Adоlf Hitler’s eаrliest suppоrters were knоwn аs the SA or [BLANK-1]. This group wаs a paramilitary organization that intimidated or performed acts of violence on Hitler’s political opponents. This group was among the earliest to embrace Nazism as an ideology with many having joined Hitler at the very beginning of his political career. Nonetheless, to consolidate power and to eliminate any potential political rivals, Hitler had his personal guard (the SS) purge the party of the SA. In the summer of 1934, in what became known as the Night of the Long Knives, SS troops secretly rounded up most of the SA, arrested them, and then executed them. Hitler was willing to kill his most loyal supporters in order to ensure absolute power in Germany.