Night Of The Long Knives Analysis

“Those who have enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them” –Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Important Events of World War II shaped the course and the outcome of the war. From the Night of the Long Knives and the Invasion of Poland to D-Day, all of these events played a part as major events which shaped the course and the outcome of the war. The Night of the Long Knives was Hitler’s power grab, the Invasion of Poland being the start of the war and D-Day with the liberation of Western Europe ended the conflict as an Allied Victory. All of the countries were affected by the war and Germany as a country will cease to exist until 28th of November 1989. The Night of the Long Knives or Operation Hummingbird occurred

Most of the members that were killed were from the Storm Troopers, a paramilitary organization, with its leader Ernst Rohm. Hitler saw them as a threat to his power; many conservative critics who were loyal to Vice-Chancellor Franz Von Papen were also killed as they were also seen as a threat to Hitler’s power. The SA or the Storm Troopers were led by Ernst Rohm and had 4 million brown-shirted members who believed in “socialism” of National Socialism and wanted to become a true revolutionary army that replaces the Regular Army. But to the conservative generals and its supporters, the brown shirted storm troopers were seen as a threat to long standing German traditions and rank. Hitler assured the generals that he would restore the former military dominance of Germany and break the Treaty of Versailles which limited the army to 100,000 soldiers and didn’t allow it to modernize without tanks and aircraft. The behavior of the SA was therefore seen as a threat to Hitler’s political survival and the might harm the future plans of the Nazi party. The SA leadership and its members also alarmed the big industry leaders who had put Hitler in power by