A constitution is a set of rules by which a country is governed. In 1919 Germany needed a new system of government. Germany had just lost its monarchy and a constitution was necessary. The Weimar constitution was formed. Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, the so-called emergency clause, meant the head of government (president) could allow the cabinet to govern without the consent of parliament (the Reichstag) in states of emergency, when it was necessary in order to maintaining public order. It was this clause that would eventually prove fatal for the near collapsed democracy of Germany.
When Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist party, or Nazis, came to power in 1933, they exploited the democratic weakness of Article 48. they took advantage of the social friction and dissolve the Reichstag. Hitler dreamt of a revolution of which Germany was reunited and rebuilt. This was his motive and led him to rapidly transform the Weimar Republic into a dictatorship. He set a date for new Reichstag elections, only to have the Reichstag building “mysteriously” burn to the ground the week before the elections. The Nazis blamed the fire on the Communists, and on February 28 the president, calling upon Article 48 of the constitution, signed an agreement that granted the Nazis the right to overturn the political opposition.
I feel that it was inevitable that the ’emergency clause’ would be taken advantage of. It was known as the ‘suicide clause’. This was a suitable name as it led to the collapse of the democracy in Germany and allowed the extremists, such as Hitler to enforce the inevitable dictatorship.
The Essay on Neo Nazis Hitler Party History
"Two Neo-Nazis have been convicted of murdering Black teenager Benjamin Hermansen. A third defendant has been convicted of being an accessory to the attack. The killing of 15-year-old Benjamin Hermansen while he was meeting a friend near his home in Oslo sparked outrage. Tens of thousands of Norwegians took to the streets a few days after the death to protest against racism and violence. Oslo City ...
