"Night of the long knives": 4 most of the carnage of modern and contemporary history

The history of humanity full of bloody wars and merciless carnage. Often, the extermination of enemies or dissidents has chosen the night as sleepy or disoriented in the darkness of the enemy could not expect effective defense. So happened that night the massacre was called "night of the long knives" in honor of the massacre of Hitler and his supporters against political opponents in the night of 30 June 1934.

It is difficult to list all of the mass slaughter that occurred even in our era, so we decided to tell you about the worst of those that have occurred over the past 500 years. Although in reality they were much more, because the massacre was accompanied by every war, religious or national conflict.

1. "The night of sorrow"

The night from 30 June to 1 July 1520 historians consider a turning point in the campaign of the Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes in Tenochtitlan — Aztec city-state located on the site of modern Mexico city. The Spaniards never managed to subdue the inhabitants of the city almost daily and the detachment suffered serious losses as a result of clashes in city streets.

Soon, cortés decided to break out of Tenochtitlan, but the Aztecs had destroyed four of the eight dams, connecting the city with the land. The Spaniards had to build temporary bridges made of logs and scrap materials to move through the channels. During terminal guidance, the conquistadors and their allies Tlascalans was attacked by the Aztecs from the land and from canoes that entered the channels.

Later, Cortes wrote to king Charles V that the loss of his squad made up of 150 Spaniards and 2000 Tlascalans. At the same time the Confessor of the Spaniard Francisco Lopez de Gomara, differed in their records of high accuracy, indicates that the night has said goodbye to life 450 Spaniards and 4,000 Tlaxcalans. The priest was always well informed, despite the fact that never left Europe.

2. "St. Bartholomew"

On the eve of the St. Bartholomew's day, in the night from 23 to 24 August 1572, was the most famous mass murder in history, committed on religious grounds. That night the Catholics of Paris took to the streets of his native city, to kill the Protestants, who were accused of exerting pressure on the Royal family, government conspiracy and the distortion of the true faith.

The massacre, fueled by the ruling French dynasty of Valois, was overflowed by one of the largest cities in contemporary Europe. The rioters broke into the houses of the Protestants and kill everyone caught there. A do not miss your chance to get even for old grudges, because in the confusion of the night of the massacre it was difficult to understand what's going on.

"Bartholomew's night" has claimed the lives of more than 2 thousand Parisians, among which was dominated by Protestants. Among the dead were men and women, the elderly and infants — religious fanatics are not known for mercy. Houses and shops of these people were looted and burned, and the corpses littered the streets and squares of the French capital.

3. "Crystal night"

This is a terrible and disgusting event is now called the prologue to the Holocaust, as it was the first powerful surge of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. In the night from 9 to 10 November 1938 the Nazis organized in dozens of German cities-Jewish pogroms.

The crowd of Germans broke into Jewish homes, shops and synagogues and beating anyone who looked like a Jew, with fists, with sticks, stones and steel rods. The name of this night was due to the fact that the rioters smashed Windows of shops belonging to their victims.

Historians claim that the total number of dead in the territory of the Reich was 90 people, and the number of injured was in the thousands. A third of all victims were Jews from Nuremberg. The effects of Kristallnacht were no less terrible — the Nazis sent to a concentration camp about 30 thousand Jews. Needless to say that most of these people died or were killed.

4. "Night of the long knives"

Event, the colloquial name of which has become a worldwide household name, happened in the night from 30 June to 1 July 1934. But witnesses to the battle claim that the slaughter lasted till night 2 July. The initiator of mass killings associated with the struggle for power, as in the case of "Crystal night," was Hitler and his associates, who decided to eliminate the only competitor in the struggle for power, Ernst röhm and his fellow stormtroopers.

To colleagues of the future führer the task was to destroy as many of the members of the SA troops and all their leaders, including the Rema. As usual, opponents accused of treason and demanded the voluntary surrender. Some complied, but some resisted.

The case was not limited to arrests of about 1070 people were arrested and executed on the spot or after delivery into prison. In the arrest of his adversary, Ernst röhm, Hitler was involved personally. The opposition politician did not dare to shoot him in the camera brought a gun with one bullet and he shot himself.