Gleichschaltung of the states, 31 March 1933 - and section 10, which legalised the vote of the 23rd
event
The very first law made under the Enabling Act dissolved Germany's regional parliaments — and, in a clause nobody quotes, retroactively cancelled the seats whose absence had made the Enabling Act itself possible.
Who they are
The Hitler cabinet, acting on its new powers eight days after being granted them.
What they do
The law of 31 March 1933 dissolved every state parliament except Prussia's and ordered them rebuilt according to the March national election result.
How it works
Section 10 is the part that matters. It declares the allocation of seats to Communist party lists, on the basis of the 5 March result, void — and says no replacement seats will be given out. A historian working through the Enabling Act's constitutional problems in 1953 introduces that clause as the answer to one of them: the 81 Communist members had been validly elected and there was no legal way to cancel their seats. His sentence is that the legal basis was obtained only afterwards, by a rule issued under the Enabling Act. So the first use of the new power was, in part, to make the circumstances of its own granting lawful.
Why it matters
The research that came back reached this law and described what it did to the Communist seats without noticing what that did to the vote eight days earlier. It is the clearest single example on this site of a government writing permission slips for things it has already done.
The engine's record — word for word
[Report #202] **In plain terms:** the first law made under the Enabling Act dissolved the state parliaments - and, in a clause nobody quotes, retroactively voided the Communist seats whose absence had made the Enabling Act's own quorum work.
THE STATUTE: Vorlaeufiges Gesetz zur Gleichschaltung der Laender mit dem Reich, 31 March 1933, Reichsgesetzblatt 1933 I S. 153. It dissolved the state parliaments - the German Historical Museum's chronicle for 31 March records that 'werden ausser dem preussischen Landtag alle Laenderparlamente aufgeloest' - and required their reconstitution on the vote shares of the 5 March 1933 Reichstag election, with Prussia excepted because its Landtag had just been elected.
SECTION 10, verbatim as Schneider 1953 quotes it: 'Die Zuteilung von Sitzen auf Wahlvorschlaege der Kommunistischen Partei fuer den Reichstag und den Preussischen Landtag auf Grund des Wahlergebnisses vom 5. Maerz 1933 ist unwirksam. Ersatzzuteilung findet nicht statt.' The allocation of seats to Communist Party lists, for the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag, on the basis of the 5 March result, is void. No replacement allocation takes place.
WHY THAT IS THE FINDING. Schneider introduces it as the answer to a constitutional problem in the Enabling Act vote eight days earlier: the 81 KPD deputies were validly elected and 'Es gab keine gesetzliche Moeglichkeit, diese Mandate zu kassieren' - there was no legal way to cancel those mandates. His sentence: 'Die ‚Rechtsgrundlage‘ ist erst nachtraeglich durch eine auf Grund des Ermaechtigungsgesetzes erlassene Vorschrift beschafft worden.' The legal basis was obtained afterwards, by a provision issued under the Enabling Act. So the first exercise of the power granted on 23 March was, in part, to validate the conditions under which it had been granted. The research pass reached this statute and described its treatment of the KPD seats without noticing what the clause was doing to the vote of the 23rd.
CARRIED FORWARD: the Zweites Gesetz zur Gleichschaltung der Laender mit dem Reich of 7 April 1933 appointed Reichsstatthalter to enforce the Chancellor's guidelines in the states, and the Gesetz ueber den Neuaufbau des Reiches of 30 January 1934 dissolved the state parliaments entirely. Both are carried as named instruments; neither statute text was retrieved for this record.
Canon held 'Gleichschaltung' at two hits before this record - the nsdap node and Scorecard #280 - and zero for 'Reichsstatthalter'. Held as legal fact; name no holder.
Follow the trail
Walk this on the live map →