Gring's personal police battalion also took part in the killings. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. Reorganisation and the Bamberg Conference, The role of economic instability in the Nazi rise to power, The role of political instability in the Nazi rise to power, The role of the conservative elite in the Nazi rise to power. Many were terrified of voting of at all, and many turned to voting for the Nazi Party out of fear for their own safety. Censorship was heightened, and any person publishing actively anti-Nazi material was threatened or imprisoned. 2. "[9], Hitler's speech signalled his intention to rein in the SA, whose ranks had grown rapidly in the early 1930s. However, soon after the purge Hitler himself would name the events the "Night of the long knives" in a public speech on 13 July 1934 defending the actions (despite the violence taking place over several days). The SA also ran a violent campaign of terror against any and all opponents of the Nazi regime. Following Hitlers appointment as chancellor the Nazis were finally in a position of power. Hitler arrived and personally placed Rhm and other high ranking SA leaders under arrest. By 1935, over 1,600 newspapers had been closed. Rhm, however, wanted to eliminate the generalship of the Prussian aristocracy altogether, using the SA to become the core of a new German military. It's Friday Cartoon Images67,818 Happy Friday Stock Photos and Images. Called the Nacht der langen Messer in Germany, this event occurred over a series of days and entailed the Nazi regime's murder of those Hitler considered to be political enemies. [69] The request that Neurath be replaced by Nadolny, the former Ambassador to the USSR, who had resigned earlier that year in protest against Hitler's anti-Soviet foreign policy, indicated that Hammerstein and Mackensen wanted a return to the "distant friendliness" towards the Soviet Union that existed until 1933. Blomberg, who had been meeting with the president, uncharacteristically reproached Hitler for not having moved against Rhm earlier. oppression The Night Of The Long Knives. [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. "[74] Hearing of the murder of former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and his wife, he also commented, "We have ceased to live under the rule of law and everyone must be prepared for the possibility that the Nazis will push their way in and put them up against the wall! com. Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. Hitler wanted to consolidate his power and settle old scores. The Nazis improvised. On 5 March 1933, elections were held for the German Reichstag. Open navigation menu [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. Hitler entitled the purge the 'Night of the Long Knives' - a reference to the lyrics from a popular Nazi song. The atmosphere of uncertainty following the Reichstag Fire secured many voters for the Nazi party. 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. Dimensions: 2432 x 2229 px. Just two months later, on 14 July 1933 the Nazis used the Enabling Act to ban all political parties except the Nazi Party. [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. Reset Your Hosts File. [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. Then came the day he didn't need them anymore. It was during this speech that Hitler gave the purge its name: Night of the Long Knives (a phrase from a popular Nazi song). dutch tool chest pdf. Refusing to take his own life, he was shot on 1 July 1934 by two SS guards. [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. They had defended his meetings, and attacked opponents. The Night of the Long Knives was "an act of carnage" which had come out of the blue. A firefighter in the burnt out ruins of the Reichstag building. However, following Hitler being elected chancellor, the SA, and particularly Rhm, were keen to continue the revolution and replace the traditional conservative elite with Nazis. Over the next two days, most of the SA leadership were placed under arrest and murdered without trial. coalition "[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. As S.A. membership grew, they were becoming harder . Gring instructed police stations to burn "all documents concerning the action of the past two days". The Nazis secured 43.9% of the vote, an improvement of almost 10% on the previous Novembers election. The Nazi Party used the atmosphere of panic to their advantage, encouraging anti-communism. 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. "[74], Hitler named Viktor Lutze to replace Rhm as head of the SA. 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 Long Knives was the purge of the SA leadership and other political opponents from the 30 June 1934 to the 2 July 1934. "They give . [25] During the summit in Venice, Mussolini upbraided Hitler for tolerating the violence, hooliganism and homosexuality of the SA, which Mussolini stated were ruining Hitler's good reputation all over the world. 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. coup The Night of the Long Knives J. Marshall, 2007. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. In 1933, up to 200,000 people were seized and imprisoned by the SA and the SS. [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. Hence, the Freikorps were in opposition to the new Weimar Republic, which was born as a result of the November Revolution, and whose founders were contemptuously called "November criminals". In response to conservative pressure to constrain Rhm, Hitler left for Neudeck to meet with Hindenburg. [66], Rumours about the Night of the Long Knives rapidly spread. Rhm is pictured here on the left next to Rudolf Hess, who was the deputy Fhrer from 1933-1941. The Nazis used the guise of moderationto conceal their rapid consolidation of power. The day after the fire, Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. Until then, Lippert had been one of the few executioners of the purge to evade trial. It was a purge of the head of the Nazi paramilitary organization, the SA, by Hitler and a certain faction within the Nazi party. Also killed that night were hundreds of other perceived opponents of Hitler. [41], The regime did not limit itself to a purge of the SA. With James Darren, Robert Colbert, Malachi Throne, David Watson. Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Rhm the so-called Rhm Putsch. To take control of cultural policy, the Nazis appointed Joseph Goebbels as Minister for Public Engagement and Propaganda on the 13 March 1933. [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]. Gleichschaltung was the process of the Nazi Party taking control over all aspects of Germany. The Nazi grip on government extended across national, state and local levels. 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. [He] died with words "Heil Hitler" on his lips. 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. , was then given the choice of suicide or murder. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point in the history of Hitler's Germany. On 30 June 1934 these tensions came to a head. Over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. The Enabling Law allowed them to do this under the guise of legality. You gave these parties 14 years to ruin Germany! [49] In 1957, the German authorities tried Lippert in Munich for Rhm's murder. What does Long Knives expression mean? Hitler orders a violent purge of the top leadership of the Nazi Party paramilitary formation, the SA (Sturmabteilungen; Assault Detachments). [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. The Peoples Court, a court created by the Nazis in April 1934 with judges chosen specifically for their Nazi beliefs, replaced the Supreme Court. Political instability in the Weimar Republic, Hyperinflation and the invasion of the Ruhr, Strength and weaknesses of the Weimar Republic. The leaders of the SA were ordered to attend a meeting at a hotel in Bad Wiesse, Bavaria. Hitler's task would not be simple, however, as the SA made up a large part of Nazism's most devoted followers. 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. 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. This photograph was taken the same day, showing the Reichstag still burning. In response, Hitler met Blomberg and the leadership of the SA and SS on 28 February 1934. 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. The elections were neither free or fair. This is an overview of the Night of the Long Knives of June 1934. [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. The Nazis used the SA and the newly expanded SS to harass and imprison any potential opponents of the Nazi Party. By the end of 1934, the Nazis had managed to infiltrate and take control of every major aspect of German government. [62] General von Reichenau went so far as to publicly give credence to the lie that Schleicher had been plotting to overthrow the government. 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. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Gring and Heinrich Himmler, ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions . However, to gain power Adolf Hitler built up a close and friendly relationship with Germany's industrialists. [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. But Hitler was in power in 1934, and there was no opposition left . [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. "[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. . British cartoon by David Low, 1934 H I UN TL PR KE ER OM PT 'S IS ES They salute with both hands, now! 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. 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. "[77], Rhm was purged from all Nazi propaganda, such as The Victory of Faith, the Leni Riefenstahl film about the 1933 Nuremberg rally, which showed Rhm frequently alongside Hitler. Used for Educational purposes only. The Nazis started with the During the years of the rise of the Nazi Party, the SA had been instrumental in helping the party to gain support. ultimate power over Germany, whilst maintaining an "[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. As such the Nazis justified this measure as implementing necessary security measures, rather than revealing their true motive to remove opposition. 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. Hitler ordered him, as one prominent historian described it, to put an end to "homosexuality, debauchery, drunkenness, and high living" in the SA. [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. With Hitler's arrival in Bad Wiessee between 06:00 and 07:00, the SA leadership, still in bed, were taken by surprise. Excellency, save Germany for the fourth time! 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. Originally designed and developed by the London Jewish Cultural Centre. Dachau "A chancellor", he wrote, "sentences and shoots members of his own private army! 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. During the 1920s and 1930s, the SA functioned as a private militia used by Hitler to intimidate rivals and disrupt the meetings of competing political parties, especially those of the Social Democrats and the Communists. 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. Only the SPD opposed it. [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. The purge of the SA was kept secret until it was announced by Adolf Hitler on July 13. . He had banned opposition parties, taken control of the press, outlawed troublesome unions and thrown communists and other political dissidents into concentration camps. July 1-13, 1934 Editorials, opinion pieces, letters-to-the-editor, and political cartoons regarding the "Night of the Long Knives". They understood the need to appear moderate and take over slowly by democratic means where possible, maintaining the stability and illusion of a democracy. By June 1934 this had grown to over 3,000,000 members. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. 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].
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