Western court-historians and other assorted ignoramuses have always portrayed the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler as a noble effort ...
Western court-historians and other assorted ignoramuses have always portrayed the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler as a noble effort among German Officers to save Germany from Hitler's madness. The plotters, as the goof-ball narrative goes, viewed the regime as "evil"; and, with the tide of war turning, were in a position to remove the tyrant Hitler. Hollywood even produced a movie with this theme, so it must be true; right? (rolling eyes)
Though it is certainly true that at least some of the naive plotters were under the delusion that the death of Hitler would lead to a peaceful settlement with America and Britain, treasonous plots against Hitler had existed since 1938; the plotters generally being old school, elitist military conservatives who always resented 'Lance Corporal' Hitler's merit-based populist ideology and anti-classism. According to a 1940 report issued by the German Foreign Ministry, some of these plots were aided by western spy agencies.
Hitler preferred the company of his adoring rank and file soldiers to that of some of his snobby Generals.
It is hard to say which of the plotters were western-friendly traitors, which were motivated solely by a desire to save their own skin, and which truly believed that a just peace with Churchill and FDR (which would have allowed Germany to focus on fighting the Soviet Union) was actually possible. We suspect that several motives were at play. For the sake of argument, let us assume that most of the coup plotters had honorable intentions, as was likely the case with General Erwin Rommel; and limit ourselves only to addressing the delusion that Hitler's death would have spared Germany from the coming post-war horrors of 1945-1949.
But first, a review of the amazing 1944 event is in order.
THE JULY 20 PLOT
One month after the the successful Allied invasion of Normandy, as Stalin's Red Army moves eastward, the tide of war is clearly turning against Germany. Barring a stunning counter-offensive in the West, which will nearly succeed during the coming December, (Battle of the Bulge) Hitler's days seem numbered. The coup-plotters believe that the time to kill Hitler and make a deal is 'now or never'.
Operation Valkyrie is a World War II emergency 'continuity of government' plan issued to the Reserve Army of Germany to implement in case of a breakdown in civil order caused by the Allied bombing of German cities. German Generals Friedrich Olbricht and Henning von Tresckow, and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) modified the plan with the intention of using it to take control of Germany, disarm the SS, and arrest the State leadership once Hitler had been assassinated. Hitler's death (as opposed to his arrest) was required to free German soldiers from their oath of loyalty to him.
von Stauffenberg - Olbricht - von Tresckow
As the war situation deteriorates, Hitler no longer appears in public and rarely visits Berlin. He spends most of his time at his headquarters at the 'Wolfsschanze' (Wolf's Lair) in East Prussia, always heavily guarded and rarely seeing people he does not trust. Waffen SS Leader Heinrich Himmler and the Gestapo grow increasingly suspicious of plots against Hitler, and rightly suspect the officers of the General Staff, the source of previous conspiracies against Hitler and probably some of the post D-Day military "blunders" which facilitated the Allied advance from the West.
Their aim is to continue the war with Stalin, but to make peace with the U.S. & U. K.. The conspirators score a major coup in early July when they recruit Erwin Rommel, the famed "Desert Fox", into their ranks. Rommel is the most popular officer in Germany and first active-duty Field Marshal to lend support to the plot. After lengthy preparation, the plot is activated in 1944.
http://www.tomatobubble.com/id766.html
Though it is certainly true that at least some of the naive plotters were under the delusion that the death of Hitler would lead to a peaceful settlement with America and Britain, treasonous plots against Hitler had existed since 1938; the plotters generally being old school, elitist military conservatives who always resented 'Lance Corporal' Hitler's merit-based populist ideology and anti-classism. According to a 1940 report issued by the German Foreign Ministry, some of these plots were aided by western spy agencies.
Hitler preferred the company of his adoring rank and file soldiers to that of some of his snobby Generals.
It is hard to say which of the plotters were western-friendly traitors, which were motivated solely by a desire to save their own skin, and which truly believed that a just peace with Churchill and FDR (which would have allowed Germany to focus on fighting the Soviet Union) was actually possible. We suspect that several motives were at play. For the sake of argument, let us assume that most of the coup plotters had honorable intentions, as was likely the case with General Erwin Rommel; and limit ourselves only to addressing the delusion that Hitler's death would have spared Germany from the coming post-war horrors of 1945-1949.
But first, a review of the amazing 1944 event is in order.
THE JULY 20 PLOT
One month after the the successful Allied invasion of Normandy, as Stalin's Red Army moves eastward, the tide of war is clearly turning against Germany. Barring a stunning counter-offensive in the West, which will nearly succeed during the coming December, (Battle of the Bulge) Hitler's days seem numbered. The coup-plotters believe that the time to kill Hitler and make a deal is 'now or never'.
Operation Valkyrie is a World War II emergency 'continuity of government' plan issued to the Reserve Army of Germany to implement in case of a breakdown in civil order caused by the Allied bombing of German cities. German Generals Friedrich Olbricht and Henning von Tresckow, and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) modified the plan with the intention of using it to take control of Germany, disarm the SS, and arrest the State leadership once Hitler had been assassinated. Hitler's death (as opposed to his arrest) was required to free German soldiers from their oath of loyalty to him.
von Stauffenberg - Olbricht - von Tresckow
As the war situation deteriorates, Hitler no longer appears in public and rarely visits Berlin. He spends most of his time at his headquarters at the 'Wolfsschanze' (Wolf's Lair) in East Prussia, always heavily guarded and rarely seeing people he does not trust. Waffen SS Leader Heinrich Himmler and the Gestapo grow increasingly suspicious of plots against Hitler, and rightly suspect the officers of the General Staff, the source of previous conspiracies against Hitler and probably some of the post D-Day military "blunders" which facilitated the Allied advance from the West.
Their aim is to continue the war with Stalin, but to make peace with the U.S. & U. K.. The conspirators score a major coup in early July when they recruit Erwin Rommel, the famed "Desert Fox", into their ranks. Rommel is the most popular officer in Germany and first active-duty Field Marshal to lend support to the plot. After lengthy preparation, the plot is activated in 1944.
http://www.tomatobubble.com/id766.html
