Humpday History Highlight
By Wyatt Earp | June 30, 2010
June 30, 1934 – Night of the Long Knives
In Germany, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future. The leadership of the Nazi Storm Troopers (SA), whose four million members had helped bring Hitler to power in the early 1930s, was especially targeted.
In 1932, President Paul von Hindenburg defeated a presidential bid by Hitler, but in January 1933 he appointed Hitler chancellor, hoping that the powerful Nazi leader could be brought to heel as a member of the president’s cabinet.
However, Hindenburg underestimated Hitler’s political audacity, and one of the new chancellor’s first acts was to use the burning of the Reichstag building as a pretext for calling general elections. The police, under Nazi Hermann Goering, suppressed much of the party’s opposition before the election, and the Nazis won a bare majority. Shortly after, Hitler took on absolute power through the Enabling Acts. In 1934, Hindenburg died, and the last remnants of Germany’s democratic government were dismantled, leaving Hitler the sole master of a nation intent on war and genocide. (H/T – History.com)
It always amazed me how the SS would be so loyal to Hitler after they saw how he treated the last group of thugs that he embraced.
Topics: HHH | 4 Comments »
July 1st, 2010 at 5:34 am
The leadership of the SA were loyal to Ernst Blohm, the rank and file largely naive to the real politics. Once Blohm and the rest were executed, the SA were rolled into the SS and made to swear a loayalty oath to Hitler, on pain of death for violation.
Just think, a 4 million man standing army loyal to a person, how chilling would that be in this time and place. It couldn’t happen here, ya think?
July 1st, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Or ‘That could never happen to ME. I’m special for the following reason(insert flight of fancy here.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Ernst Röhm, I think.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:42 pm
1oldleg – One would certainly hope not.
Lergnom – I only follow one master: Christina Hendricks.
Ed – You are correct, sir.