Reichstag (Nazi Germany)
|
Reichstag Großdeutscher Reichstag |
|
|---|---|
| Legislative body of Nazi Germany | |
.svg) |
|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | 1933 |
| Disbanded | 1945 |
| Preceded by | Weimar Reichstag |
| Succeeded by | |
| Seats | 813 (at dissolution) |
| Elections | |
| Direct non-competitive elections | |
|
Last election
|
13 March 1938 |
| Meeting place | |
 |
|
| Kroll Opera House, Berlin | |
The Reichstag ("diet of the realm"), officially the Großdeutscher Reichstag ("Greater German Reichstag") after 1938, was the pseudo-Parliament of the Third Reich from 1933 to 1945. Following the Nazi seizure of power and the passing of the Enabling Act of 1933, it met only as a rubber stamp for the actions of Adolf Hitler's dictatorship—always by unanimous consent—and to listen to Hitler's speeches. In this purely ceremonial role, the Reichstag convened only 20 times, the last on 26 April 1942. The President of the Reichstag (German: Reichstagspräsident) throughout this period was Hermann Göring.
During this period, the Reichstag was sometimes derisively referred to by the German public as the "teuerste Gesangsverein Deutschlands" (the most expensive singing club in Germany) due to frequent singing of the national anthem during sessions. To avoid holding scheduled elections during World War II, in 1943 Hitler extended the term of office of the current Reichstag (elected in late 1938 to serve in 1939-1943) to serve a special eight-year term ending on 30 January 1947.
In 1920–1923 and from 1930 on, the Weimar Republic's democratically elected Reichstag could be circumvented by two legal instruments not provided (as such) by the constitution:
The former practice became more and more common after 1930. Due to the Reichstag's complex system of proportional representation, it was extremely difficult for a government to have a stable majority. Frequently, when a Chancellor was voted out of office, his successor could not be assured of a majority. As a result, Chancellors were forced to use Article 48 simply to conduct the ordinary business of government.
Following the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933 and the issuing of the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State the day after, Hitler used these legislative loopholes to force passage of the Enabling Act of 1933 on March 23. In ratifying the act, the Reichstag voted by a two-thirds majority to allow the government—in practice, the Chancellor—to enact laws on its own authority for a four-year period. With certain exceptions (which were in practice disregarded), those laws could deviate from articles in the constitution. From then on, though officially only the Reich Government as a whole could enact laws, the de facto power always lay with the Führer and Chancellor, Hitler. In effect, the Reichstag abandoned all responsibility for the exercise of legislative power.
...
Wikipedia