The Blomberg-Fritsch Affair Flashcards
How did Hitler and the Army have their differences?
They had differences over timing and strategy in their shared gol of destroying tov and re-establishing Germany as leading power
What two actions by Hitler were the army opposed to?
the forcefulness by which he re-introduced conscription n 1935
reoccupied the demilitarised Rhineland 1936
Who was Werner von Blomberg?
War minister
Who was Colonel General Werner von Fritsch?
head of the army
What was Blomberg and Fritsch’s attitudes towards Hitler’s foreign policy?
sympathetic towards the Nazis
Amazed by Hitler’s foreign policy
wary of risks- both recorded as having sharp exchanges with hitler after his speech at the meeting in november 1937
What happened in the Blomberg scandal?
1938 Blomberg married Margarethe Gruhn
Hitler and Goring were two witnesses
Allegedly, Her mother was a prostitute and she has posed in pornographic photos by a jewish photographer
Gestapo investigation proved he rumours to be true
Groing told Hitler
Hitler as furious demanded they anul the marriage
Blomberg refused and so resigned all his posts and went into voluntary exile with his wife
What was Hitler’s reaction to this scandal?
embarrassment anxious to dig up other skeletons within the army’s ranks
What happened in the Fritsch scandal?
fritsch accused of having been a client of a male prostitute
he denied allegations but to no avail as hitler was very suspicious
the military court cleared his name in 1938 but by then he had already been dismissed and Hitler’s pride could not allow his return to command
the head of the army was removed on the testimony of a rent boy who at the time of the testimony was imprisoned in a concentration camp
What controversy aroused by the Blomberg scandal?
Goring had encouraged the relationship seeking to compromise blomberg for his own advantage in the jungle life of Nazi politics
What controversy is aroused by the Fritsch scandal?
some evidence that gestapo were aware early in the investigation that the fritsch case was one of mistaken identity and that Himmler and Heydrich knew of this and covered it up to allow them to advance the cause of the ss by weakening the army and won them the favour of hitler for rooting out potential scandal
Does kershaw think the affair was planned?
the crisis was accidental
unforseen
not manufactured
no concerted plan on Hitler’s part
What was the reasoning behind the affair according to kershaw?
the crisis was a result of Hitler’s panicked reaction to prevent a sullying of the fuhrer image
According to Kershaw, athough the affair was not manufactured, how did Hitler take full advantage it?
he was an opportunist
used opportunity to restructure and to remove twelve other army generals and six from luftwaffe
According to kershaw, what was the significance of the affair?
the affair engendered a key shift in relations between Hitler and the non-nazi elite.
the army had shown its weakness and had swallowed his outright dominance over the army
cementing Hitler’s absolute power
According to kershaw, from an initial embarrassment what did hitler turn the crisis into?
Hitler turned initial embarrassment into a bloodless purge of the old guard national conservative power elite
