who were the brown shirts?

Question

who were the brown shirts during the great depression through the rise of totalitarianism?

Answer 1

Nazi paramilitary thugs came in two types, the SA, who were the brown shirts, as opposed to the SS, who wore black. The SS were more loyal to Hitler. SA leadership was purged in 1934, an event called The Night Of The Long Knives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung

Answer 2

The Brown shirts were paramilitary thugs of the SA and the SS who were Hitler's favorites. Hitler knew that the SA under Ernst Roehm had to go because he knew he could no longer control them.After realizing Roehm hankering for young men was discovered Hitler devised the plan called the Night of the Long Knives where Hitler's enemies were rounded off and subsequently executed in August 1934 after the death of Von Hindenburg. Hitler used the pretext of Roehm 's homosexuality against him as a power play to become the absolute leader and dictator of Germany with one fell swoop.Roehm to the end confessed his loyalty to Hitler but the die had been cast and Roehm who appeared in the reels to be as popular as Hitler along with the numerous SA stormtroopers had to go because in Hitler's eyes he was far too dangerous because of the popularity and his plans for himself and Germany would never be realized.

Answer 3

The Sturmabteilung or SA (German for "Storm division", usually translated as "stormtroop(er)s"), functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP — the German Nazi party. It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s.

SA men were often called "brownshirts", for the color of their uniforms, and to distinguish them from the SS, who wore black and brown uniforms (compare the Italian blackshirts). Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large batch of them was cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered for German troops serving in Africa.

The SA was also the first Nazi paramilitary group to develop pseudo-military titles for bestowal upon its members. The SA ranks would be adopted by several other Nazi Party groups, chief among them the SS. They were very important to Hitler's rise to power until they were completely replaced by the SS.

Answer 4

Dear Confused,

Please don't listen to any of the people who have posted saying the brown-shirts were Nazi military thugs. This is FALSE!
The brown-shirts was the name given to British Military troops who were occupying Ireland in the early twentieth century. They were known for their brutality towards Irish civilians and were responsible for many innocent deaths in the name of fighting Irish independence.