Hitler Dies in Paris

mr noob

Banned
What if before Hitler gave the order for Operation Barbarossa Hitler dies in a car crash in Paris who takes over
 
THat is... if Himmler and the SS don't take the opportunity to move in.
Because he is not popular especially among the Wehrmacht and has not yet a strong enough fighting force (couldn´t find numbers for 41 but september 42 the WaffenSS had 236.099 of which 141.975 were considered as fighting troops)
The Wehrmacht is way stronger and more popular whom ever they support will get the job. As they probably won´t aim for an outright military dictatorship the rather pragmatic Göring is most likely, while it is next to impossible for Himmler.

Reinhard Heydrich
While Heydrich is ruthless, capable and pragmatic he is not one of the leaders. Should the SS be cleansed by the new regime, which is possible, I can easily envision him switching sides early and getting an important position. But he is even less likely to get Hitlers job than Himmler as he has the same disadvantages but not the high position of his boss.
 

Geon

Donor
Plot

Actually, it is possible that the Wehrmacht could take over if something happened to Hitler. There was a plot in the planning stages to kill Hitler while he was visiting Paris. Someone else who knows more about this may be able to tell me more but the plan seemed to involve having Hitler shot while he was riding in his open car. Several Wehrmacht officers were involved but their names elude me.

It was hoped that once Hitler was gone the Wehrmacht could seize control of the government and hopefully bring the war to a negotiated end.

Geon
 
Arthur Seyss-Inquart. Not very likely but I think he would be a good party puppet. In fact there could be a civil war between the Party and the Military if Hitler dies.
 
THat is... if Himmler and the SS don't take the opportunity to move in.

Himmler and the SS have very few divisions and they are all in France, one very deep in France.

Not going to happen, not in 1940

As to what happens. Goering tries to make Peace, Churchill refuses. Most likely Germany tries something in the Med.

Michael
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Let's say Hitler goes through with the military parade in Paris on July 27, 1940, and is successfully assassinated by Schulenburg.

Göring, who has just recently (too recently?) been named Reichsmarschall, is now in charge. Hitler had set it up this way for the precise reason that, were he to die, there would be a clear line of succession. So Hermann is now Führer und Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht.

Göring is palatable to the Wehrmacht, to the Party, and to the People ("I flew with Red Manny!"), and the Luftwaffe's racking up points in the Kanalkampf.

If
Göring decides to go ahead with the BoB, his popularity is going to take a dive once things start going sour. Hess, Goebbels, and Himmler going to start circling, not to mention what commanders like Witzleben might try.

Göring may stand a better chance of negotiating with the Allies than Hitler, especially if he replaces Ribbentrop with someone like Neurath (Goebbels and Hess will be happy to help with that). Göring always was a Wilhelmine Imperialist, and most potentates were champing at the bit to tie things up in the West so they could go into the East.

If Göring can win a peace, then we can expect a relatively short and nasty German-Soviet War wherein the USSR utterly smashes the Axis in the near future. The likely end will be a German military state propped up by the West as a buffer to the Soviets, like a European South Korea. Whether this leads to a General European War is anybody's guess.
 
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Cook

Banned
Göring, who has just recently (too recently?)...
Although it was not made public until after Hess flew to Scotland, Goering had been named by Hitler as his successor in 1938. The top apparatus of the Party and State were aware, just not the general public. This may have played a part in Hess’s decision to fly to Britain and try to negotiate peace; succeed as peacemaker and receive the praise of Hitler and adulation of the crowds instead of the goldenboy Goering, or it may have not; Hess may have always just been a nut.
 
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