Seems strange that the horrors of WWII were as "recent" as 70 years ago, doesn't it? Well anyhow, today is June 20, and 70 years ago today is when Adolf Hitler cheated death. Some German officials tried to take him out because they saw the evilness... and also the fact that his decisions were destroying Germany and any chance of winning the war. In a nutshell, von Stauffenberg put an explosive into Hitler's briefcase and it looked as if their plan would work... until Heinz Brandt moved the briefcase further away without knowing what it contained. It ended up just injuring Hitler when it went off instead of killing him. (Operation Valkyrie, yes.) Stauffenberg was executed immediately, and Hitler started to ... uh... let's say reduce the number of his enemies one by one. And in a really creepy twist of irony, Hitler considered his survival as confirmation that he needed to keep doing what he was doing. Ever take a moment to think about "what if's" in history? I do that all the time... like for this one, what if the coup had happened as planned? I'd like to hear thoughts on that!
Oooooh! By golly, you're right! I'd like to say I was just testing to see if anyone was reading me but that would be a fib. In my own defense, I use a military website each morning for my Civil War/Gettysburg work to see what happened that day. Saw the Hitler thing and decided to mention it. As you can see from the following, they listed the date as June 20 so it wasn't actually my mistake, but I should have confirmed the data. http://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2005/06/20/june-20/ I guess I'll be writing to that "trusted-until-this-very-minute" website and have them correct it. Thanks for pointing it out, @R Leonard . For someone who loves history as I do, this is going to bother me emotionally for days.
Mistakes I've made in posts . . . let me count them . . . no . . . we'd best not . . . a really good way to waste a week. My interests lie primarily in the WWII Pacific Theater and center on US naval aviation . . . and I really do try to be careful. I'm really only vaguely aware that there was a war fought in Europe . . . except when USN aviation was involved or when the subject at hand touches on involvement of family members serving in Europe at the time. I remember the date for this particular event only because it is also my brother's birthdate.
The bright side is that now I'll never forget the Hitler hit attempt date (or your brother's birthdate!) hehe I'll watch for your posts to learn more about naval aviation. I haven't really done much research work with WWII yet... mostly Civil War and Vietnam. I *do* like the Eisenhower Farm WWII weekends, though, so the interest is growing!
Anyone read Alex Scarrow's "A Thousand Suns"? In it, he claims that the Germans very nearly got to the A-Bomb before the Americans, and were beaten only because of a calculation error. Now, imagine they DID get it right (assuming Scarrow is correct). Big "what if", isn't it?
I've not read that book, but have looked at a number of others which say that the German progress on the atomic bomb was anywhere from years behind the US to somewhat ahead. The one thing they all have in common though, is that the Germans were in fact on the trail to producing nuclear weapons, and in combination with their rocketry would have certainly changed our history.
Imagine if they got a bomb to work with their V2's, I was reading Christopher Andrew's "The Defence of the Realm", his descriptions of the V2 attacks were very unsettling. Now, add atom bombs to those, you've got a pretty dead planet left behind. Still, even that idea is less unsettling than the level of tension during the Cold War.
LOL, glad Leonard was paying attention and noticed. So yeah, we were reading you. Yep, make a comment to them, I am sure they will appreciate your feedback. If the Germans would have the nuclear bombs first I don't know what would have happened to our world.
I really would want to know how the world would be, if operation valkyrie was succesful. It could've been better and the war could've stopped earlier, but it also could've been worse, since Goering or Goebbels would probably have taken over.
I really don't know, but if Hitler had success with his ethnical "cleaning" the world would not be as diverse as it is today and most cultures and religions would have been lost.
I thought many views on this hit attempt believing in the war would be prolonged instead of shortened if Hitler was assassinated. Hitler was not so good at making military decisions. As a dictator, he was in fact interfering with the generals on the battlefield. If he was out of the war, German military could have performed better. Not saying that Germany had a chance to win if Hitler was dead, but rather they could have lasted longer before the defeat.
Do you think it would have lasted very long? I may be wrong, but it seems as if things like cultures and religions would have just started up again after Hitler's reign of terror ended, no matter when that would have been. I'm not so sure it's possible to wipe out entire cultures or religions just because some dictator wants it to happen. It's *hidden* for a while, but totally lost? Not sure, but I'll look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on this.
One more thing, from what I have heard/read, those German officers who attempted to assassinate Hitler wasn't because his "evil". They could careless about it as long as Hitler loves Germany. The major reason was because Hitler interfered with the battle plans with his incompetent in military expertise. Like I said in the previous post. If Hitler was out of the way, the German generals could have actually done a lot better on the battlefield, and that's exactly why some of them wanted to get rid of Hitler. They wanted to win the war.
This is a very good post. I don't doubt Hitler's power during his reign until he eventually drove himself crazy and into suicide when everything was crumbling around him. I wonder all the time about the "what ifs" in history. If Hitler would have died at that moment, it would have been the beginning of the end to World War II. Other countries within the Axis alliance would have been terribly shaken by his sudden death, especially at the hands of fellow Germans.
Normally i despise the "afterwards" wisdom. Mainly because in the world of facts it has less than no meaning. But in this case i fondly make an exception for Kate. First of all id like to remind you all that vast majority of Hitler's allies were not against Britain or America. But fell victim to Hitler's fears of the communist plague. The actions of Soviet Union at the time was far greater concern to countries in Europe. It was simple matter of choosing between lesser of the two evils. It is true that failed attempts to remove Hitler were much more numerous than the famed case of Von Stauffenberg. To mention a few Hitler flying with exploding champagne bottles where ignition wouldn't work. Or the determined idea of disgruntled veteran of East Front to remove Hitler by shooting him in front of assembled soldiers on display of new uniform models for German army. That particular attempt failed due to Hitlers own paranoid mind of cancelling his participation of the display at last moment. For the truth of it Hitler's determination about the risks of communism proved true. Whether we like it or not. The options of that days Europe were few. Oppression of either Red or Black terror. At least the Black terror seemed willing to negotiate. Nonetheless Kate you score a point here on my books.
Thanks, Turo. I usually hate that, too... but when it turns into a matter of someone not doing "afterwards wisdom" because they totally ignore or forget things already learned from history, then it just gets annoying. I'm hoping the same thing (ignoring/forgetting) isn't happening again as we speak concerning ISIS/ISIL ... what do you think, @Turo Nieminen ?
Well currently i have not had time to familiarize with modern fundamentalist movements. But looks like its being dealt with questionable means, referring to arming Kurds. Only time will tell if the movement is one of those 10year specials that occur now and then. Im concerned about situation between Kurds and the Turks, knowing their past its bound to lead to troubles. Turkey being Nato and Kurds simply collection of tribes whonder if they are simply being used to meet their end in hands of past allies.
If the final year/months of the German conflict were not so oppressing for Nazi Germany I think the rockets they would have eventually developed and used would have been devastating. Its interesting to see the progress that was made once most of Germany's smartest and brightest came over to the USA, mostly in secret. By the end, there weren't so many resources available for the scientists and engineers which slowed their impact. The loss of morale also helped impede the completion of the warheads they were developing to use against the Americans here in the USA.
