On February 27, 1933, six days before polling day, the Reichstag was set on fire. A Dutch Communist was arrested at the scene and the Nazis declared the arson the start of an attempted Bolshevik revolution. This provided Hitler with the excuse to establish his dictatorship. Civil liberties were suspended, Communists and other political opponents were arrested en masse, and, on March 23, the newly elected Reichstag voted itself into oblivion with the passage of the Enabling Act, granting Hitler the power to rule by decree.
