Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives (aka Blood Purge or Röhm-Putsch) of 30 June 1934 was a purge of the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary group which continued through 1 and 2 July. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), wary of the growing power of the SA, embarrassed by its thuggish behaviour now that he was the chancellor of Germany, and in need of the support of the German Army, which saw the SA as a rival, ordered the assassination of the SA leader Ernst Röhm (1887-1934) along with many other key SA commanders and political enemies of the new Nazi regime. Justified as a purge of dangerous plotters against the state, the Night of the Long Knives revealed that the Nazi leadership regarded themselves as above the law.
The SA
Adolf Hitler became the leader of the Munich-based NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party) in 1921. The party was neither socialist nor at all interested in workers, but Hitler had chosen the name to give his ultra-nationalist party as wide an appeal as possible. Known as the Nazi party, it was also vehemently anti-Semitic and against the German establishment. The SA or Sturmabteilung paramilitary group had been formed in 1921 and was given various functions, such as protecting Nazi party meetings, distributing propaganda, intimidating voters, and attacking party rivals or those identified as 'undesirables', like Jewish people. As Hitler had said, "We must struggle with ideas, but if necessary also with fists" (Hite, 116). From 1924, the SA began to wear brown army surplus uniforms, hence their nickname the Brownshirts.
The SA's growing membership in the early 1920s had already put Hitler on the alert. He decided to create his own personal bodyguard, a much smaller but more loyal group called the Stosstrupp-Hitler (Hitler Shock Troop). Nevertheless, the SA was involved in the infamous Beer Hall Putsch or Munich Putsch, the failed Nazi coup in November 1923. After the failure of the putsch, Hitler and his leading associates were found guilty of treason and imprisoned, albeit for what turned out to be short sentences. The immediate fallout of the putsch was a setback as the Nazi party and SA were banned (temporarily), and the Stosstrupp-Hitler was disbanded. However, the publicity of the court case against Hitler and his excellent oratory skills did actually increase interest in both the Nazi cause and the SA. Temporarily called the Frontbann, there was a huge rise in SA membership from 2,000 in 1923 to 30,000 stormtroopers in 1924.
The SA's growth was overseen by its leader Ernst Röhm. A short, stocky, ruthless man, who carried impressive facial scars from wounds sustained in WWI, Röhm had been instrumental in forming the "gymnastics and sports" branch of the Nazi party, which had then morphed into the SA. As one of Hitler's oldest allies, Röhm had also participated in the Beer Hall Putsch.
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