The Law for the Removal of Distress from People and Reich, commonly referred to as the Enabling Act, was the foundation stone of the Nazi dictatorship. The law granted Hitler and his government legislative powers without the checks and balances of parliamentary procedure, fatally undermining the remnants of democracy and ushering in the process of Gleichschaltung (coordination). Just how did Hitler convince the Reichstag's deputies, the majority of whom were not Nazis, to agree to a law that voted them out of a job? The answer to this question helps to reveal the complex interplay between National Socialism, old elites and the German people that made and sustained the Third Reich. 

Speaker-Rhys

Producers-Sam and Toby

Music-Sam