The Night of the Long Knives was a helping event in Hitler becoming a dictator. It was a mass murder planned by the SS for the SA and their members. However, there were also other events which helped Hitler in achieving the position of a dictator. Hitler had become a chancellor in 1933 henceforth he had the power to establish his power. On the other hand he had two groups in the Nazi party supporting him. The SS (stands for Schutz-Staffel) were trained soldiers; they could battle and handle any situation.
Under the command of Heinrich Himmler, the army expanded and was responsible for the operations of the Concentration Camps and eliminating the enemies of the state. Whereas the SA (Storm-Abteilung or Storm troopers) the SA was formed to protect speakers at Nazi meetings from terrorisation by left wing opponents. In practise however, the SA often started the violence themselves by breaking up the meetings of the Social Democratic Party which often ended in drunken brawls. The difference between the SA and the SS were, the SS were disciplined and trained and the SA was undisciplined.
The SA had disputes with Hitler but the SS just followed the orders of Hitler. The SA was the old friends of Hitler and the SS were the new friends. It is also said that the SA wanted a new leader so they were about to have an alliance with Russia to bring a communist leader. The SS where just trained soldiers with a Leader who will discipline the Germany and their people. Hitler got confused on what to do with these two bodies supporting him. I assume that Hitler must have thought that the SS were disciplined and trained and The SA did not know to handle any situation.
The Essay on Hitler Adolf Biography
Adolf Hitler was responsible for more evil and suffering than any other man in modern history. There were many occurrences during his lifetime that triggered the outcome of what would happen later in history. Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau Am Inn, Austria, on April 20, 1889. As a child he did very poorly in his studies; he did not complete high school. He was a great artist and actor. 'He ...
Henceforth Hitler planned a mass murder on the SA and their members. 500 and more members and the SA were killed. I would say that this event is a part of establishing Hitler’s reputation more in the army; however some consider that this was not a main event but just a supporting event. The main events were the Reichstag fire and the death of President Hindenburg. I would say that the Enabling act is more important than anything else, It gave Hitler the power to create free laws, this is similar to the article 48(the president can make laws in the time of emergency).
The only difference is that the president can make laws only at emergency times and Hitler can make it at any time. This act allowed Hitler to ban the political parties, ban trade unions and etc. The Reichstag fire enabled him to kill and evacuate communists. This made him powerful then he did the general election where he showed his oratory skills then he could pass out the enabling act. After this was the death of President Hindenburg, this was the great opportunity for Hitler.
He right away used his power to take the seat of the president from 1934 onwards he was the president of Germany and the chancellor too (this means, he can also control the army).
We can see that these events were the really important ones. I consider the night of the long knives was not really important it was just Hitler killing his own friends. This doesn’t help Hitler much. Thus I might consider that The Night of Long Knives to be an unimportant event as it is not helpful to the rise of power between 1933 and 1934.
