The Night of the Long Knives
For all the power the Enabling Act gave Hitler, he still felt threatened. By the summer of 1934, the SA’s number ha swollen to 2 million men. They were all under control of a loyal follower of Hitler since the early days of the Nazi party, Ernst Rohm. The SA was used to enforce law after Hitler became Chancellor.
To all intents, they were the enforcers of Hitler, and hadn’t even had an idea Rohm was ever planning anything against Hitler. However the fact that SA outnumbered and with so many members was loyal to Rohm was in a threat to Hitler. Rohm also opposed the Nazi Party- he wanted more socialist policies to tax the rich and help the working class. By then Hitler was angered by the power he gained and thought this was a threat to his position. He was supported with Himmler, Goering and Goebbels. In 1934, the army force also saw the SA as a threat to their authority. Even the leaders of SS, like Himmler and Heydrich, resented Rohm too. They wanted to reduce his power so that they could increase their own and the make SS even stronger. Hitler had decided to make a pact with the army. He said, if Rohm and the other SA leaders were removed, the rank and file SA men would come under the control of the army. So armies swore an oath of loyalty toHitler. On the night of June 29th, units of the SS arrested, imprison and shot at the leaders of SA and other political opponents. This is known as the Night of the Long knives.