The Night of the Long Knives (June 1934) Flashcards
Problems facing Hitler in 1934
Hitler and other Nazis such as Heinrich Himmler had achieved power and considered the ‘revolution’ to be finished. However, Rohm was ambitious for a second revolution involving the SA.
Impacts of the ‘second revolution’
1) It frightened rich industrialists who supported Hitler and there was increasing pressure put on him by President Hindenburg to deal with Rohm and the SA
2) Vice Chancellor Franz Von Papen made a speech in Marburg university to outline the dangers of a ‘second revolution’’, threatening to resign
Why did Hitler want to get rid of the SA?
1) They had served their purpose as a paramilitary force to brawl with the communists, but now that they controlled Germany he considered the SA to be more of an embarrassment than anything else.
2) Now that the Nazis were in power the SA were expected to be more ‘publicly friendly’, organizing community events and fundraising. This went against their violent and rebellious nature-they wouldn’t make the Nazis popular anymore
3) A Gestapo report showed that over 80% of SA members were former communists
Ernst Rohm’s homosexuality
Hitler felt it reflected badly on the party
Problems with the Reichswehr army
1) Rohm wanted to get rid of the Reichswehr army and replace it with the SA, who were 4 million men strong. They promised to stay loyal to the Nazis but Hitler knew that if Rohm gave the go-ahead, they could be used to overthrow him at any second. The Reichswehr saw the SA as a bunch of undisciplined thugs.
Problems with the SS
1) Himmler and Rohm were rivals because the two military units were fighting for Hitler’s choice.
2) Himmler’s SS was the polar opposite of the SA-small, selective, disciplined, and racially pure.
The false case against Rohm
Himmler and Goering helped fabricate incriminating evidence against Rohm which suggested that he was planning a coup against Hitler. This evidence was provided to Hitler by Himmler’s deputy, Reinhart Heydrich
The Purge of the SA
1) Hitler met with Himmler and Goering in Bavaria and drew up a list of all of the Nazis’ enemies to be killed in a purge.
2) They stormed Rohm’s hotel room and arrested him very early the next morning. The same was done for hundreds of other SA leaders who were taken to the Braunhaus prison in Munich where they were executed
What did Goebbels do along the lines of the purge?
He called Himmler and Goering in Berlin and told them to round up any other political enemies to be rounded up and shot. Goebbels presented the purge as an unjustified betrayal by the SA, resulting in sympathy for Hitler.
The Reichswehr’s ‘oath of allegiance’
In appreciation for Hitler dealing with Rohm and the SA, Von Seeckt had all the units make an oath of loyalty to Hitler, who they begun calling the ‘Fuhrer’.
