25 terms. Only the SPD opposed it. As the SA were known for being violent and unruly, many saw this as a legitimate move by the government to ensure public order. The Bill passed by 444 votes for to 94 against on the 24 March 1933. [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. With these measures in place, the Nazification of the judicial system was complete. They used any space they could get their hands on to create temporary camps. Hitler announced to those present that the SA would act as an auxiliary to the Reichswehr, not the other way around. 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. "It was plain that there was wide acceptance of the deliberately misleading propaganda put out by the regime. [7] Complaints of "overbearing and loutish" behaviour by stormtroopers became common by the middle of 1933. This also lead to the Oath Of Loyalty which was. 95.7% of the population voted. [34], At about 04:30 on 30 June 1934, Hitler and his entourage flew to Munich. The Night of the Long Knives - Nazi Germany 2 Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War against the Jews, 1933-1945 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975), 82. pardoned He was now a dictator. 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. 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. On the 5 March 1933, the elections took place, with an extremely high turnout of 89%. Night of the Long Knives | Teaching Resources The History Learning Site, 9 Mar 2015. [71], In late 1934early 1935, Werner von Fritsch and Werner von Blomberg, who had been shamed into joining Hammerstein and Mackensen's rehabilitation campaign, successfully pressured Hitler into rehabilitating Generals von Schleicher and von Bredow. What were Hitler's and the Nazi Party's ideas? On the 4 October 1933, it was declared that all editors must be Aryan. government, under President Hindenburg. Civil Service The result was that it was made Hitler the undisputed leader of the Nazis and by extension Germany. coalition He dismissed seven ministers - one-third of the cabinet - and . In response to conservative pressure to constrain Rhm, Hitler left for Neudeck to meet with Hindenburg. Give Hitler four years to rebuild it! 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. Thus from June 30 to July 2, 1934, which the chancellor later titled the Night of the Long Knives, Hitler purged any and all opposition in his way to a dictatorship. Hitler's entire life was one of making key-life and death-strategic decisions, successfully. Reviews Something went wrong, please try again later. The Night of the Long Knives, June 1934 - gcsehistory.com The Nazis also took several more steps to reduce their political opposition legally. "[55] Reich Justice Minister Franz Grtner, a conservative who had been Bavarian Justice Minister in the years of the Weimar Republic, demonstrated his loyalty to the new regime by drafting the statute, which added a legal veneer to the purge. [2] The purge strengthened and consolidated the support of the military for Hitler. Night of the Long Knives - Wikipedia Rhm was given the nickname "The Machine Gun King of Bavaria" in the early 1920s, since he was responsible for storing and issuing illegal machine guns to the Bavarian Freikorps units. By the end of May 1934, Hitler had been chancellor for 16 . In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the German people. Following the purge, the Nazi's sculpted the media coverage to portray the event as a preventative measure against a revolutionary, violent, and . In reality, the laws that the Nazis put forward secured their future as the sole ruling party in Germany. [63] Franois-Poncet was not declared persona non grata as would have been usual if an ambassador were involved in a plot against his host government. By some estimates, as many as 1,000 were rounded up, never to be seen again. However, there were also other events which helped Hitler in achieving the position of a dictator. "[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. The Night of the Long Knives (in addition to Hindenburgs deatha few months later) helped Hitler and the Nazi Party to consolidate absolute power in Germany by removing their political opposition. [35] Papen was unceremoniously arrested at the Vice-Chancellery, despite his insistent protests that he could not be arrested in his position as Vice-Chancellor. Hitler announced that he would occupy this new role. On the 23 March 1933, Hitler proposed the Enabling Law to the Reichstag. Quick Reference. This act legalised removing anyone of non-Ayran descent from the civil service. 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. "Rhm was given the opportunity to draw the consequences of his treacherous behaviour," said Hitler in . NHS services across England will face major disruption throughout today as nurses walk out in a 28-hour strike over pay. IRA's Night of Long Knives' part in peace process - IrishCentral.com [30] At Hitler's direction, Gring, Himmler, Heydrich, and Victor Lutze drew up lists of people in and outside the SA to be killed. The 'Night of the Long Knives' is a name given to an internal purge within the National Socialist movement in mid-1934. 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. Conservatives in the army, industry and politics placed Hitler under increasing pressure to reduce the influence of the SA and to move against Rhm. [21], Demands for Hitler to constrain the SA strengthened. isabellaaellis. Night of the Long Knives: Jonathan Petropoulos The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. 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. The undersigned Generals and senior officers swear to preserve to the last breath their loyalty to you and the Fatherland. Carried out primarily by the SS and the Gestapo, over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. 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. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet, one-third of the total. On 30 April 1945, Hitler took his own life in his bunker underneath the Reich chancellery in Berlin. The Night of the Long Knives. On the 28 February 1933, President Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [29], In preparation for the purge, both Himmler and Heydrich assembled a dossier of manufactured evidence to suggest that Rhm had been paid 12 million (EUR 29.1million in 2023) by France to overthrow Hitler. These acts removed peoples ability to oppose the Nazi Party, in any form. Censorship was heightened, and any person publishing actively anti-Nazi material was threatened or imprisoned. Blomberg, who had been meeting with the president, uncharacteristically reproached Hitler for not having moved against Rhm earlier. "[65] Another rare exception was Field Marshal August von Mackensen, who spoke about the murders of Schleicher and Bredow at the annual General Staff Society meeting in February 1935 after they had been rehabilitated by Hitler in early January 1935. From 20 August onwards, the Whilst Gleichschaltung aimed to reach every aspect of rule in Germany, this was not always possible. It was during this speech that Hitler gave the purge its name: Night of the Long Knives (a phrase from a popular Nazi song). 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. A firefighter in the burnt out ruins of the Reichstag building. Within weeks of Rhms death, Hitler made an attempt to settle the question of union with Austria through simple violence. ", "The names of eighty-five victims [exist], only fifty of them SA men. Just two months later, on 14 July 1933 the Nazis used the Enabling Act to ban all political parties except the Nazi Party. Several of Hitler's lieutenants feared Rhm's growing power and restlessness, as did Hitler. The Night of Long Knives - The Holocaust Explained [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. [47], Rhm was held briefly at Stadelheim Prison[j] in Munich, while Hitler considered his future. Max Heydebreck, an SA leader in Rummelsburg, denounced the army to his fellow brownshirts, telling them, "Some of the officers of the army are swine. In Berlin, on Gring's personal orders, an armed SS unit stormed the Vice-Chancellery. (29-30 June 1934) The name coined by Hitler for a weekend of murders throughout Germany. Hitler told the crowd that "undisciplined and disobedient characters and asocial or diseased elements" would be annihilated. It did not escape Klemperer's notice that many of the victims had played a role in bringing Hitler to power. For new Germany unit - 1890-1945. [13], If the regular army showed contempt for the masses belonging to the SA, many stormtroopers returned the feeling, seeing the army as insufficiently committed to the National Socialist revolution. ", Coincidentally, Hitler had been incarcerated at. The Nazis consolidation of power can be grouped into three main themes: pseudo-legality, terror and intimidation and pseudo-moderation. Political instability in the Weimar Republic, Hyperinflation and the invasion of the Ruhr, Strength and weaknesses of the Weimar Republic. Also killed that night were hundreds of other perceived . of any opponents, who were be framed as traitors to the republic. "[74], Hitler named Viktor Lutze to replace Rhm as head of the SA. "[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. In a new pair Rally Coach this worksheet. [63], Former Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was in exile in Doorn, Netherlands, was horrified by the purge. The law needed two thirds of the Reichstag to vote for it to pass. As the leader of the SA, Rhm was seen as a threat to Hitlers power. The Night of the Long Knives was "an act of carnage" which had come out of the blue. Many were terrified of voting of at all, and many turned to voting for the Nazi Party out of fear for their own safety. ", "But in origin the National Socialists had been a radical anti-capitalist party, and this part of the National Socialist programme was not only taken seriously by many loyal Party members but was of increasing importance in a period of economic depression. The Foreign Office even complained of instances where brownshirts manhandled foreign diplomats. As such, the Nazis consolidation of power relied on maintaining the illusion of a stable democracy. 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 Nazis' paramilitary organization, known colloquially as "Brownshirts". Despite his earlier agreement with Hitler, Rhm still clung to his vision of a new German army with the SA at its core. 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 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 stench of blood. 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. , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March 1933. When the Nazi regime did not take such steps, those who had expected an economic as well as a political revolution were disillusioned. It targeted potential threats to Hitler's power, particularly within the NSDAP's fast-growing and politically vocal paramilitary wing, the Sturmabteilung or SA. . [51] Meanwhile, Goebbels tried to prevent newspapers from publishing lists of the dead, but at the same time used a 2 July radio address to describe how Hitler had narrowly prevented Rhm and Schleicher from overthrowing the government and throwing the country into turmoil. Now that the NSDAP had seized the reins of power in Germany, he said, it was time to consolidate its control. [35] Schneidhuber was executed later that day. Paul von Hindenburg was the president of the Weimar Republic from the 12 May 1925 until his death on the 2 August 1934. This resource hasn't been reviewed yet. The news of it was received with consternation and disgust in the other European capitals, but the shock was greatest in Rome. It was named Der Fhrer schtzt das Recht ("The Fhrer Upholds the Law"). A poster from the March 1933 elections. In the years preceding the purge, the term "long knives" had become a popular description of treachery in Germany and was used as a criticism of Nazi actions and deceitfulness. Refusing to take his own life, he was shot on 1 July 1934 by two SS guards. The Nazis had the support of the DNVP, and had banned the communist party, the KPD, from attending. Rhm is pictured here on the left next to Rudolf Hess, who was the deputy Fhrer from 1933-1941. Gring declared that the communists had planned a national uprising to overthrow the Weimar Republic. On 13 July 1934 the Reichstag It followed a secret deal between himself and units of his personal bodyguard, the SS. More than a thousand high ranking SA officials (Hitler's militant Nazi storm troopers), including several of Hitler's oldest affiliates were . As such the Nazis justified this measure as implementing necessary security measures, rather than revealing their true motive to remove opposition. Also killed that night were hundreds of other perceived opponents of Hitler. [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. , issuing the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on the 7 April 1933. 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. The generals, whose chief spokesman was the minister of defense, Werner von Blomberg, were certainly impressed by the efficiency with which Rhm and his SA clique had been eliminated. [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. The Freikorps were nationalistic organizations primarily composed of disaffected, disenchanted, and angry German combat veterans founded by the government in January 1919 to deal with the threat of a Communist revolution when it appeared that there was a lack of loyal troops. By May, lists of those to be "liquidated" started to circulate amongst Gring and Himmler's people, who engaged in a trade, adding enemies of one in exchange for sparing friends of the other. oppression On 7 April 1943, the SS shut down the Chemno death camp for the first time. ultimate power over Germany, whilst maintaining an Hitler's Purge: The Night of the Long Knives Explained You give Hitler power and time by voting HITLER!. The Night of Long Knives occurred on June 30, 1934. [m] Years later, in November 1945, while being interviewed by psychologist Gustave Gilbert in his cell during the Nuremberg trials, Gring angrily justified the killings to Gilbert, "It's a damn good thing I wiped them out, or they would have wiped us out!"[85]. [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. Goering, Himmler, and Heydrich, Hitler's new head of internal security for the SS, got together and drew up a list of opponents to Hitler's new Government, while Goebbels publicly accused Ernst Rhm of planning a takeover or 'Putsch'. 20 terms. Updates? Goebbels became responsible for controlling the national media, film, theatre, arts, and other cultural aspects. [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. 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. isabellaaellis. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. [21] Brning fled to the Netherlands while Schleicher dismissed the tip-off as a bad practical joke. Free Essay: Night of The long Knives - 597 Words | Studymode Once the Enabling Law was in place, the Nazis could bypass the Reichstag and rule by decree seemingly creating laws that stabilised Germany and got rid of its internal enemies. Source starter, video introducing the night of the long knives, source analysis assessing causes and consequences of the night of the long knives, describe 4 mark question built in and overall judgement building on the learning sequence of the most significant reason Hitler was able to establish a dictatorship. The destiny of our country is at stake. [21] By the beginning of June everything was set and all that was needed was permission from Hitler. The day after the Reichstag fire, the 28 February 1933, Hindenburg signed a decree giving Hitler emergency powers. Home Explore. Macmillan's 'Night of the Long Knives' was political genius (1962) 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. With the army limited by the Treaty of Versailles to one hundred thousand soldiers, its leaders watched anxiously as membership in the SA surpassed three million men by the beginning of 1934. They will . First was his old comrade Ernst Rhm, chief of staff of the SA (Sturmabteilung; German: Assault Division), or Brownshirts. Blomberg, Hitler and Goebbels. This new law gave Hitler the power to rule by decree rather than passing laws through the Reichstag and the president. You must first remember and recite all the points made earlier in the circle then add your own point. Hess, present among the assembled, even volunteered to shoot the "traitors". Night of the Long Knives - Oxford Reference The Night of the Long Knives: the bloody purge that secured Hitler's power. approved a bill legalising the purge as emergency defence measures. By the end of 1934, the Nazis had managed to infiltrate and take control of every major aspect of German government. Night of the Long Knives (1962) - Wikipedia How Night Of Long Knives Affected Hitler's Rise To Power [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]. [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. To make both of these impacts, Hitler had to overcome many hard . Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sent four army divisions up the Brenner Pass and to the Carinthian frontier, and the Italian press vehemently denounced German imperialism and bad faith. Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. Hitler told the gathered officials, "The stream of revolution has been undammed, but it must be channelled into the secure bed of evolution. [22] Himmler named his deputy Reinhard Heydrich to head the Gestapo on 22 April 1934. [4] The violent confrontations between the two contributed to the destabilization of the Weimar Republic. 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]. After Hitler and most of the army officers had left, however, Rhm declared that he would not take instructions from "the ridiculous corporal" a demeaning reference to Hitler. Night of the Long Knives | History | tutor2u Thereupon the German generals agreed to the merging of the office of president of the Reich and supreme head of the armed forces with that of chancellor, in Hitlers person. The SA also ran a violent campaign of terror against any and all opponents of the Nazi regime. Rhm was a potential rival to Hitler's position. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor on 30 January 1933. This continued when a young Dutchcommunist, Van der Lubbe was arrested for the crime. Answer (1 of 5): if you were Ernst Rohm, or former conniving Chancellor Gen von Schleicher or his wife, the consequences were terminal. [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. [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. [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. by Gring and Himmler, who gave Hitler news of Rhm organising a potential It was a mass murder planned by the SS for the SA and their members. On the 30 January 1933 Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the Weimar Republic. Fearing that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organization's leaders, including Ernst Rhm. persecution The SA traced its dramatic rise in numbers in part to the onset of the Great Depression, when many German citizens lost both their jobs and their faith in traditional institutions. The atmosphere of uncertainty following the Reichstag Fire secured many voters for the Nazi party. 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. The long term impact brought forth by the consequences or legacy of the Nazi party included a population decrease and an increase in deaths. Some of those executed by Hitler were once considered close allies and friends. They had placed many in the first The Night of the Long Knives - History Learning Site 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. was 10.99. Both Kurt von Schleicher, Hitler's predecessor as Chancellor, and his wife were murdered at their home. The SS found Breslau SA leader Edmund Heines in bed with an unidentified eighteen-year-old male SA senior troop leader. Until then, Lippert had been one of the few executioners of the purge to evade trial. Complete a Diamond 9 of the consequences of the Night of the Long Knives.

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