Enabling Act
From Freepedia
The Enabling Act (in German: Ermächtigungsgesetz) was passed by the Reichstag on March 23, 1933. It was the second major step after the Reichstag Fire Decree through which the Nazis legally established Nazi Germany by providing the government with legislative powers, effectively handing dictatorial powers to the Chancellor (then Adolf Hitler).
The full name of the Enabling Act was Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich (Law to remedy the need of the people and the country).
Contents |
Enabling Act text
As with most of the laws passed in the process of Gleichschaltung, the Enabling Act is quite short, considering its consequences. It is therefore reproduced in full in German and English:
| Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich | Law to remedy the need of the people and the Reich |
| Der Reichstag hat das folgende Gesetz beschlossen, das mit Zustimmung des Reichsrats hiermit verkündet wird, nachdem festgestellt ist, daß die Erfordernisse verfassungsändernder Gesetzgebung erfüllt sind: | The Reichstag has enacted the following law, which has the agreement of the Reichsrat and meets the requirements for a constitutional amendment, which is hereby announced: |
| Artikel 1 | Article 1 |
| Reichsgesetze können außer in dem in der Reichsverfassung vorgesehenen Verfahren auch durch die Reichsregierung beschlossen werden. Dies gilt auch für die in den Artikeln 85 Abs. 2 und 87 der Reichsverfassung bezeichneten Gesetze. | In addition to the procedure prescribed by the constitution [i.e. decision by parliament], laws of the Reich may also be enacted by the government of the Reich. This includes laws as referred to by Articles 85 sentence 2 and Article 87 of the constitution.1 |
| Artikel 2 | Article 2 |
| Die von der Reichsregierung beschlossenen Reichsgesetze können von der Reichsverfassung abweichen, soweit sie nicht die Einrichtung des Reichstags und des Reichsrats als solche zum Gegenstand haben. Die Rechte des Reichspräsidenten bleiben unberührt. | Laws enacted by the government of the Reich may deviate from the constitution as long as they do not affect the institutions of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the President remain undisturbed. |
| Artikel 3 | Article 3 |
| Die von der Reichsregierung beschlossenen Reichsgesetze werden vom Reichskanzler ausgefertigt und im Reichsgesetzblatt verkündet. Sie treten, soweit sie nichts anderes bestimmen, mit dem auf die Verkündung folgenden Tage in Kraft. Die Artikel 68 bis 77 der Reichsverfassung finden auf die von der Reichsregierung beschlossenen Gesetze keine Anwendung. | Laws enacted by the government of the 'Reich' shall be issued by the Chancellor and announced in the Reich Law Gazette. They shall take effect on the day following the announcement, unless they prescribe a different date. Articles 68 to 77 of the constitution do not apply to laws enacted by the Reich government.2 |
| Artikel 4 | Article 4 |
| Verträge des Reiches mit fremden Staaten, die sich auf Gegenstände der Reichsgesetzgebung beziehen, bedürfen für die Dauer der Geltung dieser Gesetze nicht der Zustimmung der an der Gesetzgebung beteiligten Körperschaften. Die Reichsregierung erläßt die zur Durchführung dieser Verträge erforderlichen Vorschriften. | Reich treaties with foreign states which affect matters of Reich legislation shall not require the approval of the bodies concerned with legislation. The government of the Reich shall issue the regulations required for the execution of such treaties. |
| Artikel 5 | Article 5 |
| Dieses Gesetz tritt mit dem Tage seiner Verkündung in Kraft. Es tritt mit dem 1. April 1937 außer Kraft, es tritt ferner außer Kraft, wenn die gegenwärtige Reichsregierung durch eine andere abgelöst wird. | This law takes effect with the day of its proclamation. It loses force on April 1, 1937 or if the present Reich government is replaced by another. |
Notes
- 1 Article 85 outlined the process by which the Reichstag and Reichsrat approved the Reich budget. Article 87 restricted government borrowing.
- 2 Articles 68 to 77 stipulated the procedures for enacting legislature in the Reichstag.
The Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag on March 23 and proclaimed by the government the following day. Following constitutional procedure for legislation, the law was countersigned by President von Hindenburg, Chancellor Hitler, Minister of Interior Frick, Foreign Minister von Neurath, and Minister of Finance von Krosigk.
Consequences
While there had been previous enabling acts in the earliest years of the Weimar Republic, this one was more far reaching since Article 2 allowed for changes to the constitution. The law therefore formally required a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag. Hitler had taken care of that though: by the powers provided of the Reichstag Fire Decree, most of the Communist Party deputies were already jailed, and those mandates were declared "dormant" through a change of the Reichstag rules of procedure. The remaining members of parliament were intimidated by the SA surrounding the parliament hall. Social Democrat Otto Wels was the only member of the Reichstag to speak against Hitler's enabling act. In the end, only the Social Democrats voted against the bill.
It is indicative of the care that the Nazis took to give their dictatorship an appearance of legality that the Enabling Act was formally prolonged twice by the Reichstag beyond the 1937 date. Though the law had given legislative powers to the government as a whole and not to the chancellor, these powers were effectively in Hitler's hands. Formal cabinet meetings were rare during the whole Third Reich and non-existent during World War II.
After the Enabling Act, the KPD and SPD were outlawed, whereas other parties dissolved themselves. After that, another law from July 14, 1933 prevented the foundation of new political parties. See Gleichschaltung for more information about the subsequent steps.
