Night of the Long Knives

From Metapedia

The Night of the Long Knives (German: Nacht der langen Messer) or "Operation Hummingbird," took place in Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the NSDAP executed at least eighty-five people for political reasons. Most of those killed were members of the "Storm Division" (SA) (German: Sturmabteilung), a paramilitary organization. Adolf Hitler moved against the SA and its leader, Ernst Röhm, because he saw the independence of the SA and the penchant of its members for street violence as a direct threat to his power. Hitler also wanted to forestall any move by army leaders, who both feared and despised the SA, to curtail his rule. Finally, Hitler used the purge to act against conservative critics of his regime, especially those loyal to Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, and to settle scores with old enemies.

At least eighty-five people died during the purge and more than a thousand opponents were arrested. The Schutzstaffel (SS), an elite German corps, or Gestapo, carried out most of the killings. The purge strengthened and consolidated the support of the army, or Reichswehr, for Hitler.

Before its execution, its planners sometimes referred to it as "Hummingbird" (German: Kolibri), as that was the codeword used to set the execution squads in motion on the day of the purge. The codename for the operation appears to have been chosen arbitrarily. The name "Night of the Long Knives" is a reference to the massacre of Vortigern's men by Angle, Jute, and Saxon mercenaries in Arthurian myth. The phrase "Night of the Long Knives" in the German language predates the massacre itself, and until it became synonymous with the purge, it referred generally to acts of vengeance.