Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: InvisibleChurch

Those are very interesting questions, imponderable in some respects. My opinions:

1: Had Hitler been assassinated years earlier, would the war have lasted longer because better military minds might have held more sway or would the leaders have decided to cut their losses and surrendered?

Depends on how many years earlier. Without Hitler or someone like him who was a sparkplug, a warhead, as it were, Germany might have never developed the ultra nationalist leanings, (maybe mandates would be a better word) that led them to seek territory and conquest and persecution of the Jews (and other ginned-up outcast groups) out of the terrible depression it was going through from the late 20’s into the 30’s. Germany was badly humilated in WW1 and the after-effects of losing the war and particularly the oppressive reparations it was forced to endure might have led it into much more of a meek stance. One can imagine that only a few programming switches had to be flipped for Germany to go warlike, but without the fiery charisma of a Hitler, it may well have never developed as it did. Now if Hitler had been assasinated AFTER the Nazi party came to power, and after the Nazi regime had established itself and above all, started the war, then the German march to war might have been a lot more successful. As is, they ran over most of Europe. I believe that few historians would argue that the Nazis in large part defeated themselves with the overreach into Russia in 1941.

2: Would the holocaust come to an end or would it have continued?

The holocaust was a massive national project but it was founded upon the ultra nationalism sparked by Hitler and arguably was so audaciously evil that perhaps only a Hitler might have imagined it and worked to pursue it as a reality.

So most of my answer is, it would depend upon where things sat at the moment Hitler had been assassinated. If it was 1940, the war might have been more successful for Germany. Before the Russian adventure, Germany really had had few setbacks. Maybe Germany “lost” the Battle of Britain, but that was merely failing to achieve a goal. It started and ended and chewed up some pilots and some planes. No doubt, it was a negative to their morale. But once they decided they “lost”, the bleeding stopped and they turned their attention elsewhere. Russia and the battle for Russia was a cancer that ate up more and more German resources over time. Furthermore, it activated the Russian military against Germany and that might have never happened had Germany left Russia more or less alone.


22 posted on 06/04/2012 7:56:03 PM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder (A conservative, a liberal and a moderate walk into a bar. Bartender says "what'll it be, Mitt?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: Attention Surplus Disorder
The German defeat in the Battle of Britain directly led to Operation Barbarossa. Hitler believed that the UK’s only hope was the Soviet Union intervening in the war. He saw knocking out Russia leading to Britain's eventual surrender. Hitler stated this theory consistently in the formulation and lead up to Barbarossa. The source for this is Ian Kershaw’s two volume biography of Hitler.
27 posted on 06/04/2012 8:23:04 PM PDT by gusty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies ]

To: Attention Surplus Disorder

Britain was at least neutralized to the point where they were no threat to take on Germany, until the US entered the war. So it made sense for Hitler to turn attention to Russia, before Stalin could complete his buildup, which was slated to be around 43-44. That’s why Stalin was so hesitant to do anything that might provoke Hitler, he was trying to buy as much time as he could.


30 posted on 06/04/2012 8:28:39 PM PDT by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies ]

To: Attention Surplus Disorder; InvisibleChurch

you forget one thing — the Soviets were only bidding for time. They would have turned on the Nazis sooner or later. The whole thing was a Russian roulette — to see who blinked first


60 posted on 06/05/2012 3:52:39 AM PDT by Cronos (**Marriage is about commitment, cohabitation is about convenience.**)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson