It is shortly after midnight on the 21st July 1944, headlights illuminate the courtyard of the German army headquarters, the Bendlerblock, four men, condemned to die, are led out to stand by a large pile of sand, one by one, they are shot, and their bodies hit the ground, the main conspirator is the third to be executed, his aide and first lieutenant, calmly walks in front of him, taking the bullets in the back that were meant for him, before he is executed, the leader of the men screams out….. “Es lebe das heilige Deutschland“ or , “Long live our sacred Germany“….his name…..Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg The man known to history as Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was born on the 15th of November 1907, in the Stauffenberg’s own castle, known as Castle Jettingen in the Baverian region of the Empire of Germany. Claus’ father was Alfred Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, who was born on the 27th of September 1860, to a Catholic family which was one of the most distinguished aristocratic families in Bavaria, he had the honour of being the last Oberhofmarschall of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which meant that he acted as head of the administration of the German courts and so, supervised all royal receptions and state visits, he was also involved in foreign affairs, and supervised the royal household, this was an important job and so, he would have wielded great influence within the nobility. Claus’ mother was Caroline Grafin von Üxküll-Gyllenband, who was the daughter of Alfred Richard August Graf von Üxküll-Gyllenband and Valerie Gräfin von Hohenthal, her father’s family being based in Latvia, with the earliest traces of their family name, coming from the town of Stedingen, once married she took the name of Schenk meaning Cupbearer from her husband and the name Grafin which she already held, meant Countess, the von Stauffenberg part of the name, referring to the castle Stauffenberg which was her husband’s family seat. Claus’ parents had a total of 4 children, however only 3 survived into childhood, as Claus also had a twin brother, Konrad Maria, who died on the 16th of November 1907, one day after being born, Claus was the third child born to the family, he had twin older brothers Berthold and Alexander, who were born on the 15th of March 1905 in Stuttgart. As a young boy, Claus attended a private grammar school, and was eager to compete with his brothers on an academic level, being particularly interested in literature, he was active in the Gymnasium and played piano and the violin, Claus also took up the cello in 1917, but whilst Berthold and Claus were both top of their class, Alexander struggled to keep up with the other two, yet Alexander could easily place Berthold and Claus in the shadows, when it came to poetry, as he was the only one of the brothers truly gifted in the art, the three boys also joined the German Scout association as well as the movement for German Youth. The Von Stauffenberg brothers’ childhoods were deeply affected by World War I, and although their mother wrote frequently of the horrors of the war, the children had an alternate view, and instead were quote” “seized by such enthusiasm”, exemplified by an incident in which Claus ran to his mother crying one day, saying that his brothers told him, that in ten years they would be able to join the war, but that he would be left behind, the brothers were all very anxious to serve their country. Towards the end of the war, King William II of Württemberg faced mass demonstrations against his rule, which came to a head on the 9th of November 1918, when a mob broke into the Kings palace, Claus’s father, Lord Chamberlain Count Stauffenberg, and several other staff members including the King’s physician Dr. Gussmann, as well as the Chief of the Royal Cabinet, Baron von Neurath, prevented the mob from reaching the king. However, the revolutionaries replaced the royal standard with a red flag and “revolutionary sentries” were placed on guard, the removal of King William II, along with many other royals of the former German Empire, led to the establishment of the Free People’s State of Württemberg, although the King did not officially abdicate at this time, but he did leave Stuttgart. The Stauffenberg family was immersed in the unrest, due to their close ties to the royal family, indeed, Countess Stauffenberg visited the King and Queen the morning after the uprising and was moved to see William II with tears trickling down his beard, he was devastated that 800 years of royal rule in Württemberg had come to an end, and he also felt betrayed, as he believed the people had enjoyed a liberal and accessible government, such as when he would walk his dogs without a royal escort, which he was famous for. Following the November uprising, there was talk of a counter-revolution with the arrival of the White Guards from Ulm and Ludwigsburg, but nothing came of it, and so on the 11th November 1918, Germany accepted the armistice, formally ending the Great War, the young Stauffenberg, was devastated by Germany’s surrender, and by the removal of King William II from power, and he refused to celebrate his birthday, calling it quote: “the saddest birthday of his life”, and following the negotiations surrounding the estates and pensions on the 29th, brokered by Count Stauffenberg, King William II officially abdicated the throne on the 30th of November 1918. Following the dramatic events of November 1918, the constitution for the new Weimar Republic was written in August of 1919, this new Democratic Republic abolished all noble titles in Germany, resulting in the dissolution of, quote: “privileges based on birth and social status”, but in order to pacify the nobility, they allowed noble families to incorporate their titles into their family names, so the Stauffenberg family included their former titles of Schenk and Graf, so that the family's surname would be Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. In 1926 Claus would join the Bamberger Reiter und Kavallerieregiment 17, or the 17th Cavalry Regiment, located in Bamberg, Bavaria, and shortly after this, a Prussian landowner and classicist, Albrecht von Blumenthal introduced the three brothers to the circle of the famous poet Stefan George, whose influential work, Das Neue Reich or The New Realm was published in 1928. The book was seen as an inspiration to the Nazi party, but it was never intended to be so, but nevertheless it was banned in occupied Germany after World War II, George dedicated this work to Berthold, and the volume included the poem ‘Geheimes Deutschland’ or Secret Germany, which had been written in 1922. Stauffenberg’s military career was progressing nicely at this time, as by 1930, he was commissioned as a leutnant , or second lieutenant, his regiment would later join the German 1st Light Division which was led by General Erich Hoepner, and although he studied contemporary weaponry at the Kriegsakademiein Berlin-Moabit, he was also interested in the use of horses in warfare which, despite Germany’s push towards mechanization, would continue to be used widely for transportation duties. On the day of his 23rd birthday, the 15th of November 1930, Claus von Stauffenberg proposed to Baroness Nina von Lerchenfeld, the daughter of a former Bavarian Royal Chamberlain and Imperial Consul General, who would entertain members of the 17th Regiment Cavalry, Nina accepted Claus’ proposal, but although they were engaged, it was not made public, as under the Reichswehr rules, a soldier could not marry, unless they were 27 years old or had completed 8 years of service. However, Stauffenberg was able to receive a dispensation from the rules for the last 6 months, and the couple married on the 26th of September 1933 in St. James’s Catholic Church, he wore his military attire along with his German Stalhelm helmet, and stated “To wed is to be our duty”, following the reception at the Bamberger Hof Hotel, they travelled by train to Rome, and toured exhibitions glorifying Mussolini’s first ten years in power, they visited many of the churches and museums in Verona, Ostia, and Florence. Throughout 1931, France and other members of the Entente, had been putting pressure on Germany and Austria, when rumours started spreading, towards the end of June 1931, concerning insolvency of the North German Wool and Worsted Yarn Spinning works, this caused the Darmstädter und National-Bank, the second largest bank in Germany, to suffer a run which bankrupted it, on the 13th of July 1931, this triggered many other banks to fail, beginning the German banking crisis. Not only was the threat of economic collapse thrust upon Germany at this time, but the Entente was also threatening the armed forces of Germany, making the German people feel weak, they were surrounded by the strong military forces of France, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, and their vulnerable position, along with the harsh terms that limited Germany’s armed forces to only 100,000, made the period a very uneasy one for the German people. The civil unrest continued to disrupt the Weimar Republic’s stability, former General and Hero of the East, Paul Von Hindenburg, had been ruling by emergency decree, with a minority coalition government since March of 1930, but it wouldn’t be until the 10th of October 1931, that Paul Von Hindenburg would offer Hitler a place in the coalition government. Hindenburg greatly despised Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or NSDAP, yet reluctantly gave in, and in order to form a government, Hitler formed a political alliance with the German National People’s Party, the “Stahlhelm” veteran league, the Pan-German League, the Agrarian League, and other patriotic associations, this coalition was formed in the wake of the financial market crash of 1929, and the Great Depression that followed. The popularity of the NSDAP and other National Socialists drastically shrank during 1928, but they were to explode back onto the political stage in 1930, the rise of the NSDAP was not surprising, considering the growing trend at this time, for the polarization and radicalization of politics, parties such as the Communist Party soared in popularity, while the Social Democrats share of the vote rose significantly in the 1929 election, yet their popularity plummeted in 1932, in contrast, the National Socialists thrived in the new political atmosphere which resented the Versailles Treaty, held a fear of social upheaval, and felt a great disdain for Bolshevism. Hindenburg was dissatisfied with Chancellor Brüning and decided to replace him with retired Major, Franz von Papen, however, he was unable to control the rising unemployment and mounting civil unrest, and so his inability to control the country effectively, forced Hindenburg to replace him, with Brigadier Von Schleicher, but as Chancellor, Von Schleicher also failed to pull the country together, and bitter about his replacement, Von Papen undermined von Schleicher, therefore out of desperation, Hindenburg confirmed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on the 30th of January 1933, much to his own dismay. Hitler’s rise to the Chancellorship happened, with the German National People’s Party or DVNP, occupying the cabinet positions in the government, however the National Socialists were at the head of the coalition, holding the key positions, the Speaker of the Reichstag and Prussian Interior Minister was Hermann Göring and the Minister of the Interior was Dr. Frick, the position Göring held, granted him control of most of the police force, while the new Reichswehr Minister Blomberg, was sympathetic towards the National Socialists, and had the support of the Reichswehr or German armed forces. Stauffenberg had supported Hitler’s policies during the 1932 German presidential election especially the idea of “Volksgemeinschaft”, or the idea that the community good should outweigh the individual good, but once the NSDAP took power in 1933, Stauffenberg seemed to hold a more detached view towards political issues and wavered in his support of Hitler, disliking some of his policies, as he viewed the Treaty of Versailles and the ineffectiveness of the Weimar Republic to blame, for the Reichswehr’s inability to protect Germany, yet he still held an element of respect for Hitler’s military prowess. The 17th Cavalry Regiment would deny openly talking about politics while on duty, yet all of the officers were enamoured, with Point 22 of the National Socialist Party platform, that called for a great national army, and from the point that Hitler became Chancellor, the Nationalist political movement became more and more intertwined with the Reichswehr, partly due to Fieldmarshal von Blomberg’s close relations with Hitler, as well as his own infatuation with the National Socialist movement. Stauffenberg was enamoured with Hitler’s adoration of the Reichswehr and agreed with some of the ideology of race and Nationalism, he supported the call for the colonization of Poland for Lebensraum, or living space, for the German people, and made derogatory remarks towards Polish Jews, but ultimately Stauffenberg continued to remain a devoted Catholic, and he never joined the Nazi party. However, the Night of the Long Knives on the 30th of June 1934, was an event that disgusted Stauffenberg, and began to change his view, the elimination of between 150 and 200 Sturmabteilung leaders including Ernst Röhm, left Stauffenberg feeling there was no justice in the matter, despite this feeling, Stauffenberg remarked that the purge had quote: “Finally cleared things up”. However, Stauffenberg displayed his solidarity with the Sturmabteilung when he broke from most of the Reichswehr, and performed Calvary maneuvers with them in Heiligenhaus, by this time, his strong sense of morals and justice, instilled in him by his Catholic upbringing, made him disapprove of the Nazi’s growing religious suppression and the targeting of Jews. During 1934 the German Cavalry regiments of the Reichswehr were steadily converted to mechanized units and by July of that year, the No. 17 Cavalry Regiment had been converted and Stauffenberg had advanced his knowledge enough to serve as a training officer and was appointed as such on the 1st of October 1934, also in 1934, he beat several future 1936 Olympic horse champions in competition in the army, and in 1935, he served as adjutant in the Army Cavalry School in Hanover. By 1936, Stauffenberg was senior enough to take the Military District Examinations to be admitted into the War Academy, in order to qualify, candidates had to be familiar with the records of the Great War in the Reichsarchivs and were required to read Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, Stauffenberg’s horse had a terrible habit of rearing back, and he fell off during the test, but despite this, he still passed his examination in June 1936, and he would later transfer to a cavalry school in Krampnitz, just outside of Berlin. Stauffenberg then travelled to Berlin’s industrial suburbs and joined the War Academy at nos. 3-4 Kruppstrasse in Berlin-Moabit on the 6th of October 1936, and he was joined by his wife and two children, Berthold and Heimeran, born in 1934 and 1936 respectively, Stauffenberg’s time in the Academy proved he was competent in tactics, and had “good and clear” judgement, but he was judged at times to be “too optimistic and superficial”. The War Academy was at the forefront of new military developments such as airborne, armoured, and anti-tank divisions and much of his first year at the War Academy was spent learning about the different campaigns of Phillip of Macedon, his son Alexander the Great, Caesar, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon and in the second year, students were taught how to lead army corps and studied strategy, geography, demography, climate, culture, politics, and economics, it was important for the students to know how each area affected the tactics that might be most usefully employed in any given situation. Stauffenberg learned about the steel manufacturing capabilities of the United States, which could produce four times the steel Germany could, this impressed him very much, he also became familiar with British and American politics and due to his hard work, was promoted to Captain on the 1st of January1937. He met American Captain Albert Wedemeyer during this time, when military co-operation between nations was still common, the two avoided talking about German politics but Stauffenberg’s reticence made Captain Wedemeyer suspect that he was skeptical of National Socialism, yet at the same time, with his German officer comrades, Stauffenberg would talk endlessly about it, he would often talk to his classmate and friend Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim about the subject, who was accepting of National Socialism, and thought that the Jewish people should be restricted from taking up certain professions and civil services. In the summer of 1938, Hitler threatened war against Czechoslovakia for mistreating the “Sudeten Germans”, who were the German speaking population in Bohemia, a former part of the Austrian Empire, this conflict drew international attention, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, attempted to bring about a gradual incorporation of the Sudetenland into the Nazi Reich. As the tensions rose, Britain mobilized her navy, France started to prepare its reserve force, and Italy declined to support Germany’s aggression, the Sudetenland territory bordered Italy, and so Germany taking the land threatened Mussolini but Hitler accepted the international settlement, delaying the onset of war. Stauffenberg served for 10 days in Göppingen in July, 1938 before moving on to an air unit in Giessen for only a week, irregular military postings were normal for new General Staff members, and Stauffenberg would eventually land a new temporary General Staff position as a Second General Staff officer, in the 1st Light Division in Wuppertal on the 1st of August 1938, his duties revolved around organizing the supply, equipment, living quarters, mobilizations, evacuation, internal politics and press contacts, along with counter espionage operations. The 1st Light Division was one of four newly organized panzer divisions and did not have a quartermaster, Stauffenberg would spend much of his time building his quartermaster staffing and differed from most officers because he allowed anyone to enter his office without having a scheduled meeting, and already he had the reputation of being one of the most brilliant up and coming General Staff officers. He would be transferred to the Sudetenland in the Borna-Gera-Plauen-Chemnitz region on the 12th of September 1938, and by the 29th of September, the division had positioned itself for an attack across the new Czechoslovakian border, yet the Munich Agreement Hitler had signed reduced the likelihood of war, according to Stauffenberg, and the other members of the General staff, as it had, all but made the army, no more than an occupation force protecting the borders, consolidating the Sudeten soldiers, and moving refugees. Stauffenberg agreed with the occupation of the Sudetenland but was uncertain about the method Hitler had used to go about it, Hitler had been testing the other Europeans resolve to stop him, and had so far called their bluff, the Sudetenland Crisis birthed the first conspiracy against Hitler that Stauffenberg had heard of, he learned about the plot from the Deputy President of the Berlin Police Schulenberg, who was also involved. There were plans to overthrow Hitler should he attack Czechoslovakia, as many senior military officers believed this would lead to war with France, which in turn would bring Britain and America into the conflict, and whilst Stauffenberg had heard of the plot, he distanced himself from it, as he believed that political responsibility should lay with the appointed leadership. Hitler’s increasing push towards war, led Chief of General Staff, General Beck, to try and win over Commander-in-Chief, General von Brauchitsch and the army corps commanders, to attempt a coup to remove Hitler, to prevent him from declaring war, and to this end, an important meeting took place between the two generals, but Beck was unable to persuade von Brauchitsch, leading to Beck’s resignation, Lieutenant-General Franz Halder replaced General Beck, and attempted to pick up where Beck had left off, but to no avail. Stauffenberg was completely unaware of the coup until after the fact, and Stauffenberg’s unknowing part in the plot, was to use his 1st Light Division to prevent the SS-Leibstandarte ‘Adolf Hitler’, Hitler’s personal Panzer division, from supporting him in Berlin. The 9th of November 1938, was to mark the beginning of two days of extreme violence towards the Jews, Sturmabteilung members smashed windows and burned down Jewish owned businesses, buildings, and synagogues during the night, the incident became known as Kristallnacht, or Crystal Night, gaining its name from the shards of broken glass, that lay on the streets following the event, Stauffenberg was appalled by the violence committed by the SA, but he still supported the reduction of Jewish influence in general. He wished to expel the non-German Jews from Germany, but condemned the violent outburst which targeted them, this all took place against the backdrop of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which were enacted in Nazi Germany to deal with the Jewish Problem, as it became known, the laws deprived all people of Jewish descent of German citizenship, and there were severe penalties that punished Germans who had relationships with Jews and by 1938, Jews were being expelled from state schools, parks, and other public places. In December of 1938, the Stauffenberg family moved into a flat at no. 25 Lönsstrasse in Wuppertal-Berman, Captain von Blomberg, who was the divisional adjutant, lived in the same building complex and the two families became great friends, Mrs von Blomberg described Claus as a, “kind, generous, and cultured friend”, who let others take leave during Christmas over himself, and who found it easy to live among the soldiers, Major Schöne, who also lived nearby, commuted with Captain Stauffenberg and von Blomberg often. One night in January of 1939, Stauffenberg and twenty other divisional staff officers gathered to hear Germanist, Rudolf Fahrner, present a lecture about Gneisenau, who was a military officer and reformer during the Napoleonic Era, Gneisenau’s main goal was to reform the nation’s army, specifically the reserves and supply lines, this struck a chord with Stauffenberg who shared a great passion for the organization of the army, however Gneisenau’s reforms were unpopular at the time with military staff and eventually suppressed by secret police, this lecture was Fahrner’s attempt to recruit those hostile towards the Nazi government, but those who attended the lecture did not perhaps realise this. Fahrner and Stauffenberg often talked, and in January 1939, Fahrner asked him if the military accepted the events of Kristallnacht, Stauffenberg raised the question of a coup, and commented that General Beck would be a major supporter, as he led the opposition to Hitler in the military, and another military officer, Major-General Hoepner was also deemed a reliable member of the resistance, yet Stauffenberg was warned not to rely on senior military officers, as they were seen as spineless, as they had not stood up against Hitler during the purges of Röhm and the Blomberg-Fritsch affair, which saw the Wehrmacht placed directly under the control of Hitler. When Hitler took the Sudetenland, he had promised that it would be the “last territorial demand in Europe”, yet on the 15th of March 1939, German troops invaded Prague, and the rest of Czechia, and only 7 days later, on the 22nd of March, German forces moved to occupy the Memel region of Lithuania, to Stauffenberg, Hitler had betrayed the trust of the German people, by attempting yet more territorial expansion against its neighbours, Britain guaranteed Polish independence on the 31st of March, yet this guarantee, as well as further international backlash, did nothing to deter Hitler’s aggression. Hitler’s aspirations continued to rise, and on the 23rd of August, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact called, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which agreed that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union should split Poland in half, and accept responsibility for each side personally, only 6 days later on the 1st of September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, Stauffenberg did not take part in the first assault, as the only units to cross into Poland were the 6th Artillery Battalion and the Rifle Brigade. Following this, on the 3rd of September, war was declared by Britain and France on Germany, and many of the divisional officers were dismayed at the news, to Stauffenberg, the only hope for Germany, would be a war of endurance, which would force the allies to call for peace. During the assault on the third day of the invasion, a divisional officer had two Polish women executed without trial, for supposedly signaling Polish artillery, this deeply disturbed Stauffenberg, who did not rest until the officer had been court-martialled and demoted, and by the 15th of September, Stauffenberg’s division was joining the Wehrmacht forces, that were encircling Warsaw, and once Poland officially fell to Nazi Germany on the 6th of October 1939, Stauffenberg called for the systematic colonization of Poland, believing that the farm land would prove to be extremely valuable to the German economy. Stauffenberg gave his report regarding the Poland Campaign on the 15th of November 1939, and openly criticized the command structure, that he felt had not adapted to the times, the military structure was typical for trench warfare, with officers close to the front lines allowing for a free flow of communication down the ranks, in addition to this, the transportation and supply lines were different from those Stauffenberg was used to, as two divisions had to share the same road, and so, the divisions failed to receive the proper amount of ammunition, rations, fuel, spare parts, or weapons and the rapid movement of troops made field reports outdated very quickly, the mechanized units were forced to remove parts and components from other vehicles and steal from other divisions when under extreme pressure, and so, for Stauffenberg, the Poland campaign was a failure overall, in terms of creating a stable supply chain that would support the divisions adequately. Stauffenberg also took part in the invasion of France, and on the 31st of May 1940, he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class for his part in the Battle of France but mid-way through the fall, he would be officially transferred out of the division and on to Army General Staff, to the Second Branch of the Army General Staff in Group II, which focused on peacetime organization and command structure, he found it difficult to leave his division, but this new post was given to him in recognition of his skill, and so, following his experience on the western front, Stauffenberg made his point, that long and large supply transportation vehicles were ill-suited to the new style of warfare, and instead, these large convoys should be converted into smaller convoys, that were more maneuverable. The war was now at a standstill, as Hitler had intervened at the Battle of Dunkirk, which allowed the British to successfully rescue over 330,000 troops from the beaches, for Stauffenberg, this was an extreme blunder, and he felt contempt against Hitler for this failure, but despite this failure in Stauffenberg’s eyes, his time at the General Staff Headquarters also changed his view of Hitler, as he felt that Hitler inspired him to think creatively. At the same time however, Hitler was ordering the mass executions of Polish Jews, intellectuals, and the mentally ill, this was well known by members of Army High Command, but Stauffenberg, was more concerned about military operations, rather than the extermination of those the Nazi’s deemed undesirable. As time went on, the increasing brutality of the Nazi Regime, specifically the SS, enraged Stauffenberg, and although he never learned of the systematic mass extermination of the Jews until 1942, he did learn about the events in the Russian campaign, and as he viewed the reports, he saw the victim count reach into the millions. Up until this point, there was only one individual who had dared to attempt to kill Hitler, which was Georg Elser, who almost managed to successfully bomb Hitler, while he was in Munich in November of 1939, his failure was followed by the aborted attempt by Erich Kordt and Hasso von Etzdorf, who worked in the Foreign Office, but who abandoned the plot because of the lack of support from their co-conspirators, and the increased measures of security which had been put in place, around the Fürher. Stauffenberg maintained a particular aura around him, especially due to his devotion to Stefan George and his poems, which alarmed many, who thought he may be leading a double life, and although he was yet to commit himself to a plot, there was a growing suspicion that he may not be fully loyal to the Nazi cause. On the 22nd of June 1941, German forces began Operation Barbarossa invading the Soviet Union with many of those in the senior officer staff, overconfident in their ability to quickly defeat the Soviet Union troops, however, the German Blitzkrieg would be highly ineffective, not least due to the vast expanse of land in the Soviet Union, as well as the poorer quality of roads compared to the rest of Europe, which slowed the advance, along with the wider gauged railroad tracks, which in turn, led to further issues surrounding the transportation of goods. Despite these challenges, Stauffenberg believed that the war in Russia could still be won, he believed this even more, when Hitler assumed control of the Commander-in-Chief position, on the 19th of December 1941 as Hitler taking control was seen as a quote: “gift to the Army”. In the spring of 1942, Stauffenberg still held faith in Hitler, and believed if he was surrounded by competent advisors, the war could be won very easily, yet at the same time, Stauffenberg expressed his opinion, that it was vital that the other officers had to contain Hitler’s reckless military decisions, he finally settled on there being only one solution, which was to kill him. The only way this would work, would be if a prominent, competent person could take control of the government in Hitler’s place, they would also need to stop Nazi Party Officials and prevent them from taking over, and so gradually, more members of the General Staff would come to discuss shaking up the command structure, and for Stauffenberg, Hitler became an adversary worthy of his attention. Hitler would habitually create competition between his officers, making them continually strive to out-do each other, there were even different military branches fighting over the same duties, the Army Staff, Quartermaster General, and the Organization Branch jointly requested a single central authority to be in charge of repairs and spare parts, yet the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces still involved other agencies. The ineffectiveness of the army’s supply chains was one of the reasons for Stauffenberg’s increasing hatred of Hitler, however, in May of 1942, he was also informed of the mass murder of Jews by Lieutenant Hans Herwarth von Bittenfeld, he received another report from an officer who gave an eye witness testimony, of SS soldiers rounding up Jews in a Ukrainian village, the Jews were reportedly led out into a field and forced to dig their own mass grave, before being executed by the SS, these reports acted to further reinforce Stauffenberg’s desire to remove Hitler from power. In November 1942, Allied forces invaded Tunisia in order to establish a staging zone to invade Europe through Italy. On February 3, 1943, Stauffenberg received his next orders to join the 10th Panzer Division in Tunisia as the senior staff officer. Their previous staff officer, Major Wilhelm Bürklin and divisional commander Major-General Wolfgang Fischer, ran into a mine, greatly wounding Bürklin and killing Fischer. In the weeks following Stauffenberg’s transfer, the anti-Hitler conspirators were desperately waiting for the best time to launch a coup to overthrow him, but they lacked a leader, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, a German Politician, was searching for a leader, but he dismissed General Beck, as he was considered a procrastinator, and instead, he hoped to convince the Home army’s Commander-in-Chief, General Friedrich Fromm, to become the leader of the plot. Lieutenant-General Olbricht was not considered as a possible leader, as he was thought not bold enough to make the first move, as staff members of Fromm said: quote: “Olbricht wanted to ‘act’ against Hitler when he received orders, Fromm wanted to give orders once ‘action’ had been taken”, and so with Stauffenberg unavailable to take up a position in the Home Front army, General Beck gave his consent to remove Hitler. While Stauffenberg was in Tunisia, he was directing troops between the Chabita-Khetati Pass and the Sebkhet en Noual, when he was caught in a fighter-bomber attack, Stauffenberg drove back and forth between the units to give them orders, but while Stauffenberg was giving orders, he came under fire, and jumped out of his car, he was struck by the strafing attacks, and was transferred to a field hospital near Sfax, where his right hand, little and ring finger on his left hand and left eye had to be removed due to the damage, and because of these injuries, he was awarded both the Wound Badge on the 14th April and the German Cross on the 8th May. Stauffenberg wasn’t a soldier who would sit still and be happy with a desk job, indeed he requested a new field position before he had even recovered from the wounds, his attitude was typical of officers of the era, he refused to accept his wounds as debilitating enough to keep him from the front, and during Stauffenberg’s recovery, he was recommended to take over as The Chief of Staff in the General Army Office, despite being a lieutenant-colonel, this was a great honour for Stauffenberg, as the position was usually meant for colonels, and could lead to his promotion to brigadier, anxious to get started, he successfully got Dr. Carpentier of the Home Army Command, to pass him as being fit for duty. On the 9th of August 1943, Stauffenberg went to Munich for a handful of surgeries to provide him with a false wrist and hand, unfortunately, a fragment of shrapnel caused complications, and the operations had to be postponed for four weeks, he was instead, fitted for a glass eye, though he never wore it all that often and when he was summoned to visit with high superiors, he would commonly joke and send his driver to “fetch his eyesight”. It was during this same time that Stauffenberg was summoned by Lieutenant-General Olbricht to Berlin, Stauffenberg would meet with Chief of the General Staff of Military District III, Berlin, Brigadier Hans-Günther von Rost, a member of the plot against Hitler since 1943, who introduced Stauffenberg to Operation Valkyrie, Stauffenberg gave Operation Valkyrie to Lieutenant Heinz Günther Albrecht for him to amend the orders to Stauffenberg’s liking, it was originally an emergency contingency plan for government operations. The order for Operation Valkyrie was to be issued first to the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany, to be executed and implemented should there be an outbreak of civil disorder, such a failure to maintain control could happen with the Allied bombing of German cities, or possibly with the revolt of the millions of foreign forced labourers, working in factories, the fear of foreign forced workers rising up and causing civil unrest was a real threat, due to the sheer number of them living in Germany. The original Valkyrie lacked clarity and purpose, to fully take over the government, as it only focused on the Reserve Army to ensure they were ready for combat, as a result, Lieutenant-General Olbricht added 'Valkyrie II', which ensured the rapid organisation of units of soldiers into groups, primed ready for action, during August and September of 1943, General Henning von Tresckow, deemed Lieutenant-General Olbricht's revisions not adequate to be used for a coup, and expanded Valkyrie’s plan, he drafted new supplementary orders, which detailed the instructions for the taking over of all governmental ministries in Berlin, as well as Himmler's headquarters in Eastern Prussia, radio stations, telephone exchange buildings, major Nazi infrastructure and concentration camps. Stauffenberg’s modifications were intended to assist in taking control back of German cities, as well as disarming the SS, and arresting the leaders of the Nazi party in the event of an SS coup, it also allowed for individual military district commanders, to initiate Operation Valkyrie, independently from higher command if they needed to. By the 1st of April 1944, the army was losing the equivalent of one army corps every month, a rate the army could not replace, Germany was headed towards the same militaristic collapse it faced in 1918, the conspirators needed to gain control and surrender to the allies and hope for a favourable deal, the generals were blinded by Hitler’s early successes, while the field marshals were indecisive, which left the willingness to act, to the younger generation, who were not as widely connected. As Stauffenberg took his new office, Colonel Bürker, the Chief of Armed Forces Supreme Command Leadership Staff Branch II learned from another officer, of the coup being planned by the Chief of Staff officers, and he also learned of Stauffenberg’s involvement, Colonel Bürker asked Stauffenberg, who was involved in the plot and he only gave up Beck’s name, for Colonel Bürker, Beck was too indecisive, and in order for the plot to succeed, they needed at least one field marshal with the necessary qualities to pull off a coup. Colonel Bürker, also warned Stauffenberg, that Himmlers secret police force was extremely dangerous, and could uncover the plot before they initiated it, in the end, Colonel Bürker could not support Stauffenberg’s plot to overthrow Hitler, primarily because of the lack of resources to properly carry out the operation. On the 7th of June, Stauffenberg and General Fromm, attended their first briefing with Hitler in order to discuss the rapid-mobilization of the Home Force, this would lead to a second meeting at Hitler’s headquarters at the Berghof, in the Bavarian mountains, Stauffenberg was able to get Hitler to sign off on most of Operation Valkyrie on the 6th of July 1944, for Hitler, if enemy forces were able to penetrate into German territory, the military commanders in chief needed to have full autonomy over the defence of the Reich, and so during June and July, the conspirators began preparing special assignments for the deputy corps’ commanders, to capture and control vital buildings. The original goal of the new government would be to maintain power, until the nation held new elections, they were to be a ‘true national community based on respect, mutual assistance and social justice’, more importantly, they would restore Germany’s honour in the international community, and those who were deemed guilty by the new administration, would be punished, they would only continue the war in defence of Germany, and would deconstruct the concentration camps. Beck, Tresckow and Stauffenberg all drafted a “Proclamation to the Armed Forces” that declared the previous government, had taken advantage of the regular soldiers, for the purpose of unlimited conquest and subjugation of nations, they declared the Nazi government wasn’t capable of procuring peace for Germany, and that Hitler believed that he was a grand strategist but had actually bumbled his way into victory, only to display his incompetence and lack of moderation and he had wasted hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers lives, in conflicts that were only created to boost one man’s egotism. Acting out of fear, Hitler changed his headquarters from the Berghof to the Wolfschanze in Eastern Prussia, Stauffenberg’s chosen method to assassinate Hitler was based heavily on his injuries, it was decided his only option was to use a bomb, in order for the coup to be successful, Stauffenberg also needed to return to Berlin to lead it in person, as limitations included Olbricht’s low revolutionary energy, Mertz’s insufficient authority, and Fromm, who barely tolerated it. Stauffenberg understood the limitations of the coup leaders, yet he decided to continue on despite these limitations, the most suitable fuse for the assassination, were not German fuses, but captured British acid fuses which emitted no sound, these fuses had time delays, that could last up to 20 hours, but the delays were also inaccurate, as they varied based on the temperature of the air, Stauffenberg decided to choose the 30 minute fuses, which had a more accurate fuse time of between 14 and a half, to 28 and three quarter minutes, and so it was decided that Stauffenberg would use the 30 minute fuses, and attempt to strike the fuse himself. Stauffenberg was summoned to the Wolfsschanze on the 15th July as well as the 20th July 1944, to take part in military briefings, the 15th might have been the original planned date of the assassination attempt, yet Himmler and Göring, were not going to be present at the meeting, which meant the plans had to change, the reason why it may have been suspected that the 15th, was the original planned date was that while Stauffenberg was taking off from the runway towards the Wolfschanze, Mertz ordered the Home Army into Valkyrie ready positions, deploying the army. Many of the conspirators were nervous that the deployment of the Home Army, would raise red flags and alert Himmler’s secret police, who were already watching some of the conspirators by this point, Stauffenberg expertly played this off as a test, to ensure that Valkyrie could be implemented properly and in real time. Stauffenberg flew back to the Wolfschanze on the 20th of July 1944, yet once again, Himmler and Göring were not going to be present at this meeting and the upper leadership did not want to move forward with the coup, if they were absent again, however, the generals in charge apparently forgot to notify Stauffenberg, that they did not want to act without Himmler and Göring present, and it was not until Stauffenberg reached the Wolfschanze, that the generals told him not to act on the attempted assassination, but Stauffenberg insisted, as he was determined to carry out the plot. Stauffenberg had walked this route before, and knew that it would take him 4 minutes to walk from the preparatory meeting, to the briefing meeting with Hitler, Stauffenberg did not come to the Wolfschanze alone, as he was accompanied by his adjutant Oberleutnant Werner Von Haeften, Stauffenberg had breakfast with the staff of the headquarters commandants, he was notified that the morning briefings had been pushed back to 12:30 and during that time, Stauffenberg excused himself to change his shirt, in reality, he was preparing the two 975 grams of German plastic explosive, with the two British primers. Stauffenberg’s goal was to kill everyone in the briefing room with the two explosive charges, however, his efforts to prime the explosives went poorly, as he had to prime the charges with one hand, whilst simultaneously fending off numerous interruptions, from both phone calls and officers, who were growing impatient with Stauffenberg for holding up the meeting, this led to him being able to prime only one of the two explosives, as they left, Stauffenberg was alerted that the meeting place had been changed to a briefing hut, the normal location of these meetings was a heavy concrete bunker with a massive steel door, and no windows, but due to the heat, the meeting had been moved so it would be cooler. Now informed that the location had changed, Stauffenberg knew he had to get as close to Hitler as possible, the conspirators were relying on the lack of air flow in the room and blandness of the underground bunker to consolidate the blast, as Stauffenberg entered into the briefing, John von Freyend had asked one of the officers to give up his spot near Hitler, due to Stauffenberg’s supposed hearing loss, caused by the injuries he had sustained, now the only person in between Stauffenberg and Hitler was Major-General Heusinger. Stauffenberg placed the briefcase, with the single explosive on the left side of a wooden table support, facing Hitler, he motioned to Freyend to get Lieutenant-General Fellgiebel on the phone, and excused himself from the meeting, as he left the meeting, another officer took his place, and kicked Stauffenberg’s briefcase, as a result, he bent over and moved the briefcase to the other side of the table support, Stauffenberg had finished the phone call and re-joined Freyend and Haeften, when the explosion went off in the hut. He was certain that Hitler had been killed in the blast, and hurried to leave with Haeften to reach the airport, the Wolfschanze went into lockdown immediately, and Stauffenberg only barely convinced both levels of guards to allow them to pass, he arrived in Berlin roughly around 3:45 pm following his flight, his escort and vehicle were not ready for him, so he gained access to a vehicle from the General of Tactical Air Power in Rangsdorf, Hitler’s death was reported at 4 pm and Stauffenberg and Haeften arrived in Berlin, only 30 minutes later. Yet Hitler’s aides knew that Hitler was alive, and went to the communication bunker to ensure no unauthorized news was reported, all regular telephone and teletype communications were blocked, although the upper leadership could still use their telephones and communicate amongst each other, upon his arrival in Berlin, Stauffenberg learned that Operation Valkyrie had only just been initiated, Stauffenberg and Olbricht went to Fromm to secure his support, Fromm was able to reach Field Marshal Keitel who denied that Hitler had been killed, and insisted he was fine, Stauffenberg told Fromm he set off the blast, and that Hitler was dead, and that he had witnessed them carry his body from the site, Fromm refused to join and was locked away in a room with his special missions officer. By 6 pm, Stauffenberg was desperate for a miracle, as he fought hard to gain support for the coup, by reinforcing the idea that Hitler was dead and the Nazi Party was responsible for it, he was able to gain control of certain government buildings such as the SS Headquarters and the Government Quarters, but many officers abandoned the plot or simply ignored the orders, leaving other key buildings unattainable, other issues arose when units given the Valkyrie orders, lacked the specialists needed for important roles such as telecommunications, and so were unsure if they had fully stopped the transmissions from being sent. It was around 6 pm as well, when news broke to the general public, that Hitler was still alive, and despite this announcement, Stauffenberg had hoped the weight of the coup would be able to push them to topple Hitler’s Germany without Hitler having to be dead, yet this momentum would not be enough, and arrest orders were sent from the Wolfschanze, to arrest Stauffenberg, at roughly 8 pm, a shoot-out occurred between the conspirators, and Stauffenberg took a bullet to his left shoulder, at this point, it was finally realized that the coup had failed, and they surrendered. Fromm convened a brief trial and throughout the proceedings, Fromm referred to Stauffenberg as the Colonel whose name he would not mention, he sentenced the ringleaders to death, in order to cover his involvement in the coup, and General Beck insisted that due to personal reasons, he must be allowed to commit suicide. In the early hours of the 21st of July 1944, Stauffenberg, Mertz, Olbricht, and Haeften were all led out into the courtyard of the Bendlerblock, the Army Headquarters, where a large pile of sand was standing, Stauffenberg was the third conspirator to be executed and as he took his place, with the firing squad about to fire, Haeften stood in front of Stauffenberg, taking the bullets meant for him. Stauffenberg’s last words were either Long Live Our Sacred Germany or Long Live Secret Germany, the exact words said being contentious, and possibly a reference to Stefan George’s poem “Secret Germany”, but whichever was correct, his last words, were meant to inspire those left in the resistance against Hitler, but in the end, Stauffenberg was executed, Fromm had the coup members buried with full honours, and Himmler had their remains exhumed, cremated and spread across a field the next day. The aftermath of the failed coup included the trial and execution of 200 military and civilians for their part in the plot, which included Colonel Stauffenberg’s brother, Berthold, who was strangled and resuscitated multiple times following his sentencing, the whole event was filmed, so Hitler could watch it at his leisure, but another result of the attempted coup was that the rest of the world now realised that not all Germans held Nazi beliefs or would go to the lengths they did, to exterminate the Jewish people, and roughly a year later, Germany capitulated to the Allied Forces on the 7th of May 1945, only 7 days after Hitler’s suicide. Stauffenberg’s ultimate failure could have been due to taking on too much responsibility, for both assassinating Hitler, as well as organising and initiating the military response of Valkyrie, Stauffenberg agreed with the totalitarian and militaristic aspects of the Nazi Party, along with their ideas of racial superiority, but where he differed, was in the extent to which, the Nazis and Hitler were willing to go, to enforce their hateful ideology, he believed he could fix the problems of Germany, if he was able to remove Hitler and the Nazis, but he ultimately failed, yet still today, he is the icon of the German Resistance against Hitler in Germany, and is revered for the bravery of his attempt to assassinate the Führer. What do you think of Claus Von Stauffenberg? Do you think he could have successfully overthrown Hitler, or was there never a chance for the conspirators? Please let us know in the comment section below and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching!
