Changes

To consolidate power, Hitler needed the backing of two groups considered fundamental to Germany's well-being: the big-business industrialists - such as I.G. Farben and Krupp - and the army.  Both eyed the SA as an uncontrolled mob, and Röhm as a power-seeker; indeed, evidence that he was an avid homosexual only added fuel to the fire.  The powerful men in the Nazi hierarchy - [[Heinrich Himmler]], [[Hermann Göring]], and [[Joseph Goebbels]] - saw Röhm and the SA as a threat to their recently-won acquisition of power and decided on a plan to eliminate him.

To consolidate power, Hitler needed the backing of two groups considered fundamental to Germany's well-being: the big-business industrialists - such as I.G. Farben and Krupp - and the army.  Both eyed the SA as an uncontrolled mob, and Röhm as a power-seeker; indeed, evidence that he was an avid homosexual only added fuel to the fire.  The powerful men in the Nazi hierarchy - [[Heinrich Himmler]], [[Hermann Göring]], and [[Joseph Goebbels]] - saw Röhm and the SA as a threat to their recently-won acquisition of power and decided on a plan to eliminate him.

Beginning on June 30 1934, the [[Night of the Long Knives]] (''die Nacht der langen Messer'') took place near Munich at the Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee where it was known that SA leadership were on holiday; the plan for execution was conceived by Himmler and [[Reinhard Heydrich]].<ref>Kershaw, Ian. ''Hitler: A Biography'' (2008).</ref>  Röhm - caught in bed with a male SA lover by Hitler himself - was summarily executed, as well as many SA leaders over the next two days.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref> Himmler gained enormously from the killings; his ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) became its own separate branch and would later grow from Hitler's personal bodyguard to become a terrifying force in World War II.<ref>Weale, Adrian. ''The SS: A New History'' (2010).</ref>  Its leadership decimated, the SA became a shadow of what it used to be, its only military use being that of training the Home Guard during World War II.

Beginning on June 30 1934, the [[Night of the Long Knives]] (''die Nacht der langen Messer'') took place near Munich at the Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee where it was known that SA leadership were on holiday; the plan for execution was conceived by Himmler and [[Reinhard Heydrich]].<ref>Kershaw, Ian. ''Hitler: A Biography'' (2008).</ref>  Röhm - caught in bed with a male SA lover by Hitler himself - was summarily executed, as well as many SA leaders over the next two days.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref> Himmler gained enormously from the killings; his ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) became its own separate branch and would later grow from Hitler's personal bodyguard to become a terrifying force in World War II.<ref>Weale, Adrian. ''The SS: A New History'' (2010).</ref>  Its leadership decimated, the SA became a shadow of its former self. Thereafter, its only military use was that of training units for the German armed forces and later acting as the Home Guard during World War II.

The term is sometimes erroneously broadened to include all Nazis and even all [[fascists]], although strictly speaking Italian fascists were [[Blackshirts]], for similar reasons of their uniform. <ref>http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERsa.htm</ref> The term was used earlier by the German Army to denote special trench assault units during [[World War I]].

The term is sometimes erroneously broadened to include all Nazis and even all [[fascists]], although strictly speaking Italian fascists were [[Blackshirts]], for similar reasons of their uniform. <ref>http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERsa.htm</ref> The term was used earlier by the German Army to denote special trench assault units during [[World War I]].