Ernst Röhm

**Ernst Julius Gunther Röhm** (28 November 1887 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany – 1 July 1934 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany) was an important leader in Nazi Germany.

Röhm co-founded and led the German Sturmabteilung (the Stormtroopers). He was also a member of the German Reichstag from 1933 to 1934. 

Röhm was gay. In 1934, on Adolf Hitler’s orders, he was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives.

During the First World War, Röhm fought as an officer. He was awarded the Iron Cross First Class.

## Early life 
Ernst Röhm was born in Munich on 28 November 1887. He was the third child of a chief train , Julius Röhm, and his wife, Emilie Röhm. He had one older brother and one older sister.

In 1906, after his Abitur (school exams) in Munich, Röhm joined the Bavarian army as a Fanjunkare. Two years later he became a Lieutenant. He worked for the Bavarian government in the War Department for the first time. Two years later, in 1918, he was given the rank of a captain (German: *Hauptmann*).

After the First World War, Röhm went to the Freikorps (Free Corps) of Franz Ritter von Epp. He wanted to fight against the Communists in Munich. With this group, he went to fight against the Bavarian Soviet Republic.

## Involvement in the Nazi Party 
In 1919, Röhm joined the German Workers' Party (German: *Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (DAP)*). This was the  of the Nazi party. One year later, he became a member of the German Nazi Party. He received the membership number 623. Röhm helped Hitler  s with the Bavarian politicians and the industrialists. Two years later, Röhm and Hitler started the Sturmabteilung (SA), attracting many men from the Freikorps. It was founded as a paramilitary group for the German Nazi Party. Hitler made Röhm the leader of the SA.

Röhm took a part in the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. The Nazi Party tried to overthrow the government, but failed. Röhm was arrested and charged with high treason. The judges decided he was guilty on 1 April 1924. Röhm went to prison for five months and lost his job in the army. He said that he was only a soldier and not a politician. Between 1928 and 1930, he worked for the Bolivian military as an advisor.

## Leader of the Sturmabteilung 
, both wearing the SA uniform in 1933]]
On 1 November 1930, he went back to Germany and joined the Nazi Party a second time. In 1934, the SA had over 4,500,000 members. The power of the SA increased. Because of this, Adolf Hitler and the Schutzstaffel (SS) started a new dispute with Röhm. The SA was about 20 times greater in membership than the *Reichswehr*; Röhm was dreaming to take over the *Reichswehr*.

Hitler was afraid of Röhm's power. Röhm wanted to merge the Sturmabteilung with the general army, with him as leader. He also wanted a "second Nazi revolution" to make Germany more socialist. He was an anticapitalist, and at this time, Hitler was trying to befriend Germany's industrialists. Hitler planned to kill Röhm.

## Night of the Long Knives 
Röhm arranged with Hitler that the Sturmabteilung would get four weeks holiday during the summer of 1934. The holiday started on 1 July 1934. Röhm wanted to go to Bad Wiessee for rest. On 29 June 1934, Röhm was arrested, yet had no trial. He was given the choice by Theodor Eicke: to commit suicide or be killed. On 1 July, Theodor Eicke shot Röhm as instructed by Hitler. Röhm was buried in the Munich western cemetery.

Many Sturmabteilung leaders were killed on that same night, mostly by the Schutzstaffel and Gestapo. It was called the "Night of the Long Knives". The next day the German parliament passed a law with only one paragraph making the murders at the Night of the Long Knives legal.

## References 
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