It did not escape Klemperer's notice that many of the victims had played a role in bringing Hitler to power. This included Vice-Chancellor Papen and those in his immediate circle. On 27 February 1933, as the campaign moved into its final, frantic days, theReichstag, the German Parliament building, was set on fire and burnt down. Leading officers in the SS were shown falsified evidence on 24 June that Rhm planned to use the SA to launch a plot against the government (Rhm-Putsch). The trial of Van der Lubbe following the Reichstag fire. The decree also removed basic personal freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, the right to own property, and the right to trial before imprisonment. The SA had given the Nazi's an iron fist . [41] Several leaders of the disbanded Catholic Centre Party were also murdered in the purge. coalition This event reputedly occurred during the fifth century Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, when Vortigern and the British leaders were invited to discuss peace and the Saxon leader Hengist commanded his men to draw their Seax (the infamous long knives) and massacre the unarmed Britons. In British politics, the "Night of the Long Knives" was a major Cabinet reshuffle that took place on 13 July 1962. [39] There in the prison courtyard, the Leibstandarte firing squad shot five SA generals and an SA colonel. On the 2 May 1933 trade unions were banned. On 1 July, at Hitler's behest, Theodor Eicke, Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, and his SS adjutant Michael Lippert visited Rhm. 3. Among the few exceptions were General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord and Field Marshal August von Mackensen, who started a campaign to have Schleicher rehabilitated by Hitler. night of the long knives phrase. This photograph shows the SA as they marched victoriously through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin the same day. However, there were also other events which helped Hitler in achieving the position of a dictator. The support of respected individuals such as von Papen and Hindenburgs son, Oskar von Hindenburg, gave the Nazis further legitimacy for these actions. The Night of the Long Knives J. Marshall, 2007. [37] Sepp Dietrich received orders from Hitler for the Leibstandarte to form an "execution squad" and go to Stadelheim Prison where certain SA leaders were being held. The Night of the Long Knives involved the violent purge of certain members of the Nazi Party from June 30th to July 2nd in 1934. SA violence in Prussia gravely concerned Gring. 54 Richard J. Evans At the same time, the apparatus of the police state began to look a good deal less coercive than it had done in the 1950s. Over the next two months, they launched themselves into an intense election campaign. Only the SPD opposed it. "[65] Another rare exception was Field Marshal August von Mackensen, who spoke about the murders of Schleicher and Bredow at the annual General Staff Society meeting in February 1935 after they had been rehabilitated by Hitler in early January 1935. "A very calm and easy going mailman," the diarist Victor Klemperer wrote, "who is not at all National Socialist, said, 'Well, he simply sentenced them.'" Until then, Lippert had been one of the few executioners of the purge to evade trial. 8 study hacks, 3 revision templates, 6 revision techniques, 10 exam and self-care tips. It shows the Nazis using violenc. How seriously Hitler took the socialist character of National Socialism was to remain one of the main causes of disagreement and division within the Nazi party up to the summer of 1934. Uploaded: 09/18/2002. [63] Since Schleicher was a good friend of the French Ambassador Andr Franois-Poncet, and because of his reputation for intrigue, the claim that Schleicher was working for France had enough surface plausibility for most Germans to accept it. by Roy Morris Jr. 8/20/2018. The SA (sometimes known as the "Stormtroopers" or "Brownshirts") was the paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party that played a key role in the Nazi . wikipedia notes: The Night of the Long Knives (German: Nacht der langen Messer) or "Operation Hummingbird," was a purge of Adolf Hitler's potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung (SA). The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. A variety of studies intensified Mussolini used the affair occasioned by the murder of Giacomo Matteotti as an example of the kind of trouble unruly followers could cause a dictator. consolidate With Hitler's arrival in Bad Wiessee between 06:00 and 07:00, the SA leadership, still in bed, were taken by surprise. Civil Service During the years of the rise of the Nazi Party, the SA had been instrumental in helping the party to gain support. Hitler feared that the SA and Ernst Rhm, their leader, were a potential threat to his leadership. , issuing the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on the 7 April 1933. of democracy. Germany feared revolution. Hess, present among the assembled, even volunteered to shoot the "traitors". With Germany now under his control the expansion of Germany could begin. ", Coincidentally, Hitler had been incarcerated at. [27] While von Papen's resignation as vice-chancellor would not have threatened Hitler's position, it would have nonetheless been an embarrassing display of independence from a leading conservative. This would allow them to rule unopposed and unhindered by coalition governments. By mid-1934, Hitler seemed to be master of all Germany. [73] Hitler's speech was not reported in the German press, but the army was appeased by the speech. The atmosphere of terror that had followed the Reichstag Fire, and Hindenburgs and von Papens support, made the proposal seem legitimate and, to some, necessary. [7] Complaints of "overbearing and loutish" behaviour by stormtroopers became common by the middle of 1933. [45][41] As Himmler's adjutant Karl Wolff later explained, friendship and personal loyalty were not allowed to stand in the way: Among others, a charming fellow [named] Karl von Spreti, Rhm's personal adjutant. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point in the history of Hitler's Germany. ", "The names of eighty-five victims [exist], only fifty of them SA men. . A copy of the original film, before Rhm was edited out, was found in the 1980s in the German Democratic Republic's film archives. While many officers were impressed by Hitler's promises of an expanded army, a return to conscription, and a more aggressive foreign policy, the army continued to guard its traditions of independence during the early years of the Nazi regime. Share Image. [32] Blomberg and General Walther von Reichenau, the army's liaison to the party, gave it to him by expelling Rhm from the German Officers' League. Many were terrified of voting of at all, and many turned to voting for the Nazi Party out of fear for their own safety. Reichswehr Through these aspects the Nazis suppressed any opposition to their power, and were able to start the road from democracy to a dictatorship. The Bill passed by 444 votes for to 94 against on the 24 March 1933. ultimate power over Germany, whilst maintaining an One moment in a twelve-year history of the Third Reich that is underappreciated is the Night of the Long Knives, also known as the Rhm Purge, at the end of June 1934. It's helped us to become more accustomed to acts of grim self-interested political butchery; but for those witnessing these events as they happened, they were simply unprecedented. The crowd, which included party members and many SA members fortunate enough to escape arrest, shouted its approval. Night of the Long Knives: Directed by Lance Miccio, Grant Slawson. One-to-one online tuition can be a great way to brush up on your History knowledge. Hitler ordered both Heines and his partner taken outside the hotel and shot. In two brutal days in 1934 Adolf Hitler and his senior staff would capture and execute Ernst Roehm, the rest of the senior leaders of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and perhaps 1000 other enemies and threats to his control of Germany. Upon returning to Berlin, Goebbels telephoned Gring at 10:00 with the codeword Kolibri to let loose the execution squads on the rest of their unsuspecting victims. The SA evolved out of the remnants of the Freikorps movement of the post-World War I years. Add to Favorites. It established Hitler as "the supreme leader of the German people", as he put it in his 13 July speech to the Reichstag. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet, one-third of the total. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. The Nazi grip on government extended across national, state and local levels. [21] By the beginning of June everything was set and all that was needed was permission from Hitler. [19] Schleicher criticized the current Hitler cabinet, while some of Schleicher's followers such as General Ferdinand von Bredow and Werner von Alvensleben started passing along lists of a new Hitler cabinet in which Schleicher would become vice-chancellor, Rhm minister of defence, Heinrich Brning foreign minister and Gregor Strasser minister of national economy. "They give . By June 1934 this had grown to over 3,000,000 members. By 1934 most of the socialists had left the party but some important figures in the hierarchy like Ernst Rhm and . Hitler orders a violent purge of the top leadership of the Nazi Party paramilitary formation, the SA (Sturmabteilungen; Assault Detachments). [66], Rumours about the Night of the Long Knives rapidly spread. 2. This is a crucial part of Hitler's consolidation of power. Find Night Of The Long Knives stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. [29] On 29 June, a signed article in Vlkischer Beobachter by Blomberg appeared in which Blomberg stated with great fervour that the Reichswehr stood behind Hitler. The Party had generally been aligned with the Social Democrats and Catholic Church during the rise of Nazism, being critical of Nazi ideology, but voting nonetheless for the Enabling Act of 1933 which granted Hitler dictatorial authority. The Liberals' future leader, Jeremy Thorpe, mocked Macmillan by observing . This is an overview of the Night of the Long Knives of June 1934. The loyalty of the SS men would prove useful to both when Hitler finally chose to move against Rhm and the SA. However, most accounts argue that as many as 1,000 deaths occurred during the Night of the Long Knives. You gave these parties 14 years to ruin Germany! The day after the Reichstag fire, the 28 February 1933, Hindenburg signed a decree giving Hitler emergency powers. We want to wait till Papa Hindenburg is dead, and then the SA will march against the army. Gestapo officers attached to the SS unit shot Papen's secretary Herbert von Bose without bothering to arrest him first. . For AC/DC that's a pretty wierd thing to reference in a song. Enraged, Hitler tore the epaulets off the shirt of Obergruppenfhrer August Schneidhuber, the chief of the Munich police, for failing to keep order in the city the previous night. As the SA were known for being violent and unruly, many saw this as a legitimate move by the government to ensure public order. Fearing that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organization's leaders, including Ernst Rhm. [63] Franois-Poncet was not declared persona non grata as would have been usual if an ambassador were involved in a plot against his host government. Hitler ordered him, as one prominent historian described it, to put an end to "homosexuality, debauchery, drunkenness, and high living" in the SA. [h], The action Hitler took would not only defang Rhm and the SA as a potential threat to Hitler's personal control of the Nazi Party, but would also serve to strengthen his relationship with the Wehrmacht the German armed forces which had long considered the SA to be their primary rival, and which at times outnumbered the military in manpower.[10]. British cartoon by David Low, 1934 They salute with both hands, now! [35] Schneidhuber was executed later that day. He had banned opposition parties, taken control of the press, outlawed troublesome unions and thrown communists and other political dissidents into concentration camps. She even compared him to Frederick the Great, the 18th-century king of Prussia.[2]. Because their plans for the army conflicted, Rhm's success could come only at Hitler's expense. Behind Hitler is a backdrop of the Swastika. "A chancellor", he wrote, "sentences and shoots members of his own private army! Select from premium Night Of The Long Knives of the highest quality. Further, he recognized that the Sturmabteilung was becoming increasingly useless as their main job to intimidate was becoming unnecessary as more people heeled to Hitler's . Goebbels engineered the media coverage following the attack to present it as a preventative measure, in response to the SAs plan to overthrow the government. Hitler announced that he would occupy this new role. ", Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 06:34, Night of the Long Knives (disambiguation), The History Place Triumph of Hitler Night of the Long Knives, German Culture The Third Reich Consolidation of Power, The German Embassy in the United States The Era of National Socialism, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_of_the_Long_Knives&oldid=1142048294, Operation Hummingbird, Rhm Putsch (by the Nazis), The Blood Purge. The Censorship is really evident when . [40] Those not immediately executed were taken back to the Leibstandarte barracks at Lichterfelde, given one-minute "trials", and shot by a firing squad. The leaders of the SA were ordered to attend a meeting at a hotel in Bad Wiesse, Bavaria. While all of these men were veterans of the Nazi movement, only Rhm continued to demonstrate his independence from, rather than his loyalty to, Adolf Hitler. In reality, the laws that the Nazis put forward secured their future as the sole ruling party in Germany. Consumed with rage, Hitler denounced "the worst treachery in world history". Terror and intimidation became one of the main ways that the Nazis sought to control or suppress their opposition, and Germans in general. He left Neudeck with the intention of both destroying Rhm and settling scores with old enemies. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. [69] Mackensen and Hammerstein ended their memo with: Excellency, the gravity of the moment has compelled us to appeal to you as our Supreme Commander. It was during this speech that Hitler gave the purge its name: Night of the Long Knives (a phrase from a popular Nazi song). approved a bill legalising the purge as emergency defence measures. kato-eng. [23] Himmler envied the independence and power of the SA, although by this time he and Heydrich had already begun restructuring the SS from a bodyguard formation for Nazi leaders (and a subset of the SA) into its own independent elite corps, one loyal to both himself and Hitler. Night of the Long Knives. This fear was However, now they have both their hands up to Hitler in surrender, showing their powerlessness. [37] Arriving back at party headquarters in Munich, Hitler addressed the assembled crowd. and By the summer of 1934, the SA's numbers had swollen to 2 million men. , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March 1933. Lippert was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.[50]. Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. A combat veteran of World War I, Rhm had recently boasted that he would execute 12 men in retaliation for the killing of any stormtrooper. He then told Hitler that Hindenburg was close to declaring martial law and turning the government over to the Reichswehr if Hitler did not take immediate steps against Rhm and his brownshirts. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. [i] Rhm, as one of the earliest members of the Nazi Party, had participated in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt by Hitler to seize power by force in 1923. The Night of Long Knives, also known as the Rhm Putsch, was the purge of the SA leadership and other political opponents from 30 June 1934 to 2 July 1934. [38], Although Hitler presented no evidence of a plot by Rhm to overthrow the regime, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the SA. Historians have often wondered why Hitler turned on the SA. How did the Night of the Long Knives help to create a dictatorship out of a democracy? The Nazis consolidation of power can be grouped into three main themes: pseudo-legality, terror and intimidation and pseudo-moderation. This handbook will help you plan your study time, beat procrastination, memorise the info and get your notes in order. By 1935, over 1,600 newspapers had been closed. Nazis Hermann Gring and Heinrich Himmler wait for the code word from Hitler to begin what will become known as the "Night of the Long Knives". People could be imprisoned for any or no reason. The Night of the Long Knives: Hitler's Rise to Power - Part 2 | History DocumentaryWatch 'The Night of Long Knives - Part 1' here: https://youtu.be/7CeX6jBau. On 13 July 1934 the Reichstag By 1934 there were more than a million of them. Prisons soon became stretched for space. The Freikorps were nationalistic organizations primarily composed of disaffected, disenchanted, and angry German combat veterans founded by the government in January 1919 to deal with the threat of a Communist revolution when it appeared that there was a lack of loyal troops. 7 Night of the Long Knives - 30 June 1934 . These acts removed peoples ability to oppose the Nazi Party, in any form. Moreover, it was not just the Reichswehr that viewed the SA as a threat. Having earlier imprisoned or exiled prominent Social Democrats and Communists, Hitler used the occasion to move against conservatives he considered unreliable. The Night of Long Knives, one of most noteworthy events during Hitler's rule, was a purge that occurred on the 30th June 1934. ", "After the 'Night of the Long Knives,' [Reich Minister for Justice Franz Grtner] nipped in the bud the attempts of some local state prosecutors to initiate proceedings against the killers. In August 1932 there were approximately 445,000 members of the SA. As a result, a political struggle within the party grew, with those closest to Hitler, including Prussian premier Hermann Gring, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, Reichsfhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, and Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, positioning themselves against Rhm. Opposition from outside the Nazi party was being strangled Communists were banned and concentration camps set up. Blomberg, who had been meeting with the president, uncharacteristically reproached Hitler for not having moved against Rhm earlier. They were under the control of Ernst Rhm, a loyal follower of Hitler since the early days of the Nazi Party. Also available as: Gift Options Download Options. The SA were dramatically reduced in size, dropping by 40% to 1.8 million by 1935. June 30, 1934 - July 12, 1934 News articles about the arrest and murder of leadership within the SA, as well as political opponents of the Nazis ("Night of the Long Knives"). [42] The Gestapo also murdered Erich Klausener, the leader of Catholic Action, and a close Papen associate. Gleichschaltung was applied across every possible aspect of government policy. A convoy of lorries moved quietly through the night. The Night of the Long Knives: the bloody purge that secured Hitler's power. On the floor near the SA are guns and knives, this could resemble the 'Night Of The Long . coup If that was indeed true then, as a legal matter, the law was entirely unnecessary and redundant. When the Nazi regime did not take such steps, those who had expected an economic as well as a political revolution were disillusioned. [49] In 1957, the German authorities tried Lippert in Munich for Rhm's murder. [51] Meanwhile, Goebbels tried to prevent newspapers from publishing lists of the dead, but at the same time used a 2 July radio address to describe how Hitler had narrowly prevented Rhm and Schleicher from overthrowing the government and throwing the country into turmoil. On the 31 January 1933, Hitler, conscious of his lack of a majority in the Reichstag, immediately called for new elections to try and strengthen his position. As the leader of the SA, Rhm was seen as a threat to Hitlers power. Overall, what is the meaning of the cartoon? The Nazis had the support of the DNVP, and had banned the communist party, the KPD, from attending. British cartoon by David Low, 1934. With Hindenburg gone, there was no longer a limit to Hitlers power. His perceived enemies were executed on the night of June 30, 1934. British cartoon by David Low, 1934 H I UN TL PR KE ER OM PT 'S IS ES They salute with both hands, now! Captain Ernst Rhm of the Reichswehr served as the liaison with the Bavarian Freikorps. The undersigned Generals and senior officers swear to preserve to the last breath their loyalty to you and the Fatherland. [37] Meanwhile, the SS arrested the other SA leaders as they left their train for the planned meeting with Rhm and Hitler. ", "The most general theorythat National Socialism was a revolution of the lower middle classis defensible but inadequate. They used any space they could get their hands on to create temporary camps. The Nazis started with the During a trip to Warsaw in January 1935, Gring told Jan Szembek that Schleicher had urged Hitler in January 1933 to reach an understanding with France and the Soviet Union, and partition Poland with the latter, and Hitler had Schleicher killed out of disgust with the alleged advice. government, under President Hindenburg. [73] However, despite the rehabilitation of the two murdered officers, the Nazis continued in private to accuse Schleicher of high treason. Close 'Here after let this be known as the night of the long side burns!' [72] Fritsch and Blomberg suddenly now claimed at the end of 1934 that as army officers they could not stand the exceedingly violent press attacks on Schleicher and Bredow that had been going on since July, which portrayed them as the vilest traitors, working against the Fatherland in the pay of France. persecution Over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. This topic will explore how the Nazis managed to eliminate their opposition and Some estimates, however, put the total number killed at between 150 and 200. [30] At Hitler's direction, Gring, Himmler, Heydrich and Victor Lutze drew up lists of people in and outside the SA to be killed. Several of Hitler's lieutenants feared Rhm's growing power and restlessness, as did Hitler. The first concentration camp, Dachau, opened in a broken-down munitions factory on the 20 March 1933, imprisoning primarily political prisoners. After Hitler had promised to protect the interests of the Catholic Church, the party conceded and supported the bill. With James Darren, Robert Colbert, Malachi Throne, David Watson. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. 'The Night of the Long Knives' is now commony associated with a particularly violent political purge in Nazi Germany in 1934. [21], As a means of isolating Rhm, on 20 April 1934, Gring transferred control of the Prussian political police (Gestapo) to Himmler, who, Gring believed, could be counted on to move against Rhm. Finally, Hitler used the purge to attack or eliminate German critics of his new regime, especially those loyal to Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, as well as to settle scores with old enemies.[a]. Open navigation menu Night of the Long Knives 1. A firefighter in the burnt out ruins of the Reichstag building. [64] One retired captain, Erwin Planck, seemed to realize this: "If you look on without lifting a finger", he said to his friend, General Werner von Fritsch, "you will meet the same fate sooner or later. Why did Hitler turn on the SA in the Night of the Long Knives? Also in 1932, the Nazi critic Carl von Ossietzky would use the term to describe the then unrealised plans for a violent uprising: At the beginning of 1932 the Nazis seemed on the verge of a dictatorship, and the air was full of the stretch of blood. Under pressure from Hitler, Rhm reluctantly signed a pledge stating that he recognised the supremacy of the Reichswehr over the SA. Dachau Slope Unblocked Games 66 Is A Popular Arcade Game For School And Work From Google And Weebly Sites.21. [62] General von Reichenau went so far as to publicly give credence to the lie that Schleicher had been plotting to overthrow the government. Whilst Gleichschaltung aimed to reach every aspect of rule in Germany, this was not always possible. In the years preceding the purge, the term "long knives" had become a popular description of treachery in Germany and was used as a criticism of Nazi actions and deceitfulness. Hitler ordered the murders of conspicuous Conservative anti-Nazis such as Kurt Von Schleicher and Gustav Ritter von Kahr, Left wing Nazis such as Gregor Strasser and many members of the SA including its leader Ernst Rohm. The Reichstag, the German lower house of parliament, was set on fire on the 27 February 1933. "[85], Papen, nonetheless, remained in his position although people quite close to him were murdered, including, "At least eighty-five people are known to have been summarily killed without any formal legal proceedings being taken against them. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor on 30 January 1933. Have a Free Meeting with one of our hand picked tutors from the UK's top universities. IN THE CHILLY DAWN OF JUNE 30, 1934, TWO BLACK MERCEDES-BENZ automobiles wound their way around the misty western edge of Tegernsee Lake in the . Given that the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent Germans, it could hardly be kept secret. The elections were neither free or fair. Paul von Hindenburg was the president of the Weimar Republic from the 12 May 1925 until his death on the 2 August 1934. [69], Hindenburg never responded to the memo, and it remains unclear whether he even saw it, as Otto Meiner, who decided that his future was aligned with the Nazis, may not have passed it along. Its membership plummeted from 2.9 million in August 1934 to 1.2 million in April 1938. 2. concentration camp On the 30 January 1933 Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the Weimar Republic. Gring instructed police stations to burn "all documents concerning the action of the past two days". On 5 March 1933, elections were held for the German Reichstag. In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the German people. The camps were brutal and had extremely unsanitary conditions. In less than a week and just a few months ahead of a crucial election, Nicaraguan police have detained seven high-profile . Leading members of the leftist-leaning Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party, including its leader Gregor Strasser, were also killed, as were establishment conservatives and anti-Nazis, such as former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and Bavarian politician Gustav Ritter von Kahr, who had helped suppress Hitler's Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. The Night of the Long Knives. Hitler remained indecisive and uncertain about just what precisely he wanted to do when he left for Venice to meet Benito Mussolini on 15 June. Hitler and Himmler unleashed the Gestapo against old enemies, as well. As such, the Nazis consolidation of power relied on maintaining the illusion of a stable democracy. By JAINDI KISEROWe all thought that it was President Uhuru Kenyatta's night of long knives a reference to Tory Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's sudden decision in 1962 to replace a . To a lesser extent, the Sturmabteilung (SA), a Nazi paramilitary organization, remained somewhat autonomous within the party. The Night of the Long Knives (aka Blood Purge) was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate Hitler's absolute hold on power in Germany. By early 1934, this vision directly conflicted with Hitler's plan to consolidate power and expand the Reichswehr. Long Knives phrase. I also almost always agree with what his cartoons are saying. They understood the need to appear moderate and take over slowly by democratic means where possible, maintaining the stability and illusion of a democracy. The SA used to be fiercely loyal to Hitler, and so would salute him with the Nazi salute (with one hand).
night of the long knives cartoon