Six Inches - A Timeline of Hitler's assassination

Hello, everybody! I recently joined AH.com after lurking for about a month. This is a great website, and my knowledge of history has increased dramatically in the short amount of time I've been here. As a result, after much research, I have decided to write my first TL - Six Inches.

As you may or may not know, the July 20th plot was an attempt to kill Hitler, a product of much plotting by several high-ranking Nazis (who happened to secretly despise Nazism) to kill Hitler. Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of the plot, planted a suitcase bomb under the table in a conference that Hitler was holding, and left the building. Although the bomb detonated, it failed to kill Hitler, and he escaped with minimal injuries. Hitler promptly organized a Stalin-esque purge, which claimed the life of nearly all the conspirators and ended all significant domestic resistance to his regime in Germany.

A lesser known fact about the plot was that it would have succeeded, were it not for one man. Heinz Brandt, an officer attending the meeting, unknowingly nudged the bomb six inches (the inspiration for the name of my TL) forward with his foot, behind a table support. Bradt, it is important to note, was not in any way affiliated with the conspiracy.

When the bomb exploded, the blast was deflected away from Hitler by the table leg, but blew off Brandt's own leg, promptly killing him.

Six Inches will explore what would have happened if Bradt had not attended the meeting, thus killing Hitler.

I'll try to update this every other day, but I might not be able to meet such lofty goals - we shall see. Furthermore, if you see anything wrong, feel free to nitpick.... just go easy, this is my first TL ;)

Six Inches


Part One

Dear -----,
Nazism has been struck a death blow today. Our beloved Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, was killed by the traitorous Jews.

He had been holding a meeting, discussing the stratagems of the devious Allies. The Russians were slowly advancing - they were not far from our current location. It was a matter of great concern to everyone in the room. But that suddenly became meaningless in the face of what happened next.

A roar and blinding white light filled the room. I believe I passed out for a few seconds - it was impossible to tell in the tumult.

When I came to my senses, the first thing I saw was our great Fuhrer. His arm was missing, and his face was covered in a sheen of blood. He was on the floor.

I ran over, attempting to staunch the wound and take his pulse. Slowly, laboriously, he turned to face me. His eyes were unfocused.

"Fellow German," he said, taking deep, choking breaths between each word. His voice was tinny to my damaged ears, although I barely noticed it at the time. "Tell them... the Je.." But then he stopped, and the light faded from his eyes.

The Fuhrer of All Germany had died in my arms. I was covered in his and my blood, for I, too was wounded.

I sat there for perhaps a minute, simply in shock. All around me, men were attempting to stand, and moaning in pain. One man - this remains sharp in my mind's eye - had suffered a direct hit from shrapnel to the face. It was truly horrific, and he was barely recognizable as a man.

As I sat there, I realized what the Fuhrer was trying to tell me. The Jews. The Jews were responsible for that great man's death.

And I know I must avenge him.
 
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To late to change the conduct of the war. And if they manage to seize powers they would have to surrender without condition. By this point Hitler death won't change anything.
 
Germany was in over its head already and would have desperately fought to the bitter end under another of Hitler's zealots. The assassins would have been caught and executed regardless. History on the grand scale wouldn't have changed much.

IMHO
 
I am pleased to see that that this timeline does not involve the length of Hitler's penis. :p

Looking forward to more.
 
I am pleased to see that that this timeline does not involve the length of Hitler's penis. :p

Looking forward to more.

A few seconds after I posted this TL, I suddenly realized what the title brought to mind, and winced.

But it was certainly fun writing and I will begin working on Part Two tommorow :D
 
To late to change the conduct of the war. And if they manage to seize powers they would have to surrender without condition. By this point Hitler death won't change anything.

Well, we could see a demilitarized, united Germany that would include a bit more of its eastern border (Stettin, Breslau, etc) and maybe even Austria. With a nonaligned (except for some UN peacekeeper presence) state right in the middle of Europe, it would have some important ramifications on the Cold War.
Also, earlier German surrender = big changes in the Pacific Theater.
 
I know that's a weird question, but did Hitler ITTL really try to mention the Jews - or was he misunderstood?
Would've been horrible if it was (which is likely) the latter :eek:
 
I know that's a weird question, but did Hitler ITTL really try to mention the Jews - or was he misunderstood?
Would've been horrible if it was (which is likely) the latter :eek:

I never read or saw anything were Hitler tried to blame the Jews of the 20th July plot (well, most of them were already in a camp), but 200 people were executed because of the killing.

Germany just gets the military autocrat cabinet with Goerdeler, Beck, Von Witzleben, Von Tresckow? (Von Witzleben would become the head of state if it succeded and President von Witzleben really souns cool)
 
Ok, I have finished Part Two. I'm not too sure on how this is going to be recieved - I think I might have tried to fit too much into one update. Constructive critisism is always appreciated.

Anyways, enjoy!


Six Inches


Part Two

One has to hand it to the July 20th plotters, for although their assumption of power was far from flawless, it was with great ingenuity that they overthrew the German government following Hitler's death.

The Ersatzheer, under Friedrich Fromm, began occupying key parts of the Reich, quelling riots that had sprung up in the wake of Hitler's death. Information released by the conspirators indicated that the SS had been responsible for the death of Hitler, thus giving an excuse to arrest many key Nazi leaders. Street fighting began to erupt.

With the support of the other conspirators, Claus von Stauffenberg was declared the acting leader of Germany. He immediately declared a state of martial law, "in the absence of a government."

It is here that things began to go awry. Rioting in several major cities began to pick up momentum, as the masses demanded to know what was happening. Stores were burned, and soldiers attacked. Several members of the Ersatzheer deserted.

Confusion on the various fronts also began to manifest itself, as many military leaders had been denounced as traitors and placed under arrest by the conspirators. It was clear that the Allies would take advantage of this lapse.

Furthermore, Goebbels, who had been under house arrest by the Ersatzheer, managed to escape under the cover of disorder. A masterful orator, Gobbels could easily turn public opinion against the conspirators.

Things were starting to look grim.
 
I never read or saw anything were Hitler tried to blame the Jews of the 20th July plot (well, most of them were already in a camp), but 200 people were executed because of the killing.

Germany just gets the military autocrat cabinet with Goerdeler, Beck, Von Witzleben, Von Tresckow? (Von Witzleben would become the head of state if it succeded and President von Witzleben really souns cool)

My reasoning was that since Hitler had sustained a pretty massive ehad injury - his face was covered in blood - he might have, being far from lucid, blamed what he viewed as the greatest danger to the German state for his death. It will also serve as a plot point in later updates.
 
I think if Hitler died on July 20, 1944, I still think the Nazis still hold on to power, but I think that thier hoid on power is far from as firm as Hitler's. I have read predictions that there would have been a civil war between the army and the SS. Whatever happens the Geman military would have been weakened. I see an earlier end to the war.
 
outside of my usual general interest in the time period and subject matter, I have been researching on this topic for my upcoming TL panzer fuhrer

general thoughts (if it helps) that are coming up in my research which you may wish to take into account in your tl

1. The home army was a joke (the movie portray's them as a fairly organized/effecient military formation)... most of the men had only been called up for 5 weeks by July 20th, many didn't have uniforms let alone small arms to standard, their discipline wasn't built in yet with their NCO's and junior officers, let alone following someone like Fromm or Beck against the government. They where a basically useless formation that Hitler and the army didn't think enough of to send to plug the gaping holes in the fronts at falaise or bagration; the regiments where laters turned into volksgrenadiers and largely ineffective

2. The plotters apparantly had no plan to deal with Guderian, in fact it seems like they never even discussed it which was a stunning and tremendous oversight... in otl the home army ordered the panzer training troops at potsdam to join them in marching on the government, but Guderian countermanded them as inspector of armored forces and held them in reserve to wait out events (supporting living hitler being the otl outcome)... Guderian and Beck and Guderian and Treskow hated each other, Beck and Guderian especially; to the point of both trying to get the other thrown into a concentration camp. Guderian at Potsdam alone had 70 tanks and self propelled guns plus mechanized infantry and his own bodyguard (which was a company of panzergrenadiers)... these men had been in the service a lot longer, the NCO's and officers where mostly old hands of his from Poland, France, Russia and his days in the inspectorate and he could count on their loyalty; certainly more than Beck or Fromm could possibly count on the home army... Guderian's forces at Potsdam had the strength of a panzer brigade, with enough infantry floating around to flesh out 2 battalions (and that doesn't incude the schools at Paderborn and Bad Tolz whom he could also call on... Guderian will not take orders from Beck, Guderian will not allow Beck to relieve him, Guderian will not allow Beck to disarm his troops and Beck can't afford to pretend he isn't there or ignore him... the panzer troops would have little difficulty confining the home army to barracks and intimdating them (if any unit wanted to fight (dubious) the panzer troopers would crush them) Guderian had no compunction or issuing orders that send hundreds of men who were barely involved in the plot to certain death before the people's court, he could harden his heart to beck and treskow quite easily (he would probably pull the trigger on Beck himself)


minor nitpick within the scope of what you have written... 90-94 percent of men between the ages of 17 and 50 are in the service at this point so the rioting isn't likely because it would be women, children and the elderly left in the cities
 
1. The home army was a joke (the movie portray's them as a fairly organized/effecient military formation)... most of the men had only been called up for 5 weeks by July 20th, many didn't have uniforms let alone small arms to standard, their discipline wasn't built in yet with their NCO's and junior officers, let alone following someone like Fromm or Beck against the government. They where a basically useless formation that Hitler and the army didn't think enough of to send to plug the gaping holes in the fronts at falaise or bagration; the regiments where laters turned into volksgrenadiers and largely ineffective
While the Ersatzheer had a lot of problems to get the recruits sufficiently trained by then, it was a much larger and diverse formation. The Ersatzheer was an administrational grouping of all soldiers not assigned to field units, and was more than a million men strong, including the general army administration, recruiting and training facilities, military hospitals and their patients, soldiers on leave for various reasons, and soldiers sent home for further training. While certainly never designed as a fighting unit or even as a real unit, portraying the Ersatzheer as completely useless in keeping control of the country is unfounded.

minor nitpick within the scope of what you have written... 90-94 percent of men between the ages of 17 and 50 are in the service at this point so the rioting isn't likely because it would be women, children and the elderly left in the cities
No, your figures are off. In 1944 there were still more than 5 million men in reserved occupations (“unabkömmlich gestellt” - marked indispensable), more than troops in the entire field army. Though I agree with you that there won't be riots, but for another reason: 1944 Germany isn't the place where people would do rioting. Where even voicing discontent with the government could land you in a concentration camp, people kept their heads down hoping to escape the attention of the officials, especially when there is uncertainty about who is in control of the country.
 
While the Ersatzheer had a lot of problems to get the recruits sufficiently trained by then, it was a much larger and diverse formation. The Ersatzheer was an administrational grouping of all soldiers not assigned to field units, and was more than a million men strong, including the general army administration, recruiting and training facilities, military hospitals and their patients, soldiers on leave for various reasons, and soldiers sent home for further training. While certainly never designed as a fighting unit or even as a real unit, portraying the Ersatzheer as completely useless in keeping control of the country is unfounded.


No, your figures are off. In 1944 there were still more than 5 million men in reserved occupations (“unabkömmlich gestellt” - marked indispensable), more than troops in the entire field army. Though I agree with you that there won't be riots, but for another reason: 1944 Germany isn't the place where people would do rioting. Where even voicing discontent with the government could land you in a concentration camp, people kept their heads down hoping to escape the attention of the officials, especially when there is uncertainty about who is in control of the country.


on the second part forgive my ommission of the word elidgable

the home army was not a credible military formation; they where more recent drafts than combat veterans away from unit; a lot more (especially with multriple fronts on fire)...the panzer troops at potsdam could have easily overwhelmed them (if they where willing to fight at all)
 
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