Night of the Long Knives

The Night of the Long Knives (aka Blood Purge or Röhm-Putsch) of 30 June 1934 was a purge of the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary group which continued through 1 and 2 July. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), wary of the growing power of the SA, embarrassed by its thuggish behaviour now that he was the chancellor of Germany, and in need of the support of the German Army, which saw the SA as a rival, ordered the assassination of the SA leader Ernst Röhm (1887-1934) along with many other key SA commanders and political enemies of the new Nazi regime. Justified as a purge of dangerous plotters against the state, the Night of the Long Knives revealed that the Nazi leadership regarded themselves as above the law.