The Role of the SA(Sturmabteilung)

• This group was formed by Hitler in August 1921, as a brown-shirted private military force recruited from unemployed ex-soldiers and students
• Their military style organisation and uniform was meant to impress people with a sense of power and organisation and they numbered 800 by August 1922.
• Their original goal was to control crowds at Party meetings and also disrupt opposition party gatherings.
• Although Rohm was in charge, Hitler expected personal loyalty to him and an elite group known as the ‘shock troop’ (‘Stosstrupp’) became his personal bodyguard. These would eventually become the SS.