Germany at war 1939-1945 resistance and repression Flashcards
Failure of the Communist activity
Their activity should not be overstated, they failed because:
1) they took orders from Moscow and in the 30s Stalin purged elements of the Communist movement.
2) They were fatally compromised by the period of co-operation with the USSR as a result of the Nazi-Soviet pact.
3) Resistance groups were isolated.
Students: the White Rose Group
This group went beyond dissent. They handed out leaflets at the Munich university - the contents was highly political and openly opposed the regime. It was a valiant gesture of defiance. But from the start the groups security was weak, it was only a matter of time before the Gestapo closed in. In Feb 1943, the 6 leaders were arrested and tortured.
Conservative elites
Most influential resistance came from the upper class who dominated the civil service. The army was an institution that had a degree of freedom, they had real capacity to resist.
The Kreisau circle
Effective resistance began to emerge during the winter of 42-3 with the military disasters of El Alamein and Stalingrad. The Kreisau circle was a wide ranging circle of officers, aristocrats, academics and churchmen. Their principles were politically conservative and influenced by Christian values.
The Stauffenburg plot
This was the most far reaching plot against Hitler, it was a bomb plot on 20 July 1944 - it aimed to assassinate Hitler and create a provisional government. Claus von Stauffenburg placed a bomb next to Hitler in a meeting, however it failed because the bomb was moved a few yarrds from Hitler. Hitler’s loyal soldiers arrested the conspirators - about 5000 of them were killed including Rommel, Beck, Stauffenburg, Tresckow.
Communists
Communist movement was never entirely broken and it went underground. Many communist cells continued to be formed by Wilhelm Knockel in many large cities - most famously of which were the Red Orchestra; a spy network which permeated the government at reported to Russia.
