Hitler assassinated, peace?

If the July 1944 bombing had resulted in Hitler's death and the Germans had sued for peace what do you think would have happened?

On the Western Front the Allies had not broken out of Normandy yet. In Italy Rome had fallen and the Allies advanced northward. On the Eastern Front the Russians were advancing but had not gotten into Latvia yet.

The Germans say, UNCLE, now what? Without the wholesale destruction of Germany by the two advancing armies what would the allies have done? What would the agreements between Stalin and Churchill and Roosevelt have done to Europe with a Germany that had not been utterly defeated? Would the actions have been worse than the Versaille Treaty? Would the occupation of the same territories have really kept the peace this time? How would we have found out about the concentration and extermination camps? Would the Germans have been more able to cover them up if we had not over-ran them during the advances?

 

Germany would still have been occupied but I am not sure if it would have been the same areas as 1945. The war criminals would still go on trial and the Russians would still make the Germans pay for all the misery they caused their people. Fewer people on all sides would have died if the war ended in 1944 but Germany would not have gotton off as easy as Italy did when they surrendered in 1943.

I think the allies treating Germany as they did at the end of WWI would be impossible due to all the suffering the Nazi's caused in WWII.

 

The problem here is the Russian angle on these new events would they continual to fight and visa versa would the Germans continual to fight only the Russians. And the reaction from the west it’s another tricky one to answer.

 

I'm sure if a peace offer was made to Stalin he would take it, but there would be a hefty price to pay. First of all, all Soviet land would have to be abandoned, more than that who knows.

And there would also have to be the reckoning with the allies, Hungary, Finland, Romania, etc.

 

It is really the Eastern Block countries that I wonder about. I don't know the content of the Malta Agreement between the Allies. If the Soviets had not taken Poland and Romainia etc. from the Germans would they have had any claim to them? Would the Soviets have allowed the German military forces to leave their weapons behind and go home? I think there may have been a stickier diplomatic situation with Germany's surrender at that time than their eventual utter defeat.

 

I am not even sure that wit Hitler assassinated, the german leaders would have sued for peace in 1944.

Quite a few generals (Rommel included) still think that they can win the war, or at least fight till it becomes too costly for the allies.

 

After Stalingrad I think almost all German Generals realized they were losing the war, and only those who knew they´d be hanged after the lost war would fight until the bitter end because it was their only choice.

In autumn 1944 Himmler told about the "final solution" program in a speech to many leading Reich people just to ensure they´d be in it until the end.

 

Most likely we would see mass surrenders on the West front, orders or no orders, especially as the officers would feel their honour was safe as their oath was not to the German nation but to the Gröfaz himself, therefore they would no longer feel much obliged.

On the Eastern front I suppose the High Command would wish to continue the fight. What would happen to the desertion rate, who knows.

 

Evan if Hitler had been killed in the 1944 bombings Germany would still have carried on in the war under the second Fuhrer Admiral Karl Donitz at this point the German Citizens were still under a heavy wall of propaganda and actually thought they were winning the war.

 

Sorry to say this is one of the common errors that crop's up Admiral Karl Donitz was never given the title of the Fuhrer. Only Hitler had that title, Donitz was appointed President of the Reich. Hitler’s last will


But of course we are talking about what if situation even at this stage of the war Goring and Himmler would have been the front runners.

 

PS. Welcome to the forums Evan.

 

Even if there was heavy propaganda you cannot hide the number of dead young men etc really. You cannot bring them back. And the people knew Germany was bleeding to death. Especially after Stalingrad.

Hard to say would Himmler/Göring carried on fighting because both believed even in the last phase of war that they would be needed by the new leaders in order to be able to lead the people. And Dönitz was chosen by Hitler so the next question is would Dönitz himself have wanted to take the lead. And Hitler chose him only after Göring and Himmler had betrayed him.

 

It seems everybody and his Daschund was trying to look good with the Western Allies and negotiate with them, except Hitler himself, to bring them on the bandwagon and make them defend Germany against the Russians.

The Germas seem to have had this problem in not knowing how to deal with the Russians. In WWI when the had the war already won in the Eastern Front they have this bright idea of sending them that meag-agitator, Vladimir I. Lenin. In WWII they declare war on a Soviet Union whose leader was scared stiff of them and sent them absolutely everything they needed, ores, oil, corn, everything. Lend-Lease from the East, so to speak

 

The "funny thing" is that Blitzkrieg in the West in 1940 was won by Soviet oil, I think. But then again I´m sure that was Stalin´s main idea to help both sides in the western front kill each other as many as possible. Anyone read what Stalin did say when he saw Germany win the war in May-June 1940?

 

We're dying for the answer, Kai

 

Probably something like "Son of a b***h"

 

Knowing Stalin the F word would have been in his reply.