Night of the Long Knives
By now, we have already learnt that Hitler had successfully transformed what was a democratic Weimar Republic Germany, into a totalitarian state that was run by the NSDAP. By 1934, he was the undoubted leader of the NSDAP, yet he still fears that potential oppositions might rise out of no where and remove him from his power. He feared one man, that was once his buddy, that once stood up for him and got his back, once helped strengthen the Nazi's position in the government and had once, been Hitler's most useful right-hand man of all time, Ernst Roehm - leader of the SA.
At this time of a period, Roehm had emerged the Stahlhelm, another army veterans' group w/ the SA, making it more powerful than ever. Also, all of the members of the SA were extremely loyal to him, and to HIM only, not to Hitler, not to anyone else, just Roehm. The total number of members of SA had risen to about 3 million, and with so many SA troopers, Hitler feared that if, IF a revolt were started by Ernst Roehm to get power for himself, him and the SS and the Gestapo police state won't be able to fend them off. Roehm was in a great position to challenge Hitler's power right now.
Roehm had also shown signs of opposition growing against some of Hitler's policies. For one, he directly criticized how Hitler binds in one with the rich industrialists and army generals, only looking after themselves. Roehm had wanted better Socialists policies, to tax the rich and help the working class, which was exactly opposite of the central thesis of the Nazi party, originally known as the German workers' party, after Hitler had joined.
But how did Hitler managed to slip his plan in getting rid of one of the most influential and powerful people in Germany? Well, the German ARMY (haha hadn't heard from them for a very long time) were VERY intimidated of the SA's potential power/force. After all, after WWI, the German Army were only allowed to have up to 100,000 men, and was instantly dwarfed once compared to the amount of people the SA have. Also, Roehm had a very clear intention from the start, that in order to make Germany a more stable and better nation as a whole, he'd need to replace the army with his very own SA.
Another important factor as to why the Night of the Long Knives succeeded was because of the leaders of the other police force, the SS. Himmler and Heydrich resented Roehm, they were extremely jealous of the success he has with running his SA and the amount of power they had. They envied him, and wanted to reduce his power so the SS could be as strong as the power of SA. So they all got together, and the leaders of SS, the leader of the German Army decided that it was time for the SA to go down, so they warned Hitler that the SA, especially Ernst Roehm was planning to seize power, which in fact was one of the intentions of Ernst Roehm, but certainly not at that stage yet. Hitler, blinded with the fear of losing his egotistical power and position, decided that they were telling him the truth without verifying it from any other sources. On 30 June, 1934, he arranged that Roehm and all other senior officers of the SA were to be arrested, imprisoned and shot. And this is what has been referred to the Night of the Long Knives.
Aftermath
On July 1, 1934, Ernst Roehm was sent to the Stadelheim jail, where an SS brigade leader arrived, interestingly leaving a loaded pistol in Roehm's cell, encouraging him to suicide. After hearing no gun shot for 15 mins, he re-entered the cell with his deputy, where both of them shot at Roehm, and six other SA leaders, acting upon Hitler's orders. What is even MORE interesting is that Von Papen, the vice-chancellor, the person who brought Hitler into the general action and involvement in the first place, the person who believed he had Hitler "in his pocket", reported to Goering, yet he was told that everything was fine, that the SS had everything under control, and that he should return home for his own safety. However a group of SS was rounding up the final suspects, which included him, and had reached his office before he did, and shot his press secretary and arrested his staff members. His house was also surrounded and his telephone and communication systems cut off. Yet they didn't kill him, they just threatened him with such actions showing him how easily they could get to him, therefore "advising" him to shut up about any bad talk about the SS and the totalitarian state.
At this time of a period, Roehm had emerged the Stahlhelm, another army veterans' group w/ the SA, making it more powerful than ever. Also, all of the members of the SA were extremely loyal to him, and to HIM only, not to Hitler, not to anyone else, just Roehm. The total number of members of SA had risen to about 3 million, and with so many SA troopers, Hitler feared that if, IF a revolt were started by Ernst Roehm to get power for himself, him and the SS and the Gestapo police state won't be able to fend them off. Roehm was in a great position to challenge Hitler's power right now.
Roehm had also shown signs of opposition growing against some of Hitler's policies. For one, he directly criticized how Hitler binds in one with the rich industrialists and army generals, only looking after themselves. Roehm had wanted better Socialists policies, to tax the rich and help the working class, which was exactly opposite of the central thesis of the Nazi party, originally known as the German workers' party, after Hitler had joined.
But how did Hitler managed to slip his plan in getting rid of one of the most influential and powerful people in Germany? Well, the German ARMY (haha hadn't heard from them for a very long time) were VERY intimidated of the SA's potential power/force. After all, after WWI, the German Army were only allowed to have up to 100,000 men, and was instantly dwarfed once compared to the amount of people the SA have. Also, Roehm had a very clear intention from the start, that in order to make Germany a more stable and better nation as a whole, he'd need to replace the army with his very own SA.
Another important factor as to why the Night of the Long Knives succeeded was because of the leaders of the other police force, the SS. Himmler and Heydrich resented Roehm, they were extremely jealous of the success he has with running his SA and the amount of power they had. They envied him, and wanted to reduce his power so the SS could be as strong as the power of SA. So they all got together, and the leaders of SS, the leader of the German Army decided that it was time for the SA to go down, so they warned Hitler that the SA, especially Ernst Roehm was planning to seize power, which in fact was one of the intentions of Ernst Roehm, but certainly not at that stage yet. Hitler, blinded with the fear of losing his egotistical power and position, decided that they were telling him the truth without verifying it from any other sources. On 30 June, 1934, he arranged that Roehm and all other senior officers of the SA were to be arrested, imprisoned and shot. And this is what has been referred to the Night of the Long Knives.
Aftermath
On July 1, 1934, Ernst Roehm was sent to the Stadelheim jail, where an SS brigade leader arrived, interestingly leaving a loaded pistol in Roehm's cell, encouraging him to suicide. After hearing no gun shot for 15 mins, he re-entered the cell with his deputy, where both of them shot at Roehm, and six other SA leaders, acting upon Hitler's orders. What is even MORE interesting is that Von Papen, the vice-chancellor, the person who brought Hitler into the general action and involvement in the first place, the person who believed he had Hitler "in his pocket", reported to Goering, yet he was told that everything was fine, that the SS had everything under control, and that he should return home for his own safety. However a group of SS was rounding up the final suspects, which included him, and had reached his office before he did, and shot his press secretary and arrested his staff members. His house was also surrounded and his telephone and communication systems cut off. Yet they didn't kill him, they just threatened him with such actions showing him how easily they could get to him, therefore "advising" him to shut up about any bad talk about the SS and the totalitarian state.