Editing Sturmabteilung (section)

{{Evil Organization
|Box title    = Evil Organization
|name = Evil Organization
|Image        = SA-Logo.svg
|size   = 
|fullname = Sturmabteilung
|alias = SA<br>Brownshirts
|origin = Weimar Republic
|foundation = 1920
|headquarters = Munich, Germany
|commanders = [[Ernst Röhm]]<br>[[Viktor Lutze]]<br>[[Wilhelm Schepmann]]
|agents = [[Hermann Göring]]<br>[[Friedrich Alpers]]<br>[[Paul Blobel]]<br>[[Oskar Dirlewanger]]<br>[[Gottlob Berger]]<br>[[Rudolf Lange]]<br>[[Paul Ogorzow]]<br>[[Albert Forster]]
|skills = Paramilitary training<br>Knowledge of Nazi politics
|crimes = [[War crimes]]<br>[[Crimes against humanity]]<br>[[Genocide]]<br>Mass [[murder]]<br>[[Terrorism]]<br>[[Arson]]<br>Destruction of property<br>[[Xenophobia]]<br>
|goals = Enforce the rule of [[Adolf Hitler]] (successful until 1945)
|type of villain = Nazi Military Force}}{{Quote|If the enemies of the SA are hoping that the SA will not return from leave, we are ready to let them enjoy the hope for a short time. The SA is, and remains, Germany's destiny.|[[Ernst Röhm]]}}The '''''Sturmabteilung''''' also known as the SA functioned as the original paramilitary wing of the [[Nazi Party]]. It played a key role in [[Adolf Hitler]]'s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Their main assignments were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of the opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties (esp. the Rotfrontkämpferbund) and intimidating Jewish citizens (e.g. the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses).

The SA was the first Nazi paramilitary group to develop pseudo-military titles for bestowal upon its members. The SA ranks were adopted by several other Nazi Party groups, chief amongst them the SS, itself originally a branch of the SA. SA men were often called "brownshirts" for the colour of their uniforms (similar to [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[blackshirts]]). Brown-coloured shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large batch of them were cheaply available after [[World War I]], having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany's former African colonies.

The SA became disempowered after Adolf Hitler ordered the "Blood purge" of 1934. This event became known as the [[Night of the Long Knives]]. The SA was effectively superseded by the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'', although it was not formally dissolved and banned until after the Third Reich's downfall at the end of [[World War II]]; they notably were the main perpetrators of the ''[[Kristallnacht]]'' [[pogrom]] that effectively began [[the Holocaust]] in 1938.

The SA was banned by the Allied Control Council shortly after Germany's capitulation. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg formally judged the SA to be a criminal organization. Several of its members were tried and hanged for [[war crimes]] at Nuremberg.