Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung (
listen (info • help); often shortened to SA) was a paramilitary group for the German Nazi Party.
Their leader was Ernst Röhm.
The group was important in helping Adolf Hitler gain power in the 1930s.[1]
| Sturmabteilung | |
|---|---|
| |
| SA insignia | |
| 200px | |
| Adolf Hitler and Ernst Röhm inspecting the SA in Nuremberg in 1933 | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1920 |
| Dissolved | May 8, 1945 |
| Superseding agency | Schutzstaffel (c. 1934 onwards) |
| Jurisdiction | |
| Headquarters | SA High Command, Barerstraße, Munich |
| Ministers responsible | Emil Maurice (1920–1921), Oberster SA-Führer Hans Ulrich Klintzsch (1921–1923), Oberster SA-Führer Hermann Göring (1923), Oberster SA-Führer Franz Pfeffer von Salomon (1926–1930), Oberster SA-Führer Adolf Hitler (1930–1945), Oberster SA-Führer |
| Agency executives | Otto Wagener (1929–1931), Stabschef-SA Ernst Röhm (1931–1934), Stabschef-SA Viktor Lutze (1934–1943), Stabschef-SA Wilhelm Schepmann (1943–1945), Stabschef-SA |
| Parent agency | Nazi Party (NSDAP) |
| Child agency | Schutzstaffel (until c. July 1934) |
In English, they are often called the Stormtroopers or the Brownshirts,[1] while Sturmabteilung literally translates to “assault detachment” or “assault section”. They wore a brown uniform,[1] similar to the black uniform worn by Mussolini's Blackshirts.[2]
The word Sturmabteilung was used before the founding of the Nazi Party in 1919. It originally comes from the specialized assault troops used by Germany in World War I using Hutier infiltration tactics.
The SA played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s.[1] Other political parties also had their own partisan militia, and the SA fought them. The SS began as a small part of SA, and later replaced them.
The Army[2] and other conservatives disliked the SA. In 1934 Hitler launched the Night of the Long Knives in which the Schutzstaffel arrested and killed their leaders.[1][2]
Sturmabteilung Media
The SA unit in Nuremberg, 1929
The SA unit in Berlin in 1932
Ernst Röhm, SA Chief of Staff, 1931–1934
SA organization[source?]
Related pages
Sources
Other websites
- The night of long knives Archived 2004-10-12 at the Wayback Machine