[34], At about 04:30 on 30 June 1934, Hitler and his entourage flew to Munich. 5. impact of nazi foreign policy mrmarr 4.9K views . On 1 April 1933, the Nazi Party led a nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses across Germany. The Night of the Long Knives L.O. He was now a dictator. [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. The atmosphere of terror that had followed the Reichstag Fire, and Hindenburgs and von Papens support, made the proposal seem legitimate and, to some, necessary. "[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. 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. 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]. 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. [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. The Night of the Long Knives was the least important factor, as it did no help much towards Hitler's consolidation of power. pardoned Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet, one-third of the total. The Bill passed by 444 votes for to 94 against on the 24 March 1933. First was his old comrade Ernst Rhm, chief of staff of the SA (Sturmabteilung; German: Assault Division), or Brownshirts. British cartoon by David Low, 1934 They salute with both hands, now! This fear was Updates? [35] Goebbels emphasised this aspect in subsequent propaganda justifying the purge as a crackdown on moral turpitude. [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. President Hindenburg died at the age of 87 on 2 August 1934. Refusing to take his own life, he was shot on 1 July 1934 by two SS guards. [45] Then, on 13 July 1934,[52] Hitler justified the purge in a nationally broadcast speech to the Reichstag: If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this. 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. 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. [24] Before Hitler left, and at the request of Presidential State Secretary Otto Meiner, Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath ordered the German Ambassador to Italy Ulrich von Hassell without Hitler's knowledge to ask Mussolini to tell Hitler that the SA was blackening Germany's good name. Both Kurt von Schleicher, Hitler's predecessor as Chancellor, and his wife were murdered at their home. coalition Second, German Pres. [33] On 28 June Hitler went to Essen to attend the wedding celebration and reception of Josef Terboven; from there he called Rhm's adjutant at Bad Wiessee and ordered SA leaders to meet with him on 30 June at 11:00. Others were appalled at the scale of the executions and at the relative complacency of many of their fellow Germans. He lifted his arm in the Nazi salute and called out "Heil Hitler, I love Germany. 9. 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. The undersigned Generals and senior officers swear to preserve to the last breath their loyalty to you and the Fatherland. 20 terms. 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. Its membership plummeted from 2.9 million in August 1934 to 1.2 million in April 1938. One key example of an event posed as moderate was the Night of Long Knives. [82] However, the term was soon adopted by the Nazis themselves to invoke what they saw as justifiable and necessary measures taken by Germanic peoples against an enemy. Rhm left the Reichswehr in 1923 and later became commander of the SA. Omissions? [2] The purge strengthened and consolidated the support of the military for Hitler. [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. [62] General von Reichenau went so far as to publicly give credence to the lie that Schleicher had been plotting to overthrow the government. Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. 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. They come in PDF and Powerpoint formats and can be amended and changed to suit. This act legalised removing anyone of non-Ayran descent from the civil service. Hitler ordered him, as one prominent historian described it, to put an end to "homosexuality, debauchery, drunkenness, and high living" in the SA. But with the Night of the Long Knives, it's . Plenary: Form a circle of 6-8 students and paraphrase passport everything you have learnt about the Night of the Long Knives. Reichswehr Fearing that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organizations leaders, including Ernst Rhm. 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. At first, its architects seemed split on how to handle the event. 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. [1] More than a thousand perceived opponents were arrested. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed the Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. 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. [41], The regime did not limit itself to a purge of the SA. Hitler had become a chancellor in 1933 henceforth he had the power to establish his power. 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. This decree gave the Nazis a legal basis for the However getting rid of the SA did get the support of the army which was very helpful for Hitler. It did not escape Klemperer's notice that many of the victims had played a role in bringing Hitler to power. The law needed two thirds of the Reichstag to vote for it to pass. 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. of any opponents, who were be framed as traitors to the republic. By some estimates, as many as 1,000 were rounded up, never to be seen again. The Nazis consolidation of power can be grouped into three main themes: pseudo-legality, terror and intimidation and pseudo-moderation. On the 23 March 1933, Hitler proposed the Enabling Law to the Reichstag. 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. In response to conservative pressure to constrain Rhm, Hitler left for Neudeck to meet with Hindenburg. 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). Terror and intimidation became one of the main ways that the Nazis sought to control or suppress their opposition, and Germans in general. On the 28 February 1933, President Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. How did the Night of the Long Knives help to create a dictatorship out of a democracy? Given that the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent Germans, it could hardly be kept secret. [45][41] As Himmler's adjutant Karl Wolff later explained, friendship and personal loyalty were not allowed to stand in the way: Among others, a charming fellow [named] Karl von Spreti, Rhm's personal adjutant. They understood the need to appear moderate and take over slowly by democratic means where possible, maintaining the stability and illusion of a democracy. On 1 July, at Hitler's behest, Theodor Eicke, Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, and his SS adjutant Michael Lippert visited Rhm. The Night of the Long Knives: the bloody purge that secured Hitler's power. Hitler travelled to Munich by plane with . [37] Sepp Dietrich received orders from Hitler for the Leibstandarte to form an "execution squad" and go to Stadelheim Prison where certain SA leaders were being held. 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. With these measures in place, the Nazification of the judicial system was complete. [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. The Reichstag, the German lower house of parliament, was set on fire on the 27 February 1933. It's helped us to become more accustomed to acts of grim self-interested political butchery; but for those witnessing these events as they happened, they were simply unprecedented. 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. [73] However, despite the rehabilitation of the two murdered officers, the Nazis continued in private to accuse Schleicher of high treason. 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. , which opened just a few days before the vote on the 20 March 1933. "[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. : Why did Hitler order the massacre of hundreds of Nazis. [47], Rhm was held briefly at Stadelheim Prison[j] in Munich, while Hitler considered his future. [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. Over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. The Centre Partys vote was crucial. "[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. Having earlier imprisoned or exiled prominent Social Democrats and Communists, Hitler used the occasion to move against conservatives he considered unreliable. Grtner also declared in cabinet that the measure did not in fact create any new law, but simply confirmed the existing law. "[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. [25] Neurath's manoeuvre to put pressure on Hitler paid off, with Mussolini agreeing to the request (Neurath was a former ambassador to Italy, and knew Mussolini well). Consumed with rage, Hitler denounced "the worst treachery in world history". ", "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. On the 2 May 1933 trade unions were banned. The resources all include suggested teaching strategies, retrieval practice, differentiated materials and come in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change. The support of respected individuals such as von Papen and Hindenburgs son, Oskar von Hindenburg, gave the Nazis further legitimacy for these actions. 25 terms. By June 1934 this had grown to over 3,000,000 members. NHS services across England will face major disruption throughout today as nurses walk out in a 28-hour strike over pay. Hitler entitled the purge the 'Night of the Long Knives' - a reference to the lyrics from a popular Nazi song. The Nazis secured 43.9% of the vote, an improvement of almost 10% on the previous Novembers election. Centuries of jurisprudence proscribing extrajudicial killings were swept aside. [3] It established Hitler as the supreme administrator of justice of the German people, as he put it in his 13 July speech to the Reichstag. Despite this improvement, the Nazis still did not command a majority in the Reichstag. History portrays the infamous 'Night of the Long Knives' as a textbook political disaster, but as a BBC documentary shows on the 50th anniversary, it could have been so different. The decree also removed basic personal freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, the right to own property, and the right to trial before imprisonment. Germany feared revolution. However, this power was limited, as the Nazis were just one party in a three party 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. This also lead to the Oath Of Loyalty which was. Most officers are too old and have to be replaced by young ones. After Hitler had promised to protect the interests of the Catholic Church, the party conceded and supported the bill. 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. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Gring and Heinrich Himmler, ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions . Because their plans for the army conflicted, Rhm's success could come only at Hitler's expense. She even compared him to Frederick the Great, the 18th-century king of Prussia.[2]. Hitler's desire to consolidate his power and settle old scores, Desire of Ernst Rhm and the SA to continue "the National Socialist revolution" versus Hitler's need for relative social stability so that the economy could be refocused to rearmament and the German people acclimated to the need for expansion and war, Hitler's need to bring the Reichswehr under his control, Significant reduction in the regime's opposition, Strengthening of relationship between Hitler and the military. [7] Complaints of "overbearing and loutish" behaviour by stormtroopers became common by the middle of 1933. [22] Himmler named his deputy Reinhard Heydrich to head the Gestapo on 22 April 1934. However, it did so under the guise of legality, and protecting the German people and their democracy. Hitler told the gathered officials, "The stream of revolution has been undammed, but it must be channelled into the secure bed of evolution. Consequences of the Night of the long Knives Death of Hindenburg and Fuhrer Army Oath Plenary - hierarchy task. . coup They used any space they could get their hands on to create temporary camps. [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. Blomberg, Hitler and Goebbels. 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. Let the nation know that its existence which depends on its internal order and security cannot be threatened with impunity by anyone! Rhm was a potential rival to Hitler's position. You must first remember and recite all the points made earlier in the circle then add your own point. [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. [75] Lutze did little to assert the SA's independence in the coming years, and the organization lost its power in Germany. 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. [53][54], Wanting to present the massacre as legally sanctioned, Hitler had the cabinet approve a measure on 3 July that declared, "The measures taken on June 30, July 1 and 2 to suppress treasonous assaults are legal as acts of self-defence by the State. persecution The trial of Van der Lubbe following the Reichstag fire. [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 Foreign Office even complained of instances where brownshirts manhandled foreign diplomats. [He] died with words "Heil Hitler" on his lips. The Nazis improvised. In British politics, the " Night of the Long Knives " was a major Cabinet reshuffle that took place on 13 July 1962. It targeted potential threats to Hitler's power, particularly within the NSDAP's fast-growing and politically vocal paramilitary wing, the Sturmabteilung or SA. This would allow them to rule unopposed and unhindered by coalition governments. [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. Gring declared that the communists had planned a national uprising to overthrow the Weimar Republic. Civil Service The Night of the Long Knives was the term given to the process whereby Hitler, in 1934, purged the Nazi Party of all those who were a threat to Hitler. They were often given a free rein on their activities and were violent and difficult to control. Tes paid licenceHow can I reuse this? This decree suspended the democratic aspects of the Weimar Republic and declared a state of emergency. As the leader of the SA, Rhm was seen as a threat to Hitlers power. From 20 August onwards, the 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. [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. On the 5 March 1933, the elections took place, with an extremely high turnout of 89%. [4] The violent confrontations between the two contributed to the destabilization of the Weimar Republic. On the 4 October 1933, it was declared that all editors must be Aryan. [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. 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 . 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. 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. Now that the NSDAP had seized the reins of power in Germany, he said, it was time to consolidate its control. "[67] The extent of the massacre and the relative ubiquity of the Gestapo, however, meant that those who disapproved of the purge generally kept quiet about it. He left Neudeck with the intention of both destroying Rhm and settling scores with old enemies. For new Germany unit - 1890-1945. [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. Censorship was heightened, and any person publishing actively anti-Nazi material was threatened or imprisoned. Paul von Hindenburg was still alive and in office and, if he wished, could have stopped all of Hitlers plans by handing power over to the Reichswehr. Prisons soon became stretched for space. 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. The destiny of our country is at stake. Rhm wanted to have his troops incorporated into the new Wehrmacht that was being prepared to take the place of the Reichswehr, despite the fact that the conservative-minded generals were resolutely opposed to any such contamination of the army by the SA. Paul von Hindenburg was the president of the Weimar Republic from the 12 May 1925 until his death on the 2 August 1934. [h], The action Hitler took would not only defang Rhm and the SA as a potential threat to Hitler's personal control of the Nazi Party, but would also serve to strengthen his relationship with the Wehrmacht the German armed forces which had long considered the SA to be their primary rival, the SA at times outnumbering the military in manpower.[10]. Originally designed and developed by the London Jewish Cultural Centre. 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). [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. [49] In 1957, the German authorities tried Lippert in Munich for Rhm's murder. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The result was that it was made Hitler the undisputed leader of the Nazis and by extension Germany. Gring's personal police battalion also took part in the killings. Many were terrified of voting of at all, and many turned to voting for the Nazi Party out of fear for their own safety. [31] On 27 June, Hitler moved to secure the army's cooperation. During a trip to Warsaw in January 1935, Gring told Jan Szembek that Schleicher had urged Hitler in January 1933 to reach an understanding with France and the Soviet Union, and partition Poland with the latter, and Hitler had Schleicher killed out of disgust with the alleged advice. Each resource gives suggested teaching strategies and are differentiated . When the Nazi regime did not take such steps, those who had expected an economic as well as a political revolution were disillusioned. The Third Reich was henceforth a totalitarian structure with one man as head of state, commander in chief, and leader of the only political party. Whilst the pseudo-legal measures were one factor that helped the Nazis to consolidate power, another was terror and intimidation. 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. "[46], Some SA members died saying "Heil Hitler" because they believed that an anti-Hitler SS plot had led to their execution. "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.'" Hence, the Freikorps were in opposition to the new Weimar Republic, which was born as a result of the November Revolution, and whose founders were contemptuously called "November criminals". On 7 April 1943, the SS shut down the Chemno death camp for the first time. [6], Hitler's appointment as chancellor, followed by the suppression of all political parties except the Nazis, did not end the violence of the stormtroopers. [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. The atmosphere of uncertainty following the Reichstag Fire secured many voters for the Nazi party. Rhm, who was initially You were murdered June 30-July 2, 1934, the Night of the Long Knives. 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.
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