Franz Pfeffer von Salomon
Franz Pfeffer von Salomon (February 19, 1888 in Düsseldorf - April 12, 1968 in Munich), also known as Franz von Pfeffer, was the first commander of the SA upon its re-establishment in 1925, following its temporary abolition in 1923 after the abortive Beer Hall Putsch.[1]
Pfeffer von Salomon was a Prussian Army veteran of the First World War and also a Freikorps member. He gained his reputation by organizing resistance groups to put an end to the French occupation of the Ruhr. He was Gauleiter in Upper Bavaria, and Heinrich Himmler was once his secretary. Adolf Hitler gave Pfeffer command of the SA after he swore unconditional loyalty to Hitler following the Bamberg Conference of 1926.
Pfeffer was dismissed from his command in 1930, following disagreements with Hitler about the role of the SA, and because he had failed to prevent his fellow SA leader Walter Stennes from briefly occupying the Nazi Party's offices in Berlin. After Pfeffer's dismissal, Hitler assumed personal supreme command of the SA but summoned Ernst Röhm to return to Germany from South America to run the SA as its Chief of Staff, since Hitler had no interest in running the SA himself.
Pfeffer survived the Second World War and died in 1968.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hermann Göring |
Leader of the SA 1926-1930 |
Succeeded by Adolf Hitler |
Footnotes
- ↑ Hitler was incarcerated in Landsberg until 20 December 1924 for his role in the November 1923 putsch. In early January 1925 he met Heinrich Held, the Bavarian Prime Minister, and promised that the Nazi Party had abandoned the strategy of seeking to overthrow the government by violent or unconstitutional means, and also that in future it would only seek power through lawful and constitutional means. In February 1925 the Bavarian bans on the Nazi Party and its organs (including the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter and the SA) were lifted. See Toland chapter 4; Kershaw chapter 3.
References
- Kershaw, Ian (1999). Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-04671-0.
- Read, Anthony (2004). The Devil's Disciples: Hitler's Inner Circle. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-04800-4.
- Toland, John (1976). Adolf Hitler. New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 0-385-03724-4.
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