In the aftermath of the purge the SA were effectively eliminated as an effective force and became basically a propaganda showpiece. Roehm was replaced by Victor Lutze as head of the SA. Lutze was a weak man and the SA gradually lost its power in Hitler's Germany. The SS under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler grew rapidly during the next few years, replacing the SA as the dominant force in Germany. The SS were a much more organised and effective group than the SA and during the Third Reich they established a very strong control on the country especially the Gestapo (secret police) that eliminated any possible opponents at all levels of German society. Such control of the German population made the Nazi dictatorship even stronger because it was nearly impossible to oppose the Nazis thanks to the SS.
The Night of the Long Knives was a success for the NSDAP party. It eliminated the SA’s violence and terror which had been threatening the parties ties with the established German hierarchy and the coalition parties, it strengthened Hitler’s position as dictator of the party as a possible rival to him had been eliminated and most importantly it gained Hitler the support of the army which would be vital for the future of the Third Reich. Hitler would not be threatened again as the leader of the Nazi party until the bomb plot of 1944, because as Hitler announced “he who lifts his hand against the state now knows that certain death is his fate.”
Roehm regularly talked of his desire to amalgamate to SA into the army and for him to become the leader of the new army. Such talk threatened the army generals which led to an increased dislike of the SA with the army already seeing the SA as nothing more than street thugs. It was also a threat to Hitler whose power could have threatened by Roehm if the second revolution from below had taken place. This meant a dilemma for Hitler because he would have to support one of the two sides and with Hindenburg’s death imminent, the decision would have to be made soon. On the one side he had the SA who were ten times the size of the army and were led by Hitler’s oldest political friend. However, the SA was despised by much of the established German society and was in danger of losing Hitler his support. In comparison the army were well disciplined and highly trained. The Night of the Long Knives removed this problem for Hitler and strengthened his position as the SA were eliminated which meant the established German society backed Hitler and upon Hindenburg’s death on August 2nd 1945, the army swore a loath of loyalty to Hitler.
However, in recent times, this new theory over The Night of the Long Knives has been put forward, notably by the historian Ian Kershaw. Hitler’s tactic of divide and rule encouraged NSDAP leaders such as Hermann Goering, Joeseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler and Ernst Roehm to compete for power within the party. This led to an intense dislike for one another, Rohm especially as he had the potential with the SA to remove any of his rivals. Himmler and Goering assembled a file on Roehm and invented a story that Roehm had been paid by the French to overthrow Hitler, and they gave this to Hitler. Himmler especially had a lot to gain, as at the time his power within the party was limited with the SS being a small faction of the SA. Hitler was also aware that Roehm and the SA had the power to remove him. Goering and Himmler played on this fear by constantly feeding him with new information on Roehm's proposed coup. Their masterstroke was to claim that Gregor Strasser, whom Hitler hated, was part of the planned conspiracy against him. This theory fits the structuralist theory that many of the actions such as The Night of the Long Knives were not accountable to Hitler and the major decisions were took by leading Nazi officials due to Hitler’s lazy attitude towards his work.
The contradictory socialist element of the NSDAP still existed within the party stemming from the 1920 manifesto. The four million SA included many members who actually believed in the 'socialism' of National Socialism and also wanted a true revolutionary army in place of the regular German Army. These anti-capitalist views expressed by the masses caused great concern to big businesses that helped put Hitler in power with their investments of money. Hitler had removed trade unions and the communists but now with talk of a “second revolution” the NSDAP were sounding communist themselves and businessmen were becoming worried and were threatening to remove their funding to the party which they desperately needed to build the economy on which was still suffering from the Great Depression.
Although the Night of the Long Knives can be seen as a crucial event in the creation of the Nazi dictatorship, in my opinion it was not the single most important incident. I believe the Enabling Act was the most important factor in the establishment of the dictatorship because it essentially gave Hitler the power to pass whichever laws he desired. The Law passed on March 23rd 1933, basically allowed Hitler to do away with the Reichstag and decisions were passed by the nine-man government which the Nazi’s had a control of. Upon passing the bill the NSDAP could ban opposition parties and remove other possible future enemies such as the trade unions, one by one with the policy of Gleichshaltung or Nazification. In my opinion the Act was more important than the Night of the Long Knives because it gave the Hitler near dictatorial powers and removed many organised oppositions whereas the Night of the Long Knives only removed one possible opposition and gained the support of the army. Another vital event in the establishment of the dictatorship was the Reichstag Fire on 27th February 1933 which paved the way for the Enabling Act. The fire was blamed on a communist plot and the following day the “Decree for the Protection of People and State” was drawn up and signed by Hindenburg. This suspended most civil and political liberties allowing Hitler to ban the Communists from the Reichstag and intimidate other political opponents with the SA in the upcoming March elections.
The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point in the history of Hitler's Germany. It was the first organised purge of the party, years before the start of the final solution. Hitler had made it clear that he was the supreme ruler of Germany who had the right to be judge and jury, and had the power to decide whether people lived or died.
