On the night of 30 1934, Hitler used the to arrest and shoot powerful members of the SA, including its leader Ernst . Over the next few days, Gregor Strasser and leading opponents of the regime were also shot. Up to people were killed, including politicians such as von . These events have become known as the 'Night of the Long Knives'. Why did Hitler purge the SA? There were several reasons. Ernst Rohm and some other leaders felt that Hitler was introducing change too slowly. They began to press him to take over the German army and merge it with the . Hitler feared that any attempt to do this would encourage the army to take immediate action to remove him. He believed it was better for him to win the support of the army by removing Rohm and the SA. The army would then support Hitler as the next . Furthermore, the SA had outlived its usefulness. It had been used to intimidate opponents of the Nazis, such as , and to hold large meetings and demonstrations. By 1934, it probably had million members, many of them from the unemployed. Their continued violence was giving a bad reputation to the Nazi regime. Finally Hitler had a ready-made replacement for the SA - the SS, his personal bodyguard. Heinrich , leader of the SS, wanted it to become a separate organisation and saw Rohm as an obstacle to achieving this ambition. Late in the evening of 28 June, Himmler told Hitler that Rohm and the SA were planning to seize power immediately and replace Hitler.

Extract adapted from 'Modern World History' (Heinemann)