The Vaterland- A German alternate WW2 TL.

May 3, 1941 Paris, Occupied France.

Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben paced the floor in his office. He was deep in contemplation. He had been doing that a lot lately. The plan had been prepared meticulously, like an axe waiting to fall upon those who would doom The Fatherland to servitude to the likes of the Russian savages and the incompetent British and Americans. On the headsman block were most of the high command. Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Goering. Those loyal to Germany had set it up well enough. Hitler would arrive in 3 days, and within roughly 2 hours of his death the lot of the Command would be dead, if the plan held true. His throat and mouth were dry, he had looked over the plans for Operation Barbarossa, it was madness, though he could never say so out loud. The axe had been placed and the replacements picked carefully whether they knew it or not. Speer was a good man, he would make a good leader, he was more moderate then most. Witzleben had been considered as the new Fuhrer, as had Admiral Donitz. He wanted no part of the new regime personally, but then again he didn’t expect to survive the attempt on Hitler’s life. Three days until it happened, three days until the world would change forever. He reached for a glass of water to ease his mouth’s dryness. He had a feeling it wouldn’t help.


May 6, 1941: Paris.

Adolf Hitler watched with a forced smile as the troops below paraded on one of Paris’s wide streets. He cared for all of Germany’s soldiers of course but his mind was on other things. Off to the east the massive army he had gathered was still building and preparing. The Russian untermesh would be conquered and subjugated as the French, Belgians, Danes and so on had been. They would make good hewers of wood and fetchers of water. Beyond his notice the Field Marshal Witzleben walked to the review stand, a good enough man but…. He noticed something was off. Events seemed to happened almost instantly, Witzleben raised a sub-machine gun and fired a burst at him. Hitler fell to the ground, his hand resting on his chest. He lifted it weakly, so much blood….was it his? His hand fell heavily. Witzleben was shot as well falling boneless to the ground. Hitler also noted by his guards but some guards seemed to fight the ones helping him. Betrayal, could it be. A coup? Hitler wanted to be angry, wanted to speak…He could hardly breathe, let alone speak. Was this to be how the great Adolf Hitler died? Gunned down by a cowardly turncoat. No, impossible. There was so much yet to do….So much…His eyes were so heavy….he closed them…just for a moment…just a…..
 
Dead Hitler's always a nice start to any reading. :)

Not familiar enough with the early German players to guage plausibility, but someone will be along shortly, I'm sure.

PS: welcome to the boards.
 
Heil Speer! Although a clichéd choice for best possible 'nice' Führer, it'll be interesting to see how long he lasts at this stage of the war.
 
Was that an actual attempt?
Or did you advance the real (in our time line) attempt of May 21, 1941?

We did discuss some assassination attempts here:

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=184681

A few nitpicks?

Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben probably wouldn´t do it himself. While at that time (the height of Hitler´s popularity) they were only a few willing to resist, I believe they would be still a few "younger" officers willing to do the deed. :)
(The Barbarossa plans might help here.)

Of course in early 1941 because of all the victories (the height of Hitler´s popularity) till then just how do you recruit a widespread net of conspirators willing to execute practically the whole Nazi leadership of Germany? Most of the generals and officers would stay on the sidelines, not willing to commit. If only for the simple fact that they wouldn´t know if their troops would follow their command?
Granted, you could circumvent it by simply issuing orders (and hoping that they would be followed).
But early 1941?
Destroying Hitler and the Nazi party?
The victors of Poland, France, Norway etc.?

Not to mention the problem with Speer as leader. Till 1942 when he became minister for armament he was just Hitler´s architect. Without any real power base at all. And without anyone knowing of his capabilities. Why would anyone choose him in early 1941?

Donitz at that time was the commander of the submarines, not the commander of the German navy. And it seems he was a convinced Nazi too. At least a lot more than the then commander of the German navy, Admiral Raeder.

You want a real - though small - chance?
Try to reintroduce the monarchy, a Hohenzollern Emperor perhaps.
That at least would give you a bit more popularity with the still existing conservatives in Germany (which includes lots of higher officers, parts of the bureaucracy and the courts).
At least it would be a lot more popular than the unknown Speer.

Oh, and deny any involvement with the assassination of Hitler.
In early 1941 he´s very popular. Simply say that you want a strong united Germany. And that you think that a return to a monarchy would provide that unity. Don´t know if it´ll work but the chances would be better than with Speer as leader.
 

Typo

Banned
Shooting Hitler at this stage was just stupid besides its kinda ASBish, the Wehrmacht loved the Nazis at this point, and always will infact. Not to mention of course, the German people would not support some rogue army officer like Erwin von Witzleben at this point, not against the champion of their nation.
 
As a means of explanation. This is my first attempt at a TL, I have lurked the forums a while but never thought to try one, I went through a list of planned attempts on Hitlers life and the one right before Operation Barbarossa where Witzleben tried to get Hitler to come to Paris stuck out at me. The kind of effect it would have on the invasion and so forth. Speer was chosen by the conspirators for his 'Nice Nazi' demeanor that would make help remove the dark face that had been cast upon the party in the early years of the war. Yes I realize that Witzleben would not have likely carried out such an attack on Hitler's life himself, but the whole point of the WW2 era of this TL (I plan on moving beyond 1945 with the Third Reich) is to set up a grander and slightly believable story. I'll have an update tomorrow that involves Joseph Goebbels and a new update about every day, or two, or three.
 
What is next?

If only Hitler is killed, I assume it would be Hess (or is he in Scotland?) or Göring, who takes over.....unless the Witzleben plotters also take other actions?


What automatically elevates Speer to become Führer?
 
As a means of explanation. This is my first attempt at a TL, I have lurked the forums a while but never thought to try one, I went through a list of planned attempts on Hitlers life and the one right before Operation Barbarossa where Witzleben tried to get Hitler to come to Paris stuck out at me. The kind of effect it would have on the invasion and so forth. Speer was chosen by the conspirators for his 'Nice Nazi' demeanor that would make help remove the dark face that had been cast upon the party in the early years of the war. Yes I realize that Witzleben would not have likely carried out such an attack on Hitler's life himself, but the whole point of the WW2 era of this TL (I plan on moving beyond 1945 with the Third Reich) is to set up a grander and slightly believable story. I'll have an update tomorrow that involves Joseph Goebbels and a new update about every day, or two, or three.

Well, that´s the point and problem. :)

I´m pretty sure that some higher army officers were concerned about "Fall Barbarosa", the attack on the USSR. The problem is that up to that point Hitler "won" every war. His popularity is pretty high. Which means that the conspirators will be a pretty small group. Because even many generals sympathetic to them will stay on the sidelines.

It´s extremely unlikely that such a small group of conspirators - who can´t even rely on the loyalty of most of their junior officers or common soldiers - would be able to take out the whole Nazi leadership.

And Speer?
As I said, in 1941 he´s just Hitler´s architect. Maybe planning how Berlin would look like after the war ended. He´s got no power base anywhere. He´s unknown to the German population. Essentially in the Nazi party and in Germany at large he´s a nobody.
 
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