1 jul 1934 ano - Night Of The Long Knives

Descrição:

Having made Germany a one party state, Hitlers only rivals were fellow Nazis - the most powerful of which was the leader of the SA Ernst Rohm.

The SA had merged with a group of army veterans and now numbered over 3 million and so could challenge for power. Rohm also openly opposed many of Hitlers policies - wanting a more socialist state with taxation on the rich. Critically, Rohm wanted to merge the army with the SA.

The army numbered only 100,000 and so their leaders were afraid of Rohm and the SS leaders (Himmler and Heydrich) were likewise afraid as they feared the SA and wanted more power for the SS.
Between them they pressured Hitler into taking action against the SA.

Rohm and SA leaders were arrested, imprisoned and shot in Stadelheim having not killed themselves. Over the next 4 days over 150 senior SA members and around 400 people in total (opponents of HItler) including Kahr and Schleicher were killed.

Hitler then made a speech saying that he'd done it for the good of Germany. People protested the violence but were ultimately glad to be rid of the SA.

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