On 5 March 1933, Germany bore witness to an electoral turning point that would irreversibly alter the course of history, as the Nazi Party secured a parliamentary majority with 43.9% of the vote—amounting to 17.2 million ballots cast in their favour.
Buoyed by the Reichstag Fire just days prior and an atmosphere thick with intimidation, suppression of opposition, and Goebbels’ masterful propaganda, Hitler and his party exploited the fragile Weimar Republic’s vulnerabilities to tighten their grip on power.
Though falling short of an outright majority, the results, augmented by coercive alliances and emergency decrees, paved the way for the Enabling Act later that month, effectively dismantling Germany’s democratic framework and inaugurating an era of totalitarian rule that would engulf the world in war and destruction.
