# Enabling Act (1933)

URL: https://germany-history.com/timeline/1933-enabling-act
Location: Berlin
Categories: main-event

On 23 March 1933 the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, giving the government power to make laws without parliament. Only the Social Democrats voted against. Otto Wels declared: 'You can take our lives and our freedom, but not our honour.'

## Why it matters
It was the legal foundation of the dictatorship.

Ruler at the time: [Adolf Hitler](https://germany-history.com/rulers/adolf-hitler)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia – Enabling Act of 1933](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act_of_1933)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica – Enabling Act of 1933](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Enabling-Act)