A mass assassination ordered by Hitler on June 30, 1934, to strike against the growing power of the SA, and to prevent a second revolution. Ernst Roehm, the head of the SA, increased its size from 70,000 men in 1931 to 4,000,000 in 1934. He regarded the SA as the true army of Nazi Germany, thus alarming the generals of the army. Roehm conception contradicted that of Hitler, who believed in the primary role of the army in defending Germany. Pressure on Hitler mounted in 1934 and in June he launched the strike against the SA.
