Chamberlain

I've heard that Britain's foolish prime minister mister Chamberlain inane meddling in the affairs of Europe before Germany's evasion of Poland made matters worse. That a German coop was waiting for Hitler to enter the Sudetenland but the Munich agreement squashed it. "Peace in our time"

 

Sums it up in one short sentence. OP, you should knit that on a pillow.

 

Why start a new thread?

 

That's a hint by the way that this topic has been discussed previously on this board. Indeed there are several threads on it. Of course thanks to this one we have Opana's well worded and succinct quote.

 

Hitler was disappointed by the Munich agreement. He regarded the Wehrmacht as already prepared for a war against France and Britain. Chamberlain delayed the war for a year, we will never know if this was important for the later outcome of the war.

 

yes we do When the 1935-6 Air Estimates were passed by Cabinet and parliament in the UK, the layered Air Plan was for the RAF to be ready to fight a European war at the end of the European barley harvest in 1939. Traditionally, this released large numbers of farm labouring reservists for call-up

So I've seen it argued on this and other bases that rather than being the arch-appeaser we've always been told he was - Chamberlain was in effect only buying time in the year from 1938 to 1939 for the completion of the RAF's rebuilding to the level at which it could fight a war - the level it was at in November 1918

There's only one problem with this - what Chamberlain thought of the Munich Agreement. And there's one IMO very telling argument that he thought he WAS indeed buying peace with the sacrifice of the Czechs. Not a year's breathing space - but "peace in our time". And it was his official Downing Street Christmas Card of 1938...

This didn't feature any seasons' greetings or jolly fat man in a red suit, or Victorian snow scene with leaded windows in little cottages. Just a simple black and white photograph - of the aircraft he flew back from Munich on! THAT'S how proud of the peacemaking he was Not the breathing space-buying.

 

And then there´s the Oster conspiracy...

https://www.amazon.com/Oster-Conspiracy-1938-Military-Hitler/dp/0060955252

 

The Oster conspiracy was an amateur attempt to get rid of the Nazis at the wrong time. Even if Hitler could be killed, Göring would replace him.

 

And Goering would have been the same?

 

Göring (or Hess) would soon become puppets of Himmler and Heydrich.
By the way: It was the other way round - Göring tamed Hitler, who was a gambler by nature.

After the Austria annexation, Hitler was at his peak of popularity. No one would understand an uprising by parts of the military. Even in summer 1944, the majority of germans followed Hitler.

When the war started in late 1938, would there be such a big difference? The Wehrmacht would have to fight against the Czechoslovakia and Poland in the East, no Skoda tanks, no oil from Russia. The point is: Not only the RAF improved its preparations for war.

 

I was being a tad facetious. I completely agree. Most certainly Himmler and Heydrich, IMO, would have battled it out. Although they were ideologically similar in many ways, they had sharp contrasts. Goering was in no way capable of commanding the Wehrmacht, running the nation and fending off other suitors. Not to mention he did not garner the respect he thought he did.

I always wondered though. if Hitler was ousted by the conspiracy or at any other time, let's say after Barbarossa and the establishment of the Jewish pogroms, would the events have been the same?

 

In addition, I wonder how deep the NSDAP would have gotten into the heart of German politics if the head was chopped off?

 

I am not so sure. Göring was the only high-ranked Nazi with a reputation of a war hero (successor of von Richthofen) and serious political experience (president of the german parlament before Hitler got to power). Himmler for example was a joke without the SS, he was a farmer and hardly known to the public in 1938. Heydrich was more dangerous and obviously an intelligent guy.

It was always a fault to underestimate Göring, because he was fat, conceited and had this ridiculous uniform fetish. He had a high IQ, was capable to think and argue logical and was one of the more realistic Nazis. Without Hitler, he surely would have tried to establish something like a monarchy with him as a king and Hitler as an icon.

Rudolf Heß was Deputy Leader of the NSDAP. If Hitler was killed, he would be his successor as the Führer.

 

Ha ha. Hess.