# What if the November 1939 assassination attempt on Hitler had succeeded? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 13, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785 "2013-09-13T18:27:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/1 "2013-09-13T18:27:02Z")
I know we’ve done a lot of these “what if” threads about Hitler. But, as far as I can tell, we’ve never discussed what may be one of the most interesting subjects for speculation - what if [Johann Elser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Georg_Elser) had been successful in his assassination attempt on Hitler in November 1939? With Hitler gone at such an early stage of the War, especially before _Barbarosa_, and before Pearl Harbor, all types of possibilities arise. I don’t think there would be debate as to who would have succeeded Hitler - Göring. Indeed, on September 1 of that year, [he had been designated as Hitler’s successor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_G%C3%B6ring#Second_World_War) in the event of the latter’s death. And, since his appointment in that regard had been announced publicly (in the _Reichstag_), I don’t see how anyone else could have taken over from AH at that time (although there may have been those who would have been most unhappy with that choice, and who might have eventually conspired to oust him). But, there’s no getting around the fact that Göring would be in charge at least initially. What we would Göring have done? _Would_ he have had broad support? I suspect (in view of his later behaviour in the real world) that he would have been much less inclined to commit Germany to a “war of destruction” with “the Bolsheviks”. And, since he actually knew the limitations of the Luftwaffe, even if didn’t admit it to Hitler, I doubt he would have seriously contemplated Sea Lion and maybe not even to the air attacks in what would eventually be called The Battle of Britain. So, IMO, no (planned) invasion of England, no invasion of the USSR. But what about France, Belgium, and Holland? Eventually, he would have to go for those three (you can’t do one without the others) if for no other reason than to use the massive troop and materiel build-up of the last years, and, satisfy all those Generals looking for easy glory. But, he would have delayed the invasion until troop, and more importantly, tank and aircraft levels were brought back back up to pre-September 1 levels (i.e. he would first replace the losses incurred in the invasion of Poland which, as I understand it, were considerable, much more than is commonly appreciated). In the longer term, Germany under Göring would not undertake a helluva lot more in terns of territorial conquests. He would have been content to enjoy his position and power and not chance losing them by poorly conceived attacks. And then the question becomes: would he have been “removed” by more ideologically committed Nazis, more bent on advancing Hitler’s ideas such as [Lebensraum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensraum). Who would have led such a coup, or coup-like action? Could Göring have been convinced to voluntarily relinquish his position? I think not given what we now know to be his extreme self-indulgence and over confidence. As my rather superficial speculations must show, I am not particularly knowledgeable about these things so would love to hear what you think. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/2 "2013-09-13T23:29:32Z")
Maybe Goering would have ended up taking over, but maybe not. Hess was also high up in the Nazi ranks. He was Deputy Fuehrer, he was an old fighter, who had been with the Party since the beginning, he was one of the people who Hitler dictated _Mein Kampf_ to and edited it, he was Hitler’s personal spokeman and physically closest to Hitler, and he was personally popular both with the population and the rest of the party, unlike Goering, who was a controversial figure. If Hitler had died in 1939, and Hess had wanted, he likely could have outmaneuvered Goering and taken over. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/3 "2013-09-14T02:04:47Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > [snip] > If Hitler had died in 1939, and Hess had wanted, he likely could have outmaneuvered Goering and taken over. Yeah, I wondered about Hess, too. But, at the end of the day, I think he was pretty much considered an intellectual light-weight and definitely not leadership material (and just to be clear, he was viewed that way well before his rather odd peace overture ; the one that had him parachuting into Scotland). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/4 "2013-09-14T04:23:07Z")
I also think it would have been Goering. He had Hitler’s stamp of approval for what that’s worth. And he probably had the right political connections. Hess might have been preferred by the old-time Nazis but his standing within the inner circles would have worked against him overall. Hess would have been seen as too radical - he was an old Friekorps man and true believer. Goering was seen as somebody you could do business with - he was Nazi enough to be acceptable to the hardliners but not so ideological he upset the mainstream. And there was the Himmler factor. Himmler had built up his own power base with the SS. This worried the military. So they would have backed Goering - who had the closest ties to the military among the top Nazis - as a counterweight to prevent Himmler from taking over. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/5 "2013-09-14T04:54:13Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > II don’t think there would be debate as to who would have succeeded Hitler - Göring. Oooh! Himmler don’ **like** that! That would have been quite a contest. Goering was charismatic in his way, and popular, but flamboyantly greedy and corrupt. Not quite the kind of man to lead Germany’s moral renewal as the Nazis saw it, no more so than Roehm the homosexual. Himmler was a dull, tidy, ascetic fellow, but a visionary in **his** way, a kind of Nordic-pagan mystic, a True Believer in National Socialism no one could doubt, and he had the SS on his side. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/6 "2013-09-14T13:23:48Z")
Off topic but something I’ve always wondered-I see his name either with the two-dot e or with the vowel digraph -oe-. How did he actually spell his own name? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/7 "2013-09-14T14:53:17Z")
That would be umlaut o…there’s no umlaut e. Since English doesn’t use the umlaut, though, it spells letters with an umlault with the diagraph -ae-, -oe-, or -ue-. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/8 "2013-09-14T14:58:45Z")
That being said, Goebbels was Goebbels. the shift from oe to umlaut o was a gradual one, and there were some people whose family names kept the older oe spelling…Goebbels, Goethe, etc. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-november-1939-assassination-attempt-on-hitler-had-succeeded/668785/9 "2013-09-15T17:28:16Z")
So no one else wants to speculate on what Göring (or Goering) would have done? Göring, Göring, . . . gone?