Hitler acted quickly to remove his opponents - within a year all opponents had either left Germany or had been sent to special concentration camps run by the **. Other political parties were banned
However, Hitler was still not entirely secure as the leading officers in the army were not impressed by him and where suspicious of the SA and its leader Rohm
The SA were a badly disciplined force and Rohm talked about making them into a second army
Hitler was also suspicious of Rohm and he feared that Rohm's control over 4 million SA men made him a potential dangerous rival
So, Hitler had to choose between the army and the SA - he made his choice and acted ruthlessly
On 29-30 June squads of ** men broke into the homes of Rohm and other leading figures in the SA and arrested them
Hitler accused them of plotting to overthrow him and murder him so over that weekend Rohm and 400 others were executed - This was known as the Night of the Long Knives
Hindenburg thanked Hitler for his determined action and the army was satisfied with the events of the weekend
The SA were not disbanded but remained as a paramilitary organisation without the influence they had before and some men went into the army or the **
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