On 15 April 1945, Bergen-Belsen camp was liberated by the British Army. "[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. [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. The Night of the Long Knives was a helping event in Hitler becoming a dictator. On the 5 March 1933, the elections took place, with an extremely high turnout of 89%. Hitler announced to those present that the SA would act as an auxiliary to the Reichswehr, not the other way around. 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. Rhm, who was initially Terror and intimidation became one of the main ways that the Nazis sought to control or suppress their opposition, and Germans in general. [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. Ernst Rhm was murdered in the event known as the Rhm Putsch, or the Night of Long Knives. The Night of the Long Knives - History Learning Site [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. Deprived of Communist party meetings to disrupt, the stormtroopers would sometimes run riot in the streets after a night of drinking; they would attack passers-by and then attack the police who were called to stop them. Night of the Long Knives - Achieving Total Power - July 1933 - August Hitler's Purge: The Night of the Long Knives Explained And realize that this is Germany that was a Rechtsstaat, the Germans always say, a state with laws. The Night of the Long Knives is a harrowingif little knownevent in the history of the Troubles, but it served as an important link in the torturously slow process of transitioning from . On 1 July, at Hitler's behest, Theodor Eicke, Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, and his SS adjutant Michael Lippert visited Rhm. The Nazis used the SA and the newly expanded SS to harass and imprison any potential opponents of the Nazi Party. oppression 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). Precise details remain unknown, but the army is believed to have promised to support Hitler as head of state after Hindenburg's death in return for . This photograph shows the SA as they marched victoriously through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin the same day. For new Germany unit - 1890-1945. Night of the Long Knives - SlideShare The Nazis consolidation of power can be grouped into three main themes: pseudo-legality, terror and intimidation and pseudo-moderation. "[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. [75] Hitler expressly told him to stop SA funds from being spent on limousines and banquets, which he considered evidence of SA extravagance. [42] The Gestapo also murdered Erich Klausener, the leader of Catholic Action, and a close Papen associate. 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. 20 terms. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. Reviews Something went wrong, please try again later. 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. [37] Arriving back at party headquarters in Munich, Hitler addressed the assembled crowd. If that was indeed true then, as a legal matter, the law was entirely unnecessary and redundant. [21] At the end of May, Brning and Schleicher, two former chancellors, received warnings from friends in the Reichswehr that their lives were in danger and they should leave Germany at once. [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. What were the consquence of the night of the long knives June - Answers Over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. 95.7% of the population voted. Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen only narrowly escaped inclusion among the victims, and he was dismissed from the vice-chancellorship three days later (July 3). 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. After Hitler had promised to protect the interests of the Catholic Church, the party conceded and supported the bill. [39] There in the prison courtyard, the Leibstandarte firing squad shot five SA generals and an SA colonel. The Night of the Long Knives was "an act of carnage" which had come out of the blue. Hitler travelled to Munich by plane with . Blomberg, Hitler and Goebbels. Mussolini used the affair occasioned by the murder of Giacomo Matteotti as an example of the kind of trouble unruly followers could cause a dictator. He held the same position with Rhm as I held with Himmler. [79] This story would be popularized across western Europe in the 12th century as part of the History of the Britons by Geoffrey of Monmouth, which introduced many of the Arthurian legends to Germany.[80][81]. Fearing that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organizations leaders, including Ernst Rhm. [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. [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. [21] By the beginning of June everything was set and all that was needed was permission from Hitler. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. ", Coincidentally, Hitler had been incarcerated at. Having earlier imprisoned or exiled prominent Social Democrats and Communists, Hitler used the occasion to move against conservatives he considered unreliable. 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. She even compared him to Frederick the Great, the 18th-century king of Prussia.[2]. [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. [66], Rumours about the Night of the Long Knives rapidly spread. 5. impact of nazi foreign policy mrmarr 4.9K views . The SA were dramatically reduced in size, dropping by 40% to 1.8 million by 1935. IRA's Night of Long Knives' part in peace process - IrishCentral.com [73] Hitler's speech was not reported in the German press, but the army was appeased by the speech. On the 28 February 1933, President Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. On 30 June 1934 these tensions came to a head. 464 Words. 9. 8. He was now a dictator. Hitler formally adopted this title in April 1942, thus placing himself above the reach of the law de jure and de facto. 1 Quoted in Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power (New York: Penguin Books, 2005), 37-38. In response, Hitler met Blomberg and the leadership of the SA and SS on 28 February 1934. isabellaaellis. Your Excellency has thrice before saved Germany from foundering, at Tannenberg, at the end of the War and at the moment of your election as Reich President. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. A firefighter in the burnt out ruins of the Reichstag building. 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. Now that the NSDAP had seized the reins of power in Germany, he said, it was time to consolidate its control. [38], Although Hitler presented no evidence of a plot by Rhm to overthrow the regime, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the SA. 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. 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. It is otherwise known as coordination or Nazification. 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. Night of the Long Knives: newspaper coverage, Third Reich: The Rhm affair and the Night of the Long Knives, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Night-of-the-Long-Knives, Spartacus Educational - Night of the Long Knives, History Learning Site - The Night of the Long Knives, Alpha History - The Night of the Long Knives, German soldiers swearing allegiance to Adolf Hitler. : Why did Hitler order the massacre of hundreds of Nazis. For the full article, see Night of the Long Knives . 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. People could be imprisoned for any or no reason. How Did the Night of the Long Knives Help Hitler | Bartleby [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. In reality, the laws that the Nazis put forward secured their future as the sole ruling party in Germany. [62] General von Reichenau went so far as to publicly give credence to the lie that Schleicher had been plotting to overthrow the government. Also killed that night were hundreds of other perceived opponents of Hitler. Complete a Diamond 9 of the consequences of the Night of the Long Knives. Given that the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent Germans, it could hardly be kept secret. The Nazis used the guise of moderationto conceal their rapid consolidation of power. , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March 1933. Politics latest updates: NHS 'on the brink' says nursing union as [30] At Hitler's direction, Gring, Himmler, Heydrich, and Victor Lutze drew up lists of people in and outside the SA to be killed. Lippert was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.[50]. "[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. The Nazis started with the 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. concentration camp [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. "A chancellor", he wrote, "sentences and shoots members of his own private army! Answer (1 of 5): if you were Ernst Rohm, or former conniving Chancellor Gen von Schleicher or his wife, the consequences were terminal. On the 2 May 1933 trade unions were banned.