Enabling Act of 1933

This article is about the German law passed in 1933 at the beginning of the Third Reich. For other laws of that name, see Enabling act.

The Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz in German) was passed by Germany's parliament (the Reichstag) on 23 March 1933. It was the second major step after the Reichstag Fire Decree through which the Nazis obtained dictatorial powers using largely legal means. The Act enabled Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet to enact laws without the participation of the Reichstag.

On March 23, 1933, Adolf Hitler gave a speech about the enabling act. This is the original transcript of the key passage of the speech.

The formal name of the Enabling Act was Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich ("Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Empire").