Article written by Russ Folsom.
Robert G.L.Waite, in his seminal "The Free Corps Movement :Vanguard of Nazism", argues quite credibly that the first detachments of the SA (pronounced "Es-Ah") were descended from the hardened veterans of the Freikorps, [ie.the disgruntled and heavily armed former 'Frontsoldaten' roaming the streets of the fledgling Weimar Republic], while Max Gallo, in his work "The Night of the Long Knives" more clearly implies that the very first cadres were composed of former [or then current] members of the Naval Brigade of Hauptmann Lowenfeld, and the 'Jagerkorps' of General Maerker. The truth is perhaps situated somewhere in between, with a number of non-aligned, politically disenfranchised right-wing types, including both former 'frontsoldaten', and young political idealists then filling the burgeoning ranks of the NSDAP Partei, composing the first echelons. In February 1920 a strong-arm group of toughs, reputedly members of a Reichswehr 'mortar unit' from the 7.Bavarian Division, joined party ranks, and were christened the "Zeitfreiwilligen" - tasked specifically with escorting and protecting NS-Partei orator Hitler to public speaking engagements, [usually in 'Bierstube u. Bierkeller'], which tended to periodically erupt into violent clashes between the opposing politcal constituents in attendance. Dressed in 'feldgrau' anoraks and Austrian-style 'Kepis' from German army stores, [both items unique to the elite 'Gebirgsjager' - mountain troops], and armed with pistols and blackjacks, this early incarnation of the SA would earn a lasting reputation for brutality against it's opponents that would follow througout the organizations career. After the militarist 'Kapp Putsch' of 1920, a uniform ban was applied to all political organizations in Munich, and the NSDAP thought it better to both lose the para-military feldgrau for civilian garb, and rename it's nascent 'combat organization' with a less bellicose moniker. Directly they became the "Ordnertruppen", and shortly thereafter, the "Turn-und-Sport-Abteilung" [T.u.SA], which meant 'Gymnastic and Sport Detachment'. While the name change may have briefly pacified the Bavarian authorities, the party 'combat organization' continuted its roughshod duties at speakers meetings and public demonstrations unabated, sparing no opponent the cudgel, the fist, or upon occasion, the pistol. Munich ran rife with political assassinations during the early 1920's.
In August 1921, ex-Naval Lieutenant Hans Ulrich Klintzch took command of the NSDAP's "Defence and Propaganda Troop" which would a month later be renamed the SA or "Sturmabteilung" (Storm Detachment). In March of 1923 Klintzch would be recalled by Captain Ehrhardt, a Freikorps leader, to whom his first loyalty was sworn, after Ehrhardt and Hitler quarreled over differing opinions concerning retaliation to the French occupation of the Ruhr. During the 1921-23 period the NSDAP fostered a youth movement known as the "Jugendbund" for males between the ages of 14 and 18 years. It was sub-divided into two age groups; the elder of which (16-18 years) was titled "Jungsturm Adolf Hitler" (in effect, a junior SA.) It's successor organization, the "Hitler Jugend" remained beneath SA control until May 1932. In the period falling beneath Klintzch's aegis, some 6000 or more SA men were recruited and indoctrinated, and further large numbers of enrollment would continue unabated until the 1923 NS "Putsch" debacle. Contrary to popular belief, the SA at this moment was a relatively small (though not necessarily elite) force of strong-arm men promulgating the NS creed on the streets and in the Bier halls of Bavaria, hardly a nation-wide phenomenon. They were not known as 'brownshirts' during this early period, if only [as noted before], because their uniform was a hodge-podge of grey civilian and para-military looking tunics, and ski-caps of the Austrian style, jackboots, and of course the requisite Swastika armband.
Following Klintzch's departure, Hitler appointed WWI hero Hermann Goring to the post of SA-Stabschef in April 1923. Goring's indolent and self-indulgent manner made his tenure as SA-Stabschef rather uneventful. During this time however, it was Captain Ernst Rohm, of the post-war Reichswehr who, though in the background, was the real moving force behind the SA. Relying upon thier ultra-rightist paranoia, he persuaded his Army masters to provide the nascent NS organization with covert arms and arms-training, so that by September of 1923 - the SA, along with several like-minded adopted units of the Freikorps movement such as the "Bund Oberland" and the "Reichskriegsflagge" (Rohm's own organization of whom H.Himmler was a dues paying member), would become a "Kampfbund" or "Fighting League", supposedly sworn to the continuation of a "Nationalist" orientation in the Government of Bavaria - as opposed to the plans of the Red "KPD", or 'Kommunist Partei Deutschland'. It was with this nominally 70,000 strong amalgamation of "Nationalist" forces under his command that Hitler inadvisedly undertook the November 1923 'Beer-Hall' Putsch.
After what would seem a mortal blow to the NS 'Bewegung' (Nazi movement), Hitler was locked-up in Landsberg prison, and the SA was officially banned in Bavaria; many of them going to other provinces of Germany and clandestinely calling themselves the "Frontbann." The 1925-26 reformation of the SA included a banning of weapons and a strict adherence to the laws of the land in public deportment. At this time Hitler declared himself the "Oberste SA Fuhrer", though the actual power of command was still nominally vested in the office of SA-Stabschef. He was at odds with Rohm over the fundamental nature and role of the SA Stormtroopers; odds so great in fact, that Rohm would eventually resign his offices and go to Bolivia as a military advisor in 1928. Hitler appointed ex-Freikorps leader Franz Pfeffer von Salomon as SA-Stabschef in 1927. Pfeffer did not fundamentally differ with Rohm's idea concerning the form and function of the "Brownshirts" (for they now wore a standardized para-military 'brown' uniform), and secretly negotiated with rightist groups and military types to clandestinely re-arm the SA. When Hitler found that Pfeffer v.Salomon was dealing in this manner, he wired Rohm in Bolivia and asked him to return.
Rohm returned to Germany and assumed the role of 'SA-Stabschef' in January 1931. He would oversee large inductions of disillusioned out of work 'democrats' into the ranks of his burgeoning SA organization, and the further expansion of thier role as overt NS 'agitators' in the streets and strife-torn political arenas of the tottering Weimar Republic. However, in his eyes the Storm detachments were to be the para-military vanguard of a vast and all encompassing "mass-revolution" in Germany [one so vast in fact, that he eventually planned to replace the traditional armed forces of the Reich with his cadres.] Of course, Hitler's plan since release from Landsberg, was the "legal usurpation" of Governmental power by a series of votes into Reichstag, and perhaps more importantly, courting and dealing with the current political powers behind the scenes. After the 1923 Putsch failure he never intended the vast cadres of the SA to be anything more than a political lever; a menacing threat on the streets of Germany to back up the power and prestige of his NSDAP Partei and it's political program. This was the source of his final quarrel with Rohm, who had always assumed that the 'revolution' would be settled in the streets, and not quietly in the halls of government. Hitler cleverly manipulated Rohm and the senior staff of the SA with this illusion until they were no longer of any practical political use. When Rohm and his vast 'Brown army' threatened Hitler's fledgling dictatorial power in early 1934 with disgruntled rumblings against the Riech Army, [and the bloodless course the so-called NS 'revolution' had taken], swift and decisive action had to be taken. Thus came the "Night of the Long Knives",[Nacht v.der Lange Messer], and the demise of the SA as a force of any great military or political magnitude in Nazi Germany. The SS, once a fledgling cadre drawn from SA ranks, and known upon thier inception as the "Saalschutz" (Hall protectors), now in the guise of the "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" (Bodyguard-Regiment Adolf Hitler), would ironically deliver the death blow to the hierarchy of their parent organization,the SA, in a frenzy of firing-squads and calculated murder which reached well into the middle ranks of the SA, and which would ultimately denude the 'brown-cadres' of their once overbearing influence upon the NS agenda, which had now become the 'German agenda."
Following the June 1934 purge of the higher SA echelons (as well as a number of Reich citizens on the Nazi 'hit-list') Hitler appointed a non-threatening, well-heeled SA-Obergruppenfuhrer - Viktor Lutze, as the new SA-Stabschef. Lutze would oversee the near complete amputation and emasculation of the SA in the new Third Reich. By wartime, most SA functions had been relegated to the collection of 'Winterhilfe' dontations, the provision and training of various recruits for different branches of the Wehrmacht, and as auxilliaries for other Party organizations. Many former SA members also provided the basis for a number of Heer and Luftwaffe units. For all intents and purposes the post-purge SA had returned to a shade of it's original cover name, the "Turn-u-Sport Abteilung", for they were no more than a glorified 'sporting organization' for the remainder of their existance. SA-Stabschef Viktor Lutze died in an automobile accident in 1943. He was succeeded by SA-Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Schepmann. Schepmann oversaw the induction of what was left of the SA into the Volkssturm in early 1945.
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