Sturmabteilung

The Sturmabteilung (listen ; often shortened to SA) was a paramilitary group for the German Nazi Party. Their leader was Ernst Röhm. The group was important in helping Adolf Hitler gain power in the 1930s.

Sturmabteilung

SA insignia
Adolf Hitler and Ernst Röhm inspecting the SA in Nuremberg in 1933
Agency overview
Formed	1920
Dissolved	May 8, 1945
Superseding agency	Schutzstaffel (c. 1934 onwards)
Type	Paramilitary
Jurisdiction	Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
Headquarters	SA High Command, Barerstraße, Munich 48°8′37.53″N 11°34′6.76″E
Minister responsible	see Leaders below
Parent agency	Nazi Party (NSDAP)
Child agency	Schutzstaffel (until c. July 1934)

In English, they are often called the Stormtroopers or the Brownshirts, while Sturmabteilung literally translates to "assault detachment" or "assault section". They wore a brown uniform, similar to the black uniform worn by Mussolini's Blackshirts.

The word Sturmabteilung was used before the founding of the Nazi Party in 1919. It originally comes from the specialized assault troops used by Germany in World War I using Hutier infiltration tactics.

The SA played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s. Other political parties also had their own partisan militia, and the SA fought them. The SS began as a small part of SA, and later replaced them.

The Army and other conservatives disliked the SA. In 1934 Hitler launched the Night of the Long Knives in which the Schutzstaffel arrested and killed their leaders.

Related pages

• Night of the Long Knives
• Ernst Röhm

Other websites

• The night of long knives Archived 2004-10-12 at the Wayback Machine