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[[Image:Sturmabteilungen.jpg|right|thumb|250px|An SA propaganda poster]]

[[Image:Sturmabteilungen.jpg|right|thumb|250px|An SA propaganda poster]]

The '''Storm Troopers''', or '''Sturmabteilung''' (SA), were a paramilitary organisation within the [[Nazi Party]] in interwar [[Germany]], founded to protect Nazi meetings from disruption and to break up the meetings of other parties; they were also used to intimidate, beat up and murder [[Jew]]s and opponents of the Nazis and to create a climate of fear on the streets of Germany. They were commonly referred to as "brownshirts", in reference to the color of their uniforms. The SA was a major participant in the [[Kristallnacht]] ('Crystal Night' or 'Night of the Broken Glass') pogrom of 9-10 November 1938, in which an estimated number of between 91 and 200 Jews were killed and thousands more sent to [[concentration camp]]s (of whom a large number were later murdered). Some 7000 Jewish shops were looted and more than a thousand [[synagogue]]s destroyed.

The '''Storm Troopers''', or '''Sturmabteilung''' (SA), were a paramilitary organisation within the [[Nazi Party]] in interwar [[Germany]], founded to protect Nazi meetings from disruption and to break up the meetings of other parties; they were also used to intimidate, beat up and murder [[Jew]]s and opponents of the Nazis and to create a climate of fear on the streets of Germany. They were commonly referred to as "brownshirts", in reference to the color of their uniforms.

 

The SA was a major participant in the [[Kristallnacht]] ('Crystal Night' or 'Night of the Broken Glass') pogrom of 9-10 November 1938, in which an estimated number of between 91 and 200 Jews were killed and thousands more sent to [[concentration camp]]s (of whom a large number were later murdered). Some 7000 Jewish shops were looted and more than a thousand [[synagogue]]s destroyed.

It was led by [[Ernst Röhm]], who had been a co-founder of the paramilitary organisation. During the early 1930s Röhm's SA ("brownshirts"), with 2.9 million members, was a much larger and more powerful part of the Nazi Party than [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s [[SS]] ("blackshirts"). That suddenly changed in June 1934 as a result of a power struggle between the SA, which had a more radical vision than Hitler would tolerate, and a coalition of Himmler, [[Hermann Göring]], the army and big business. The army feared the SA would absorb it into its ranks; which is what Röhm wanted to do. Himmler and [[Reinhard Heydrich]] prepared the list of Röhm's SA associates who were executed or imprisoned in the "[[Night of the Long Knives]]" which took place between June 30 and July 2, 1934.<ref>Kershaw, Ian. ''Hitler: A Biography'' (2008).</ref> Hitler had Röhm killed as well, for fear that he would be a rival in the near future.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref> Himmler and his SS gained enormously from the killings; the SS became its own branch and Himmler reported only to Hitler.<ref>Weale, Adrian. ''The SS: A New History'' (2010).</ref>

It was led by [[Ernst Röhm]], who had been a co-founder of the paramilitary organisation. During the early 1930s Röhm's SA ("brownshirts"), with 2.9 million members, was a much larger and more powerful part of the Nazi Party than [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s [[SS]] ("blackshirts"). That suddenly changed in June 1934 as a result of a power struggle between the SA, which had a more radical vision than Hitler would tolerate, and a coalition of Himmler, [[Hermann Göring]], the army and big business. The army feared the SA would absorb it into its ranks; which is what Röhm wanted to do. Himmler and [[Reinhard Heydrich]] prepared the list of Röhm's SA associates who were executed or imprisoned in the "[[Night of the Long Knives]]" which took place between June 30 and July 2, 1934.<ref>Kershaw, Ian. ''Hitler: A Biography'' (2008).</ref> Hitler had Röhm killed as well, for fear that he would be a rival in the near future.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref> Himmler and his SS gained enormously from the killings; the SS became its own branch and Himmler reported only to Hitler.<ref>Weale, Adrian. ''The SS: A New History'' (2010).</ref>