13 Reichstag Fire Facts: Aftermaths, Precautions & Many More!

Reichstag was the place where the Nazi dictatorship began its reign.

The burning of the Reichstag Parliament unwraps some amazing facts discussed in this article. This event was considered a political crime that was part of a communist plot.

The German parliament, known as the Reichstag building, was burned on February 27, 1933. The Nazi Party and its partners blamed it on the communist party and its communist leaders. They claimed that their left-wing opponents of the communist party were behind all the facade. This was the beginning of Hitler's terror, which started with the new legislation introduced by the Nazi regime.

The following article about the Reichstag fire includes interesting facts about what went down during that time and how the Nazi Party reacted. Popular figures like Van der Lubbe and Karl Ernst are the ones to know about.

If you like to read about other interesting facts, then check out Amazon Rainforest Fire facts and tropical rainforest leaves.

Aftermaths Of The Reichstag Fire

Adolf Hitler's rise was on February 27, 1933, because this was the day when the Reichstag Parliament was set on fire. However, there is no straight answer to the mastermind behind this. The Reichstag incident was undoubtedly crucial for Hitler's Nazi reign.

Adolf Hitler put a lot of effort into forming his power through legal channels. His progress led him to become the head of the National Socialist German Worker's Party. The Nazis discredited the Weimar Republic, and politicians agreed to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

Van der Lubbe, a young communist, had purposedly set the Reichstag Parliament on fire. The Nazis blamed this incident on the communists who persuaded people to join the political protest. They also advised Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree.

In the book 'The brown book on the Reichstag fire and Hitler terror', Willi Munzenberg said that Van der Lubbe was involved with the Nazis.

The basic civil liberties of the German people were hindered because of the act, and it is considered to be the establishment of the Nazi rise. This was the aftermath of the February 1933 Reichstag fire.

The Reichstag Fire Decree was a very vague decree that was misinterpreted by the vast majority. The amount of arrested communism-related citizens based on the decree was close to 10,000. This ruthless manner of Reich Commissars had led them to transfer to take over other states.

NSDAP had no chance against its political opponents, and they would have to rely on the coalition government to pass legislation. The aggressive opposition party started doing campaigns against the communists. However, the Nazis regime was still running their party, hoping to get some votes from the SPD to the Communist party (KPD).

All the elected deputies from KPD were arrested, and the political opposition was incarcerated.

Important Details Of The Reichstag Fire

With any significant incident, there are always different conspiracy theories. The Reichstag incident demanded a Nazi conspiracy because of what happened on February 27, 1933.

The Nazi leadership and its German nationalist partners claimed that the Reichstag fire needed emergency legislation to prevent the violent uprising of the communists. Reich President Hindurburg was manipulated to take action, resulting in the Reichstag Fire Decree. This act meant the protection of the Germans and their state.

After the Reichstag building fire, the act suspended the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to assembly, and few constitutional protections. Such decisions set the precedence for the dictatorial powers of the Nazi Party.

The decree also restrained any police investigations in the Reichstag building. All these suspensions of constitutional protection remained like this until 1945, when Nazi Germany was defeated.

The decree provided the regime to overrule the state and local laws. It also gave the authority to overthrow state and local governments.

Police arrested Van der Lubbe, who was a construction worker at that time, and he was found outside the building with firefighters. The suspicious factor was that he was also panting and sweaty. In 1932, a staggering criminal trial was held, and Van der Lubbe, Erbst Torgler, and three Bulgarian Communists were accused.

Economic Loss Of The Reichstag Fire

The constant increase of smoke and flames damaged the parliament building, but the deeper wound was on the economy of the German Reich.

As comprehensive as it was, the Reichstag Fire Decree was meant for temporary measure only. On March 23, the Nazis introduced the Enabling Act in the Decree after a meeting in the Kroll Opera House.

Enabling Act is a short bill that contains five articles. With the power of this act, Hitler with his chancellor, and his ministers had the authority to rule by decree, bypassing the constitution, initiating taxes and spending, and deciding foreign policy without the interruption of Reichstag approval.

Hitler appeared before the day of the initiation of the Enabling Act. He promised to remove all the state's negative people and trouble makers. The Enabling Act was implemented for five years. It was scheduled to expire on April 1, 1937.

The enabling act gave Hitler and his executives' full advantage to exploit it. They could create and enforce laws in the system. Hitler addressed that all the new policies and laws implemented were enforced to better Germany and its economy.

The people of Germany would overcome their economic problems. Hitler declared that he could not do all this without the Enabling Act.

Most Important Details Of The Reichstag Fire

Peter Black is a historian and a consultant at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His theory about Van der Lubbe seemed to be correct until 2013, when research led to a book by Benjamin Carter Hett. In the book 'Burning the Reichstag,' Hett wrote that given the circumstances of the fire and the time it took to burn the building, there was no way that Van der Lubbe could have acted alone.

Another important detail of the Reichstag fire is that the decree permitted arresting political opponents and dissolving political organizations. It also constrained the press media and banned any political meetings and communist revolt.

These temporary measures led to more dramatic orders, such as the permanent suspension of civil rights, which was issued due to the burndown of the German Parliament.

After researching the witnesses' testimonies that were available after the demolition of the Soviet Union, Hett Argued that the Nazis who investigated the incident covered up Nazi involvement.

The president of Germany retained his power to dissolve the ineffective Reichstag, and in case of emergency, he could invoke Article 48. Article 48 gave the president the dictatorial regime and the authority to intervene in the 19 territorial states.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Reichstag fire facts, then why not take a look at the forest floor layer or flowers in the tropical rainforest?