Editing Schutzstaffel (section)

===Early commanders===
Schreck, a founding member of the SA and a close confidant of Hitler, became the first SS chief in March 1925.{{sfn|Laqueur|Baumel|2001|p=604}} On 15 April 1926, Joseph Berchtold succeeded him as chief of the SS. Berchtold changed the title of the office to ''[[Reichsführer-SS]]'' (Reich Leader-SS).{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=30}} Berchtold was considered more dynamic than his predecessor but became increasingly frustrated by the authority the SA had over the SS.{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=32}} This led to him transferring leadership of the SS to his deputy, [[Erhard Heiden]], on 1 March 1927.{{sfn|Hein|2015|p=12}} Under Heiden's leadership, a stricter code of discipline was enforced than would have been tolerated in the SA.{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=32}}

Between 1925 and 1929, the SS was considered to be a small ''Gruppe'' (battalion) of the SA.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=45–46}} Except in the Munich area, the SS was unable to maintain any momentum in its membership numbers, which declined from 1,000 to 280 as the SA continued its rapid growth.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=32–33}} As Heiden attempted to keep the SS from dissolving, [[Heinrich Himmler]] became his deputy in September 1927. Himmler displayed better organisational abilities than Heiden.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=45–46}} The SS established [[List of Gauleiters|a number]] of [[Gau (territory)|''Gaue'']] (regions or provinces). The SS-Gaue consisted of ''SS-Gau Berlin'', ''SS-Gau Berlin Brandenburg'', ''SS-Gau Franken'', ''SS-Gau Niederbayern'', ''SS-Gau Rheinland-Süd'', and ''SS-Gau Sachsen''.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2012|pp=1–2}}