Knowra Reichstag fire Reichstag fire The arson of Germany’s parliament building in Berlin on 27 February 1933, used by the Nazi government to justify suspending civil liberties and suppressing opponents.
Reichstag Fire Decree : A decree issued on 28 February 1933 that suspended key civil liberties in Germany. Issued the day after the fire, it enabled searches, arrests, and censorship without normal legal safeguards.
Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution : A provision allowing Germany’s president to take emergency measures during a serious threat to public order. It supplied the constitutional basis for the decree issued after the fire.
Marinus van der Lubbe : A Dutch council communist convicted of setting the Reichstag fire. He was caught inside the burning building and confessed, though questions about accomplices endured.
Leipzig Trial : The 1933 trial of Marinus van der Lubbe and four Bulgarian communists for the Reichstag fire. The trial acquitted the alleged communist accomplices but convicted van der Lubbe.
Enabling Act of 1933 : A German law that allowed Hitler’s cabinet to enact laws without parliamentary approval. The emergency climate after the fire helped the Nazis secure passage of this decisive law.
Emergency powers : Special government authorities activated in response to a declared crisis. The Nazi government used emergency powers to suspend rights and bypass ordinary legal protections.
Reichstag : The German parliament building in Berlin, completed in 1894 and damaged by fire in 1933. The fire began inside this building, whose symbolism magnified the political impact.
Communist conspiracy theory : The claim that communist organizers, rather than van der Lubbe alone, planned the Reichstag fire. Nazi leaders presented the fire as a coordinated communist uprising to justify repression.
Communist Party of Germany : A German political party founded in 1918 that was outlawed under Nazi rule. The Nazis blamed communists for the fire and used the accusation to crush their political organization.
Political repression : The use of state power to restrict political activity, speech, or opposition. The fire’s aftermath converted accusations into arrests, raids, and suppression of opponents.
Show all 21