March 1933 German federal election

Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January and just six days after the Reichstag fire. The election saw Nazi stormtroopers unleash a widespread campaign of violence against the Communist Party (KPD), left-wingers, trade unionists, the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. They were the last multi-party elections in a united Germany until the all-German vote in 1990, though by 1933, the democratic process had ceased to be free or fair. The 1933 election followed the previous year's two elections (July and November) and Hitler's appointment as Chancellor. In the months before the 1933 election, SA and SS displayed "terror, repression and propaganda ... across the land", and Nazi organizations "monitored" the vote process. In Prussia 50,000 members of the SS, SA and Der Stahlhelm were ordered to monitor the votes by acting Interior Minister Hermann Göring, as auxiliary police. The Nazi Party (NSDAP) experienced a sharp rise in support compared to the November 1932 election, and together with its coalition partner, the German National People's Party (DNVP), secured a majority in the Reichstag. This marked the first time since 1930 that a governing coalition held a clear parliamentary majority. However, the election was far from fair. Carried out in an atmosphere of intimidation and violence against political opponents, it was skewed heavily in the Nazis' favour. Even so, they alone received only 43.9 percent of the vote, falling short of the numbers needed to govern without a partner. Though now in possession of a working majority, Hitler pushed further. On 23 March, just two weeks after the vote, he passed the Enabling Act of 1933 with the support of the DNVP and the Centre Party, granting him the power to rule by decree. This act effectively dismantled parliamentary democracy and gave Hitler dictatorial authority. In the months that followed, the Nazi regime banned all other political parties and turned the Reichstag into a rubberstamp body composed solely of Nazis and their pro-Nazi "guests", extinguishing all remaining traces of democratic governance. This would be the last contested election held in Germany until after World War II.