Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat
Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat | |
---|---|
Signed | 14 February 1934 |
Commenced | 14 February 1934 |
Status: Repealed |
The Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat (German: Gesetz über die Aufhebung des Reichsrats) was a measure enacted by the government of Nazi Germany on 14 February 1934 that abolished the second chamber of the German parliament.
Background
The
After
The states, though not eliminated, were no longer participating components in a
Text
Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat. 14 February 1934.
The Reich government has passed the following law, which is hereby promulgated:
§ 1
(1) The Reichsrat is dissolved.
(2) The representation of the states at the Reich ceases to exist.
§ 2
(1) The participation of the Reichsrat in legislation and administration ceases.
(2) Insofar as the Reichsrat was active independently, the responsible Reich Minister or the position determined by him in consultation with the Reich Minister of the Interior shall take its place.
(3) The participation of persons authorized to the Reichsrat in corporations, courts and organs of any kind is withdrawn.
§ 3
The competent Reich ministers are authorized to make supplementary provisions in agreement with the Reich Minister of the Interior and to take into account the changes resulting from this law when promulgating a new version of legal regulations.
Berlin, February 14, 1934.
The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
Constitutional legitimacy
In accordance with the emergency powers granted to it by the
Aftermath
Enactment of the law abolished the Reichsrat and formally removed the participation of the German states in national legislation. In reality, this was less significant than it may have seemed on the surface. Whereas the Reichsrat in the past had served as a check on the actions of the Reichstag in Weimar Germany, by 1934 this was no longer the case. Once the Nazis had secured control of the governments of the German states, they used this power to appoint their adherents as the state representatives to the Reichsrat. One need look no further than the Reichsrat action in passing the Enabling Act on the evening of 23 March 1933, where "proceedings only occupied a few minutes, unanimous approval being given without a debate" to see that it no longer served as an independent and deliberative legislative body but was now reduced to "rubber stamp" status.[8] The states would not recover their national legislative function until May 1949 when the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany made provisions for a Bundesrat, which became the successor organization to the Reichsrat.
References
- ^ "Weimar Constitution". Wikisource. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ Zentner & Bedürftig 1997, pp. 940–941.
- ^ "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume II, Chapter XVI: Individual Responsibility of Defendants, p. 659". Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality. 1946. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "Text of the Enabling Act". Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Text of the Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich". Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ Wells 1936, p. 355.
- ^ Evans 2005, p. 453.
- ^ Fergusson 1964, p. 256.
Sources
- Evans, Richard J. (2005). The Coming of the Third Reich. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-143-03469-8.
- Fergusson, Gilbert (April 1964). "A Blueprint for Dictatorship. Hitler's Enabling Law of March 1933". International Affairs. 40 (2): 256.
- Wells, Roger H. (April 1936). "The Liquidation of the German Länder". The American Political Science Review. 30 (2). American Political Science Association: 350–361. S2CID 147621323.
- Zentner, Christian; Bedürftig, Friedemann, eds. (1997) [1991]. ISBN 978-0-306-80793-0.
External links
- "Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat" (in German). Retrieved 16 March 2023.