Reichstag Fire

[The Gonzo]

I was wondering, who really did set fire to the Reichstag? And what impact did it really have, would the Nazis have been able to get a majority without it?

[Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by The Gonzo

I was wondering, who really did set fire to the Reichstag? And what impact did it really have, would the Nazis have been able to get a majority without it?

Most likely, the Reichstag fire was started by Marinus van der Lubbe acting alone. It probably didn't make an ultimate difference to the Nazi seizure of power, since the Nazis would have banned the Communist party anyway.

[Alkar]

Originally Posted by Dark Knight

Most likely, the Reichstag fire was started by Marinus van der Lubbe acting alone. It probably didn't make an ultimate difference to the Nazi seizure of power, since the Nazis would have banned the Communist party anyway.

Although it is possible that Van der Lubbe was involved in the Reichstag Fire, it is practically impossible he could have done it alone. The fire started on too many places at once in the Reichstag building for one man to have done it. Possibly the Nazis knew of his plans and started the fire them selves. He did make for an ideal scapegoat though. Additionally Van der Lubbe's conviction was overturned by a West German court in 1981.

[michimueller]

Originally Posted by Dark Knight

Most likely, the Reichstag fire was started by Marinus van der Lubbe acting alone. It probably didn't make an ultimate difference to the Nazi seizure of power, since the Nazis would have banned the Communist party anyway.

I think it would have made quite a differnce. Sure, the communists may would have gotten banned anyway, but the direct power grab by hitler that ensured in a totalitarian dictatorship would be much much harder, and take much longer. The burning of the Reichstag was the perfect pretext for Hitlers power grab, practically giving him a Casus belli on all his enemies.

[Karl Martell]

Well... IIRC, Hitler assumed office on the 30th of January, and the fire was only a few days later. The enabling act was passed a week after he took office. How much faster can you do a power grab???

I think, without a Reichstag fire, the ultimate outcome of the Nazi drive for power would have been the same - by mid-1933, parliamentary democracy would be dead. But even just a few weeks of fights between the Nazi government and a regular Reichstag, with communist deputies and social democrats, would have left an impression on the people. Maybe Hitler wouldn't have had the kind of popularity in 1934/35 that he had historically - he would have to push his agenda more openly, without useful pretexts like the Reichstag fire, and less people would have swallowed his lies.

Given how successfull the Nazis were in the remaining years before the war, however, it's unlikely that major changes would have resulted. The olympic games, the economic recovery, the scrapping of Versailles - all largely unaffacted by the way Hitler grabbed power. But you never know... butterflies...

[Krivitsky]

Originally Posted by Karl Martell

Well... IIRC, Hitler assumed office on the 30th of January, and the fire was only a few days later. The enabling act was passed a week after he took office. How much faster can you do a power grab???

I think, without a Reichstag fire, the ultimate outcome of the Nazi drive for power would have been the same - by mid-1933, parliamentary democracy would be dead. But even just a few weeks of fights between the Nazi government and a regular Reichstag, with communist deputies and social democrats, would have left an impression on the people. Maybe Hitler wouldn't have had the kind of popularity in 1934/35 that he had historically - he would have to push his agenda more openly, without useful pretexts like the Reichstag fire, and less people would have swallowed his lies.

Given how successfull the Nazis were in the remaining years before the war, however, it's unlikely that major changes would have resulted. The olympic games, the economic recovery, the scrapping of Versailles - all largely unaffacted by the way Hitler grabbed power. But you never know... butterflies...

It certainly is amazing how soon after Hitler came to power that the fire took place...

It seems a little too amazing to me...

It certainly follows the M.O. of Hitler to have started it (Ernst and the brown shirts)...

[Tskb18]

"I only hope," Rosenberg said gloomily, "that this is not the work of our chaps. It's just the sort of damn silly thing some of them might do!"

http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/reichstag-fire.htm