Now that the NSDAP had seized the reins of power in Germany, he said, it was time to consolidate its control. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). This photograph shows the SA as they marched victoriously through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin the same day. Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. Some of those executed by Hitler were once considered close allies and friends. July 13th 1962: The Night of the Long Knives - Politics.co.uk [34], At about 04:30 on 30 June 1934, Hitler and his entourage flew to Munich. [5] In June 1932, one of the worst months of political violence, there were more than 400 street battles, resulting in 82 deaths. 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. 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. "[63] The statements that Schleicher had been killed because he wanted to partition Poland with the Soviet Union were later published in the Polish White Book of 1939, which was a collection of diplomatic documents detailing GermanPolish relations up to the outbreak of the war. 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. , The SA traced its dramatic rise in numbers in part to the onset of the Great Depression, when many German citizens lost both their jobs and their faith in traditional institutions. The Third Reich was henceforth a totalitarian structure with one man as head of state, commander in chief, and leader of the only political party. The Nazis also took steps to ensure they couldnt be openly opposed in the press. 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. Complete a Diamond 9 of the consequences of the Night of the Long Knives. This new law gave Hitler the power to rule by decree rather than passing laws through the Reichstag and the president. On 15 April 1945, Bergen-Belsen camp was liberated by the British Army. Hitler's entire life was one of making key-life and death-strategic decisions, successfully. The camps were brutal and had extremely unsanitary conditions. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Gring and Heinrich Himmler, ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate his power and alleviate the concerns of the German military about the role of Ernst Rhm and the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazis' paramilitary organization, known colloquially as "Brownshirts". Germany feared revolution. The process primarily took place between 1933-1934. Hitler's Purge: The Night of the Long Knives Explained 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. Some of Hitlers other enemies were also murdered, including the last chancellor of the Weimar Republic, Kurt von Schleicher; Gregor Strasser, who until 1932 had been second only to Hitler in the Nazi Party; Bavarian ex-separatist Gustav von Kahr; conservative critic Edgar Jung; and Catholic professor Erich Klausener. [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. The Night of the Long Knives - Nazi Germany The Night of the Long Knives - the Education Forum Despite this, on the whole, Gleichschaltung was largely successful. Hitler, knowing that military strength was necessary for his foreign policy and that antagonizing the generals could be fatal to himself, decided to sacrifice Rhm. Consequences of the Night of the Long Knives Flashcards | Quizlet [18], Finally, in early 1934, the growing rift between Rhm and Hitler over the role of the SA in the Nazi state led former chancellor General Kurt von Schleicher to start playing politics again. The support of respected individuals such as von Papen and Hindenburgs son, Oskar von Hindenburg, gave the Nazis further legitimacy for these actions. Consumed with rage, Hitler denounced "the worst treachery in world history". One of the men Gring recruited to assist him was Willi Lehmann, a Gestapo official and NKVD spy. Civil Service [38], Although Hitler presented no evidence of a plot by Rhm to overthrow the regime, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the SA. There were 4 main reasons why the Night of the Long Knives occurred: Ernst Rhm had become too powerful with 3 million SA loyal to him. 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. Hitler saw the independence of the SA and the penchant of its members for street violence as a direct threat to his newly gained political power. [70] It is noteworthy that even those officers who were most offended by the killings, like Hammerstein and Mackensen, did not blame the purge on Hitler, whom they wanted to see continue as Chancellor; they at most wanted a reorganization of the Cabinet to remove some of Hitler's more radical followers. [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. To make both of these impacts, Hitler had to overcome many hard . With Hitler's arrival in Bad Wiessee between 06:00 and 07:00, the SA leadership, still in bed, were taken by surprise. Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership disagreed with their approach. This photograph was taken the same day, showing the Reichstag still burning. Dachau [25] Neurath's manoeuvre to put pressure on Hitler paid off, with Mussolini agreeing to the request (Neurath was a former ambassador to Italy, and knew Mussolini well). When the Nazi regime did not take such steps, those who had expected an economic as well as a political revolution were disillusioned. [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. [1] More than a thousand perceived opponents were arrested. [37] Meanwhile, the SS arrested the other SA leaders as they left their train for the planned meeting with Rhm and Hitler. 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]. 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 Enabling Law allowed them to do this under the guise of legality. A telegram purportedly from the ailing Hindenburg, Germany's highly revered military hero, expressed his "profoundly felt gratitude", and congratulated Hitler for "nipping treason in the bud",[61] although Hermann Gring later admitted during the Nuremberg trials that the telegram was never seen by Hindenburg, and was actually written by the Nazis. Its membership plummeted from 2.9 million in August 1934 to 1.2 million in April 1938. [19] The British historian Sir John Wheeler-Bennett, who knew Schleicher and his circle well, wrote that Bredow displayed a "lack of discretion" that was "terrifying" as he went about showing the list of the proposed cabinet to anyone who was interested. The Liberals' future leader, Jeremy Thorpe, mocked Macmillan by observing . Hitler ordered both Heines and his partner taken outside the hotel and shot. It followed a secret deal between himself and units of his personal bodyguard, the SS. Lippert was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.[50]. This included Vice-Chancellor Papen and those in his immediate circle. . Carried out primarily by the SS and the Gestapo, over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. Others killed included Gregor Strasser, a former Nazi who had angered Hitler by resigning from the party in 1932, and Gustav Ritter von Kahr, the former Bavarian state commissioner who had helped crush the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. , was then given the choice of suicide or murder. The Night of the Long Knives is regarded as an important political episode that had far-reaching consequences, not only in Nazi Germany but across the world. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The SA were dramatically reduced in size, dropping by 40% to 1.8 million by 1935. The Nazi Party used the atmosphere of panic to their advantage, encouraging anti-communism. Hitler travelled to Munich by plane with . He was now a dictator. [35] Goebbels emphasised this aspect in subsequent propaganda justifying the purge as a crackdown on moral turpitude. For the full article, see Night of the Long Knives . He dismissed seven ministers - one-third of the cabinet - and . This also lead to the Oath Of Loyalty which was. The biggest threat to Hitler was Ernst Rhm. [38] Joseph Goebbels, who had been with Hitler at Bad Wiessee, set the final phase of the plan in motion. This fear was 25 terms. 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. [35] Papen was unceremoniously arrested at the Vice-Chancellery, despite his insistent protests that he could not be arrested in his position as Vice-Chancellor. The result was that it was made Hitler the undisputed leader of the Nazis and by extension Germany. The Night of the Long Knives | Facing History & Ourselves Rhm was a potential rival to Hitler's position. intensified of any opponents, who were be framed as traitors to the republic. 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. It targeted potential threats to Hitler's power, particularly within the NSDAP's fast-growing and politically vocal paramilitary wing, the Sturmabteilung or SA. 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. On the 30 January 1933 Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the Weimar Republic. In response, Hitler met Blomberg and the leadership of the SA and SS on 28 February 1934. By the end of May 1934, Hitler had been chancellor for 16 . They will . It was during this speech that Hitler gave the purge its name: Night of the Long Knives (a phrase from a popular Nazi song). Omissions? To take control of cultural policy, the Nazis appointed Joseph Goebbels as Minister for Public Engagement and Propaganda on the 13 March 1933. Wiskemann, Elizabeth, "The Night of the Long Knives", This page was last edited on 9 April 2023, at 02:08. 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. An atmosphere of panic and terror followed the event. Blomberg, Hitler and Goebbels. by Gring and Himmler, who gave Hitler news of Rhm organising a potential Over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. [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. [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. The Nazis aimed to increase their share of the vote so that they would have a majority in the Reichstag. With these measures in place, the Nazification of the judicial system was complete. With instructions from Berlin and with active help from the German legation in Vienna, Austrian Nazis on July 25, 1934, tried to take over their countrys government by an insurrectionary putsch. By some estimates, as many as 1,000 were rounded up, never to be seen again. Conservatives in the army, industry and politics placed Hitler under increasing pressure to reduce the influence of the SA and to move against Rhm. 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.
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consequences of the night of the long knives