Hitler Gradually Consolidated Power, Part Two

For "Part One": https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/05/hitler-gradually-consolidated-power.html

As Hitler and the Nazis tried to gain power throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, they took on a virtual army of men to protect Nazi meetings, rallies, marches and facilities. They also used these men to disrupt the rallies and marches of other political parties, often of the German Communist Party. Large street fights were not an uncommon event in some German cities in those times, with people wounded and even killed. The Nazis called this "Nazi army," the "Sturmabteilung" ("storm or assault detachment"), often shortened to the initials "SA," the term I'll use here. Eventually, the SA had a couple of million active men, and many more Nazis were "honorary" members, rather than every day members. The commander of the SA was Ernst Röhm, a long time friend of Hitler, and if I remember right, one of only a couple of non family members with whom Hitler used the familiar form of "you;" that is, "du," instead of the more polite and formal "Sie."* 

After Hitler was appointed chancellor, the split in the Nazi Party became more evident. Röhm and many in the SA wanted the SA to combine with the traditional army, making the German army a truly Nazified army. This was talk that made the conservative army leaders nervous. The reputation of the SA as a force of brawlers and bullies was not something the army, a very conservative part of German society, looked upon in the least bit favorably. In this, the army was often supported by German industrialists and other business people. The army and business leaders expressed their concern to Hitler, and Hitler knew, that for him to remain in power and to enact his foreign policy goals of reversing the Treaty of Versailles and of bringing German regions then outside the borders of Germany into Germany, he needed the army and business people on his side.**

For a number of years within the SA there had been, and continued to be, a relatively small force dedicated to the actual protection of Hitler during his public speeches. This Nazi force was generally unknown to the public, but that was all about to change, as the initials of this force would strike terror into the hearts and minds of Germans and non Germans alike... the "SS." The initials stood for "Schutzstaffel;" that is, "defense staff." At the end of June 1934 Hitler decided to strike. In what historians have often called, "the Night of the Long Knives" (German: "Nacht der langen Messer"), Hitler used the "SS" to have numerous SA leaders arrested and Röhm and some other SA leaders executed. The actual purge lasted more than one night, as it went into the early days of July. Hitler didn't stop there, as this was also an "eliminate opponents and get even" action, as the former German chancellor, General Kurt von Schleicher and his wife were murdered, as was Gregor Strasser a long time Nazi, who had had substantial differences with Hitler not long before Hitler was appointed chancellor. Strasser resigned his leadership position in the Nazi Party in late 1932. Hitler had a long memory, and one of the men who helped to quash the Nazi putsch in Munich in 1923, Gustav von Kahr, was hacked to death.*** How many people were actually killed by the Nazis in the purge is not actually known, but it could well have been hundreds, and others were thrown into concentration camps. Hitler explained the killings and arrests as a necessary action to stop a conspiracy by some SA leaders to overthrow the government. In the end, President von Hindenburg, a conservative, approved of the action, and Hitler's grip on power tightened. Outright murder had become an instrument of the German government, with the German president even giving his approval to the purge.**** 

The SA was never again a truly prominent force, but the SS began to dominate many branches of the Nazi system, and it would continue to grow in power and influence virtually right up to the very end of the regime in 1945. Interestingly, while the army had serious misgivings about the SA early in the Nazi regime, and army leaders did not want the Nazi SA combined with the army, during World War Two the SS expanded its military arm (the "Waffen SS"), and provided some elite units that served extensively in Russia, in Italy and in Western Europe, under army command. Also, the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, became the commander in chief of the German Replacement Army***** after Hitler was nearly killed by a bomb carried into a military conference in July 1944. So, gradually the army was being "Nazified," something the army had earlier feared. 

* "Du" is the close relative of English "thou," which was once pronounced "thu," and I believe it still is often pronounced that way in "Lowland Scots," classified by linguists as a separate language from English, although it developed from English, and is, therefore, a Germanic language, not a Gaelic language from Celtic.  

** There's no question Hitler also wanted to eventually attack and conquer the Soviet Union, as his talk and writings about "Lebensraum in the east" made clear.  

*** Gustav von Kahr was a right wing politician and an official in the Bavarian state government at the time of Hitler's "Beer Hall Putsch," as it came to be known. He helped to organize opponents to Hitler's takeover during the putsch, which ended with gunfire and the collapse of the putsch in the streets of Munich in November 1923.  

**** On July 2, 1934, President von Hindenburg sent a telegram to Hitler saying, "... that by determined action and the brave insertion of your own person, you have nipped all the treasonous activities in the bud. You saved the German people from a grave danger. For that I speak my heartfelt thanks to you..." (German: "... dass Sie durch entschlossenes Zugreifen und die tapfere Einsetzung Ihrer eigenen Person alle hochverräterischen Umtriebe im Keime erstickt haben. Sie haben das Deutsche Volk aus einer schweren Gefahr gerettet. Hierfür spreche ich Ihnen meinen tiefempfundenen Dank..."). From: Domarus, Max, "Hitler-Reden und Proklamationen" (Volume One: 1932-1934), Süddeutscher Verlag, München, 1965 

***** "Generally," the German Replacement Army inducted, equipped and trained men to be used as replacements for casualties in units or to form new units.    

WORD HISTORY:
Purge-This word is related to "pure," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French. "Purge" goes back to Indo European "pu/puh," which had the notion of "to clean completely, to cleanse." This gave its Latin offspring "purus," with the same general meaning. It also goes back to Indo European "ag/eg," which meant, "to drive, to drive forth;" thus also, "to do, to make." It forms the main part, or a part of a number of words, including, for instance, "agile," a word of Latin derivation and borrowed by English from Latin-based French. This gave Latin "agere," meaning, "to do, to make." These parts gave Latin "purgare," meaning "to make pure, to cleanse," often in reference to the body. This passed into Latin-based Old French "purgier," with the same meaning, but seemingly with more emphasis on "cleansing the body." The Norman form "seems" to have been "purger" (?), which they carried to England. English borrowed the word in the late 1200s as "purgen," but more with the meaning, "to clear from legal suspicion of some offense." It didn't develop the political meaning of "removing people from offices within government or other organizations by dismissal, imprisonment or execution," until about the mid 1700s.

The German Question, Part One Hundred Seventeen

Hitler Rules Germany, Part One/C
"Consolidation of Power/Hitler Gets Full Power"

The Nazis banned German labor unions, and in their place, they established the "German Labor Front" ("Deutsche Arbeitsfront"). The Labor Front set policies for workers and employers, and strikes were forbidden. Labor front officials also arranged special low cost tours and cruises for worker vacations.

Now that the Nazis had achieved their "revolution" of gaining power, a split in the party began to become more obvious. Remember, the Nazi Party had both "Socialist" and "Worker" in its full name, "The National Socialist German Workers Party," and the true "socialist" wing of the party wanted that part of the party's ideology to be implemented in German society. As part of this continued "revolution," there was talk of the Nazi Stormtroopers,* which by then had a couple of million active members, actually taking over the German military. The army was extremely conservative, and such talk made German military leaders very uneasy. The head of the Stormtroopers was Ernst Röhm (also spelled "Roehm"), and he coveted the notion of his becoming the head of the German military. By that time too, the Stormtroopers were also making many in the public nervous, as they bullied or assaulted civilians known, or thought to be, Nazi opponents. The rowdy and often crude behavior of many in the SA made the more conservative elements of the government, as well as businessmen, protest to Hitler.

Hitler was only somewhat interested in the "socialist" aspects of the party, and he knew he needed the support of the German military if he were to remain in power, and then to begin a reversal of the Versailles Treaty. In late June of 1934, Hitler and the most trusted part of the "SA," a branch known as the "Schutzstaffel," began a purge of the "SA" and certain party leaders, claiming a conspiracy to overthrow the government. The "Schutzstaffel," which simply means "defense, or protection staff," was responsible for Hitler's protection dating to when he gave speeches in numerous beer halls in Germany. Although little known at that time, it would become all too familiar in the years ahead under its better known initials, the "SS." How many people were killed during the purge is not really known, but certainly dozens, and perhaps hundreds. Röhm was killed, as was former German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and his wife, and former Nazi leader Gregor Strasser, who had been more inclined to the socialist side of the party. Hitler's dramatic action against members of his own party showed everyone that he was in charge, and that he would not hesitate to act ruthlessly. With the Stormtroopers subdued, conservative forces, including President von Hindenburg, approved the action. (The Stormtroopers lost their overall prominence in the Nazi movement, but the organization remained to provide "muscle" and for ceremonial purposes at Hitler's public speeches and at Nazi rallies. Many prominent Nazis held some high ranking position within the Stormtroopers, although these positions were often more "honorary" in nature. The organization never again held the power it had had up until the purge.)

On August 2, 1934 Paul von Hindenburg, nearing age 87, died. Hitler's last obstacle was gone. He now took over the presidency, combining it with the chancellorship. The German military had to swear an oath to Hitler personally, not to Germany. Hitler was now truly the Führer of Germany.

* The Stormtroopers were actually a Nazi organization called the "Sturmabteilung" (storm or assault detachment), or "SA" for short.

WORD HISTORY:
Fuehrer-This word came into English during the first half of the 1930s because it was the title used by Hitler for himself, and it simply means "leader;" obviously patterned after Mussolini's title, "Il Duce," "the leader." Since English does not use the umlaut; that is, the two dots over certain vowels to indicate a variation in pronunciation from the standard vowel, we spell the word with the "ue," which can also be used in German, but much more commonly in German it is "Führer," with the "u" with umlaut being the equivalent of "ue." For those learning German, the word is masculine, making it "Der Führer." The word goes back to Indo European "per/por," with the basic idea being "go/going, passage/pass over." This gave the Old Germanic spinoff "faranan," with the meaning "travel, go."^ From the idea of "traveling/going," came the further development of "lead;" that is, "travel takes; that is, leads you somewhere," and this gave Old Germanic a variation of "faranan," which was "forijana," with the meaning "to lead." This then gave Old High German "fuoren/fuoran," and then later "vueren," then modern "führen," and the noun was derived from this verb. Low German Saxon has "föhren," with several related meanings, including "to lead."

^ This is the source of numerous English words, for example: "fare," "the charge you pay to travel" or also "a person who pays for travel, most often in a taxi;" "farewell," which means "travel well;" that is, "have a good/safe trip;" "fare," as in "how are you faring?" (Literally, "how are you going along"); "wayfarer" ("someone who travels"), "seafarer" ("one who travels by sea"), and "ferry" ("a boat that transports people, usually for pleasure travel"). The other Germanic languages have various forms of the Old Germanic word too, for example, German has "fahren," the cognate equivalent to English "fare," and the German verb means "to travel, to drive," and the noun "Fahrer," which means "driver," "Fähre," "ferry (boat)," "Fahrrad" meaning "bicycle," and the phrase "Fahrrad fahren," "bicycle riding, ride a bike."