

  • The “Law to Secure the Unity of Party and State” (Reichsgesetzblatt December 2, 1933)
  • The German states were not formally abolished (except Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1934 & Lübeck in 1937), their constitutional rights & sovereignty were eroded & ultimately ended. Prussia was already under federal administration when Hitler came to power, providing a model for the process.