The Hess peace plan

[nota]

was there any real peace plan ? Not just war sucks and we do not want to fight you guys, we would far rather fight that red guy, but a real plan with steps and time lines or anything, is there any info on what, how, when was to take place
or what the brits wanted in 1941 as a counter offer or would have taken maybe or what Hitler may agreed too.

in a place where exact numbers are used for alot of things this subject is strangely inexact and hushed up.

where is the Hess peace plan ?

[Petterson]

As far as I know he told the Britons what Germany would do in return for peace.

[redcoat]

where is the Hess peace plan ?

This is the peace plan that Hess gave to his interrogators after his capture (taken from the British government file FO 371/34484)

(i) That Germany should be given a free hand in Europe.

(ii) That England should have a free hand in the British Empire, except that the ex-
German colonies should be returned to Germany.

(iii) That Russia should be included in Asia, but that Germany had certain demands to
make of Russia which would have to be satisfied either by negotiation or as the result
of war. There was, however, no truth in the rumours that the Führer contemplated an
early attack on Russia.

(iv) That the British should evacuate Iraq.

(v) The peace agreement would have to contain a provision for the reciprocal
indemnification of British and German Nationals, whose property had been
expropriated as the result of war.

(vi) The proposal could only be considered on the understanding that it was
negotiated by Germany with an English Government other than the present British
Government. Mr. Churchill, who had planned the war since 1936, and his colleagues,
who had lent themselves to his war policy, were not persons with whom the Führer
would negotiate.

Hess concluded by emphasising that the Führer really wanted a permanent understanding with
Great Britain on a basis which preserved the British Empire intact. His own flight was
intended to give Great Britain a chance of opening conversations without loss of prestige. If
this chance were to be rejected it would be the Führer’s duty to destroy Great Britain utterly
and to keep the country after the war in a state of permanent subjection.

source. http://www.psywar.org/Hess.pdf

[nota]

thank you for the most informative post on this subject

but it is still rather form less and with out structure

''given a free hand in Europe.''
to remain as occupation ? everywhere ? for how long
no withdraws of troops or other concessions??

[ii] well that is status no real change for england

[iii] real unclear
attack reds but england in war too or neutral ?


[iv] only clear point so far

[v] money mattters ok

[vi] winny's head or no deal

so a start but no real plan with real points to base a deal

as I see england needing freed france and the low countrys minimum
free trade and other concessions and winny was to self important to quit too

so not even a counter offer was made ????????
or any real thought put in to one ?

[Ahnenerbe1]

I have always wondered about this too. The only conclusion I have made for myself is that there is lot we just don't know about this. There are still secret records that won't be released til 2025 I believe, so we are in the dark about what happened. Conventional history says Hess was dilusional and made wild demands that the Brits took as a mere joke, and were far from peaceful. Conspiracy theories say Churchill was planning with Roosevelt to get the US into war but this is unproven, and that is one reason the Hess peace flight never came to anything. In 1988 I interviewed a secretary of Hess's about this flight and she knew Hess was in contact with several royals and that he openly talked about how Hitler wanted the war stopped asap and was willing to make big concessions to do so, she recalled something about pulling out of countries England wanted. Some people believe the Hess document of demands was made up by the British to bolster the war effort, but again no proof at all, just conspiracy theories.

[nota]

the brits allow their government to get away with this ??

does any other major country try this level of old secrets keeping
afaik USA [freedon of info act] has far less restriction on info this old { +70)

[Xavier]

well, seeing the way british subjects react ( latest riots) I no longer think 70 years is long enough for those files to be kept secret...images of elders branding canes and umbrellas and attacking bobbies come to my mind inmediatly!
Xavier
Der Autodidakt

[redcoat]

the brits allow their government to get away with this ??

does any other major country try this level of old secrets keeping
afaik USA [freedon of info act] has far less restriction on info this old { +70)

Actually, with the single exception of a few pages of file 181/969/12, which concerns correspondence on this incidence with the Moscow Embassy in 1942, all the files have been released into the public domain.
http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.go ... Politician

[nota]

I tryed to follow you links
but most are empty files
that just list a title but not the doc's

and Documents cost from £3.50 to download and view online.

the from is a little scary as there is no price on the title pages

[nota]

HAS ANYTHING updated this subject
or are the brits still afraid to say what happened in 1941

[nota]

from a quora post on WW2 secrets

'' Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess flew from Germany to Scotland on May 10, 1941, claiming that he wanted to discuss peace terms with Britain and that their common enemy was the Soviet Union. Hess was imprisoned and interrogated. After the war, he was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to life at Spandau Prison. A British intelligence file said to contain an interrogation transcript and Hess’ correspondence with King George VI is scheduled to be unsealed 100 years after his arrest. Historians say the papers might show whether British intelligence tricked Hess into undertaking his fateful mission.”

the last bit '' did British intelligence trick Hess into undertaking his fateful mission.”
is new to me
still no concrete plan or offer of who would do what when why is reds under beds, [fear of commies]
but very little else is in a real evidence state

[Peter89]

from a quora post on WW2 secrets

'' Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess flew from Germany to Scotland on May 10, 1941, claiming that he wanted to discuss peace terms with Britain and that their common enemy was the Soviet Union. Hess was imprisoned and interrogated. After the war, he was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to life at Spandau Prison. A British intelligence file said to contain an interrogation transcript and Hess’ correspondence with King George VI is scheduled to be unsealed 100 years after his arrest. Historians say the papers might show whether British intelligence tricked Hess into undertaking his fateful mission.”

the last bit '' did British intelligence trick Hess into undertaking his fateful mission.”
is new to me
still no concrete plan or offer of who would do what when why is reds under beds, [fear of commies]
but very little else is in a real evidence state

Whatever Hess had to say, it was garbage for the British. If they opened up the seas for the Axis, they'd be strong enough to crush Britain in a few years' time, while Britain would struggle to keep his empire intact. The problem was that the British Empire was doomed. Granting a "free hand" in it was nothing but a spray of holy water on a dead. Moreover, the Czechoslovak, Polish, Norwegian, Dutch, Belgian, French, Serbian, etc. governments and rulers were lining up before the door of Churchill and promised him a future Europe where the British would have a word. If they'd fight.

So why would they actually STOP fighting when they were in the best position to defeat the Axis, or at least keep it at bay?

One must be a madman, or at least seriously impaired by his own ideological blabla to even consider such a proposition. Besides, what could Britain gain from a defeated Soviet Union? Why would it be good for her? If the Germans defeat even the Soviets, then they would be even more stronger, and it might take them 5 years instead of 10 to build a battle fleet and an air force that could not be matched by the RN and the RAF. What the British would be interested in was a balance of power on mainland Europe, thus, if Germany grew stronger, so should the Soviet Union and vica versa.

Hess' peace plan was actually a lunacy.