SA (initials of Sturm Abteilungen - Sections of attack)

Paramilitary formation that Hitler melts and adds in November 1921 to the party Nazi (NSDAP). SA, also called « brown militia » or « brown shirts » because of the color of their uniform, were reorganized by Röhm in 1931. By the importance of their manpower (more than 400 000 men at at the beginning of 1933), by their brutal methods of intimidation, they constituted an effective instrument for the accession of Hitler to the capacity. This one, anxious by their power, however got rid of Röhm and the principal heads of the sections of attack during the « Night of the long knives » (June 30, 1934) and reduced the role of SA to the profit of SS.