Nazi stormtrooper
SA insignia
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 Adolf Hitler and Ernst Röhm inspecting the SA in Nuremberg in 1933 |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1920 |
| Dissolved | May 8, 1945 |
| Superseding agency |
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| Type | Paramilitary |
| Jurisdiction |
 Weimar Republic  Germany
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| Headquarters | SA High Command, Barerstraße, Munich 48°8′37.53″N 11°34′6.76″E / 48.1437583°N 11.5685444°E |
| Minister responsible |
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| Parent agency | Nazi Party (NSDAP) |
| Child agency |
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The Sturmabteilung (SA; German pronunciation: [ˈʃtʊɐ̯mʔapˌtaɪlʊŋ] (
listen)), literally Storm Detachment, functioned as the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Slavs, Romanis, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses.
The SA were also called the "Brownshirts" (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other Nazi Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number 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.
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Wikipedia