A different Valkyrie

I was rereading William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. He said that Von Stauffenberg was recruited because part of his duties was giving reports in meetings attended by Hitler. He further said that Goering and Himmler were at some of these meetings. The conspirators hoped he could kill all three. What if he was able to plant a bomb that killed Hitler, Himmler and Goering? Would the power vacuum help the coup succeed? Shirer thought the conspirators did not plan their coup well, but could the chaos caused by the three top leaders help them?
 
I was rereading William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. He said that Von Stauffenberg was recruited because part of his duties was giving reports in meetings attended by Hitler. He further said that Goering and Himmler were at some of these meetings. The conspirators hoped he could kill all three. What if he was able to plant a bomb that killed Hitler, Himmler and Goering? Would the power vacuum help the coup succeed? Shirer thought the conspirators did not plan their coup well, but could the chaos caused by the three top leaders help them?

The Schwarze Kapelle really wanted to get all three. AIUI, Stauffenberg passed up some earlier opportunities because either Goering or Himmler was absent. By 20 July, the SK were desperate and decided to settle for just Hitler.

However, they had a very good shot at all three in late 1943. A new winter battledress for the Army had been designed. It was to be modeled for Hitler, and Goering and Himmler were to be present to consider its adoption by the Luftwaffe Field Divisions and the Waffen-SS.

The model was to be Captain Axel von dem Bussche, and he volunteered to carry a bomb in the knapsack of the outfit, and detonate while the three targets were looking him over.

Everything was set. And then, the night before the presentation, Allied bombers hit Berlin and the sample uniform was destroyed. Von dem Bussche was sent back to the Eastern Front, where he was badly wounded and lost a leg. By the time the sample was replaced, the triple meeting wasn't going to happen.

The assassination would have been on 16 November 1943...
 
Well, for starters the Valkyre coup as we know was badly planned, and it should be noted the 20 July version was probably as best prepared as it would ever be in terms of seizing power. July 15th is often cited as a "missed chance" (particularly since Rommel hadn't been wounded), but it should be noted that given the lack of coordination between Stauffenberg and the Berlin plotters in that day, Goering and Himmler wouldn't have been killed either. To make matters worse, attempts to put Berlin troops in alert to prepare Valkyrie failed and proved to be ridiculously flawed, giving Olbricht and company the chance to refine plans for July 20th (which still were badly implemented). Fromm was also with Stauffenberg that day, and since Fromm is not jumping on a plane with the Colonel to raise suspicions about himself the conspiration can't even get Fromm's authority to back them up if Hitler actually dies, meaning the Reserve Army and many of the military districts probably refuse to follow orders.

Like it has been pointed out, 1943 and even early 1944 provide good chances of killing Hitler, Himmler, and Goering at once. The irony, I believe, is that the Valkyrie plotters would not be ready to seize power, having less support, less preparation and less means than IOTL as they haven't infiltrated the Reserve Army as throroughly (and without the Reserve Army the coup is nothing), and it doesn't look like most of the field commanders of the time would back the coup unless it had already been succesful. But if Himmler, Goering and Hitler are indeed dead, then the chances of the plotters are dramatically increased, and if they get enough luck to get the Valkyrie orders to the acknowledged by most commanders over the first hours along with suitable backing from a high-ranking figure (they absolutely need Fromm at the very least), then I suppose there is a chance. The SS has been decapitated and while it can do damage, it doesn't really have a figure of their own to rally behind. With Goering gone you lose the figure of the "designated successor" that could rally enough support from enough key figures.

You're then left with Bormann, who is hated and unpopular, Goebbels, who doesn't a chance himself unless he manipulates as suitable puppet or joins forces with others, Speer, who is at his highest point of influence as a possible successor to Hitler in late 1943 but in the middle of a nervous breakdown and a health crisis in early 1944, and the Wehrmacht commanders, with Rommel having the sort of popularity needed and yet not having been informed of the plot during this time span.
 
The assassination would have been on 16 November 1943...[/QUOTE]

So who can tell us what happens after Hitler, Himmler and Goering are killed on November 16, 1943?
 
The assassination would have been on 16 November 1943...
So who can tell us what happens after Hitler, Himmler and Goering are killed on November 16, 1943?

The Schwarze Kapelle seizes power. The death of the three Nazi kingpins leaves the Nazi state headless. There is literally no one to give orders. The SK, claiming to act for the German state, will issue emergency orders which will be followed.

Some lesser SS commanders may balk, but what are they to do? I don't believe there was any SS commander with forces that could take over Berlin, and who would have been ready to act. They would all be taken by surprise. There were pro-Nazi elements in the Army (Model, for instance), but they would not act either; the opportunists would join the new regime.

The new regime would have to disband the SS as quickly as possible, and would probably move to dismantle the NSDAP unobviously, probably by renaming, merger with the revived Stahlhelm or some such, and a broad purge of gauleiters and such for corruption. Also, the core of the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst - except those who turn their coats; there are several likely ones.

As to the new regime's policies: an end to extermination programs, but quite possibly a systematic effort to scrub all the evidence, including any survivors already in custody (also the staff of the camps). Slave labor will continue, as it is needed to maintain production.

In strategy - at this time, the Soviets have just retaken Kiev and are pushing across the Dnieper, but otherwise the Eastern Front is stable. In Italy, the Allied advance has stalled at Cassino and the Sangro River. I don't see any immediate shifts in priority, except evacuation of the Crimea, and an end to U-boat operations (both because the ops are futile, and to placate the British). They'd like to write off Italy, Mussolini being useless, but why give up a strong defensive position?

The neo-Germans will try to approach the western Allies to negotiate peace, and be rebuffed. They may try it on with Stalin... The Tehran conference begins on 1 December, and the neo-German regime will be the top subject. Roosevelt will still want to accommodate Stalin, and Stalin will want at least as much as OTL.

The various German satellites and allies will get very nervous, as the change will remove their ally in Germany.
 
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