Mid of 1934 ⇒ he was beginning to see the SA ⇒ particularly its leader → Ernst Rohm ⇒ as a threat
Hitler ⇒ had actually asked Rohm ⇒ to lead the SA in 1930 -⇒ but by 1932 ⇒ there was growing tension between them. SA was nearly 3 million strong. Its members ⇒ fiercely loyal to Rohm ⇒ supported his call to tax elite groups ⇒ landowners, industrialists ⇒ to help the unemployed
- this was awkward ⇒ as Hitler had been put into power by these groups. Another elite group ⇒ army commanders ⇒ were suspicious of Rohm ⇒ they thought SA was a disreputable force ⇒ and were unsettled by Rohm’s talk of making SA into a second German Army
Weekend of 29th June 1934 ⇒ Squads of SS men ⇒ arrested Rohm and other leading figures in SA. Hitler ⇒ accused Rohm of planning to murder and overthrow him. Rohm and possible 400 others were murdered. purge ⇒ known as Knight of Long Knives
Although SA ⇒ not disbanded afterwards ⇒ it lost much of its prestige and influence ⇒ many of its members ⇒ absorbed into army and SS.
SA ⇒ not sole target of purge. Hitler also targeted his old rivals. Von Papen ⇒ placed under house arrest. His plans to control Hitler ⇒ tattered ⇒ he resigned as vice chancellor. Hitler offered him post of ambassador to Austria ⇒ accepted ⇒ decision that saved him his life.