The night of the long knives: the events

The life and government of Adolf Hitler, perhaps has been one of the most studied throughout history.Analyzing every step he took, as Germany was able to re-create such an important army if it started from a sanction, after losing the World War I.As a person like Hitler could have the total power of Germany, which occurred with the opposition.These questions have an answer The Night of Long Knives , some events that marked a tragic date on the calendar of Humanity, hatred, ambition and power combined in the early hours of June 30, 1934.

Index of the article

The Night of the Long Knives | Political Situation

We talked in a previous article about the precedents of the Night of Long Knives.We recommend that you read that article if you want to better understand what happened and why it happened.In this article we are going to focus exclusively on what happened that night, although if we want to leave you a brief introduction.

Since the beginning of the 30s Hitler he had climbed steadily on the German power ladder and by 1934 his position as chancellor was already privileged and allowed him to fight the enemies of the party from within.These enemies were personified in men like Rohm, who was in charge of the SA, while the SS were on Hitler's side.

The SA was a Nazi paramilitary group who were known for their fondness for starring battles and street altercations, mainly contr to communists, which had caused a climate of instability at the beginning of the 30s that favored the rise of the Nazi party during the failure of the Weimar Republic.That is, the SA were in principle related to the Nazi apparatus and indeed within them there were very important figures of Nazi ideology that decisively influenced the rise of the Nazi party.

However, over time, Adolf Hitler and the high command of the army began to bother with the anarchic behavior of the SA , whose independence could not be accommodated within the structure planned by the Nazi party.

The army only saw the SA profitable to recruit new members Highlights for the SS , while the SA, also despised the army because they believed they were not sufficiently committed to the German Nazi cause.

Also, Ernst Rohm, leader of the SA, did not seem to recognize Hitle’s authority A.Rohm's imprudence was filling Hitler's patience vessel.The ideological distance of both became increasingly clear and the Fuhrer was only looking for the right moment to eliminate it.Besides, there was another fact that was incompatible with the Nazi mentality.and that increased the pressure of the army on Hitler to eliminate him. Rohm was homosexual.

Hitler began to look for allies within his party to face the SA and it was not long in getting the support of other important army commanders, the SS and the Gestapo .Among them was Goring , who had a matter of personal hatred with Rohm after he was snatched the SA address at the time.

The step most important was the signing of the agreement in the battleship Deutchland .Alli, Hitler got a very important breakthrough before within German politics, to ensure that he was appointed as successor to the president.Also, another of his most loyal relatives, Himmler, went to the direction of the Gestapo, the secret police of the regime.

Battleship Deutchland

With the future leadership assured and with more and more support, Hitler only needed a final push that would lead him to execute the plan he really craved.This push was given by Mussolini who, in a meeting with Hitler, and seeing the internal situation between both factions of the Nazi party, he He decided to clean up within his own party before embarking on other companies.

The Night of the Long Knives | The Purge

The decision was made.Hitler was going to start cleaning by his own party, and the head he was mainly looking for was Rohm's, accused of conspiring against the party and having plans to unleash a civil war. On the 29th the army swore allegiance to the Fuhrer and that same day the Hitlerian security forces started the killing.

Hitler and the SS moved to Munich .Alli, the main members of the SA were persecuted and killed, while others were taken prisoner.The majority were arrested at dawn in Bad Wiesee , a resort located 48 km from Munich, on Lake Tegernsee, in Bavaria, Germany.

Bad Wiesee

Others were simply approached by the street.Most were killed in cold blood without further consideration. Rohm, the dam that Hitler was looking for, he also failed to escape, and was arrested and sent to the Stadelheim jail .Alli was interrogated and, although Hitler was never able to obtain evidence of his plans for rebellion, he was executed.

Another of the leaders of the SA, Edmund Heines , was discovered in the bed of a hotel room by Hitler and his companions, being executed on the spot.This fact was used by the Nazi party to justify the purge as a kind of blow to immorality and ideological dissent.

These executions took place during two days throughout Germany , with relentless precision, coldness and cruelty.

During these days, Hitler and the SS not only eliminated to a large number of dissenting members, but they performed an authentic purge within their party.Hitler's goal was to create a party identity so strong that there was not a single loophole of dissent , and to I use the methods that are needed, such as cold-blooded murder.

SA

However, Long Knives Night was not only a political purge , but it was a revenge and a cold-blooded killing against the own party members.On the other hand, I also reach out to other groups such as the conservatives and even some personal enemies of members of the Nazi party.A night that undoubtedly gave a good sign of as far as Hitler was willing to go to meet your goals.

The Night of the Long Knives | The Consequences

The plan had an effect on perfection and at last Adolf Hitler had achieved absolute power in Germany .The foundations were laid for the absolute power of his figure and the indivisible unity of the Nazi party.

The victims' share was debatable, 60 victims, according to the data provided by Hitler, and 1,000 according to the trials that were carried out after the war.murders that gave rise to the final birth of the Nazi giant.

However, the purge had reached such proportions that the Nazi party encountered the problem of information, how to handle this information in the face of public opinion , since there were numerous important party members who had disappeared and people were asking questions. Even within The Nazi party had discordant voices among its main figures on how to address the issue.

Finally, it was decided to burn all the documents that had to do with the In the event, newspapers were banned from giving information about the deceased , and on the radio, Hitler's Hazana was repeated until he satiated faced with the enemies who were looking for a coup d'etat and plunging the country into chaos.

Even, to present the killing as legitimate, Hitler came to write a law "a posteriori" on July 3, which states that the measures taken during the night of long knives were totally legitimate for national security.

A Nazi Germany based on violence, hatred, murder and cruelty had just been created.However this event called by the military Operation Colibri , was a simple snack of what Nazi Germany would be able to do, this was the beginning that culminated in the arrival of World War II, through other events of simil ares characteristic to that of the Night of the Long Knives, as was the Night of the Broken Crystals , where his hatred turned towards the Jews , beginning a series of mass exterminations that have been taxed on our retina.

The Night of the Long Knives | Reactions

The German army's reaction was the approval of the event that was celebrated despite the loss of two of his most recognized generals. President Paul Von Hindenburg, I even sent a message through a telegram where I expressed gratitude for having carried out the Purge. Even General Von Reichenau, confirmed publicly that There was no plan to overthrow the government , as had been believed, calling Von Schleicher a conspirator and traitor.

Paul Von Hindenburg

However the army saw the Purge with good eyes, it had repercussions later, having stayed on Hitler's side, he made the army be linked to the Nazi regime. Of all the senior military, only two declared open mind his opposition to the purge and it was Edwin Planck and quarterback August Von Mackensen, who had not seen with good eyes the murder of both von Schleicher and Bredow.

With the quiet press , without independence to be able to report what had happened on the night of June 30, soon everything that had happened that night, became rumors that they spread rapidly.Many never believed the story of the events that Goebbels notified, while others believed him and looked at Hitler with the savior of Germany, who had avoided a coup d'etat.

Goebbels and Hitler

Those closest to the political circles looked terrified by the permissiveness of the Germans to the escalation of executions and barbarism that were being committed, many of them aware of the chance of being all the direct or indirect rivals of Hitler, and the role that these executions had played in Hitler's rise to total power.

But in the face of fear of reprisals and after seeing how the Nazis were treated who did not approve the purge, most of the dissenters chose to remain silent.

Victor Lutze and his family

Dead Rohm , Hitler appointed Victor Lutze for his position, who from now on would lead the SA.One of Hitler's first mandates was to end debauchery and homosexuality , as well as ending the monetary expenditures that, through luxury, were occurring within the body of the SA.

The SA, had less and less power , Lutze He was a man with little initiative and no desire to fight for the independence of the SA.His number dropped dramatically from 3 million to 1.2 million, while Rohm's name was disappearing so much from the written as of any place where it appeared, as in the dagger blades.Its name was replaced by the German motto "Blood and Honor".

Hermann Goering and Viktor Lutze greet the soldiers

The night of the long knives meant the victory of Hitler, the installation of the figure of the chancellor but with connotations of supreme judge of the people.The murders without trial were legalized and Hitler's total power was already a real fact.

For German society I mean a great change, this was not what they expected, now they realized that they really were not important for the German government.they were over and now you were either of the regime or you were going against it.The choice was life or death and the majority chose to shut up and look the other way.

We hope that the article has helped you to understand a little better one of the darkest and most regrettable episodes in contemporary history European.Finally, we leave you with a video and some links that could be interesting to complement the information of the article.

The Night of the Long Knives | Video about the Nazi party

In this documentary you can see the different steps that the Nazi party followed to come to power, including the famous Night of the Long Knives, as well as what once they had the power of Germany and the mistakes they made and eventually led to its downfall.

Interesting links In AboutHistory we have many other articles that can be very useful to understand the decisive role played by Germany during World War II :

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