X.
August 1944:
President Speer assembles the new Cabinet
as the frontlines continue to move
August 1st, 1944
Reich Chancellery, Berlin
10:00 AM
The day after the formalization of the National Salvation Government, a collection of relevant personalities - officers, bureaucrats and politicians – gather in the Reich Chancellery by the morning of August 1st on the invitation of Chancellor von Papen, who is to formally present the new Cabinet to President Speer [104]. Having spent the last few days on speculation, negotiation and selection of the new ministers, the new “men of destiny” are reasonably satisfied with the results despite the limited time and the unavailability of some of their preferred choices, each making an effort to ensure friends and supporters are rewarded through elevation into the Second Papen Cabinet. One of the key debates takes place regarding the Vice-Chancellorship, von Papen’s push towards some of his former associates being ruled out in light of the ongoing distrust of several “old conservatives” due to the prominent role played by several Junkers and noblemen in the Beck Putsch. Judging the vacancy as an opportunity to promote another member of the younger generation, the recently freed Baldur von Schirach [105] is thought to be a safe and reliable pick for the mostly symbolic position, sparing the leading members of the new government the problem of elevating another potential rival.
The aftermath of the German Civil War has left the old “Hitler Cabinet” decimated, several key ministers and members of the government now dead or imprisoned. A subsequent purge of Bormann and Himmler’s allies and supporters at the behest of Speer and Guderian [106] in the days after the Battle of Berlin results in the additional firing of Otto Meissner and Hans Heinrich Lammers, once crucial elements of the internal government machinery. Thus, Chancellor von Papen now presides over a significantly different Cabinet than that of the Führer, counting amongst its four – other than Speer - surviving figures: Count Schwerin von Krosigk, who, having refused the Vice-Chancellorship, becomes the new Foreign Minister; Herbert Backe, retained in Agriculture on account of his invaluable expertise; Walther Funk, shuffled into Finance after the termination of his Ministry; and Arthur Seyss-Inquart, replaced as Reichskommissar and promoted as the head of the newly centralized Party Chancellery; all judged reliable or harmless. Deeply worried about the state of the economy and the armaments industry, Speer and Guderian agree to enact Goebbels’s old proposal of a Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War, an office set to assume full economic control over the war effort and command of the Agriculture (Backe), Finance (Funk), Labour (Karl Hanke) and Armaments (Hans Kehrl) Ministries, the former of which becomes a hybrid of Speer and Funk’s old ministries. Having thus rewarded his old friend Hanke and his recent ally Kehrl [107], Speer cements the centralization of economic power into a trusted source by having Erhard Milch appointed as the “all powerful” Reich Plenipotentiary, multiplying his power and compensating the talented Field Marshal over not being chosen as Chancellor.
Equally determined to maintain control over the homefront while the SS is disarmed and replaced by the rapidly growing Gestapo, Guderian oversees the appointment of his own allies in Interior (Colonel General Josef Harpe) and Postal Affairs (General Bodewin Keitel), with Fromm being rewarded by his crucial role during the struggle for Berlin with the revived Ministry of War. Although control over the Interior Ministry seems to emphasize the new political role played by the Wehrmacht in the new government and points towards a significant degree of influence of the Supreme Commander over domestic politics, the Ministry will fall under the virtual control of Müller as the new Police Chief – and Minister without Portfolio -, with the Gestapo Chief also obtaining the Justice Ministry for his old friend Dr. Werner Best and securing control over the process of putting Himmler and Beck’s allies on trial for treason. Choosing to disband the Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories in order to fire the suicidal Rosenberg, the rest of the Cabinet is filled with the appointments of Dr. Otto Dietrich (Propaganda), Albert Ganzenmüller (Transport), Karl Kaufman (Minister without Portfolio) and the newly rehabilitated – at Papen’s behest – Dr. Carl Schmitt (Culture) [108].
With Supreme Commander Guderian – alongside Fromm – also making significant changes of his own to the military structure of the Wehrmacht, the Cabinet is sworn in by 10:00 AM in a brief ceremony, followed by an immediate cabinet meeting chaired by von Papen. With countless items on the agenda given the complexities of the present situation, President Speer nonetheless insists to streamline the discussion towards safeguarding the rapidly collapsing economic and dealing with the diplomatic front and the government’s policy towards the Allied Powers and the remaining members of the Axis. A shorter debate on the military situation and Guderian’s outlining of his new strategic goals is interrupted as the Field Marshal is forced to leave the room due to new reports. After a final absence of several minutes Guderian returns with news from the Eastern Front: the weakened Warsaw garrison is facing gunfire across the city since dawn, thousands of Polish resistance fighters staging what appears to be a general uprising across the old Polish capital.
July 26th to August 7th, 1944
Normandy, Brittany and Western Front
Almost seven weeks of uninterrupted warfare across Normandy has left the German frontlines weakened and undersupplied by the time of the Stauffenberg bomb, the combination of Allied airpower and material superiority pushing the 7th Army and the Panzer divisions to the brink of their resistance. Forced to maintain the front and pursue the containment of the Allies on Hitler’s unmovable – and detrimental – directives and his micromanagement of OB West, the death of the Führer had come as a relief to Field Marshal von Kluge, who had taken steps to prevent a disaster whilst preparing to surrender to the Allies. From July 21th to the 24th and under the partial cover of terrible weather – which hampered the destructive power of the Allied airforce – several German units withdrew to more defensive positions in order to preserve as many men as possible, a series of movements interrupted by the arrest of von Kluge and General Speidel before La Roche Guyon could be abandoned. As his replacement, Field Marshal von Rundstedt hardly had any time to re-evaluate the situation and revise or countermand the general withdrawal orders before intensive Allied bombing resumed on July 25th, the prelude to a major offensive (Operation Cobra) at St. Lo by the U.S. 1st Army.
St. Lo itself falls on July 26th, the Allies finding limited resistance due to the escalated German withdrawal and the extreme damage inflicted on remaining units through the use of airpower. Quickly pressing on the assault, the U.S. 1st Army successfully pushes the western flank of the 7th Army towards Avranches and Vire and into an imminent breakout, with once elite units such as the infamous Panzer Lehr division only escaping complete destruction thanks to the previous commands by Kluge [109]. Having near-complete autonomy over the front – at least for the time being – and realizing that the Allied breakout has become inevitable, von Rundstedt chooses to confirm most of Kluge’s strategic withdrawal dispositions, resolving to hold Caen and gather units at the southwest near Alencon to support the planned withdrawal into the Seine River, at the cost of sacrificing the soon to be untenable positions in Brittany [110]. By July 28th and with the Allies fast approaching Avranches the formal withdrawal orders are given to General Hermann Rancke and the men of Festung Brest. Rancke, a daring paratrooper veteran, is also ordered to ensure Brest and other Breton ports are as damaged as possible in order to prevent the resupplying of Allied forces, resulting in large-scale sabotaging or dynamiting of port facilities and other key installations during the last frantic days of July. Already facing Patton’s newly installed U.S. 3rd Army, most of Rancke’s units evade the Allies just in time to reach the improvised concentration of troops near Alencon, but face significant losses in equipment [111] in the process.
With the remaining skeleton garrisons of the ports determined to resist as long as possible, the Third Army spends the first week of August trying to clear out the would-be redoubts, the fall of Brest being delayed by the remaining defenders until August 9th. Despite the significant damage inflicted on the harbor, the Allies will soon deploy significant resources to repair it and put it to use at the earliest opportunity, hoping to alleviate the serious supply difficulties that are starting to emerge with Patton’s wildly successful western breakout. Ruling out a counterattack from Alencon against Patton’s armored spearheads, Rundstedt makes a conscious choice to focus his efforts on fortifying and holding the Seine as his main line of defence, resulting in the abandonment of the Alencon position by August 3rd once the Allies finally secure the city of Caen. Despite facing enormous territorial losses – which make holding most of France impossible -, Rundstedt is nonetheless in the process of successfully extricating most of Army Group B from their more vulnerable positions in Normandy, the Allies now facing a serious dilemma on how to encircle the German 7th Army and Panzer Group West in time as most of Salmuth’s 15th Army redeploys from the Pas-de-Calais into the new defensive positions.
Additionally, Von Rundstedt faces another dilemma on behalf of Army Group G in Southern France - by this stage consisting only of the 19th Army - too low on morale and too stretched in terms of resources and men to ensure a successful defence of the region in the case of invasion, and soon threatened by the rapid progress of Cobra and Patton’s western breakout. Having already followed Kluge’s orders by trying to redeploy units towards Kesselring’s forces in Italy or towards the German border, and by attempting to damage the infrastructure of Toulon, Marseille and other southern ports, Colonel General Blaskowitz is nonetheless one of the commanders who professes loyalty to Guderian on the Berlin meeting of July 24th, and suggests to Rundstedt that a withdrawal from Southern France is indeed desirable. Though acknowledging the move as politically difficult – in light of the vast territories to be given up -, Rundstedt nonetheless authorizes Blaskowitz to continue preparations for a withdrawal with or without an Allied invasion, pending final approval from the Supreme Commander and the General Staff.
July 20th to August 1st, 1944
Baltic States, Occupied Poland and Eastern Front
Still reeling from the enormous losses caused by Operation Bagration, the Wehrmacht faces a desperate situation in the East as Army Groups North, Center and North Ukraine are forced into a continuous fighting withdrawal, always under constant threat of encirclement and annihilation at the hands of the Red Army. Disdainful of Beck and of the Valkyrie conspirators, neither Field Marshal Model (Army Group Center and North Ukraine) nor General Schörner (Army Group South Ukraine) acknowledge any commands issued by Field Marshal von Witzleben, and take autonomous command of their forces in the days before Guderian’s elevation to Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht. With Schörner’s armies not seeing an active Soviet offensive yet, it falls on Model to continue to withstand the heavy blows inflicted by Rokossovsky’s First Belorussian Front and Konev’s First Ukrainian Front, both of which continue their march towards Poland. Facing the prospect of a major encirclement of troops at Brody – the so called “Brody Cauldron” – and no longer constrained by Hitler’s directives, Model redoubles his efforts to relieve the pocket until July 23rd using the 1st and 4th Panzer Armies, an effort which ends in defeat after only managing to rescue a limited fraction of the surrounded divisions [112].
In desperate need for urgent reinforcements, Model is nonetheless forced to juggle with the impossible dilemma of containing the Soviet offensive while dealing with the growing trouble at his rear, the SS uprising either necessitating the use of planned reinforcements to consolidate control over the General Government and later of Bohemia-Moravia – the Hermann Goering Panzercorps – or denying him the use of defecting SS units – the Viking Division -. This disastrous combination makes it impossible for the remnants of Army Group North Ukraine and Army Group Center to properly regroup, forcing a general withdrawal towards the Vistula as the Red Army enters the Bug River (July 21st), Lublin (July 25th), Bialystok (July 26h) and the southern banks of the Vistula itself, with Radzievsky’s 2nd Tank Army forming a dangerous salient for the Germans after establishing a bridgehead across the river and threatening the vicinity of Warsaw by July 29th. Devoid of the necessary support, Model nonetheless gathers as many surviving units as he can find and makes full use of the still seemingly loyal SS divisions, launching a series of desperate counterattacks to prevent a full Soviet breakout across the Vistula and the potential loss of Warsaw. Further weakening the already depleted garrison in order to keep Radzievsky from reaching the outskirts of the city, Model is stunned and angered when news arrive of the large-scale uprising by the Home Army on the morning of August 1st [113].
Up north Army Group North faces the imminent threat of encirclement within Estonia as the Soviet armored columns make their way into Lithuania, the Third Panzer Army badly outnumbered by three Soviet Guard Armies making their way towards Riga. In light of the danger, General Friessner becomes one of the few battlefield commanders to acknowledge orders from Witzleben after being commanded to stage a strategic withdrawal of his Army Group to avoid being trapped deep inside Estonia, and thus orders both a fighting withdrawal from Narva and the general movement of his Army Group back into Latvia in the hopes of preventing Bagramyan’s First Baltic Front from reaching Riga. Aided by his decision not to have SS General Steiner arrested – and Steiner’s own decision not to rebel in near suicidal conditions -, Friessner begins his escalated withdrawal south after the fall of Vilnus on July 23th, reinforcing the positions of the 3rd Panzer Army with some of his own divisions. Although initial attempts at stopping the Soviet offensive prove unsuccessful, the costly Soviet push soon takes its toll on the First Baltic Front, its advance halted a few dozen kilometers away from Riga on August 1st [114] Having only narrowly avoided a full encirclement, Friessner begins to plan for a gradual – but rapid – evacuation of Estonia and Latvia, facing the problem of what to do with the thousands of Estonians currently enlisted in the Wehrmacht.
July 20th to August 1st, 1944
Central Italy and Italian Social Republic
Having recently abandoned Ancona (July 18th) and Livorno (July 19th) to the advancing Allies in central Italy, Field Marshal Kesselring is informed of Hitler’s assassination just as several bridges on the Arno River are blown up in order to delay the advancing British 8th Army and U.S. 5th Army, both of which had recently missed yet another opportunity to encircle and destroy Kesselring’s forces. A supporter of Goering at first and then of Guderian and Speer, the notoriously optimistic Field Marshal judges it best not to allow the German Civil War to disrupt his already difficult theatre of operations, the recent loss of Rome and the constant losses in material over the latest withdrawals creating a complex challenge to be faced. In spite of later having to redeploy certain units towards Austria on Guderian’s command and the later loss of Pisa (July 23rd) to the Allied vanguard, Kesselring counts on the Gothic Line – still in the process of being built and reinforced – as a last fortified line of defence to contain the Allied advance, which begins to stall during the last week of July as the combination of fatigue, bad logistics and the gradual removal of several divisions from the U.S. 5th Army [115] all conspire to allow Kesselring to hold his ground at the Arno River and in Florence, still a candidate to be declared an “open city”.
Up north and in the town of Gargnano, Mussolini’s return from the Wolf’s Lair and the subsequent reports of heavy infighting within Germany results in a grim number of days for the Duce, his confidence badly shaken by the bizarre meeting with Goering and the lack of affinity for any of the contenders in the internal struggle, and his personal safety under question due to his suspicions towards the heavy SS contingent stationed in Gargnano itself. Although the Duce’s fears of arrest are mollified by the arrest of General Wolff at Kesselring’s command and the replacement of the SS for Heer troops, Mussolini nonetheless finds himself despairing at the present situation, his - already decaying after the fall of Rome - faith in a German victory now shattered by Hitler’s death. Although in the subsequent days Mussolini continues to make broadcasts and speeches in support of Guderian and Speer and outlining the inviolability of the Gothic Line, he also starts to plan for what appears to be the imminent collapse of the Italian Social Republic. Not yet convinced over the proper course of action, Mussolini both establishes contact with neutral diplomats in the hopes of resuming peace talks and takes very discreet soundings with representatives of Franco’s Spain to discuss the possibility of eventual refuge there [116]. At the same time, rivals of the Duce within the Salo Republic begin to consider future plans of their own, Minister of the Interior Guido Buffarini Guidi starting his own private research on Mussolini’s itineraries and his defensive dispositions in Gargnano.
July 20th to August 1st, 1944
Tokyo, Japanese Empire
With the aftermath of the disastrous fall of Saipan and the anger of the Emperor having doomed Hideki Tojo’s government into resignation on July 18th, the radio broadcasts informing of Hitler’s death find the Japanese Empire in the middle of a government formation crisis, no clear successor to Tojo having emerged before the forced resignation of the Prime Minister. With the Army and the Navy bitterly opposed to each other – as well as the “Peace” and “War” factions -, the imperial bureaucracy feels additional pressure to select a suitable candidate in light of what seems to be imminent trouble and instability for Germany. With other alternatives ruled out in light of their indispensable roles in the frontlines, the candidates are reduced by July 22nd to the reluctant Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai – judged the candidate for the “Peace” faction – and General Kuniaki Koiso – considered a “moderate” figure of sorts -, both of which had been ordered to form a government by Emperor Hirohito without specification on who was to serve as Prime Minister.
Facing a tremendously awkward situation and receiving new reports from the Japanese Ambassador - Baron Oshima – in Berlin regarding the death of several high-ranking German officers, Admiral Yonai is the first to yield his claim to the premiership, privately reasoning that the risk of assassination by the Army is just too high [117]. Now Prime Minister by virtue of being the less controversial candidate, General Koiso enters office without much personal power or influence, and facing not only the dilemma of future military operations after the latest debacle at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, but the decision on whether to seek peace with the Allies and which terms to consider even remotely acceptable, with necessary demands such as the preservation of Manchukuo and other territories instinctively judged as non-negotiable. Subsequent reports from Ambassador Oshima and from Ambassador Stahmer – in Tokyo – attempt to downplay the effects of the German Civil War, re-state Germany’s commitment to the continuation of the war and, at Oshima’s behest, present Supreme Commander Guderian in a highly favorable light, a “warrior-type” capable of driving back the Allies in Europe.
Though the efforts of both Ambassadors prove successful in preserving a degree of confidence in Germany unmatched by the rest of the Axis Powers, different lessons are drawn by both major factions within the Imperial Cabinet and Court due to the events in Germany. Admiral Yonai, parts of the IJN and the pro-peace supporters consider Hitler’s death as a sign peace is more urgent than ever, and a group of IJA officers starts reading the assassination as a move by Germany’s own pro-peace faction, a “reprehensive cabal” thoroughly defeated by the warrior Guderian and a precedent to take into account in the coming months.
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Notes for Part X:
[104] The task of assembling an alt-Cabinet has been somewhat difficult, particularly in light of having to assess the personal affinity and relationship of several would-be ministers with Speer, Papen, Guderian and Müller (to name a few) while also trying not to recreate the OTL Goebbels or von Krosigk cabinet. Some of the choices are based on educated guesses, but I do hope it seems at least plausible in light of the circumstances.
[105] While serving as Gauleiter of Vienna von Schirach was arrested in July 20th by the conspirators under General von Esebeck, and released on July 27th after the city was recaptured. How far von Schirach might have risen – or not – had the Reich lasted a few more years is an interesting matter for speculation, and the man does hold some promise.
[106] The court politics of the Nazi elite strike again in full force. Having bitterly fought Bormann for years and having believed Himmler had tried to assassinate him I have little doubt Speer would have wasted a second in firing those who had opposed him at every turn. In light of how close links to the SS – and not having a friendship with the leading men of the government – are now a source of mistrust and given how badly most high-ranking Nazis hated Bormann and some of his allies, I find it inevitable that some old scores would be settled via a “changing of the guard”, so to speak.
[107] Speer’s relationship with Hanke and Kehrl was not without its troubles, but generally speaking he worked well with both men and unsuccessfully sought to promote them as ministerial replacements for Sauckel and Funk. It stands to reason that if he’d able to finally get his way in terms of ministerial appointments then he would ask them to come on board.
[108] Quite a collection of characters. Most of them have a positive relationship with at least one of the main four figures of the new regime, thus justifying their addition. Some, like Schmitt – who might have risen higher in OTL were it not for the SS targeting him -, are choices made out of personal curiosity rather than likelihood of an actual appointment, I confess not having better ideas on who would be the most likely candidate to succeed Rust in Culture. Thought of Leni Riesfenstahl for about five seconds merely out of fun, but it was just too much.
[109] Thanks to Kluge’s orders the remnants of the Panzer Lehr division – along other units – escape their complete OTL annihilation via Allied bombing, although the previous losses remain staggering.
[110] Rundstedt was among those who believed a withdrawal to the Seine was necessary since mid-June, but his previous push for it alongside Rommel was – predictably – badly received by Hitler. Here the plan goes forward, cancelling out what would be OTL Operation Lüttich.
[111] One of the biggest problems that any German withdrawal at this point of the war would face is that the sheer power of Allied bombing would result in significant casualties and a slower advance, which is combined to the evident shortages in fuel and motorized transportation, and the damage to railways. It certainly is possible for the Wehrmacht to stage successful withdrawals – even fighting withdrawals – within certain conditions, but always at a cost.
[112] Although the lack of micromanagement by Hitler certainly allows talented commanders such as Model to make certain decisions they could not in OTL – and thus make some additional progress -, there is a limit to how much can be achieved in such a grim context. Though Model can save a few extra thousand men from the “Brody Cauldron”, Army Group Center is just too eviscerated to prevent the OTL defeat and capture of large parts of the Fourth Army.
[113] One of the biggest consequences of the German Civil War will be that several units originally directed to Model are used instead in the fighting in the Netherlands and Bohemia-Moravia, with the added effect of drastically weakening the amount of armored forces Model used in OTL to stop the Soviet advance near Warsaw.
[114] Friessner narrowly avoids the OTL Soviet capture of Riga and the subsequent struggle to re-open a line between Army Group Center and Army Group North. Still, the Soviet advance is more than enough to still threaten Army Group North with annihilation.
[115] OTL, the Fifth Army was significantly weakened in order to field enough divisions for Operation Dragoon in Southern France.
[116] When exactly Mussolini lost his faith in victory is hard to say, but like other key leaders of the Axis his faith lasted a lot longer than current hindsight might suggest. Here, however, Mussolini no longer has Hitler convincingly – for Mussolini’s taste - pretending things are going to work out.
[117] A slight butterfly, Yonai’s OTL fears of being assassinated by the Army should he become PM in July 20th are amplified by the news of the carnage in Germany, which he correctly assumes might give some enthusiastic junior IJA officers some dangerous ideas. Koiso thus becomes PM due to Yonai declining to contest the office, instead of the Lord Privy Seal awkwardly – and arbitrarily – choosing Koiso himself. 
