During the years of the rise of the Nazi Party, the SA had been instrumental in helping the party to gain support. On 1 July, at Hitler's behest, Theodor Eicke, Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, and his SS adjutant Michael Lippert visited Rhm. Hitler then ordered Himmler and Goering to eliminate the threat posed by the leaders of the SA. [2] The purge strengthened and consolidated the support of the military for Hitler. , David Low responded to what became known as the Night of the Long Knives by producing a cartoon that deeply angered Hitler. 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). Despite his earlier agreement with Hitler, Rhm still clung to his vision of a new German army with the SA at its core. [4] The violent confrontations between the two contributed to the destabilization of the Weimar Republic. The Night of the Long Knives - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. The Night of the Long Knives J. Marshall, 2007. Originally, though, the term denotes an event in Anglo-Saxon history, first reported by the Welsh historian Nennius in his ninth-century Historia Brittonum . 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. 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". 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"). What does Long Knives expression mean? Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Rhm the so-called Rhm Putsch. While Nazism was not exclusively or even primarily a working-class phenomenon, the SA fulfilled the yearning of many unemployed workers for class solidarity and nationalist fervour. She even compared him to Frederick the Great, the 18th-century king of Prussia.[2]. "[46], Some SA members died saying "Heil Hitler" because they believed that an anti-Hitler SS plot had led to their execution. [21] By the beginning of June everything was set and all that was needed was permission from 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! Also known as the "brownshirts" or "stormtroopers," the SA became notorious for their street battles with the Communists. One of the men Gring recruited to assist him was Willi Lehmann, a Gestapo official and NKVD spy. An atmosphere of panic and terror followed the event. Additionally, Hitler was uncomfortable with Rhm's outspoken support for a "second revolution" to redistribute wealth. Ernst Rhm was murdered in the event known as the Rhm Putsch, or the Night of Long Knives. Night of the Long Knives. Following the purge, the Nazis sculpted the media coverage to portray the event as a preventative measure against a revolutionary, violent, and uncontrollable force, rather than a series of political murders. Through these aspects the Nazis suppressed any opposition to their power, and were able to start the road from democracy to a dictatorship. As such, the Nazis consolidation of power relied on maintaining the illusion of a stable democracy. 3. We want to wait till Papa Hindenburg is dead, and then the SA will march against the army. His perceived enemies were executed on the night of June 30, 1934. 7 Night of the Long Knives - 30 June 1934 . It's been called "the night of the long knives in the tropics.". [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. The atmosphere of uncertainty following the Reichstag Fire secured many voters for the Nazi party. 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. Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link. By early 1934, this vision directly conflicted with Hitler's plan to consolidate power and expand the Reichswehr. [39] There in the prison courtyard, the Leibstandarte firing squad shot five SA generals and an SA colonel. The crowd, which included party members and many SA members fortunate enough to escape arrest, shouted its approval. 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. [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. On the 30 January 1933 Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the Weimar Republic. The Nazi grip on government extended across national, state and local levels. Following the Enabling Law, much of this harassment and imprisonment was legal. The Gestapo arrested and later executed Papen's close associate Edgar Jung, the author of Papen's Marburg speech, and disposed of his body by dumping it in a ditch. On 30 June, Himmler's SS and Goering's special police arrested and executed the leaders of the SA and other On the 28 February 1933, President Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. to control. com. [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. Join MyTutor Squads for free (and fun) help with Maths, Coding & Study Skills. The faction headed by Hermann Gring and also . [g] Many stormtroopers believed in the socialist promise of National Socialism and expected the Nazi regime to take more radical economic action, such as breaking up the vast landed estates of the aristocracy. [31] On 27 June, Hitler moved to secure the army's cooperation. [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. On the 4 October 1933, it was declared that all editors must be Aryan. 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. 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. However, this power was limited, as the Nazis were just one party in a three party Hitler formally adopted this title in April 1942, thus placing himself above the reach of the law de jure and de facto. [79] This story would be popularized across western Europe in the 12th century as part of the History of the Britons by Geoffrey of Monmouth, which introduced many of the Arthurian legends to Germany.[80][81]. [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. The Night of the Long Knives: the bloody purge that secured Hitler's power. However, it did so under the guise of legality, and protecting the German people and their democracy. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point in the history of Hitler's Germany. "[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. The Night of the Long Knives not only removed the SA leaders but also got Hitler the army's oath that he so needed. This essentially meant that the Nazis used the atmosphere of panic following the Reichstag Fireto put forward the Enabling Law. Terror and intimidation became one of the main ways that the Nazis sought to control or suppress their opposition, and Germans in general. 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. [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. [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 Nazis secured 43.9% of the vote, an improvement of almost 10% on the previous Novembers election. [41] Several leaders of the disbanded Catholic Centre Party were also murdered in the purge. On 19 August 1934, the German people were asked to vote on whether or not they approved of the merging of the two offices and Hitlers new role as Fhrer. [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. , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March 1933. Night of the Long Knives. 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. At least 85 people died during the purge, although the final death toll may have been in the hundreds,[b][c][d] with high estimates running from 700 to 1,000. [72] In a speech given on 3 January 1935, at the Berlin State Opera, Hitler stated that Schleicher and Bredow had been shot "in error" on the basis of false information, and that their names were to be restored to the honour rolls of their regiments at once. A firefighter in the burnt out ruins of the Reichstag building. I also almost always agree with what his cartoons are saying. If passed, the law would establish the conditions needed for dictatorial rule. 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 reshuffle took place against a backdrop of . It would become known in Welsh as "twyll y cyllyll hirion" (English: Deceit of the long knives) (first recorded around 1587) and in English as the "Treachery/Plot/Treason of the long knives" (recorded around 1604). [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. oppression Rhm, who was initially [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. In this image the narrative present is about the incident now known as the Night of the Long Knives (June 29th/30th 1934), when . [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. As the SA were known for being violent and unruly, many saw this as a legitimate move by the government to ensure public order. In less than a week and just a few months ahead of a crucial election, Nicaraguan police have detained seven high-profile . The Night Of The Long Knives. Dimensions: 2432 x 2229 px. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Gring and Heinrich Himmler, ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions . Most officers are too old and have to be replaced by young ones. They were under the control of Ernst Rhm, a loyal follower of Hitler since the early days of the Nazi Party. The destiny of our country is at stake. [76], According to Albert Speer, "the Right, represented by the President, the Minister of Justice, and the generals, lined up behind Hitler the strong left wing of the party, represented chiefly by the SA, was eliminated. "They give . They used any space they could get their hands on to create temporary camps. The Bill passed by 444 votes for to 94 against on the 24 March 1933. This hysteria helped to turn the public against the communists, one of the Nazis main opponents, and 4000 people were imprisoned. [63] During a meeting with Polish Ambassador Jzef Lipski on 22 May 1935, Hitler told Lipski that Schleicher was "rightfully murdered, if only because he had sought to maintain the Rapallo Treaty. Over the next two days, most of the SA leadership were placed under arrest and murdered without trial. For AC/DC that's a pretty wierd thing to reference in a song. [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. Night of the Long Knives 1. The Foreign Office even complained of instances where brownshirts manhandled foreign diplomats. [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. Hitler entitled the purge the 'Night of the Long Knives' - a reference to the lyrics from a popular Nazi song. [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. In response to conservative pressure to constrain Rhm, Hitler left for Neudeck to meet with Hindenburg. 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. Hitler had made it clear that he was the supreme ruler of Germany who had the right to be judge and jury, and had the power to decide whether people lived or died. 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. of democracy. In British politics, the "Night of the Long Knives" was a major Cabinet reshuffle that took place on 13 July 1962. Courtesy of The Wiener Holocaust Library Collections. "[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. [73] However, despite the rehabilitation of the two murdered officers, the Nazis continued in private to accuse Schleicher of high treason. You give Hitler power and time by voting HITLER!. Once inside Rhm's cell, they handed him a Browning pistol loaded with a single cartridge and told him he had ten minutes to kill himself or they would do it for him. Also killed that night were hundreds of other perceived opponents of Hitler. Deprived of Communist party meetings to disrupt, the stormtroopers would sometimes run riot in the streets after a night of drinking; they would attack passers-by and then attack the police who were called to stop them. On the 5 March 1933, the elections took place, with an extremely high turnout of 89%. Definition of Long Knives in the Idioms Dictionary. Opposition from outside the Nazi party was being strangled . By the end of it, Hitler's party had been shaken by a major crisis, and the long knives were put quietly back in their box while all the Fhrer kept out was a wary ear. He wrote about the cartoon in his book, Years of Wrath (1949): "Nazi Party members and S.S. men got out of hand, clamouring for jobs in a Nazified industry and in an army under Nazi control; but Hitler had promised the . 1. 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 would allow them to rule unopposed and unhindered by coalition governments. 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. On 30 June 1934 these tensions came to a head. The SA used to be fiercely loyal to Hitler, and so would salute him with the Nazi salute (with one hand). It did not escape Klemperer's notice that many of the victims had played a role in bringing Hitler to power. [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. 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 Nazi's paramilitary organization, known colloquially as "Brownshirts". If that was indeed true then, as a legal matter, the law was entirely unnecessary and redundant. He had banned opposition parties, taken control of the press, outlawed troublesome unions and thrown communists and other political dissidents into concentration camps. We were close personal friends; we often dined together in Berlin. Overall, what is the meaning of the cartoon? [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. Because their plans for the army conflicted, Rhm's success could come only at Hitler's expense. , who had previously been a separate organisation, now swore a personal allegiance to Hitler. He asked, "What would people have said if I had done such a thing? [35] Goebbels emphasised this aspect in subsequent propaganda justifying the purge as a crackdown on moral turpitude. Blomberg, who had been meeting with the president, uncharacteristically reproached Hitler for not having moved against Rhm earlier. They had placed many in the first The S.A. were becoming lawless by the early 1930's and were causing some Germans to turn against the Nazis. 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. Open navigation menu People could be imprisoned for any or no reason. The SA were dramatically reduced in size, dropping by 40% to 1.8 million by 1935. 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. consolidate [15] In January 1934, Rhm presented Blomberg with a memorandum demanding that the SA replace the regular army as the nation's ground forces, and that the Reichswehr become a training adjunct to the SA.[16]. The message of the cartoon "They Salute with Both Hands Now" is that in the Night of the Long Knives, Hitler turned on his previously loyal supporters, the SA, in order to consolidate his position by eliminating the threat of Ernst Rohm and the SA and winning over the Army. [11] Rhm saw violence as a means to political ends. Many members of the SA, including its leader Ernst Rhm, were demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. 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. On 13 July 1934 the Reichstag 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. 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. Gring declared that the communists had planned a national uprising to overthrow the Weimar Republic. Hitler announced to those present that the SA would act as an auxiliary to the Reichswehr, not the other way around. This is a crucial part of Hitler's consolidation of power. concentration camp The primary instruments of Hitler's action, which carried out most of the killings, were the Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary force under Himmler and its Security Service (SD), and Gestapo (secret police) under Reinhard Heydrich. Historians have often wondered why Hitler turned on the SA. The Nazis consolidation of power can be grouped into three main themes: pseudo-legality, terror and intimidation and pseudo-moderation. Germany feared revolution. The Liberals' future leader, Jeremy Thorpe, mocked Macmillan by observing . Whilst the pseudo-legal measures were one factor that helped the Nazis to consolidate power, another was terror and intimidation. [66], Rumours about the Night of the Long Knives rapidly spread. [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. org. Uploaded: 09/18/2002. of any opponents, who were be framed as traitors to the republic. "[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. The Night of the Long Knives was "an act of carnage" which had come out of the blue. 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. Rhm demurred, telling them, "If I am to be killed, let Adolf do it himself. A variety of studies In addition to this, there was a mutual dislike between the traditional conservative elite who maintained many key positions in the government and the army during the first years of the Third Reich and the SA. 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). 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. Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. ", "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. [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 Censorship is really evident when . One key example of an event posed as moderate was the Night of Long Knives. Paul von Hindenburg was the president of the Weimar Republic from the 12 May 1925 until his death on the 2 August 1934. Cartoonist: des MONDE. The Night of the Long Knives In June 1934, Hitler ordered the SA to go on leave for the entire month. Definition of night of the long knives in the Idioms Dictionary. [68] Hammerstein, who was a close friend of Schleicher, had been much offended at Schleicher's funeral when the SS refused to allow him to attend the service and confiscated the wreaths that the mourners had brought. 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. Officially 85; estimates range up to 1,000. intensified [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. [69] The memo went on to demand that Hindenburg punish those responsible, and criticized Blomberg for his outspoken support of the murders of Schleicher and Bredow. 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. The elections were neither free or fair. persecution On the floor near the SA are guns and knives, this could resemble the 'Night Of The Long . It was all three of these men that were responsible for this night, because Hitler asked Goering and Goebbels to compile a list of disloyal SA members,; this list formed the basis of those killed on the Night of the Long Knives. and 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. The purge of the SA was kept secret until it was announced by Adolf Hitler on July 13. I have the earlier 2005 History Channel video of Night of the Long Knives - before it was Heavily Censored to remove all references to the fact that the Nazis were founded and led by Boy Raping Diseased Homo-Anal Coprophile Ephebophiles, including Founder Ernst Rohm and his male prostitute protege Hitler. [30] At Hitler's direction, Gring, Himmler, Heydrich and Victor Lutze drew up lists of people in and outside the SA to be killed. It was the culmination of a chaotic week in Westminster, which saw furious calls for an overhaul . info)) or "Operation Hummingbird" (Kolibri) was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany.It happened between 30 June and 2 July 1934 when the Nazi regime executed at least 90 people for political reasons. Goebbels soon radicalised each of these areas, ensuring that they advocated Nazi ideas. The army almost unanimously applauded the Night of the Long Knives, even though the generals Kurt von Schleicher and Ferdinand von Bredow were among the victims. [38], Although Hitler presented no evidence of a plot by Rhm to overthrow the regime, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the SA.

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