@RickiTarr

Alas, you are mistaken.
After seizing power, #Hitler literally beat down the opposition, prohibiting any opposition rallies. Then, he held elections where he had always had (an creasing) majority:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstagswahl_März_1933

The English version of wiki is not as good, but the content seems o.k. at first glance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1933_German_federal_election

And after grabbing power, he had communist-type majorities of nearly 100%:

@Strandjunker

@HistoPol @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

Look at that voter turn out percentage. More than 80% of Germans were making the effort to fullfill their civic duty to vote.

I keep hearing, there are more of us than them. Our side must really suck at civic duty.

@HistoPol @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

So, the German turn out that year was 88.x% (I keep forgetting the exact number in the 2 seconds it takes to close the wiki page and open a mastodon post)

I was curious, so I looked it up, and found an article about a record high turn out last presidential election. Our US record high turn out? 66.8%

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

You talk about an important subject.

In the face of what has been happening in different parts of the globe on different levels (#Hungary, #Poland, #USA, #Israel, #UK,...), I think understanding what, apart from some other materials, the much more detailed #German #Wikipedia entry says about the 1933 elections in the Deutsche Reich is very important, because it helps a lot to see how far countries have progressed towards #fascism...

*1930's #WeimarRepublic Revisited?*

#Hitler #Fascism #History

(1/n)

How #Hitler's party grabbed power

Ah, there is a lot that could be said, and this is no lecture. I will try to be brief:

First of all, comparing participation rates between different political systems is problematic. For instance: literacy rates, do you need to buy a voter ID, etc. Then, and this is relevant for all #Nazi elections, did voters really have a choice?

This said, here are the voter turn-out rates...

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

(2/n)

...out rates for the German "House of Representatives" (#Bundestag):

...https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2274/umfrage/entwicklung-der-wahlbeteiligung-bei-bundestagswahlen-seit-1949/

And, yes, turnout used to be much higher. Frankly, I am quite amazed about the enormous turn-out from 1953-1987: 84-91%, for what I am about to say next. (So let's keep this figure in mind for a moment.)

What I have learned from voter turn-outs in general elections above 95% or so in...

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

#History #DE

(3/n)

...#Communist countries is that they (almost?) always were rigged.

The same is true about 👉the 1933 election in #Germany, which I have translated with a little help from Google, to be faster:

Although all other political parties were allowed to vote, the election campaign[s for the Deutsche #Reichstag of 1933] already took place under the auspices of the #dictatorship. The supporters of [#Hitler’s party, the ]#NSDAP committed...

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

(4/n)

...numerous acts of political terror with impunity, which were directed primarily against Social Democrats [#SPD] and #Communists [#KPD]. Hermann #Göring, acting #Prussian 👉Minister of the Interior, issued the order to the police on 17 February to use firearms without holding back.👈
A few days later, the members of 👉the #SA [#Sturmabteilung, paramilitary #Nazi unit]], #SS [#Schutzstaffel,] and #Stahlhelm were turned into auxiliary policemen👈...

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

#DEhistory #Elections1933

👉The Death of the #WeimarRepublic👈

(5/n)

...On February 23, the #Communists were able to hold their last major election campaign event in #Prussia with Wilhelm #Pieck as their top candidate. But 👉Pieck could not [even] finish his speech because the event was broken up by the #police.👈 On February 27, there was a #Reichstag fire [#Reichstagsbrand]. Regardless of whether the fire...

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker
#DEhistory
(5/n)

...was started by a lone perpetrator or staged by the #NSDAP itself, they exploited the process politically by blaming the #Communists. Already 👉the day after the fire, the #communist press and for two weeks the press of the #SPD were also banned. The offices of the #KPD were closed and deputies and functionaries were taken into "protective custody".👈 On the same day, the #Reichstag Fire Ordinance [#Reichtagstagsbrandverordnung] was...

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

👉The Death of #Democracy👈
(6/n)

...was issued. [👉This emergency decree suspended many fundamental rights.]
This eliminated the previous rule of law.👈
👉Leading figures from the #KPD and #SPD were imprisoned. Thus, on 3 March, Ernst #Thälmann was found through treachery. Dissident intellectuals were also imprisoned. […] Many prisoners were interned and physically abused in the #ConcentrationCamps, established in February 1933.👈 Despite the de facto...

@missladyartemis @RickiTarr @Strandjunker

#DEhistory #Democracy
👉The Death of the #Republic👈

(7/n)

...destruction of its ability to act, the #KPD did not formally dissolve because the government did not expect any practical advantages from dissolving it.
For their election campaign, the #NSDAP and the Black-White-Red Fighting Front were promised campaign aid amounting to three million #Reichsmarks at a secret 👉meeting between #Hitler and industrialists👈 on 20 February 1933. […]