"Long knives" was a term used by the Iroquois, and later by the Mingo and other indigenous peoples of the Ohio Country to designate white settlers from Virginia, in contradistinction to those of New York and Pennsylvania.
It is a literal translation of the treaty name that the Iroquois first bestowed on Governor Lord Howard in 1684, Assarigoe (variously spelled Assaregoa, Assaragoa, Asharigoua), meaning "cutlass" in Onondaga. This word was chosen as a pun on Howard's name, which sounds like Dutch houwer meaning "cutlass"[1] (similar to the Iroquois' choice of the name Onas, or "quill pen", for the Pennsylvania Governors, beginning with William Penn.) This is the very explanation included within official diplomatic correspondence addressed by the Iroquois sachems themselves to then-governor Spotswood in 1722.[2]
George Rogers Clark spoke of himself and men as "Big Knives" or Virginians, in his speeches to the Indians in 1778 after the capture of Illinois. In the latter part of the American Revolutionary War, down to and during the War of 1812, the term was used to designate "Americans".
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Night of the Long Knives | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy
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The Night of the Long Knives
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June 30th 1934 - The Night of the Long Knives | HISTORY CALENDAR
Transcription
We have now seen the Nazis come to power in 1933 - and by mid 1933 they are the only allowed party in Germany. And Hitler is fundamentally the dictator of Germany. But they aren't happy with just that consolidated power, they want to ensure that they stay in power. And so as we get into 1934 they continue to consolidate their power and now more directly start eliminating their opponents. And when I say eliminating, they are actually directly killing these individuals. And there is an entire Nazi power apparatus that is at play, but the three figures here are the ones that are most notable other than Hitler. This is Joseph Goebbels who is the head of Nazi Propaganda, Hermann Göring who is the head of the Nazi's secret police, the Gestapo, which later goes under the control of the SS, under Heinrich Himmler. He is a major player in the rearmament of Germany for ???. He eventually helds the Luftwaffe which is the German airforce during the World War II. Heinrich Himmler who is the head of Schutzstaffel - more famously known as the SS - which is the paramilitary group of the Nazi party - used to intimidate and eliminate (as we will see) their opponents and they are also responsible for the execution of the actual the planning and the execution - of the actual holocaust. And so as we get into 1934 Hitler is eager to eliminate more of his opponents - and we are not just talking about opponents outside of the Nazi party, we are also talking about rivals within the Nazi party. And the most notable of these was Ernst Röhm who as you see at this picture was clearly a Nazi. He was head of the Storm Battalion or the SA, which was the paramilitary group that the SS splintered out of and it was far more independent than Hitler would have liked and it was not popular amongst the German people because of its violence - and Hitler and his tendence to view Röhm as a potential rival to Hitler's authority within the Nazi party. And so in 1934, June 30th in particular - or we can say June 30th till July 2nd - you have what's called the Night of the Long Knives and it really should be called the Nights of the Long Knives but the Night of the Long Knives where under the pretext of a supposed a coup d'état, under a putsch, under part of Ernst Röhm They - There you have the SS and the Gestapo start surrunding up Röhm, his allies and any perceived enimies of Hitler. Start surronding them of and eliminating them and shooting them... And Ernst Röhm is arrested and when he refuses to kill himself in his jail cell he is shot at point-blank range. Gregor Strasser, who is a former rival of Hitler within the Nazi party, he is eliminated. Kurt von Schleicher who is a previous chancellor of Germany perceived as a rival to Hitler - he and his wife are gunned down. Gustav Ritter von Kahr who is in no way anymore a rival to Hitler but he was one of the major actors for putting down the Beer Hall Putsch - the fail the Beer Hall Putch of 1923. He is hacked - he is hacked to get dead. And these are just four of the more notable folks. On those few nights over 85 major officials in Germany were eliminated. And as we will see this is just the beginning of the consolidation of Nazi power and now they are doing it through extra legal means.
References
- ^ contemporary 17th c. source affirming Dutch hower = "cutlass"
- ^ Iroquois-Virginia negotiations of 1722 – (note the date 1784 is incorrectly printed here for 1684).
- Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
- Chronicles of Border Warfare: "A history of whites and of the Indian Wars and Massacres", Alexander Scott Withers, 1831 p78-79.
This page was last edited on 19 April 2023, at 20:26