We all know of the famous July 20 Plot, the failed attempt to kill Hitler and use Valkyrie to stage a coup, as well as the assassination attempts by Elser and Bavaud. There are other lesser known attempts too and this one piqued my interest:
An attempt to assassinate Hitler was planned for July 27, 1940, in Paris, where Count Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg planned to shoot Hitler from the reviewing stand during a military parade in Hitler’s honour. Hitler however secretly visited Paris in the early hours of July 23, visiting all the city’s famed buildings. He began his tour at 6am and by 9am he ended his tour and departed the city. A few days later Schulenberg received word that his hoped for July 27 military parade had been cancelled. Despite Schulenberg’s failure to lure Hitler to Paris for the special parade, Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben had plans of his own to assassinate Hitler. In May, 1941, he attemped to lure Hitler to Paris under a similar pretext. The visit was scheduled for May 21st but was abruptly called off at the last minute.
So what if the second attempt to kill Hitler in Paris on May 21st 1941 succeeded because the visit is never called off? Given Hitler's last will and testament, the fact that the Luftwaffe hasn't been blemished yet for failing to protect German cities from Allied bombers, and that nobody else has the clout to take over, Goering probably takes power (though feel free to point out other likely candidates, if there are any). But what then? Barbarossa is less than five weeks away. Goering was never a big fan, but would he or anybody else dare to cancel the largest military operation in history after so many months of preparations and make it all a wasted effort? Or would he press ahead and tweak the grand goals Hitler had set out, i.e. Lebensraum and racial war of annihilation?
Goering was known for ruthlessness, but also being pragmatic: he once said "I decide who is a Jew" and appears to have been a racist largely because party ideology required him to be. But now he's probably in charge. What would change about Barbarossa, the Holocaust and the general poor treatment of Eastern Europeans in a Third Reich exit Hitler May 1941? If Barbarossa goes ahead, would Goering settle for Brest-Litovsk 2.0 perhaps? We know it was offered by Stalin, until it became clear he wasn't going to lose.
An attempt to assassinate Hitler was planned for July 27, 1940, in Paris, where Count Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg planned to shoot Hitler from the reviewing stand during a military parade in Hitler’s honour. Hitler however secretly visited Paris in the early hours of July 23, visiting all the city’s famed buildings. He began his tour at 6am and by 9am he ended his tour and departed the city. A few days later Schulenberg received word that his hoped for July 27 military parade had been cancelled. Despite Schulenberg’s failure to lure Hitler to Paris for the special parade, Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben had plans of his own to assassinate Hitler. In May, 1941, he attemped to lure Hitler to Paris under a similar pretext. The visit was scheduled for May 21st but was abruptly called off at the last minute.
So what if the second attempt to kill Hitler in Paris on May 21st 1941 succeeded because the visit is never called off? Given Hitler's last will and testament, the fact that the Luftwaffe hasn't been blemished yet for failing to protect German cities from Allied bombers, and that nobody else has the clout to take over, Goering probably takes power (though feel free to point out other likely candidates, if there are any). But what then? Barbarossa is less than five weeks away. Goering was never a big fan, but would he or anybody else dare to cancel the largest military operation in history after so many months of preparations and make it all a wasted effort? Or would he press ahead and tweak the grand goals Hitler had set out, i.e. Lebensraum and racial war of annihilation?
Goering was known for ruthlessness, but also being pragmatic: he once said "I decide who is a Jew" and appears to have been a racist largely because party ideology required him to be. But now he's probably in charge. What would change about Barbarossa, the Holocaust and the general poor treatment of Eastern Europeans in a Third Reich exit Hitler May 1941? If Barbarossa goes ahead, would Goering settle for Brest-Litovsk 2.0 perhaps? We know it was offered by Stalin, until it became clear he wasn't going to lose.
