This essentially meant that the Nazis used the atmosphere of panic following the Reichstag Fireto put forward the Enabling Law. The Nazis immediately used the Enabling Law to remove civil rights. 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. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Gring and Heinrich Himmler, ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions . [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. 1 Quoted in Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power (New York: Penguin Books, 2005), 37-38. [63], Former Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was in exile in Doorn, Netherlands, was horrified by the purge. . The Nazis improvised. [24] Before Hitler left, and at the request of Presidential State Secretary Otto Meiner, Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath ordered the German Ambassador to Italy Ulrich von Hassell without Hitler's knowledge to ask Mussolini to tell Hitler that the SA was blackening Germany's good name. As such, the Nazis consolidation of power relied on maintaining the illusion of a stable democracy. The Night of the Long Knives was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany. [62] General von Reichenau went so far as to publicly give credence to the lie that Schleicher had been plotting to overthrow the government. The Bill passed by 444 votes for to 94 against on the 24 March 1933. 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. [75] Lutze did little to assert the SA's independence in the coming years, and the organization lost its power in Germany. Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. Hitler used the SS and the Army to kill the SA on the Night of the Long knives, and doing so helped him to win them over as it showed his preference for them over the thug-like Stormtroopers. "[26] According to his memoirs, von Papen, a Catholic aristocrat with ties to army and industry, privately threatened to resign if Hitler did not act. 3. Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Rhm the so-called Rhm Putsch. Hitler wanted to consolidate his power and settle old scores. Only the SPD opposed it. The crowd, which included party members and many SA members fortunate enough to escape arrest, shouted its approval. The murders of SA leaders were also intended to improve the image of the Hitler government with a German public that was increasingly critical of thuggish SA tactics. [47], Rhm was held briefly at Stadelheim Prison[j] in Munich, while Hitler considered his future. This is an overview of the Night of the Long Knives of June 1934. Dimensions: 2432 x 2229 px. Following Hitlers appointment as chancellor the Nazis were finally in a position of power. He had banned opposition parties, taken control of the press, outlawed troublesome unions and thrown communists and other political dissidents into concentration camps. It also provided a legal grounding for the Nazis, as the German courts and cabinet quickly swept aside centuries of legal prohibition against extrajudicial killings to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime. The SA used to be fiercely loyal to Hitler, and so would salute him with the Nazi salute (with one hand). While Rhm's homosexuality did not endear him to conservatives, they were more concerned about his political ambitions. 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. Then followed a series of extrajudicial killings, in which scores of officials were assassinated. However, the threat of a declaration of martial law from Hindenburg, the only person in Germany with the authority to potentially depose the Nazi regime, put Hitler under pressure to act. Prisons soon became stretched for space. "[14], Despite such hostility between the brownshirts and the regular army, Blomberg and others in the military saw the SA as a source of raw recruits for an enlarged and revitalized army. coalition "It was plain that there was wide acceptance of the deliberately misleading propaganda put out by the regime. [13], If the regular army showed contempt for the masses belonging to the SA, many stormtroopers returned the feeling, seeing the army as insufficiently committed to the National Socialist revolution. persecution Ernst Rhm was murdered in the event known as the Rhm Putsch, or the Night of Long Knives. The army's support for the purge, however, would have far-reaching consequences for the institution. On 17 March 1935, 700 pastors of the Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazis, were arrested. Open navigation menu He took seriously the socialist promise of National Socialism and demanded that Hitler and the other party leaders initiate wide-ranging socialist reform in Germany. President Hindenburg died at the age of 87 on 2 August 1934. The Night of the Long Knives. Hitler announced to those present that the SA would act as an auxiliary to the Reichswehr, not the other way around. The SA and the SS had also been on a month long campaign of violence to scare or imprison other opponents to the party. Definition of night of the long knives in the Idioms Dictionary. The camps were brutal and had extremely unsanitary conditions. [8], On 6 July 1933, at a gathering of high-ranking Nazi officials, Hitler declared the success of the National Socialist, or Nazi, seizure of power. Given that the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent Germans, it could hardly be kept secret. Hitler arrived and personally placed Rhm and other high ranking SA leaders under arrest. The Nazis also took several more steps to reduce their political opposition legally. Several of Hitler's lieutenants feared Rhm's growing power and restlessness, as did Hitler. 1. 7 Night of the Long Knives - 30 June 1934 . The Nazis secured 43.9% of the vote, an improvement of almost 10% on the previous Novembers election. The Night of the Long Knives - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. How useful is the cartoon in helping us to understand the events that occurred during The Night of the Long Knives? 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. With James Darren, Robert Colbert, Malachi Throne, David Watson. Moonlight glistened on numerous silvery revolvers, contrasting with the sinister black uniforms. 95.7% of the population voted. The Night of Long Knives, one of most noteworthy events during Hitler's rule, was a purge that occurred on the 30th June 1934. [22] Himmler named his deputy Reinhard Heydrich to head the Gestapo on 22 April 1934. Gestapo officers attached to the SS unit shot Papen's secretary Herbert von Bose without bothering to arrest him first. It is otherwise known as coordination or Nazification. Both Himmler and Gring welcomed Hitler's decision, since both had much to gain by Rhm's downfall the independence of the SS for Himmler and the removal of a rival for the future command of the army for Gring. 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. The Nazis consolidation of power can be grouped into three main themes: pseudo-legality, terror and intimidation and pseudo-moderation. 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. In 1934, Hitler purged the SA, killed a bunch of its leaders to eliminate the Strasserist faction and made it a largely irrelevant organization. Max Heydebreck, an SA leader in Rummelsburg, denounced the army to his fellow brownshirts, telling them, "Some of the officers of the army are swine. Although President Hindenburg and the Reichstag continued to exist, Hitler could now govern by decree. oppression by Roy Morris Jr. 8/20/2018. , issuing the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on the 7 April 1933. The SS was moving into position for the first of its many deadly tasks. [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. "[35] Having heard nothing in the allotted time, they returned to Rhm's cell at 14:50 to find him standing, with his bare chest puffed out in a gesture of defiance. ", followed by 12,263 people on Pinterest. [69] The memo asked that Hindenburg instead create a directorate to rule Germany, comprising the Chancellor (who was not named), General Werner von Fritsch as Vice-Chancellor, Hammerstein as Minister of Defense, the Minister for National Economy (also unnamed), and Rudolf Nadolny as Foreign Minister. Join MyTutor Squads for free (and fun) help with Maths, Coding & Study Skills. The Night of the Long Knives. [29], In preparation for the purge, both Himmler and Heydrich assembled a dossier of manufactured evidence to suggest that Rhm had been paid 12 million (EUR 29.1million in 2023) by France to overthrow Hitler. British cartoon by David Low, 1934 H I UN TL PR KE ER OM PT 'S IS ES They salute with both hands, now! [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. 2 Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War against the Jews, 1933-1945 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975), 82. The bottom half of the poster reads The more power you give Hitler, the easier he will win and the more independent you make him from the parties that led the people to where they are today. Also known as the "brownshirts" or "stormtroopers," the SA became notorious for their street battles with the Communists. [69] Finally, Hammerstein and Mackensen asked that Hindenburg reorganize the government by firing Baron Konstantin von Neurath, Robert Ley, Hermann Gring, Werner von Blomberg, Joseph Goebbels and Richard Walther Darr from the Cabinet. The Night of the Long Knives. 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. This act legalised removing anyone of non-Ayran descent from the civil service. [56] Germany's legal establishment further capitulated to the regime when the country's leading legal scholar, Carl Schmitt, wrote an article defending Hitler's 13 July speech. Refusing to take his own life, he was shot on 1 July 1934 by two SS guards. His perceived enemies were executed on the night of June 30, 1934. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. The Enabling Law allowed them to do this under the guise of legality. Doug and Tony land in nineteenth century Asia, meet Rudyard Kipling and become involved in the conflict between the British and local tribesman for control of the Khyber Pass. 2. This meant, as well as removing other personal freedoms, that the Nazis could now imprison their political opposition for an indefinite period for any, or no, reason. In response, Hitler met Blomberg and the leadership of the SA and SS on 28 February 1934. Pressured by German army commanders, whose support he would need to become President, Hitler directs the SS to murder SA Chief of Staff Ernst Rhm and his top commanders. David Low responded to what became known as the Night of the Long Knives by producing a cartoon that deeply angered Hitler. And let it be known for all time to come that if anyone raises his hand to strike the State, then certain death is his lot. [e] Over the next few months, during the so-called Gleichschaltung, Hitler dispensed with the need for the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic as a legislative body[f] and eliminated all rival political parties in Germany, so that by the middle of 1933 the country had become a one-party state under his direction and control. With Germany now under his control the expansion of Germany could begin. [48] Eicke and Lippert then shot Rhm, killing him. A more succinct understand of the years between 1920 - 1945 of Hitler would be hard to find. Hitler was shrewd enough to understand that he could never fully consolidate his grip on the country without the support of the army. 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. Officially 85; estimates range up to 1,000. Both Kurt von Schleicher, Hitler's predecessor as Chancellor, and his wife were murdered at their home. [78], The term "long knives" as a metonym for treachery and violence had been used to describe the Treason of the Long Knives since this incident was recorded in the 9th century Historia Brittonum. Rhm left the Reichswehr in 1923 and later became commander of the SA. Some estimates, however, put the total number killed at between 150 and 200. 2. Gleichschaltung was the process of the Nazi Party taking control over all aspects of Germany. , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March 1933. [35] Schneidhuber was executed later that day. [12] Although nicknamed the "Rubber Lion" by some of his critics in the army for his devotion to Hitler, Blomberg was not a Nazi, and therefore represented a bridge between the army and the party. , For AC/DC that's a pretty wierd thing to reference in a song. [21] By the beginning of June everything was set and all that was needed was permission from Hitler. It will first explore this topic in chronological order, from the Reichstag Fire through to the death of President Hindenburg, and then explore it thematically in the last section. . The Night of the Long Knives not only removed the SA leaders but also got Hitler the army's oath that he so needed. To take control of cultural policy, the Nazis appointed Joseph Goebbels as Minister for Public Engagement and Propaganda on the 13 March 1933. [45] Then, on 13 July 1934,[52] Hitler justified the purge in a nationally broadcast speech to the Reichstag: If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this. The Night of Long Knives was the purge of the SA leadership and other political opponents from the 30 June 1934 to the 2 July 1934. org. On the 5 March 1933, the elections took place, with an extremely high turnout of 89%. He also wanted to appease leaders of the Reichswehr, the German military, who feared and despised the SA as a potential rival, in particular because of Rhm's ambition to merge the army and the SA under his own leadership. 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. Shortly after Hindenburgs death, Hitler announced that offices of the chancellor and the president were to be combined to create one position, the Fhrer and chancellor. kato-eng. Goebbels became responsible for controlling the national media, film, theatre, arts, and other cultural aspects. Until then, Lippert had been one of the few executioners of the purge to evade trial. The Nazis aimed to increase their share of the vote so that they would have a majority in the Reichstag. [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. Reset Your Hosts File. [71], In late 1934early 1935, Werner von Fritsch and Werner von Blomberg, who had been shamed into joining Hammerstein and Mackensen's rehabilitation campaign, successfully pressured Hitler into rehabilitating Generals von Schleicher and von Bredow. Originally designed and developed by the London Jewish Cultural Centre. Goebbels soon radicalised each of these areas, ensuring that they advocated Nazi ideas. He stated that 61 people had been executed and 13 had committed suicide. [k] Signed into law by Hitler, Grtner, and Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick, the "Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defence" retroactively legalized the murders committed during the purge. With the army limited by the Treaty of Versailles to one hundred thousand soldiers, its leaders watched anxiously as membership in the SA surpassed three million men by the beginning of 1934. Whilst the purge focused on the SA, the Nazis also used the event to eliminate other political opponents, such as the former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher. The law needed two thirds of the Reichstag to vote for it to pass. It was the culmination of a chaotic week in Westminster, which saw furious calls for an overhaul . The first concentration camp, Dachau, opened in a broken-down munitions factory on the 20 March 1933, imprisoning primarily political prisoners. [17] While Hitler did not take immediate action against Rhm for his intemperate outburst, it nonetheless deepened the rift between them. Courtesy of The Wiener Holocaust Library Collections. [28] Hitler had hesitated for months in moving against Rhm, in part due to Rhm's visibility as the leader of a national militia with millions of members. As S.A. membership grew, they were becoming harder . It was a purge of the head of the Nazi paramilitary organization, the SA, by Hitler and a certain faction within the Nazi party. A variety of studies The Nazis started with the "[67] The extent of the massacre and the relative ubiquity of the Gestapo, however, meant that those who disapproved of the purge generally kept quiet about it. 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. Adolf Hitler was in a furious temper when his flight touched down in Munich at 4.30am on 30 June 1934. The S.A. were becoming lawless by the early 1930's and were causing some Germans to turn against the Nazis. 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. Lippert was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.[50]. BUT Some within the Nazi Party opposed Hitler. Most officers are too old and have to be replaced by young ones. Hitler announced that he would occupy this new role. [3] It established Hitler as the supreme administrator of justice of the German people, as he put it in his 13 July speech to the Reichstag. 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. The Night of the Long Knives In June 1934, Hitler ordered the SA to go on leave for the entire month. Selected Clips from the movie Bent that depict the Night of the Long Knives. The day after the fire, Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. It did not escape Klemperer's notice that many of the victims had played a role in bringing Hitler to power. Behind Hitler is a backdrop of the Swastika. [6], Hitler's appointment as chancellor, followed by the suppression of all political parties except the Nazis, did not end the violence of the stormtroopers. Hitler ordered him, as one prominent historian described it, to put an end to "homosexuality, debauchery, drunkenness, and high living" in the SA. Paul von Hindenburg was the president of the Weimar Republic from the 12 May 1925 until his death on the 2 August 1934. info)), or the Rhm purge (German: Rhm-Putsch), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: Unternehmen Kolibri), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. This photograph shows the SA as they marched victoriously through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin the same day. From the airport they drove to the Bavarian Interior Ministry, where they assembled the leaders of an SA rampage that had taken place in city streets the night before. In the judicial system specifically, this act removed any judges that were deemed non-compliant with Nazi laws or principles. SS men stormed the hotel, and Hitler personally placed Rhm and other high-ranking SA leaders under arrest. Gring's personal police battalion also took part in the killings. : Why did Hitler order the massacre of hundreds of Nazis in June 1934? This new law gave Hitler the power to rule by decree rather than passing laws through the Reichstag and the president. Historians have often wondered why Hitler turned on the SA. 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 27 February 1933, as the campaign moved into its final, frantic days, theReichstag, the German Parliament building, was set on fire and burnt down. [35] Goebbels emphasised this aspect in subsequent propaganda justifying the purge as a crackdown on moral turpitude. The Night of the Long Knives (in addition to Hindenburgs deatha few months later) helped Hitler and the Nazi Party to consolidate absolute power in Germany by removing their political opposition. [37] Meanwhile, the SS arrested the other SA leaders as they left their train for the planned meeting with Rhm and Hitler. In 1928, the popular Nazi song "Wetzt die langen Messer" (English: Sharpen the long knives) encourages the mass murder of Jewish people and the desecration of Synagogues (seemingly equating their own tactics with the treacherous Anglo-Saxons). The loyalty of the SS men would prove useful to both when Hitler finally chose to move against Rhm and the SA. Under pressure from Hitler, Rhm reluctantly signed a pledge stating that he recognised the supremacy of the Reichswehr over the SA. The leaders of the SA were ordered to attend a meeting at a hotel in Bad Wiesse, Bavaria. This is a crucial part of Hitler's consolidation of power. night of the long knives phrase. of any opponents, who were be framed as traitors to the republic. The Foreign Office even complained of instances where brownshirts manhandled foreign diplomats. [57][58], A special fund administered by SS General Franz Breithaupt was set up for the relatives of the murdered, from which they were cared for at the expense of the state. Do Damage By Placing Guns, Knives And Rockets In. By June 1934 this had grown to over 3,000,000 members. Most of those killed were members of the "Storm Troopers" (SA) (German: Sturmabteilung). Slope Unblocked Games 66 Is A Popular Arcade Game For School And Work From Google And Weebly Sites.21. This betrayal is seen by the image of SA members looking fearful in surrender, and SA leaders dead on the floor, killed by Hitler, who holds a smoking gun. What does Long Knives expression mean? [31] On 27 June, Hitler moved to secure the army's cooperation. People could be imprisoned for any or no reason. Because their plans for the army conflicted, Rhm's success could come only at Hitler's expense. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. [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. 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". As the leader of the SA, Rhm was seen as a threat to Hitlers power. Give Hitler four years to rebuild it! As the stormtroopers were hustled off to prison, Hitler assembled a large group of SS and regular police, and departed for the Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee, where Ernst Rhm and his followers were staying.[36]. By the end of 1934, the Nazis had managed to infiltrate and take control of every major aspect of German government. Many of those killed in the purge were leaders of the SA, the best-known being Rhm himself, the SA's chief of staff and one of Hitler's longtime supporters and allies. [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. [53][54], Wanting to present the massacre as legally sanctioned, Hitler had the cabinet approve a measure on 3 July that declared, "The measures taken on June 30, July 1 and 2 to suppress treasonous assaults are legal as acts of self-defence by the State. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. Hitler had become a chancellor in 1933 henceforth he had the power to establish his power. Hitler claimed that 61 had been executed while 13 had been shot resisting arrest and three had committed suicide. Following the purge, the Nazi's sculpted the media coverage to portray the event as a preventative measure against a revolutionary, violent, and . Hitler then ordered Himmler and Goering to eliminate the threat posed by the leaders of the SA. 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. Uploaded: 09/18/2002. [68] Besides working for the rehabilitation of Schleicher and Bredow, Hammerstein and Mackensen sent a memo to Hindenburg on 18 July setting out in considerable detail the circumstances of the murders of the two generals and noted that Papen had barely escaped. On the 30 January 1933 Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the Weimar Republic. The Nazi adoption of the phrase for an upcoming violent event was well known even to the foreign press, with the 2 August 1932 issue of The Times reporting that: Prominent Nazi leaders have played upon the imaginations of their followers..with such phrases as the night of the long knives and a vengeance for every Nazi killed.[79]. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning . . Excellency, save Germany for the fourth time! [38], Although Hitler presented no evidence of a plot by Rhm to overthrow the regime, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the SA. Many of the prisoners were tortured and abused. Close 'Here after let this be known as the night of the long side burns!' [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. [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. This handbook will help you plan your study time, beat procrastination, memorise the info and get your notes in order. Mr Maracin has filtered out much of the historical minutia belabored by other historians of Nazi Germany during this period and given us a quick 209 page read for those with a mild passing interest on how this to barbarism came to be. A firefighter in the burnt out ruins of the Reichstag building. The caption They salute with both hands now is a joke about the Nazi salute. [7] Complaints of "overbearing and loutish" behaviour by stormtroopers became common by the middle of 1933. [33] On 28 June Hitler went to Essen to attend the wedding celebration and reception of Josef Terboven; from there he called Rhm's adjutant at Bad Wiessee and ordered SA leaders to meet with him on 30 June at 11:00. Gring declared that the communists had planned a national uprising to overthrow the Weimar Republic. As such the Nazis justified this measure as implementing necessary security measures, rather than revealing their true motive to remove opposition. Why did Hitler turn on the SA in the Night of the Long Knives? During the years of the rise of the Nazi Party, the SA had been instrumental in helping the party to gain support. Hitler entitled the purge the 'Night of the Long Knives' - a reference to the lyrics from a popular Nazi song.