German officer oath

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admfisher
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German officer oath

#1

Post by admfisher » 04 Apr 2002, 21:29

It's written more than one book that the German Army officers felt that the day they had to swear there oath to Hitler was a mistake.

They go on to say that he totally took advantage of the oath, by using it against them. In other words they had to follow the German leader and guard its poeple.

What would of been if in 44, after the bombing plot had gone wrong, if the officers of the army decided that the oath was no longer valid after the way Hitler had abused it.

By abusing, it could be the Fastung, give no ground, fight to the last shell and the lot.
The loss of the 6th Army could of been avoided and Hitler used the oath to keep the men there. Sure Paulus could of desregraded it, but that would of been meet with another form or death.
In North Africa the army there wanted to pull as many people out as possible but Hitler forbid this, unitill it was to late.

Here we have a officer corps that has seen hundreds of thousand of soldiers wasted because they were so called made to drop the origanal oath and make one to Hitler. Which meant if he said they stayed and fought to the death they had to. No officer could counter this, without some harsch results.

So back to 44, many felt the plotters had some of the right ideas about making peace with the west of allowing them to pass throug them so's at least the eastren part of Germany would not be overrun.
What would the allies do if the Germans stopped fighting in the west, would the allies march through the German and stop. Or would they stop only at the dividing lines that the powers had agreed on before D-Day?

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GFM2000
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#2

Post by GFM2000 » 15 Apr 2002, 07:33

Hello admfisher,

The possibility that the Soldier's Oath os Allegience to Hitler that eventually led to the destruction of the Reich is a very interesting one.

I had recented put a poll entitled "Be a Conspirator, 1944", an ethical question which asked if one would join the anti-Nazi movement after Stauffenberg's bomb went off in the Wolf's Lair, in 1944.

http://thirdreichforum.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=935

There are certainly a few questions I think warrants further discussion

(1) If there had been no "Hitler Oath", the Third Reich would last longer than 12 years

Suffice to add that it was not unusual for the soldiers to swear an oath to the leader of their country (for example, by higher officers to the Kaiser in the First World War), I have no idea, but would like to hear if others have an option.

(2) If the soldiers co-ordinated their plans to overthrow the government in July 1944, irregardless of Hitler's status after the bomb explosion, would they be able to establish a stable govenment to negotiate with the Allies?

I think some folks in this forum are almost certain that civil war will break out, and no form of a govenment will eventuate to negotiate a truce with the Allied powers, at least in the critical period before the Allied forces crosses the borders into Germany proper. While I do not disagree with the idea, I feel that shall the German officers throw in their lot with the conspirators in 1944, instead of humming and hawing (see the actions of a notible few Field Marshals), a ceasefire can certain be called upon without immediate civil war.

(3) Even with an established government headed by General Beck, will the Allies stop?

I personally think it is highly unlikely that the Allies, (Eastern or Western) are willing to negotiate, and will still demand for unconditional surrender. I believe the only positive outcome from a successful coup d'etat is the potential to prevent the loss in lives of many soldiers who died between 1944-1945. [/code]


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admfisher
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#3

Post by admfisher » 15 Apr 2002, 19:16

Remember that between wars the officer corps had changed quite some.
von Luck states that a officer who did not take the oath would of been more likely to resist the build up of the SS, and possibly stopping Hitler before the War had started. Apparantly the officers seen trouble coming but this is where Hitler was smart.
He had them swear the oath to him before things got to far out of hand. This includes the building of his own SS.

I am not sure if my point comes across. Von Lucks book he states is only guidline to the events that he was part of. But he goes into details in important areas. The question that was posed to him was, ' Why did the officers of the German Army stand by while Hitler took power?'

He blames most on the following to death of the officers oath.

So in turn Hitler was smart as I said before. He took the army by force of will..

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