Dachau As S.A. membership grew, they were becoming harder . [75] Lutze did little to assert the SA's independence in the coming years, and the organization lost its power in Germany. [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. The SA and the SS had also been on a month long campaign of violence to scare or imprison other opponents to the party. 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. Now that the NSDAP had seized the reins of power in Germany, he said, it was time to consolidate its control. 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. The Foreign Office even complained of instances where brownshirts manhandled foreign diplomats. "[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! 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"). [40] Those not immediately executed were taken back to the Leibstandarte barracks at Lichterfelde, given one-minute "trials", and shot by a firing squad. Ernst Rhm was murdered in the event known as the Rhm Putsch, or the Night of Long Knives. Rhm, who was initially 1 Quoted in Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power (New York: Penguin Books, 2005), 37-38. The purge of the SA was kept secret until it was announced by Adolf Hitler on July 13. She even compared him to Frederick the Great, the 18th-century king of Prussia.[2]. It will first explore this topic in chronological order, from the Reichstag Fire through to the death of President Hindenburg, and then explore it thematically in the last section. In the judicial system specifically, this act removed any judges that were deemed non-compliant with Nazi laws or principles. 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. Long Knives phrase. 3. Following the purge, the Nazi's sculpted the media coverage to portray the event as a preventative measure against a revolutionary, violent, and . Nov 3, 2012 - Explore S o l s h e i 's board "Yay, it's Friday! 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. The Night of the Long Knives. The Nazis also took steps to ensure they couldnt be openly opposed in the press. What were Hitler's and the Nazi Party's ideas? [41], The regime did not limit itself to a purge of the SA. Gleichschaltung was applied across every possible aspect of government policy. With these measures in place, the Nazification of the judicial system was complete. Hold me on this night of the long knives Hold me on this night of the long knives It's coming (Shame about your neighbourhood) It's coming (Shame about your neighbourhood) There's a flood on the street, there's a tide and it's coming in now Yet the concrete burns at the back of your skull And they're saying it's a wave but it feels like a . 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. 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". 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. He held the same position with Rhm as I held with Himmler. The Nazi Party used the atmosphere of panic to their advantage, encouraging anti-communism. "[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. Following the Enabling Law, much of this harassment and imprisonment was legal. com. To a lesser extent, the Sturmabteilung (SA), a Nazi paramilitary organization, remained somewhat autonomous within the party. [49] In 1957, the German authorities tried Lippert in Munich for Rhm's murder. 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. Surrounding this scene, members of the Army and SS stand with their weapons pointing towards the SA members. Hitler was shrewd enough to understand that he could never fully consolidate his grip on the country without the support of the army. Night of the Long Knives: Directed by Lance Miccio, Grant Slawson. It was named Der Fhrer schtzt das Recht ("The Fhrer Upholds the Law"). The Nazi adoption of the phrase for an upcoming violent event was well known even to the foreign press, with the 2 August 1932 issue of The Times reporting that: Prominent Nazi leaders have played upon the imaginations of their followers..with such phrases as the night of the long knives and a vengeance for every Nazi killed.[79]. persecution Gestapo officers attached to the SS unit shot Papen's secretary Herbert von Bose without bothering to arrest him first. 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. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. The Night of Long Knives, one of most noteworthy events during Hitler's rule, was a purge that occurred on the 30th June 1934. The faction headed by Hermann Gring and also . Hitler announced to those present that the SA would act as an auxiliary to the Reichswehr, not the other way around. Rhm demurred, telling them, "If I am to be killed, let Adolf do it himself. "A very calm and easy going mailman," the diarist Victor Klemperer wrote, "who is not at all National Socialist, said, 'Well, he simply sentenced them.'" 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. One of the men Gring recruited to assist him was Willi Lehmann, a Gestapo official and NKVD spy. Overall, what is the meaning of the cartoon? Over the next two days, most of the SA leadership were placed under arrest and murdered without trial. Used for Educational purposes only. Night Of The Long Knives Cartoon 3 of 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. On the 4 October 1933, it was declared that all editors must be Aryan. Originally, though, the term denotes an event in Anglo-Saxon history, first reported by the Welsh historian Nennius in his ninth-century Historia Brittonum . Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Rhm the so-called Rhm Putsch. 89.93% voted in favour of Hitler. by Roy Morris Jr. 8/20/2018. . [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! His perceived enemies were executed on the night of June 30, 1934. The support of respected individuals such as von Papen and Hindenburgs son, Oskar von Hindenburg, gave the Nazis further legitimacy for these actions. [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. [62] General von Reichenau went so far as to publicly give credence to the lie that Schleicher had been plotting to overthrow the government. Although Hitler ordered him released days later, Papen no longer dared to criticize the regime and was sent off to Vienna as German ambassador.[43]. 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. In addition to this, there was a mutual dislike between the traditional conservative elite who maintained many key positions in the government and the army during the first years of the Third Reich and the SA. In August 1932 there were approximately 445,000 members of the SA. Whilst the pseudo-legal measures were one factor that helped the Nazis to consolidate power, another was terror and intimidation. The caption They salute with both hands now is a joke about the Nazi salute. [64] One retired captain, Erwin Planck, seemed to realize this: "If you look on without lifting a finger", he said to his friend, General Werner von Fritsch, "you will meet the same fate sooner or later. ", followed by 12,263 people on Pinterest. In British politics, the "Night of the Long Knives" was a major Cabinet reshuffle that took place on 13 July 1962. How did the Night of the Long Knives help to create a dictatorship out of a democracy? 3. Excellency, save Germany for the fourth time! 2. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. Until then, Lippert had been one of the few executioners of the purge to evade trial. The "knives of the long night" episode, as it is now called, took place with brutal swiftness. Most of those killed were members of the "Storm Troopers" (SA) (German: Sturmabteilung). While Rhm's homosexuality did not endear him to conservatives, they were more concerned about his political ambitions. Leading officers in the SS were shown falsified evidence on 24 June that Rhm planned to use the SA to launch a plot against the government (Rhm-Putsch). However, this power was limited, as the Nazis were just one party in a three party [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. dutch tool chest pdf. Hitler announced that he would occupy this new role. consolidate Many members of the SA, including its leader Ernst Rhm, were demanding that the Nazi party carry out its socialist agenda and that the SA take over the army. ", "After the 'Night of the Long Knives,' [Reich Minister for Justice Franz Grtner] nipped in the bud the attempts of some local state prosecutors to initiate proceedings against the killers. This essentially meant that the Nazis used the atmosphere of panic following the Reichstag Fireto put forward the Enabling Law. 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. The first concentration camp, Dachau, opened in a broken-down munitions factory on the 20 March 1933, imprisoning primarily political prisoners. [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. Just two months later, on 14 July 1933 the Nazis used the Enabling Act to ban all political parties except the Nazi Party. The law needed two thirds of the Reichstag to vote for it to pass. The SS was moving into position for the first of its many deadly tasks. What does night of the long knives expression mean? [5] In June 1932, one of the worst months of political violence, there were more than 400 street battles, resulting in 82 deaths. Hitler claimed that 61 had been executed while 13 had been shot resisting arrest and three had committed suicide. I gave the order to shoot the ringleaders in this treason, and I further gave the order to cauterise down to the raw flesh the ulcers of this poisoning of the wells in our domestic life. A few weeks after the purge, Hitler rewarded the SS . Historian Gavin Mortimer explains how Hitler nearly came unstuck as early as 1934 - and that the bloody purge that followed was a warning of horrors to come. By the summer of 1934, the SA's numbers had swollen to 2 million men. However, most accounts argue that as many as 1,000 deaths occurred during the Night of the Long Knives. [i] Rhm, as one of the earliest members of the Nazi Party, had participated in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt by Hitler to seize power by force in 1923. [38] Joseph Goebbels, who had been with Hitler at Bad Wiessee, set the final phase of the plan in motion. 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. As such the Nazis justified this measure as implementing necessary security measures, rather than revealing their true motive to remove opposition. [He] died with words "Heil Hitler" on his lips. Given that the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent Germans, it could hardly be kept secret. . British cartoon by David Low, 1934 They salute with both hands, now! Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership disagreed with their approach. [63] During a meeting with Polish Ambassador Jzef Lipski on 22 May 1935, Hitler told Lipski that Schleicher was "rightfully murdered, if only because he had sought to maintain the Rapallo Treaty. In response, Hitler met Blomberg and the leadership of the SA and SS on 28 February 1934. With Greg Stebner. Opposition from outside the Nazi party was being strangled . Night of the Long Knives 1. [66], Rumours about the Night of the Long Knives rapidly spread. 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. On 5 March 1933, elections were held for the German Reichstag. 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. Adolf Hitler needed Ernst Rhm and his storm troops to climb to power in faction-torn Germany. This hysteria helped to turn the public against the communists, one of the Nazis main opponents, and 4000 people were imprisoned. "[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. Dimensions: 2432 x 2229 px. With Hindenburg gone, there was no longer a limit to Hitlers power. The Night of the Long Knives commences. 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. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. However, there were also other events which helped Hitler in achieving the position of a dictator. Local governments proved more difficult to infiltrate, and even at the end of 1945 only 60% of local mayors were Nazi Party members. On the 5 March 1933, the elections took place, with an extremely high turnout of 89%. 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. [84], The Night of the Long Knives represented a triumph for Hitler, and a turning point for the German government. Centuries of jurisprudence proscribing extrajudicial killings were swept aside. oppression [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. David Low responded to what became known as the Night of the Long Knives by producing a cartoon that deeply angered Hitler. 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. They were under the control of Ernst Rhm, a loyal follower of Hitler since the early days of the Nazi Party. It was all three of these men that were responsible for this night, because Hitler asked Goering and Goebbels to compile a list of disloyal SA members,; this list formed the basis of those killed on the Night of the Long Knives. He had banned opposition parties, taken control of the press, outlawed troublesome unions and thrown communists and other political dissidents into concentration camps. At first, its architects seemed split on how to handle the event. 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. It established Hitler as "the supreme leader of the German people", as he put it in his 13 July speech to the Reichstag. . Additionally, Hitler was uncomfortable with Rhm's outspoken support for a "second revolution" to redistribute wealth. In less than a week and just a few months ahead of a crucial election, Nicaraguan police have detained seven high-profile . [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.