20 July 1944 is usually associated with the bomb plot to murder
Hitler. However, what distinguishes Colonel Stauffenberg's plan
from all others is that the attempt on the Fuhrer's life was only
to be the initial stage of a full military coup d'etat. The aim was
to overthrow the murderous regime, and to end the war as soon as
possible. The conspiracy has long been analyzed from political,
social, religious, or moral points of view. This book asks what the
military dimension of the plan was. What traditions in the German
army were at work, how was planning and preparation done, and why
did the plot fail eventually? What is more: how did the conspiracy
affect the German armies created in East and West after World War
II, and also the Austrian Army? As the politicians among the
conspirators thought in categories of Imperial Germany or at least
the Weimar Republic, the officers among them were conditioned by
the Reichswehr. Yet, Stauffenberg and some others were also bright
intellectuals who were willing to incorporate their war experience
into their plans, rendering them surprisingly modern at times. The
coup d'etat had been planned as meticulously as circumstances in
war-torn Berlin allowed. However, as most officers had foreseen,
once it became public knowledge that Hitler had survived
Stauffenberg's bomb, army units refused to act. The myth
surrounding the "Fuhrer" effectively prevented any military action
against him. Still, the failed uprising had its effects: the regime
took the opportunity to tilt the balance of power further in favor
of Himmler and his fiefdom (SS, Gestapo, Police), to the detriment
of the army which Hitler felt was too reactionary anyway. The
leadership of the West German Bundeswehr always saw the failed
uprising as part of its tradition, but it took time for this
attitude to percolate down to the rank and file. For decades, some
of the former Wehrmacht soldiers viewed Stauffenberg and his
friends as "traitors". The book is the first to approach this
important event in German history from a specifically military
point of view, and that results in some surprising new results.
General
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