Goering is a great person to play “what if.” By all accounts he was an honorable officer in WWII, skilled in combat and respectful of those he fought against. He would be remembered well (although not by as many people) if he’d scuttled his plane by crashing it in a steep dive.
IMHO, the humiliating surrender in WWI broke his heart, leaving him open to getting involved with a pack of thugs who promised to make Germany great again. I imagine it must have been somewhat shocking to him when he cleared up in Nuremburg, being able to think clearly after all of those years and seeing what he’d done.
I agree, he seemed honorable during WWI but so was Hitler. Hitler won the Iron Cross twice. But, Goering was an officer and Hitler a Corporal.
The thing is though, Goering was educated and I think he really wanted to see Germany rise and was seduced by Hitler. I forget the exact quote but when Hitler heard of Goering, he said something like Goering could give them some respect since he won the Pour le Mérite, (The Blue Max).
I think if he wasn’t on the drugs, WWII might have ended differently. Not that I think Germany would have won once the USA got into it but Goering’s Luftwaffe with Goering’s full potential behind it might have broke Britain during the Blitz.
He thought Germany would be putting statues up of him in 50 years but I’ve been to Germany and I didn’t see any.
Speer was another educated guy seduced by Hitler who was also responsible for using slave labor. I recall in Nuremberg he talked about taking responsibility but he pushed the slave labor issue off on Sauckel I think. Speer got 20 years and Sauckel got death.
Wiki has a decent enough post on both of them if you want more info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_G%C3%B6ring
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Speer
The book, Justice at Nuremburgh is great reading and the part about Goering was the best part. He knew he was doomed but without the drugs, he was a smart guy. I think that of all the prisoners in the dock, Goering’s IQ was 138, third in line while Schact, the banker was #1. Schact also went free, too.