Night of the Long Knives: Hitler's Excision of Rohm's SA Brownshirts, 30 June – 2 July 1934 (History of Terror)

The historian and author of The Shanghai Massacre presents an in-depth chronicle of Hitler’s plot to eliminate political rivals and his own SA Brownshirts. In the summer of 1934, Adolf Hitler conducted a ruthless purge of his own fascist colleagues, many of whom had helped the Nazi Party rise to power. The brawling street thugs of the SA had bludgeoned Hitler’s political opposition into submission and played a significant role in transforming Germany into a dictatorship. But in order to safeguard his absolute authority, Hitler chose to eliminate any potential rivals. And it was the SA that he feared most. Officially called Operation Hummingbird, the swift and merciless “blood purge” came to be known as The Night of the Long Knives. Among Hitler’s victims were personal friends like SA co-founder Ernst Röhm, former German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, and even former party comrades like Gregor Strasser. Breaking the back of the SA and settling political scores, the operation took somewhere between three hundred and a thousand lives "In the summer of 1934 Adolf Hitler planned and conducted the most ruthless purge of his thirteen-year period as leader of Germany. The victims were not political opponents but friends, colleagues and fellow fascists who had helped the Nazi Party in its rise to power. The Night of the Long Knives broke the back and the will of the Sturmabteilung, the SA, the brawling street thugs who had bludgeoned political opposition into submission. The Sa's ruthless bullyboy tactics played no small part in Hitler's establishment of a dictatorship that was to influence affairs in Germany - and the world - throughout the 1930s and beyond. In some respects the purge was inevitable. Hitler had to eliminate all potential rivals if he was to consolidate his position of power. and that meant that friends like Ernst Ro hm, former German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, and even former party comrades like Gregor Strasser were summarily shot without trial. Above it all was the SA that the army, the industrialists and, more than anyone else, Adolf Hitler feared. Ro hm enjoyed a popularity that almost rivalled Hitler's and so he had to go. It was also an opportunity to settle personal scores. The Night of the Long Knives was a cull that eliminated somewhere between 300 and a thousand victims, the exact number has never been clear, many of them innocent of any intention to rival Hitler. It remains one of the most significant killings of modern times"--Back cover. "In the summer of 1934 Adolf Hitler planned and conducted the most ruthless purge of his thirteen-year period as leader of Germany. The victims were not political opponents but friends, colleagues and fellow fascists who had helped the Nazi Party in its rise to power. The Night of the Long Knives broke the back and the will of the Sturmabteilung, the SA, the brawling street thugs who had bludgeoned political opposition into submission. The Sa's ruthless bullyboy tactics played no small part in Hitler's establishment of a dictatorship that was to influence affairs in Germany - and the world - throughout the 1930s and beyond. In some respects the purge was inevitable. Hitler had to eliminate all potential rivals if he was to consolidate his position of power. and that meant that friends like Ernst Röhm, former German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, and even former party comrades like Gregor Strasser were summarily shot without trial. Above it all was the SA that the army, the industrialists and, more than anyone else, Adolf Hitler feared. Röhm enjoyed a popularity that almost rivalled Hitler's and so he had to go. It was also an opportunity to settle personal scores. The Night of the Long Knives was a cull that eliminated somewhere between 300 and a thousand victims, the exact number has never been clear, many of them innocent of any intention to rival Hitler. It remains one of the most significant killings of modern times"--Back cover In the summer of 1934 Adolf Hitler planned and conducted the most ruthless purge of his thirteen-year period as leader of Germany. The victims were not political opponents but friends, colleagues and fellow fascists who had helped the Nazi Party in its rise to power. The Night of the Long Knives broke the back and the will of the Sturmabteilung, the SA, the brawling street thugs who had bludgeoned political opposition into submission. The SAs ruthless bullyboy tactics played no small part in Hitlers establishment of a dictatorship that was to influence affairs in Germany and the world throughout the 1930s and beyond. In some respects the purge was inevitable. Hitler had to eliminate all potential rivals if he was to consolidate his position of power. And that meant that friends like Ernst Rhm, former German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, and even former party comrades like Gregor Strasser were summarily shot without trial. Above all it was the SA that the army, the industrialists and, more than anyone else, Adolf Hitler feared. Rhm enjoyed a popularity that almost rivaled Hitlers and so he had to go. It was also an opportunity to settle personal scores. The Night of the Long Knives was a cull that eliminated somewhere between 300 and a thousand victims, the exact number has never been clear, many of them innocent of any intention to rival Hitler. It remains one of the most significant killings of modern times. **The historian and author of __The Shanghai Massacre__ presents an in-depth chronicle of Hitler’s plot to eliminate political rivals and his own SA Brownshirts.**