An Insane Stroke of Luck

A couple of days ago, I watched "Inglorious Bastards" for the first time. It was fun, but not, IMHO, AH (I had this weird feeling that Tarentino adapted history to make it more cinematic.) But it did get me thinking.

Maybe because of "Valkyrie" (and the feeling that if you're goinng to change history, you should at least get rid of the Nazis), there has been a lot of talk about what would happen if one of the various anti-Nazi coups succeded. However, there has not been a lot of talk about some kind of outside interference. After posting in this thread, I began to think about assassination. Lets get rid of the Bastards; lets just say that some psychotic British or American officer gets it into his head to go on a suicide mission to kill Hitler. Lets say that sometime in April 1943 (random date) this officer and a couple of soldiers that High Command thinks worth sending to if nothing else get rid of their officer, get some luck. A batshit insane ASB stroke of luck of the kind that happens once in a century-Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, and Bormann are all killed. The assassins are killed in the havoc (so plenty of conspiracy theories), but Himmler survives in Berlin. The four who were killed were killed together in some place outside of Germany. What happens? Does Himmler take over? Or do the antifascist elements of the Army and Government see a chance and take it? And how does this affect the war?
 
Weird, I was just on a thread like this:

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=144443

(Still learning the ropes of the site, so don't know why it isn't brought to the homepage though -- I guess if a thread gets to a certain age it isn't a "new thread" even if the posts are recent.)

I couldn't say about the posts.

This thread is different from the one you mentioned is because:

A) I've moved up the timescale (June '44 to April '43, which is more interesting IMO) and

B) The movie thread has gone kinda off track, and this is a valid and interesting (if unlikely) WI. Then again, maybe we should just marvel at an ASB thread going off-topic to a valid and interesting historical point...
 
Ah, sorry about that :eek:

This is a pretty good question. I see what you mean about a more interesting time too -- before Normandy, and after Stalingrad, but before the Soviet counter invasion began, this would be a good time (from Germany's perspective) to have a change in leadership and start asking for negotiations.
 
Ah, sorry about that :eek:

This is a pretty good question. I see what you mean about a more interesting time too -- before Normandy, and after Stalingrad, but before the Soviet counter invasion began, this would be a good time (from Germany's perspective) to have a change in leadership and start asking for negotiations.

Exactly, especially since it may make the moral situation a bit more complicated, even if the Allied leaders decide to fight on.

Any other thoughts?
 
Top