The Night of the Long Knives

• Took place between 30th June and 2nd July 1934.
• It was a violent suppression of many of Hitler's remaining enemies which resolved some of the long-standing tensions within the new government.
• Tensions within the government:

  It arose as a result of disagreements between the SA and the leaders of the German army.
• Tensions within the government:

  Rohm was critical of Hitler's willingness to compromise with the traditional aristocracy.
• Tensions within the government:

  The SA represented the more w/c section of the Nazi Party. The SA's agenda reflected some of the 'socialist' aspects of Nazism.
• Tensions within the government:

  Rohm had no respect respect for the aristocrats who led the German Army. He believed that they were similar to the aristocratic generals who had failed to deliver victory during WW1.
• Tensions within the government:

  Rohm's goal was to replace the traditional aristocracy with a new elite made up of people who had earned the right to lead Germany by serving on the front line in WW1.
• Tensions within the government:

  Rohm's vision for Germany was never fully set out, and radicals like him, called for a 'second revolution'. Rohm's position worried members of the traditional elites.
• Tensions within the government:

  Rohm's central ambition concerned the army.
• Tensions within the government:

  His goal was to either replace the existing army with the SA or to give the SA an equal status to the traditional army within German society. He had a vision of a 'people's army' led by the 'front generation' which kept the spirit and heroism of the trenches alive.
• Tensions within the government:


  By 1933 the SA had a membership of 2 million members.
• Tensions within the government:


  Conservative members of the government and the leaders of the army viewed it as a threat to their power. Werner von Blomberg, head of the German army, was horrified at the thought of the SA taking over the army. He viewed the SA as an ill-disciplined, w/c, thuggish rabble. For him the army should be based on discipline and order: the traditional values of the Prussian aristocracy.
• Tensions within the government:


  Tensions between the SA and the traditional elite were a constant feature of the Nazi's first year in power.
• Tensions within the government:


  These tensions came to a head in June 1934, with the news that Hindenburg's health was declining rapidly.
• Tensions within the government:


  Army leaders were prepared to work with the Nazis. Army leaders respected Hindenburg and they knew that as a former army general, Hindenburg would always defend the army from radicals in the Nazi movement.
• Tensions within the government:


  Hindenburg's impending death meant that the army would lose its most powerful ally.
• Tensions within the government:


  Army leaders began to discuss a new government with Von Papen and Blomberg began to consider a government based on an alliance between the army and the old aristocracy. This would mean an end to Hitler's power and Rohm's vision of a 'second revolution'
• Tensions within the new movement:

  The army was not Rohm's only enemy. There was intense rivalry within the Nazi movement.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  In the early 1930s Rohm was effectively the second most powerful figure within the Nazi movement. Goering and Himmler were keen to remove him so that they could become more powerful.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  Himmler's desire to remove Rohm was based on his vision of the future of the SS. The SS was founded in 1923 as a sub-division of the SA. The SS was merely a unit dedicated to guarding Hitler. Himmler believed the SS could grow to become the most important organisation in Nazi Germany, replacing the government that Hitler had inherited from the Weimar period.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  Himmler's SS was radically different from the SA.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  The SA was made up of former soldiers, the SS was comprised of a new generation who had been children during WW1.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  Whereas the SA tended to be w/c, or lower m/c with only a basic education, the SS had a more m/c character and members tended to be well educated.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  The SA was known for its chaotic violence, Himmler's SS was highly organised and disciplined.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  Himmler wanted to remove Rohm because he had profound disagreements with him on the best way to organise the new army and because he wanted the SS to grow and develop free from the interference of SA leaders.
• Tensions within the new movement:

  Goering also had disagreements with Rohm. Rather than replace the army, Goering wanted to Nazify the armed forces. He wanted to be the head of the German army. Rohm also wanted this position. Goering wanted to remove Rohm in order to achieve his own goal.
• The Marburg Speech:


  Throughout 1933 and the first months of 1934 Hitler tried to compromise with Rohm. E.G. December 1933, Hitler gave him a position in the German cabinet. However, Rohm was not willing to compromise.
• The Marburg Speech:


  Although tensions were beginning to rise in the early part of 1934, Hitler refused to act.
• The Marburg Speech:


  Rumours that Von Papen was trying to create a new government based on the military rather than the Nazis forced Hitler to do something.
• The Marburg Speech:


  In June 1934 von Papen made a speech at the university of Marburg that was highly critical of the SA and other aspects of Nazi government. This was a clear challenge to Hitler and an indication that von Papen was confident that he had the backing of the army.
• The Marburg Speech:


  In response Hitler did a deal with the army. He agreed to remove Rohm and other SA leaders and to respect the rights and traditions of the army in return for the army's support following Hindenburg's death.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  In late June Hitler authorised the decapitation of the SA.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  Goering and Himmler played a central role in the Night of the Long Knives. They drew up a death list - a list of around 80 enemies of the Nazis who would be targeted in a wave of carefully planned violence from 30th June to 2nd July. Himmler's SS and soldiers from the German army were tasked with carrying out the arrests and killing people on the death list.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  The primary targets were the leaders of the SA.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  The decision to move against Rohm was taken just before an SA conference, which meant that most senior members of the SA were all together in the Hanselbaur Hotel in Bad Wiesse.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  SS and army soldiers were sent to the hotel to arrest and then execute the top ranks of the SA.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  Hitler accompanied the SS to the hotel and supervised the violence.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  Rohm was offered the chance to commit suicide but refused and was shot.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  The SA was not abolished, rather Hitler appointed the loyal Viktor Lutze and its new leader.
• The 'Rohm Purge'


  The Night of the Long Knives also led to the deaths of senior conservatives. these included general von Schleicher, former German chancellor, and major-general Kurt von Bredow, a senior military leader who was openly critical of the Nazi movement.