According to ‘legend’, sometime after Stauffenberg placed his bomb-containing briefcase close to Hitler, it was moved. Indeed, it was said to have been moved to a new position such that a heavy, solid oak table leg stood between the briefcase and the Fuerher. And, so it’s claimed, the massive oak leg protected Hitler from the full force of the blast.
This neat little article enumerates a number of other “bad luck” factors which led to Hitler’s survival on July 20. Had any one of them not occurred, it’s a virtual certainty that Hitler would have perished.
It’s apparent, then, that the question of who would have taken over the reins of Nazi Germany if Hitler was assassinated was very close to being answered 63 years ago.
Who do you think it would have been? Goering? Himmler? Someone else? No one else? (i.e. would Germany simply have gone on to political, and then military, collapse in a matter of weeks). Personally, I favour the latter (as, apparently, did the conspirators).
(BTW, the Wiki article on the July 20 plot is nicely written and quite comprehsive. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a brief but accurate description of the events.)
I think Germany would have more or less collapsed. Or they would have lied their asses off and assured everyone Hitler was till alive. Some dudes think they did that.
My guess would have been Himmler. He was the best positioned to have seized power. The other contenders like Goering or Goebbels or Borman would have had to seek support from the Nazi heirarchy and the military. Himmler already had the SS to back him up.
Hard to figure. Hitler ran government by the seat of his pants. Rule of law and all that were of no import. His death would have set off a free-for-all.
Himmler might have grabbed the brass ring from Goering. That would have been a Bad Thing. Although Hitler was nuts, Himmler was double-secret nuts. The Germans could not have won, but it would have been even worse. Further, Hitler would have become a martyr for Nazi apologists.
I wondered about Himmler for the same reason that Little Nemo said, i.e. he had the SS to back him. However, “everything” I’ve read about the workings of the Nazi leadership indicates that Himmler was universally despised. My hunch is that there would have been more than one person who would use such an opportunity (Hitler out of the picture) to finish off “little Heinrich”.
Especially with both Himmler and Hitler gone, another possibility is that a new leader might have emerged from the military (but not someone connected with the conspiracy).
Another person who (assuming the rest of the millitary coup failed) was in a good position to take power was Martin Bormann. He was Hitler’s secretary and Nazi Party Chancellor/Deputy Fuhrer, and was popular with the gauleiters. He also had control of Hitler’s papers and knew where the bodies were buried (metaphorically), and had a good relationship with German business leaders.
I’d have to say Himmler. The plotters hadn’t given nearly enough thought to what would happen after Hitler died, and the Wehrmacht was by no means universally pro-coup. The political elite, entirely Nazi, would nevertheless have suspected the army after the role of Von Stauffenberg & Co. became known, and in the short term probably ordered them (at least in the Berlin area) into barracks. Himmler had the entire apparatus of the SS and Gestapo at his disposal and would, in a “national emergency” such as that which followed the Fuhrer’s death, have wielded immense power. The only guy who might have given him a hard time would have been Goering, since the Luftwaffe had ground troops too, but between the two of them my money would’ve been on Himmler.
Incidentally, the Tom Cruise-Kenneth Branagh movie Valkyrie will be coming out late next year, I think; it’s all about the plot to kill Hitler and its aftermath.
Well I’m with those who would guess Himmler or some other Nazi put in place by the SS and the party apparatus (though it must be noted that since the Gestapo hadn’t really any plot particulars it kinda weighs against an all-powerful unstoppable Nazi juggernaut).
Having said, that mention should be made of who were supposed to take over on behalf of the Army. This was the plan and they died for it and deserve honorable mention:
* Generaloberst **Ludwig Beck **was to be Reich President
* **Carl Goerdeler** - was to be Reich Chancellor (he almost survives long enough in hiding and being tortured for months to see the end of Hitler)
* **Julius Leber** was to be Minister of the Interior (he is betrayed and arrested 15 days before the bomb is planted and doesn't break)
If the July 20 Plot all went to plan these men may well have been the immediate provisional government successor at least until the Nazi’s staged a counter-coup or the whole thing went pearshaped and turned into a civil war/ total military collapse for the allies to March into Berlin by November