It's been called "the night of the long knives in the tropics.". Captain Ernst Rhm of the Reichswehr served as the liaison with the Bavarian Freikorps. Adolf Hitler was in a furious temper when his flight touched down in Munich at 4.30am on 30 June 1934. This decree gave the Nazis a legal basis for the [73] However, despite the rehabilitation of the two murdered officers, the Nazis continued in private to accuse Schleicher of high treason. The law needed two thirds of the Reichstag to vote for it to pass. The humbling of the SA ended the threat it had posed to the army but, by standing by Hitler during the purge, the army bound itself more tightly to the Nazi regime. [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. Unblocked games. Hitler wanted to consolidate his power and settle old scores. ", "The names of eighty-five victims [exist], only fifty of them SA men. The Night of Long Knives, one of most noteworthy events during Hitler's rule, was a purge that occurred on the 30th June 1934. Slope unblocked 76 games at school Arcade is one of the most popular game genres. [22] Himmler named his deputy Reinhard Heydrich to head the Gestapo on 22 April 1934. [21] Brning fled to the Netherlands while Schleicher dismissed the tip-off as a bad practical joke. In his speech to the Reichstag on 13 July justifying his actions, Hitler denounced Schleicher for conspiring with Rhm to overthrow the government; Hitler alleged both were traitors working in the pay of France. The Night of the Long Knives: the bloody purge that secured Hitler's power. It is otherwise known as coordination or Nazification. The Nazis also took several more steps to reduce their political opposition legally. This act legalised removing anyone of non-Ayran descent from the civil service. [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. How did the Night of the Long Knives help to create a dictatorship out of a democracy? While Rhm's homosexuality did not endear him to conservatives, they were more concerned about his political ambitions. "[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. com. He was now a dictator. The Nazis had the support of the DNVP, and had banned the communist party, the KPD, from attending. If passed, the law would establish the conditions needed for dictatorial rule. intensified 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). Do Damage By Placing Guns, Knives And Rockets In. The widows of the murdered SA leaders received between 1,000 and 1,600 marks a month, depending on the rank of the murdered person. July 14-20, 1934 News articles, editorials, opinion pieces, letters-to-the-editor, and . 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. Others were appalled at the scale of the executions and at the relative complacency of many of their fellow Germans. Gring declared that the communists had planned a national uprising to overthrow the Weimar Republic. 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. [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). [37] Meanwhile, the SS arrested the other SA leaders as they left their train for the planned meeting with Rhm and Hitler. "[9], Hitler's speech signalled his intention to rein in the SA, whose ranks had grown rapidly in the early 1930s. Select from premium Night Of The Long Knives of the highest quality. Share Image. Wiskemann, Elizabeth, "The Night of the Long Knives", This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 06:34. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. [l] Luise Solmitz, a Hamburg schoolteacher, echoed the sentiments of many Germans when she cited Hitler's "personal courage, decisiveness and effectiveness" in her private diary. The reshuffle took place against a backdrop of . What were Hitler's and the Nazi Party's ideas? How useful is the cartoon in helping us to understand the events that occurred during The Night of the Long Knives? [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. [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. Reichswehr The Reichstag, the German lower house of parliament, was set on fire on the 27 February 1933. 2 Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War against the Jews, 1933-1945 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975), 82. Hitler's desire to consolidate his power and settle old scores, Desire of Ernst Rhm and the SA to continue "the National Socialist revolution" versus Hitler's need for relative social stability so that the economy could be refocused to rearmament and the German people acclimated to the need for expansion and war, Hitler's need to bring the Reichswehr under his control, Significant reduction in the regime's opposition, Strengthening of relationship between Hitler and the military. [42] The Gestapo also murdered Erich Klausener, the leader of Catholic Action, and a close Papen associate. While all of these men were veterans of the Nazi movement, only Rhm continued to demonstrate his independence from, rather than his loyalty to, Adolf Hitler. The Nazis started with the 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). ", Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 06:34, Night of the Long Knives (disambiguation), The History Place Triumph of Hitler Night of the Long Knives, German Culture The Third Reich Consolidation of Power, The German Embassy in the United States The Era of National Socialism, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_of_the_Long_Knives&oldid=1142048294, Operation Hummingbird, Rhm Putsch (by the Nazis), The Blood Purge. 2. 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. In 1934, Hitler purged the SA, killed a bunch of its leaders to eliminate the Strasserist faction and made it a largely irrelevant organization. Despite his earlier agreement with Hitler, Rhm still clung to his vision of a new German army with the SA at its core. 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. The Nazis immediately used the Enabling Law to remove civil rights. It did not escape Klemperer's notice that many of the victims had played a role in bringing Hitler to power. 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. Overall, what is the meaning of the cartoon? "[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. This hysteria helped to turn the public against the communists, one of the Nazis main opponents, and 4000 people were imprisoned. ", followed by 12,263 people on Pinterest. A copy of the original film, before Rhm was edited out, was found in the 1980s in the German Democratic Republic's film archives. Selected Clips from the movie Bent that depict the Night of the Long Knives. [40] Those not immediately executed were taken back to the Leibstandarte barracks at Lichterfelde, given one-minute "trials", and shot by a firing squad. It was a mass murder planned by the SS for the SA and their members. The Nazis also took steps to ensure they couldnt be openly opposed in the press. Whilst the pseudo-legal measures were one factor that helped the Nazis to consolidate power, another was terror and intimidation. The Night of the Long Knives commences. In August 1932 there were approximately 445,000 members of the SA. 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. 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. Conservatives in the army, industry and politics placed Hitler under increasing pressure to reduce the influence of the SA and to move against Rhm. Gleichschaltung was applied across every possible aspect of government policy. July 1-13, 1934 Editorials, opinion pieces, letters-to-the-editor, and political cartoons regarding the "Night of the Long Knives". The destiny of our country is at stake. 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. 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. [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. As such, the Nazis consolidation of power relied on maintaining the illusion of a stable democracy. 1. [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. [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. [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. [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. 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. 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. [27] While von Papen's resignation as vice-chancellor would not have threatened Hitler's position, it would have nonetheless been an embarrassing display of independence from a leading conservative. By mid-1934, Hitler seemed to be master of all Germany. kato-eng. No one in the SA spoke more loudly for "a continuation of the German revolution" (as one prominent stormtrooper, Edmund Heines, put it) than Rhm himself. But Hitler was in power in 1934, and there was no opposition left . Some estimates, however, put the total number killed at between 150 and 200. Ernst Rhm was murdered in the event known as the Rhm Putsch, or the Night of Long Knives. Have a Free Meeting with one of our hand picked tutors from the UK's top universities. Having earlier imprisoned or exiled prominent Social Democrats and Communists, Hitler used the occasion to move against conservatives he considered unreliable. 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. by Roy Morris Jr. 8/20/2018. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. He held the same position with Rhm as I held with Himmler. Following the purge, the Nazi's sculpted the media coverage to portray the event as a preventative measure against a revolutionary, violent, and . , issuing the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on the 7 April 1933. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. [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. 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. "[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. This included Vice-Chancellor Papen and those in his immediate circle. Further, he recognized that the Sturmabteilung was becoming increasingly useless as their main job to intimidate was becoming unnecessary as more people heeled to Hitler's . The Bill passed by 444 votes for to 94 against on the 24 March 1933. Also available as: Gift Options Download Options. [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. Uploaded: 09/18/2002. On 15 March 1938, following the German annexation of Austria three days earlier, Hitler gave a speech in front of the palace in Vienna. 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". Not content solely with the leadership of the SA, Rhm lobbied Hitler to appoint him Minister of Defence, a position held by the conservative General Werner von Blomberg. 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. 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. 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. Adolf Hitler . Definition of Long Knives in the Idioms Dictionary. Why did Hitler turn on the SA in 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"). Battle to save 'Night of the Long Knives' hotel where Hitler turned on Brownshirts' leader Ernst Rhm - the only man standing in his way to absolute power - in deadly 1934 purge. Hitler had become a chancellor in 1933 henceforth he had the power to establish his power. 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. [49] In 1957, the German authorities tried Lippert in Munich for Rhm's murder. They used any space they could get their hands on to create temporary camps. Night of the Long Knives. The Night of the Long Knives J. Marshall, 2007. Open navigation menu 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. He had banned opposition parties, taken control of the press, outlawed troublesome unions and thrown communists and other political dissidents into concentration camps. The Night of the Long Knives not only removed the SA leaders but also got Hitler the army's oath that he so needed. [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. . This would allow them to rule unopposed and unhindered by coalition governments. [41] Several leaders of the disbanded Catholic Centre Party were also murdered in the purge. Despite some initial efforts by local prosecutors to take legal action against those who carried out the murders, which the regime rapidly quashed, it appeared that no law would constrain Hitler in his use of power. The Foreign Office even complained of instances where brownshirts manhandled foreign diplomats. . . [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. 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. . Kurt von Schleicher's stepdaughter received 250 marks per month up to the age of 21, and the son of General von Bredow received a monthly allowance of 150 marks.[59]. 2. Hitler claimed that 61 had been executed while 13 had been shot resisting arrest and three had committed suicide. The Night of the Long Knives. [20] Although Schleicher was in fact unimportant by 1934, increasingly wild rumours that he was scheming with Rhm to re-enter the corridors of power helped stoke the sense of crisis. Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. This act was reinforced by the German Civil Service code of 26 January 1937, which retired any judges or judicial official who would not intervene in cases and rule in favour of the Nazis. The Night of the Long Knives involved the violent purge of certain members of the Nazi Party from June 30th to July 2nd in 1934. [34], At about 04:30 on 30 June 1934, Hitler and his entourage flew to Munich. 3. As the SA were known for being violent and unruly, many saw this as a legitimate move by the government to ensure public order. These acts removed peoples ability to oppose the Nazi Party, in any form. Close 'Here after let this be known as the night of the long side burns!' [37] Arriving back at party headquarters in Munich, Hitler addressed the assembled crowd. Hitler then ordered Himmler and Goering to eliminate the threat posed by the leaders of the SA. Blomberg and many of his fellow officers were recruited from the Prussian nobility and regarded the SA as a plebeian rabble that threatened the army's traditional high status in German society. [30] At Hitler's direction, Gring, Himmler, Heydrich and Victor Lutze drew up lists of people in and outside the SA to be killed. In Rhm's view, President Hindenburg's appointment of Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933, had brought the Nazi Party to power, but had left unfulfilled the party's larger goals. A combat veteran of World War I, Rhm had recently boasted that he would execute 12 men in retaliation for the killing of any stormtrooper. [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. 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. Gring alone had over a thousand people arrested. 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 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.
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