How far do you agree that the most important step in creating Hitler’s dictatorship was the ‘Night of the Long Knives’?
Hitler’s rise to power and ultimate dictatorship was created through a chain of events when taken together successfully led to his eventual leadership.
One of these was the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ on the 30th June to the 2nd July 1934. It was a land mark in Hitler’s rise to power because he was able to murder potential threats in the Nazi Party, which included the leader of the SA – Ernst Rohm.
By 1934 Hitler had almost total power; however, Hindenburg was still alive and had the support of the Army. Hitler wanted to gain control of the army because they were the only organisation who could potentially remove him from power, which had support from big businesses, and were the countries best defence (they were much better trained and disciplined than the SA). The SA did have 2.5 million men compared to the army’s 100,000 though, and so were potential threats. This was because the SA could have taken over the army after Hindenburg’s death and so Hitler wanted to eliminate the threat. Therefore, Hitler set out to murder 400 of these men, who were influential. This also, in turn made Hitler appear ruthless and become more feared among other Nazi. So overall, the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ was an important step in creating Hitler’s dictatorship because it added security to Hitler's position – it rid Hitler of all his political opponents.
