Night of the Long Knives

E9391

event in Nazi Germany mass killing political purge

The Night of the Long Knives was a 1934 purge in Nazi Germany during which Adolf Hitler ordered the assassination of political rivals and perceived threats within his own movement to consolidate his power.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Night of the Long Knives purge	1
Röhm purge	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	event in Nazi Germany ⓘ mass killing ⓘ political purge ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Nacht der langen Messer ⓘ Operation Hummingbird ⓘ Night of the Long Knives ⓘ surface form: Röhm purge
carriedOutBy	Gestapo ⓘ Reichswehr ⓘ Schutzstaffel (SS) ⓘ surface form: Schutzstaffel
country	Nazi Germany ⓘ
endDate	1934-07-02 ⓘ
estimatedVictimsRange	85–200 ⓘ
followedBy	Hitler assuming title of Führer ⓘ death of President Paul von Hindenburg ⓘ
historicalPeriod	interwar period ⓘ
legalJustification	Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense ⓘ
location	Germany ⓘ
motive	consolidation of dictatorial power ⓘ elimination of internal rivals ⓘ reassurance of German Army leadership ⓘ
numberOfVictims	at least 85 ⓘ
orderedBy	Adolf Hitler ⓘ
partOf	Gleichschaltung ⓘ surface form: Nazi consolidation of power
perpetrator	Adolf Hitler ⓘ
plannedBy	HeinrichHimmler ⓘ surface form: Heinrich Himmler ReinhardHeydrich ⓘ surface form: Reinhard Heydrich
precededBy	Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany ⓘ
relatedOrganization	Wehrmacht ⓘ surface form: German Army Nazi Party ⓘ Schutzstaffel (SS) ⓘ surface form: Schutzstaffel Sturmabteilung ⓘ
result	consolidation of Adolf Hitler's power ⓘ elimination of SA as independent power ⓘ increased support of German Army for Hitler ⓘ intimidation of political opposition ⓘ strengthening of SS ⓘ
significance	demonstrated regime's use of extrajudicial killings ⓘ marked transition to open Nazi dictatorship ⓘ
startDate	1934-06-30 ⓘ
target	Ernst Röhm ⓘ Gregor Strasser ⓘ Gustav von Kahr ⓘ surface form: Gustav Ritter von Kahr Kurt von Schleicher ⓘ Sturmabteilung ⓘ surface form: Sturmabteilung leadership other perceived political opponents ⓘ
timePeriod	June–July 1934 ⓘ
victimGroup	SA leaders ⓘ conservative opponents ⓘ former political allies ⓘ

Referenced by (22)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Night of the Long Knives → alsoKnownAs → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

this entity surface form: Röhm purge

Storm Detachment → declineCause → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

SA → declineCause → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

subject surface form: Sturmabteilung

this entity surface form: Night of the Long Knives purge

Storm Troopers → dissolvedInEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Storm Troopers → experiencedPurge → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Nazi seizure of power → followedBy → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Operation Hummingbird → hasAlias → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Nacht der langen Messer → hasEnglishName → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Gustav von Kahr → killedIn → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Storm Detachment → majorPurgeEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Adolf Hitler → notableEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Nazi Germany → notableEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Third Reich → notableEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Stabschef → notableEventAssociation → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Kurt von Schleicher → participantIn → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense → relatedEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Sturmabteilung → roleInEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Cabinet of Adolf Hitler → significantEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Interwar period → significantEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

Protection Squadron → significantEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

SA → significantEvent → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ

subject surface form: Sturmabteilung

Sturmabteilung → victimOf → Night of the Long Knives ⓘ