““Papen’s plan was not as stupid as it now looks. He had planned that soon after its formation, the new cabinet would place an enabling law (Ermächtigungsgesetz) before the Reichstag. This was a law which gave the government the power to initiate legislation for a certain period of time. With Hitler’s help, Papen believed there would be no problem raising the two-thirds majority needed to get the law through the Reichstag. The deadlock between cabinet and Reichstag could at last be broken. And since laws would be passed by a vote within the cabinet, the conservative majority provided a guarantee that the Nazis would be held in check by their conservative colleagues. Papen did not foresee the radicalization that followed the Reichstag fire and the role of the Nazi political machine in intimidating and marginalizing conservative, nationalist political leaders.””
