Term
When used in German, both Machtergreifung and especially Machtübernahme retain their more general meanings, and the latter is not particularly related to the Nazis. Machtübernahme means any takeover of power, whether peaceful and legitimate or violent and illegitimate. The term is often used simultaneously for the following Gleichschaltung process up to the year 1934, which was characterized by systematic elimination of non-Nazi organizations that could potentially influence people, such as trade unions and political parties.
The word Machtergreifung was first coined by the Nazis themselves in order to portray their accession to power as an active seizure (an alternative term used was Nationale Erhebung 'national rising'). Since Hitler's appointment as chancellor was more a result of intrigue rather than of a coup d'état and in addition was appreciated among wide sections of the German population, the term has been strongly criticized by historians. It is sometimes replaced with the Machtübertragung ("handing-over of power") or, more polemically, Machterschleichung ("sneaking into power").
Another name commonly used for the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 is the Brown Revolution, referring to the Nazi political colour adopted from the shirts that from 1924 served as the uniform of the paramilitary SA troopers known as Braunhemden ("brownshirts").
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