[69] Mackensen and Hammerstein ended their memo with: Excellency, the gravity of the moment has compelled us to appeal to you as our Supreme Commander. Hitler entitled the purge the 'Night of the Long Knives' - a reference to the lyrics from a popular Nazi song. Although many Germans approached the official news of the events as described by Joseph Goebbels with a great deal of scepticism, many others took the regime at its word, and believed that Hitler had saved Germany from a descent into chaos. Whilst the pseudo-legal measures were one factor that helped the Nazis to consolidate power, another was terror and intimidation. "[26] According to his memoirs, von Papen, a Catholic aristocrat with ties to army and industry, privately threatened to resign if Hitler did not act. On the 2 May 1933 trade unions were banned. In August 1932 there were approximately 445,000 members of the SA. This represents how Hitler betrayed the SA, as they had been led to believe that they would gain power alongside Hitler. [75] Hitler expressly told him to stop SA funds from being spent on limousines and banquets, which he considered evidence of SA extravagance. The camps were brutal and had extremely unsanitary conditions. It established Hitler as "the supreme leader of the German people", as he put it in his 13 July speech to the Reichstag. As S.A. membership grew, they were becoming harder . [25] While Mussolini's criticism did not win Hitler over to acting against the SA, it helped push him in that direction.[25]. The Nazis used violence to increase their vote share. 1. This hysteria helped to turn the public against the communists, one of the Nazis main opponents, and 4000 people were imprisoned. Following Hitlers appointment as chancellor the Nazis were finally in a position of power. [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. pardoned coalition 1 Quoted in Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power (New York: Penguin Books, 2005), 37-38. "[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. On the 5 March 1933, the elections took place, with an extremely high turnout of 89%. Many were terrified of voting of at all, and many turned to voting for the Nazi Party out of fear for their own safety. He then told Hitler that Hindenburg was close to declaring martial law and turning the government over to the Reichswehr if Hitler did not take immediate steps against Rhm and his brownshirts. Definition of Long Knives in the Idioms Dictionary. Opposition from outside the Nazi party was being strangled Communists were banned and concentration camps set up. Hitler used the SS and the Army to kill the SA on the Night of the Long knives, and doing so helped him to win them over as it showed his preference for them over the thug-like Stormtroopers. [37] Meanwhile, the SS arrested the other SA leaders as they left their train for the planned meeting with Rhm and Hitler. 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. A very large number of the Freikorps believed that the November Revolution had betrayed them when Germany was alleged to be on the verge of victory in 1918. They had defended his meetings, and attacked opponents. The night was 29th June 1934, the Night of the Long Knives. org. He stated that 61 people had been executed and 13 had committed suicide. [41], The regime did not limit itself to a purge of the SA. 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"). Gring instructed police stations to burn "all documents concerning the action of the past two days". I have the earlier 2005 History Channel video of Night of the Long Knives - before it was Heavily Censored to remove all references to the fact that the Nazis were founded and led by Boy Raping Diseased Homo-Anal Coprophile Ephebophiles, including Founder Ernst Rohm and his male prostitute protege Hitler. 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. The Reichstag, the German lower house of parliament, was set on fire on the 27 February 1933. The Foreign Office even complained of instances where brownshirts manhandled foreign diplomats. He had banned opposition parties, taken control of the press, outlawed troublesome unions and thrown communists and other political dissidents into concentration camps. Both Kurt von Schleicher, Hitler's predecessor as Chancellor, and his wife were murdered at their home. He left Neudeck with the intention of both destroying Rhm and settling scores with old enemies. [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. One-to-one online tuition can be a great way to brush up on your History knowledge. Background Hitler was Chancellor (Prime Minister), but not yet completely in control. 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". Moonlight glistened on numerous silvery revolvers, contrasting with the sinister black uniforms. 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]. The support of respected individuals such as von Papen and Hindenburgs son, Oskar von Hindenburg, gave the Nazis further legitimacy for these actions. British cartoon by David Low, 1934 They salute with both hands, now! However, following Hitler being elected chancellor, the SA, and particularly Rhm, were keen to continue the revolution and replace the traditional conservative elite with Nazis. Conservatives in the army, industry and politics placed Hitler under increasing pressure to reduce the influence of the SA and to move against Rhm. 3. [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. intensified On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. The SS also murders several conservative critics of the Nazi regime including . coup [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. When the Nazi regime did not take such steps, those who had expected an economic as well as a political revolution were disillusioned. July 14-20, 1934 News articles, editorials, opinion pieces, letters-to-the-editor, and . The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. Through these aspects the Nazis suppressed any opposition to their power, and were able to start the road from democracy to a dictatorship. [40] Those not immediately executed were taken back to the Leibstandarte barracks at Lichterfelde, given one-minute "trials", and shot by a firing squad. Enraged, Hitler tore the epaulets off the shirt of Obergruppenfhrer August Schneidhuber, the chief of the Munich police, for failing to keep order in the city the previous night. [21] Brning fled to the Netherlands while Schleicher dismissed the tip-off as a bad practical joke. How seriously Hitler took the socialist character of National Socialism was to remain one of the main causes of disagreement and division within the Nazi party up to the summer of 1934. He asked, "What would people have said if I had done such a thing? On 5 March 1933, elections were held for the German Reichstag. In the judicial system specifically, this act removed any judges that were deemed non-compliant with Nazi laws or principles. Moreover, it was not just the Reichswehr that viewed the SA as a threat. [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. Over the next two days, most of the SA leadership were placed under arrest and murdered without trial. On the 28 February 1933, President Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. Despite his earlier agreement with Hitler, Rhm still clung to his vision of a new German army with the SA at its core. The SA (sometimes known as the "Stormtroopers" or "Brownshirts") was the paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party that played a key role in the Nazi . The trial of Van der Lubbe following the Reichstag fire. This betrayal is seen by the image of SA members looking fearful in surrender, and SA leaders dead on the floor, killed by Hitler, who holds a smoking gun. Having earlier imprisoned or exiled prominent Social Democrats and Communists, Hitler used the occasion to move against conservatives he considered unreliable. Under pressure from Hitler, Rhm reluctantly signed a pledge stating that he recognised the supremacy of the Reichswehr over the SA. Adolf Hitler . [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. "[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. A telegram purportedly from the ailing Hindenburg, Germany's highly revered military hero, expressed his "profoundly felt gratitude", and congratulated Hitler for "nipping treason in the bud",[61] although Hermann Gring later admitted during the Nuremberg trials that the telegram was never seen by Hindenburg, and was actually written by the Nazis. Hitler told the crowd that "undisciplined and disobedient characters and asocial or diseased elements" would be annihilated. Many of the prisoners were tortured and abused. Captain Ernst Rhm of the Reichswehr served as the liaison with the Bavarian Freikorps. . [30] At Hitler's direction, Gring, Himmler, Heydrich and Victor Lutze drew up lists of people in and outside the SA to be killed. [76], According to Albert Speer, "the Right, represented by the President, the Minister of Justice, and the generals, lined up behind Hitler the strong left wing of the party, represented chiefly by the SA, was eliminated. [47], Rhm was held briefly at Stadelheim Prison[j] in Munich, while Hitler considered his future. The elections were neither free or fair. 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). 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. by Roy Morris Jr. 8/20/2018. While many officers were impressed by Hitler's promises of an expanded army, a return to conscription, and a more aggressive foreign policy, the army continued to guard its traditions of independence during the early years of the Nazi regime. Hitler had become a chancellor in 1933 henceforth he had the power to establish his power. Fearing that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organization's leaders, including Ernst Rhm. The Nazis also took several more steps to reduce their political opposition legally. Long Knives phrase. Nov 3, 2012 - Explore S o l s h e i 's board "Yay, it's Friday! [18], Finally, in early 1934, the growing rift between Rhm and Hitler over the role of the SA in the Nazi state led former chancellor General Kurt von Schleicher to start playing politics again. On 24 March 1933, the Enabling Act was passed, allowing Hitler to make laws without the approval of the Reichstag. The atmosphere of uncertainty following the Reichstag Fire secured many voters for the Nazi party. However, there were also other events which helped Hitler in achieving the position of a dictator. Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership disagreed with their approach. 3. The Nazis aimed to increase their share of the vote so that they would have a majority in the Reichstag. For AC/DC that's a pretty wierd thing to reference in a song. 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. Some estimates, however, put the total number killed at between 150 and 200. Adolf Hitler needed Ernst Rhm and his storm troops to climb to power in faction-torn Germany. Paul von Hindenburg was the president of the Weimar Republic from the 12 May 1925 until his death on the 2 August 1934. Both Himmler and Gring welcomed Hitler's decision, since both had much to gain by Rhm's downfall the independence of the SS for Himmler and the removal of a rival for the future command of the army for Gring. At first, its architects seemed split on how to handle the event. As the leader of the SA, Rhm was seen as a threat to Hitlers power. [73] However, despite the rehabilitation of the two murdered officers, the Nazis continued in private to accuse Schleicher of high treason. "[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. While Rhm's homosexuality did not endear him to conservatives, they were more concerned about his political ambitions. [29] On 29 June, a signed article in Vlkischer Beobachter by Blomberg appeared in which Blomberg stated with great fervour that the Reichswehr stood behind Hitler. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor on 30 January 1933. It was named Der Fhrer schtzt das Recht ("The Fhrer Upholds the Law"). Rhm, who was initially Consumed with rage, Hitler denounced "the worst treachery in world history". The process primarily took place between 1933-1934. [34], At about 04:30 on 30 June 1934, Hitler and his entourage flew to Munich. Rhm left the Reichswehr in 1923 and later became commander of the SA. Give Hitler four years to rebuild it! It did not escape Klemperer's notice that many of the victims had played a role in bringing Hitler to power. He wrote about the cartoon in his book, Years of Wrath (1949): "Nazi Party members and S.S. men got out of hand, clamouring for jobs in a Nazified industry and in an army under Nazi control; but Hitler had promised the . This included Vice-Chancellor Papen and those in his immediate circle. A variety of studies . This continued when a young Dutchcommunist, Van der Lubbe was arrested for the crime. By the end of 1934, the Nazis had managed to infiltrate and take control of every major aspect of German government. July 1-13, 1934 Editorials, opinion pieces, letters-to-the-editor, and political cartoons regarding the "Night of the Long Knives". Shortly after Hindenburgs death, Hitler announced that offices of the chancellor and the president were to be combined to create one position, the Fhrer and chancellor. You give Hitler power and time by voting HITLER!. 2. Originally designed and developed by the London Jewish Cultural Centre. Selected Clips from the movie Bent that depict the Night of the Long Knives. One moment in a twelve-year history of the Third Reich that is underappreciated is the Night of the Long Knives, also known as the Rhm Purge, at the end of June 1934. One key example of an event posed as moderate was the Night of Long Knives. Select from premium Night Of The Long Knives of the highest quality. With Hindenburg gone, there was no longer a limit to Hitlers power. [49] In 1957, the German authorities tried Lippert in Munich for Rhm's murder. [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. 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. Share Image. Gring's personal police battalion also took part in the killings. Rhm demurred, telling them, "If I am to be killed, let Adolf do it himself. Carried out primarily by the SS and the Gestapo, over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. The Night of the Long Knives - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. 3. [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. [62] General von Reichenau went so far as to publicly give credence to the lie that Schleicher had been plotting to overthrow the government. This was called the "Night of the Long Knives." This cartoon is joking about how these fanatical Nazis who were once Hitler's shock troops now found themselves the target of Hitler. This betrayal is seen by the image of SA members looking fearful in . It would become known in Welsh as "twyll y cyllyll hirion" (English: Deceit of the long knives) (first recorded around 1587) and in English as the "Treachery/Plot/Treason of the long knives" (recorded around 1604). 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. The Party had generally been aligned with the Social Democrats and Catholic Church during the rise of Nazism, being critical of Nazi ideology, but voting nonetheless for the Enabling Act of 1933 which granted Hitler dictatorial authority. 7 Night of the Long Knives - 30 June 1934 . Lippert was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.[50]. The army's support for the purge, however, would have far-reaching consequences for the institution. [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. : Why did Hitler order the massacre of hundreds of Nazis in June 1934? [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. By mid-1934, Hitler seemed to be master of all Germany. Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. The Night of the Long Knives, which was originally published in Amazing Science Fiction Stories in 1960, feels surprisingly current the character names are the most dated-feeling aspect of the story. However, it did so under the guise of legality, and protecting the German people and their democracy. Despite this, on the whole, Gleichschaltung was largely successful. The caption They salute with both hands now is a joke about the Nazi salute. [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. "[74], Hitler named Viktor Lutze to replace Rhm as head of the SA. This essentially meant that the Nazis used the atmosphere of panic following the Reichstag Fireto put forward the Enabling Law. Following the purge, the Nazi's sculpted the media coverage to portray the event as a preventative measure against a revolutionary, violent, and . Gring declared that the communists had planned a national uprising to overthrow the Weimar Republic. [48] Eicke and Lippert then shot Rhm, killing him. The Night of the Long Knives was a major purge of the SA and Nazi Party. of democracy. On 27 February 1933, as the campaign moved into its final, frantic days, theReichstag, the German Parliament building, was set on fire and burnt down. This fear was 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. 89.93% voted in favour of Hitler. The Night of the Long Knives. The Night of the Long Knives: Hitler's Rise to Power - Part 2 | History DocumentaryWatch 'The Night of Long Knives - Part 1' here: https://youtu.be/7CeX6jBau. [35] Goebbels emphasised this aspect in subsequent propaganda justifying the purge as a crackdown on moral turpitude. As the stormtroopers were hustled off to prison, Hitler assembled a large group of SS and regular police, and departed for the Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee, where Ernst Rhm and his followers were staying.[36]. Night Of The Long Knives Cartoon 3 of 3. persecution 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. What does night of the long knives expression mean? Goebbels became responsible for controlling the national media, film, theatre, arts, and other cultural aspects. 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. Because their plans for the army conflicted, Rhm's success could come only at Hitler's expense. As such, the Nazis consolidation of power relied on maintaining the illusion of a stable democracy. 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. 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). , who had previously been a separate organisation, now swore a personal allegiance to Hitler. [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. The Nazis immediately used the Enabling Law to remove civil rights. Germany feared revolution. She even compared him to Frederick the Great, the 18th-century king of Prussia.[2]. The SA evolved out of the remnants of the Freikorps movement of the post-World War I years. As chancellor, Hitler did not command the army, which remained under the formal leadership of Hindenburg, a highly respected veteran field marshal. A firefighter in the burnt out ruins of the Reichstag building. BUT Some within the Nazi Party opposed Hitler. oppression Others were appalled at the scale of the executions and at the relative complacency of many of their fellow Germans. [35] Schneidhuber was executed later that day. Refusing to take his own life, he was shot on 1 July 1934 by two SS guards. 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. On 19 August 1934, the German people were asked to vote on whether or not they approved of the merging of the two offices and Hitlers new role as Fhrer. [23] Himmler envied the independence and power of the SA, although by this time he and Heydrich had already begun restructuring the SS from a bodyguard formation for Nazi leaders (and a subset of the SA) into its own independent elite corps, one loyal to both himself and Hitler. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet, one-third of the total. The day after the Reichstag fire, the 28 February 1933, Hindenburg signed a decree giving Hitler emergency powers. 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. [19] The British historian Sir John Wheeler-Bennett, who knew Schleicher and his circle well, wrote that Bredow displayed a "lack of discretion" that was "terrifying" as he went about showing the list of the proposed cabinet to anyone who was interested. Finally, Hitler used the purge to attack or eliminate German critics of his new regime, especially those loyal to Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, as well as to settle scores with old enemies.[a]. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. 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. 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. 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. Then came the day he didn't need them anymore. The Night of the Long Knives L.O. Hitler orders a violent purge of the top leadership of the Nazi Party paramilitary formation, the SA (Sturmabteilungen; Assault Detachments). 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. Behind Hitler is a backdrop of the Swastika. IN THE CHILLY DAWN OF JUNE 30, 1934, TWO BLACK MERCEDES-BENZ automobiles wound their way around the misty western edge of Tegernsee Lake in the . If that was indeed true then, as a legal matter, the law was entirely unnecessary and redundant. Many of those killed in the purge were leaders of the SA, the best-known being Rhm himself, the SA's chief of staff and one of Hitler's longtime supporters and allies. [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. Unblocked games. Adolf Hitler was in a furious temper when his flight touched down in Munich at 4.30am on 30 June 1934. Gring alone had over a thousand people arrested. 95.7% of the population voted. Then followed a series of extrajudicial killings, in which scores of officials were assassinated. The undersigned Generals and senior officers swear to preserve to the last breath their loyalty to you and the Fatherland. [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. Hitler wanted to consolidate his power and settle old scores. [41] Several leaders of the disbanded Catholic Centre Party were also murdered in the purge. It was during this speech that Hitler gave the purge its name: Night of the Long Knives (a phrase from a popular Nazi song). Behind the backdrop there are a group of bodies laying on the foor with the Nazi Swastika on their arms, this could be the SA. Officially 85; estimates range up to 1,000. In British politics, the "Night of the Long Knives" was a major Cabinet reshuffle that took place on 13 July 1962. "They give . This topic will explore how the Nazis managed to eliminate their opposition and How did the Night of the Long Knives help to create a dictatorship out of a democracy? Gestapo officers attached to the SS unit shot Papen's secretary Herbert von Bose without bothering to arrest him first. Many of those that were harassed by the SA and the SS or imprisoned in camps were terrified to speak out about their ordeal fearing that they would be further abused or re-imprisoned. 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. "[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. 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. 'The Night of the Long Knives' is now commony associated with a particularly violent political purge in Nazi Germany in 1934. Surrounding this scene, members of the Army and SS stand with their weapons pointing towards the SA members. Hitler ordered both Heines and his partner taken outside the hotel and shot.