The Daily History Chronicle

February 27, 1933: The Night Democracy Burned


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On February 27, 1933, Germany's parliament building burned. A young Dutch communist confessed. Within hours, Hitler suspended civil liberties. Within weeks, dictatorship. Did Marinus van der Lubbe act alone, or was it a Nazi conspiracy? After 90 years, historians still debate. But what's certain is how the Nazis exploited one night of fire to extinguish German democracy forever and why that matters every time governments use crisis to expand power.

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The Daily History ChronicleBy Richard G Backus