Explain why Hitler was able to create a dictatorship in the period February 1933 to August 1934. You may use the following in your answer: the Reichstag Fire; the Night of the Long Knives. You must also use information of your own. (12)(Edexcel past Q)

It is important to recognise immediately that this question is asking you WHY Hitler was able to create a dictatorship. Detailing or describing important factors with no explicit link to the question means you cannot access a higher mark. We should include 3 factors here, with at least one not to do with the stimulus points in the question (the Reichstag Fire or the Night of the Long Knives). Failing to include a factor outside of the stimulus points means you cannot access the higher mark bands (9+). Remember, the question does not require a judgement to be made on which of these factors is most important. We just need a clear structure of 3 paragraphs with each one EXPLAINING WHY one particular factor helped Hitler create a dictatorship, with a clear argument in each.
Within each paragraph, to access the top mark band, we also need to demonstrate wide-ranging, detailed knowledge which ALWAYS HELPS TO ANSWER THE QUESTION BEING ASKED! Let's say you were to write a paragraph on why the Reichstag Fire helped Hitler create a dictatorship. You could argue that this was important because of how Hitler manipulated it to further his own power which marked the first step towards the creation of a dictatorship (our line of reasoning). You would then go onto explain that the Reichstag Fire (February 1933), was blamed by Hitler on the communists, a Dutch communist (Marinus van der Lubbe) having been found near the scene. As a result, Hitler was able to persuade President Hindenburg to grant him emergency powers to deal with this supposed communist threat. These powers marked the first step in the creation of the dictatorship, enabling Hitler to, for example, begin legally persecuting political opponents (specifically, the communists). Here we have a clear and logical argument, supported by detailed, relevant knowledge. You should repeat this for 2 other factors.