Hitler Cabinet
| Hitler Cabinet | |
|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} cabinet of Germany | |
| 1933–1945 | |
.jpg) | |
| 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.[1] 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.
Composition
The Reich cabinet consisted of the following Ministers:
| Office | Incumbent | In office | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler | 30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP |
| Vice-Chancellor | Franz von Papen | 30 January 1933 – 7 August 1934 | none (Centre until 1932) |
| Hermann Göring | 10 February 1941 – 23 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Konstantin von Neurath | 30 January 1933 – 4 February 1938 | none (NSDAP from 1937) |
| Joachim von Ribbentrop | 4 February 1938 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
| Minister of the Interior | Wilhelm Frick | 30 January 1933 – 24 August 1943 | NSDAP |
| Heinrich Himmler | 24 August 1943 – 29 April 1945 | ||
| Minister of Finance | Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk | 30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945 | none (NSDAP from 1937) |
| Minister of Justice | Franz Gürtner † | 30 January 1933 – 29 January 1941 | DNVP (NSDAP from 1937) |
| Franz Schlegelberger (acting) | 29 January 1941 – 24 August 1942 | NSDAP | |
| Otto Georg Thierack | 24 August 1942 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Minister of the Reichswehr (from 1935: of War) | Werner von Blomberg | 30 January 1933 – 5 February 1938 | none |
| Wilhelm Keitel (as Chief of the OKW) | 5 February 1938 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Minister for Economics | Alfred Hugenberg | 30 January 1933 – 29 June 1933 | DNVP |
| Kurt Schmitt | 29 June 1933 – 3 August 1934 | NSDAP | |
| Hjalmar Schacht | 3 August 1934 – 26 November 1937 | none (NSDAP from 1937) | |
| Hermann Göring | 26 November 1937 – 15 January 1938 | NSDAP | |
| Walther Funk | 5 February 1938 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Minister for Food and Agriculture | Alfred Hugenberg | 30 January 1933 – 29 June 1933 | DNVP |
| Richard Walther Darré | 29 June 1933 – 23 May 1942 | NSDAP | |
| Herbert Backe | 23 May 1942 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Minister for Labour | Franz Seldte[2] | 30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP (from 30 April 1933) |
| Minister for Postal Affairs | Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach | 30 January 1933 – 2 February 1937 | none |
| Wilhelm Ohnesorge | 2 February 1937 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
| Minister for Transport | Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach | 30 January 1933 – 2 February 1937 | none |
| Julius Dorpmüller | 2 February 1937 – 30 April 1945 | none (NSDAP from 1941) | |
| Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda | Joseph Goebbels | 13 March 1933 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP |
| Minister of Aviation | Hermann Göring | 5 May 1933 – 24 April 1945 | NSDAP |
| Minister for Science and Education | Bernhard Rust | 1 May 1934 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP |
| Minister for Church Affairs | Hanns Kerrl † | 16 July 1935 – 15 December 1941 | NSDAP |
| Hermann Muhs (acting) | 15 December 1941 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Minister for Armaments and Ammunition (from 1943: for Armaments and War Production) |
Fritz Todt † | 17 March 1940 – 8 February 1942 | NSDAP |
| Albert Speer | 8 February 1942 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories | Alfred Rosenberg | 17 November 1941 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP |
| Minister of State for Bohemia and Moravia | Karl Hermann Frank | 20 August 1943 – 30 April 1945 | NSDAP |
| Ministers without portfolio (from 1938: Reich Ministers) |
Hermann Göring | 30 January 1933 – 28 April 1933 | NSDAP |
| Ernst Röhm (SA Chief) † | 1 December 1933 – 1 July 1934 | ||
| Rudolf Hess (Deputy Führer) | 1 December 1933 – 10 May 1941 | ||
| Hanns Kerrl | 16 April 1934 – 18 July 1935 | ||
| Hans Frank (Governor-General from 1939) | 19 December 1934 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Hjalmar Schacht | 26 November 1937 – 22 January 1943 | ||
| Otto Meissner (Chief of Presidential Chancellery) | 1 December 1937 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Hans Lammers (Chief of Reich Chancellery) | 1 December 1937 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Arthur Seyss-Inquart | 1 May 1939 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Martin Bormann (Chief of Nazi Party Chancellery) | 12 May 1941 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Wilhelm Frick (Reich Protector) | 24 August 1943 – 30 April 1945 | ||
| Konstantin Hierl (Chief of the Reichsarbeitsdienst) | 24 August 1943 - 30 April 1945 | ||
Changes
- March 1933: Joseph Goebbels enters the cabinet as Minister of Propaganda.
- April 1933: Franz Seldte becomes a member of the NSDAP; Göring takes a portfolio as Minister of Aviation.
- June 1933: Kurt Schmitt succeeds Hugenberg as Minister of Economics. Richard Walther Darré succeeds Hugenberg as Minister of Food.
- December 1933: Ernst Röhm and Rudolf Hess enter the Cabinet as Ministers without Portfolio.
- May 1934: Bernhard Rust enters the Cabinet as Minister of Science and Education.
- June 1934: Hanns Kerrl enters the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio. Röhm, Minister without Portfolio, is murdered.
- July 1934: Göring takes another portfolio as Minister of Forestry.
- August 1934: Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen leaves the cabinet. A new Vice-Chancellor is not installed. Hjalmar Schacht succeeds Schmitt as Minister of Economics.
- December 1934: Hans Frank enters the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
- March 1935: Göring takes yet another portfolio as Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe.
- May 1935: The title of Minister of Defense is replaced by that of Minister of War. Blomberg retains the office.
- July 1935: Hanns Kerrl takes a portfolio as Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs.
- April 1936: Werner von Fritsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the Navy, join the Cabinet.
- February 1937: Wilhelm Ohnesorge succeeds Eltz as Minister of Posts. Julius Dorpmüller succeeds Eltz as Minister of Transport.
- November 1937: Hermann Göring succeeds Schacht as Minister of Economics. Schacht becomes Minister without Portfolio.
- December 1937: Otto Meissner enters the Cabinet as Minister of State and Head of the Chancellery.
- January 1938: Walther Funk succeeds Göring as Minister of Economics.
- February 1938: Joachim von Ribbentrop replaces Neurath as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Neurath becomes Minister without Portfolio. Blomberg resigns as Minister of War and his office is abolished. His role is taken by General Wilhelm Keitel as Director of the OKW. Walther von Brauchitsch succeeds Fritsch as Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
- May 1939: Arthur Seyss-Inquart enters the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
- March 1940: Fritz Todt becomes Minister of Armaments and Ammunition.
- January 1941: Franz Schlegelberger succeeds Gürtner as Minister of Justice.
- May 1941: Rudolf Hess is dismissed from the Cabinet.
- July 1941: Alfred Rosenberg enters the Cabinet as Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories.
- December 1941: Hanns Kerrl, the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, dies. He is not replaced. Hitler himself takes up the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
- February 1942: Albert Speer succeeds Todt as Minister of Armaments and Ammunition.
- May 1942: Herbert Backe succeeds Darré as Minister of Food.
- August 1942: Otto Georg Thierack succeeds Schlegelberger as Minister of Justice.
- January 1943: Karl Dönitz succeeds Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
- January 1943: Hans Lammers appointed President of Reich Cabinet (Cabinet President in Hitler's absence)
- January 1943: Hjalmar Schacht departs the Cabinet.
- June 1943: Albert Speer's ministerial authority is extended to cover the entire German war industry, and is elevated to Minister of Armaments and War Production.
- August 1943: Heinrich Himmler succeeds Frick as Minister of the Interior.
- August 1943: Konstantin Hierl enters the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
End of Cabinet
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.
References
- ↑ Kershaw, Ian (2010). Hitler: A Biography. Norton. p. 253. ISBN 9780393075625.
- ↑ Stackelberg, Roderick (2002). Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies. Routledge. p. 109. ISBN 9780203005415.
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