Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung (
listen (info • help); often shortened to SA or Storm Division) was the Nazi Party's paramilitary group (its militia). They were nicknamed "Brownshirts" for their uniforms. The SA was formed in 1920 and had several leaders, including Ernst Röhm.The SA helped Adolf Hitler rise to power in the 1930s.[1] The Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) replaced the SA in 1934 after the Night of the Long Knives (where Röhm was killed).
| 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) |
Purpose
The SA's biggest purposes were to:[1][2][3]
- Help the Nazis rise to power
- Protect Nazi rallies and gatherings
- Intimidate Jews, Roma people, and trade unionists
- Disrupt the meetings of other political parties
- Fight the paramilitary units of these other parties, especially the Communist Party of Germany and the Social Democratic Party of Germany
The SA have been called "the gangsters of the early days of Nazi terrorism".[2]
The SS replaces the SA
Main article: The Night of the Long Knives
The SS began as a small part of the SA but later replaced it.The Army[3] and other conservatives disliked the SA. In 1934 Adolf Hitler launched the Night of the Long Knives, a purge that lasted from June 30 to July 2. In the purge, the SS arrested and killed the SA's leaders. Then the SS replaced the SA as the Nazi Party's paramilitary wing.[1][3]
Names
The word Sturmabteilung was used even before the Nazi Party was founded in 1919.[2]
Literally, it means “assault detachment” or “assault section”. The word "assault" here means "military attack." Sturmabteilung originally described Germany's specialized assault troops in World War I, who used Hutier infiltration tactics. The name is often translated to English as "Storm Troopers" or "Storm Division".[1]
During their time, the SA were often called the Braunhemden (Brownshirts) because they wore brown uniforms.[1] (Similarly, Mussolini's paramilitary wing were nicknamed the Camicia Nera - the "Blackshirts" - because of their black uniforms.[3])
Sturmabteilung Media
The SA unit in Nuremberg, 1929
The SA unit in Berlin in 1932
SA service dagger (German: SA-Dienstdolch) for members of the Sturmabteilung, the Nazi Party's original paramilitary wing.* * The SA dagger was the service weapon of the Sturmabteilun
Ernst Röhm, SA Chief of Staff, 1931–1934
SA organization[source?]
Related pages
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Holocaust Encyclopedia (2018-09-17). "The SA". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Avalon Project : Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression - Volume 2 Chapter XV Part 4". The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. New Haven: Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "SA". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
Other websites
- The night of long knives Archived 2004-10-12 at the Wayback Machine