Hitler Cabinet | |
---|---|
cabinet of Germany |
|
1933–1945 | |
Date formed | 30 January 1933 |
Date dissolved | 30 April 1945 |
People and organisations | |
Head of government | Adolf Hitler |
Deputy head of government |
Franz von Papen (30 January 1933 – 7 August 1934) Hermann Göring (10 February 1941 - 23 April 1945) |
Head of state |
Paul von Hindenburg (until 2 August 1934) Adolf Hitler (1934-1945) |
Member party |
Nazi Party German National People's Party (dissolved on 27 June 1933) |
Status in legislature | Nazi led coalition government (to June 1933) Nazi single-party government (after 1933) |
Opposition party |
Centre Party Social Democratic Party of Germany Communist Party |
Opposition leader | Otto Wels |
History | |
Election(s) | German federal election, November 1932 |
Legislature term(s) | 7th legislature of the Reichstag |
Predecessor | Cabinet von Schleicher |
Successor | Cabinet Schwerin von Krosigk |
The Hitler Cabinet de jure formed the government of Nazi Germany between 30 January 1933 and 30 April 1945 upon the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German Reich by president Paul von Hindenburg – contrived by the national conservative politician Franz von Papen, who reserved the office of the Vice-Chancellor for himself. Originally a coalition of Hitler's Nazi Party and the national conservative German National People's Party, it became an exclusively Nazi cabinet when the DNVP was intimidated into dissolving itself.
The Enabling Act of 1933, passed two months after Hitler took office, gave the cabinet the power to make laws without legislative consent for four years. In effect, this power was vested in Hitler, and for all intents and purposes it made Hitler a dictator. After the Enabling Act's passage, serious deliberations more or less ended at cabinet meetings. It met only sporadically after 1934, and last met in full on February 4, 1938. Nonetheless, it grew immensely in size on paper, due to the addition of the commanders of the armed services and several ministers without portfolio.
The Reich cabinet consisted of the following Ministers:
As the Third Reich government was disintegrating at the end of the Second World War and following Hitler's death on 30 April 1945, it was succeeded by the short-lived Cabinet Schwerin von Krosigk of the Flensburg government.