Page 13 - Cause & Effect: World War II

Assassination Attempt

Following the Normandy invasion, high-ranking members of the German
military became convinced the war was not winnable. They appealed to Ad-
olf Hitler to seek a negotiated peace with the Allies. Hitler refused.
Therefore, these members of the military hatched a plan to assas-
sinate Hitler and seize control of the German government. Among the
conspirators was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. On July 15, 1944, Rommel
made a fi nal eff ort to convince Hitler to order a retreat. He sent a tele-
gram to the dictator warning Hitler that the German military could not
stop the advancing Allied armies in France. “I gave him his last chance,”
Rommel told an aide. “If he does not draw the consequences, we will have
to act.” Rommel did not get a chance to participate in the conspiracy. On
July 17 he was severely wounded when his car was struck by fi re from a
British fi ghter plane.
Three days later Colonel Claus von Stauff enberg entered a conference
room near Rastenburg, Germany, where Hitler had convened a meeting of
military leaders. Stauff enberg left a briefcase in the meeting, then walked
out. Moments later, a bomb in the briefcase exploded. But Hitler survived
the plot, sustaining only minor burns.
Hitler ordered the roundup and execution of the conspirators. Nearly
fi ve thousand German soldiers and civilians are believed to have been ex-
ecuted, including Stauff enberg. As for Rommel, he was eventually discov-
ered to have participated in the plot. He committed suicide on October 14,
1944, rather than face arrest and execution.

Quoted in Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany: A New History. New York: Continuum, 2003,
p. 551.

Rommel told Hitler that a new Soviet off ensive was sure to com-
mence soon on the eastern front. Rommel urged Hitler to order a re-
treat of all troops back to Germany and seek a negotiated end of the
war with the Allies. “Don’t you worry about the future course of the
war, but rather about your own invasion front,” Hitler snapped back
at Rommel. General Alfred Jodl, who also attended the meeting,
said later, “Hitler paid no attention whatsoever to their warnings.” 32

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