Purpose of the SA post-1934
Purpose of the SA post-1934
What did the SA do (if anything) after the Night of the Long Knives? They seem to drop off the face of the earth at first glance, but then one see that the organization continued to exist even into 1945.
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You can't separate peace from freedom because
no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
-Malcolm X
You can't separate peace from freedom because
no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
-Malcolm X
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JEROME Georges
- Supporter
- Posts: 180
- Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2002 12:35 pm
- Location: Lorraine (France)
Hello,
SA left political influence after 1934 mainly as "popular army" aims of Roehm
but the organisation remain important at various levels and in all sphere of life of Germany.
- from 1939 and during the war : SA were involved in pre military training of male population
- auxilliary forces to police (stadtwacht and Landwacht)
- in annexed countries they were the bulk of enlistment of "folk germans"
- numerous senior NS leaders (Reichleiter and Gauleiter) and government and landers high civil servants were honorary SA Leaders starting with...Goering the 2nd in Reich
- SA were very influent in eastern administration : Reichkommissariat Ostland and Ukraine, Generalgouvernement Poland
- in Foreign Office, most office of ambassadors in Balkans were held by SA generals.
- most of them were mobilised in WH and some units had a number of SA
(60 Inf Div Feldherrnhalle division...)
I started a work upon this less known aspect of the SA
best
JG
-
SA left political influence after 1934 mainly as "popular army" aims of Roehm
but the organisation remain important at various levels and in all sphere of life of Germany.
- from 1939 and during the war : SA were involved in pre military training of male population
- auxilliary forces to police (stadtwacht and Landwacht)
- in annexed countries they were the bulk of enlistment of "folk germans"
- numerous senior NS leaders (Reichleiter and Gauleiter) and government and landers high civil servants were honorary SA Leaders starting with...Goering the 2nd in Reich
- SA were very influent in eastern administration : Reichkommissariat Ostland and Ukraine, Generalgouvernement Poland
- in Foreign Office, most office of ambassadors in Balkans were held by SA generals.
- most of them were mobilised in WH and some units had a number of SA
(60 Inf Div Feldherrnhalle division...)
I started a work upon this less known aspect of the SA
best
JG
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sid guttridge
- on "time out"
- Posts: 8055
- Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 4:54 am
Hi Engel,
Before the killing of Rohm the SA had about 3,000,000 members, compared to a 100,000 man army. Most were originally WWI veterans, but were later joined by large numbers of younger men never conscripted by the army in the 1920s and early 1930s because of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles.
After the murder of Rohm the SA was cut back to a less threatening 1,200,000 men.
The SA had infantry, mountain, motorised, mounted, marine, medical, signals, pioneer and air units and conducted fitness, map reading, route marching, drill, rifle firing and numerous other military-related exercises. It was therefore capable of providing manpower with basic training to fulfill most of the specialities found in an infantry division, except support weapons and artillery.
In some areas, particularly along the border of Poland and in East Prussia, the army continued to factor the SA into its defensive calculations for several years after 1934, until it had itself grown large enough to do the whole job.
The SA unit numbering system included the SA in the Saarland, Rhineland, Austria and Danzig and it had affiliated organisations in Sudetenland, Memel and other German communities in Europe. It was therefore present in all these areas before the German Army was and was an advanced instrument of German foreign policy in the late 1930s.
In Austria the SA carried the main weight of the failed Nazi coup against the Austrian Government in late July 1934, especially in Styria and Carinthia. In Sudetenland its associates attempted an uprising in mid September 1938. Although the Czechoslovak Army easily suppressed the uprising, it provoked the Munich Crisis that resulted in the Sudetenland being acquired by Germany at the end of the month. In Memel in March 1939, SA associates were in command of the city a day before the German Army and Navy arrived. These "associates" were absorbed into the main SA when Sudetenland and Memel became part of Germany.
In Danzig the SA provided much of the manpower used to secure the city at the outbreak of war and capture the Polish port of Gdynia a fortnight later, albeit under army command. The Danzig brigade went on to form the core of 60th Infantry Division, which eventually became the Feldherrnhalle Division, as already mentioned.
I suspect that during the war, when younger manpower was in the armed forces, the SA was largely composed of the same men who had founded it in the 1920s - older WWI veterans not eligible for military service until the Volksturm was created at the end of 1944.
Does anyone know if there was a direct SA-Volksturm relationsip? They were both organised by the party from men of a similar age group.
Cheers,
Sid.
Before the killing of Rohm the SA had about 3,000,000 members, compared to a 100,000 man army. Most were originally WWI veterans, but were later joined by large numbers of younger men never conscripted by the army in the 1920s and early 1930s because of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles.
After the murder of Rohm the SA was cut back to a less threatening 1,200,000 men.
The SA had infantry, mountain, motorised, mounted, marine, medical, signals, pioneer and air units and conducted fitness, map reading, route marching, drill, rifle firing and numerous other military-related exercises. It was therefore capable of providing manpower with basic training to fulfill most of the specialities found in an infantry division, except support weapons and artillery.
In some areas, particularly along the border of Poland and in East Prussia, the army continued to factor the SA into its defensive calculations for several years after 1934, until it had itself grown large enough to do the whole job.
The SA unit numbering system included the SA in the Saarland, Rhineland, Austria and Danzig and it had affiliated organisations in Sudetenland, Memel and other German communities in Europe. It was therefore present in all these areas before the German Army was and was an advanced instrument of German foreign policy in the late 1930s.
In Austria the SA carried the main weight of the failed Nazi coup against the Austrian Government in late July 1934, especially in Styria and Carinthia. In Sudetenland its associates attempted an uprising in mid September 1938. Although the Czechoslovak Army easily suppressed the uprising, it provoked the Munich Crisis that resulted in the Sudetenland being acquired by Germany at the end of the month. In Memel in March 1939, SA associates were in command of the city a day before the German Army and Navy arrived. These "associates" were absorbed into the main SA when Sudetenland and Memel became part of Germany.
In Danzig the SA provided much of the manpower used to secure the city at the outbreak of war and capture the Polish port of Gdynia a fortnight later, albeit under army command. The Danzig brigade went on to form the core of 60th Infantry Division, which eventually became the Feldherrnhalle Division, as already mentioned.
I suspect that during the war, when younger manpower was in the armed forces, the SA was largely composed of the same men who had founded it in the 1920s - older WWI veterans not eligible for military service until the Volksturm was created at the end of 1944.
Does anyone know if there was a direct SA-Volksturm relationsip? They were both organised by the party from men of a similar age group.
Cheers,
Sid.