Schutzstaffel (SS)
At a glance:
- Series: Magill’s Guide to Military History
- Categories: Government and Politics, Military History
- Subcategories: Generals, Military Officers, Soldiers, Wars, Battles, World War II, Fascism, Fascists
- Curriculum: 20th & 21st Century European History, German History
- Geographical Location: Germany
- Date: 1920’s-1945
An elite German guard unit created within Adolf Hitler’s Sturmabteilung (SA, “storm troopers”). The SS first proved useful in 1934, when Hitler used them in his purge of the SA’s leadership during the “night of the long knives.” By 1939, SS member guarded the führer, served as police, and staffed concentration camps. At the insistence of Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, fledgling SS units were successfully put to the test of battle in 1939. By the spring of 1940, its ranks were already 150,000 strong—despite opposition from regular army officers, who thought (quite correctly)...
[The entire page is 146 words long]
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