if Hitler had been assassinated in the wolf's lair, would WW2 have turned out different?

Answer 1

Had the assassination gone as planned. The German High Command in the West was prepared to sue for peace with the Allies, who at the time were still trying to breakout of Normandy. Such a treaty at that time would have saved a large number of Allied and German soldiers.

As for the East, that would have been more problematic. Stalin would have had a cow that the Germans in the West were suing for peace, while he was still heavily engaged with them.

Eisenhower and Churchill of course would have clamored for Unconditional Surrender, but as they were tied up in Normandy it would have been tough for them to enforce their will over the Germans in any negotiations at that time. And imagine the public sentiment if Ike and Winnie said no and pressed on in a conflict that could have been over at least in the west. Couple this with the desire to thwart a communist takeover in Eastern Europe and you have a decidedly different end to WWII, that might have saved Eastern Europe from 50 dark years of Soviet domination.

The only question still on the table would have been the Jewish Question. With Hitler dead, would the Germans have been as eager to continue with the Final Solution. And would Hungary's Jews have ended up in the camps??

What if's are interesting to think about...

Answer 2

It would have turned out differently but not by much. The assination attempt took place only 7 months before the end of the war. The Allies had already landed and had almost taken France. The battle of the bulge had yet to happen. Hitler's biggest mistakes had already taken place.

The key reason why this may not have changed the war is that the conspiritors did not have a strong plan to take power after Hitler's death. They hoped that the reserve army would rise up (Operation Valkyrie) under its commander and disarm the SS.

Answer 3

This is a tough one, history tells us that had Von Stauffenburg been sucessful then a collapse of Germany would have happened, but then there is the big but, if the new government of Germany had rid itself of all the Nazi's, empited the camps ect certain Western countries might at a pinch have come to terms and the over riding reason for this would have been the worrying factor of communist expansion in all of europe.
Churchill in 1944 was already very worried about Stalins intentions, this would have also carried over into the Polish government in exile and American diplomats in Russia were also voicing very grave concerns over the behaviour of Stalin.
Certainly the new German government would have collapsed the western front and let Allied troops as far into Eastern europe as possible whilst throwning in all freed up German army divisions at the Russians, which amounted to over 80 divisions from the west and Italy, considering how tough the German army was at that time it would have been enough to halt the Russians and to push them back, and I would think in short order after the presidents death and pushing from military leaders such a Patton and Montgommery the Allies would have finished the red menace off once and for all.
As already stated Barbarossa was a preemtive attack on Russia.

Answer 4

Hitler was a figurehead in the war, his military planners had more control over the technical aspects of the war. If Hitler was assassinated, things would have been different. If the German people were still behind the war effort, things might have gone better for the Germans because Hitler was not the wisest military commander.

Answer 5

Yes....if the allies would not accept any peace proposals by the German Military after the dictators death, the the forced battles would have proved disastrous to the allies.
It is quite possible that the German Military would have won the war.
Without Hitler intefering with the military might, the engineered war machines would have beaten back any allied invasion and would have stabalized into a coehesive force that we would not have been able to withstand, nor break apart.
The German military then was a force that: if left to do the job by themselves? Would have won the war!

Answer 6

The war was pretty much a foregone conclusion by 1944.

If he had been assasinated before Kursk, it's possible the Germans could have forced a stalemate on the Eastern Front.

Answer 7

Many Top Historians blame Hitler for them loosing the war and if he had been killed then sensible strategy's would have been made like keeping Russia on their side till England had been invaded so that there were not two fronts to fight on etc... I would have to agree.

Answer 8

WW2 would have ended better if Hitler didn't die.

Answer 9

Yes it would have ended a lot earlier. It would never have occurred if he had died at birth.

Answer 10

Hitler would have been captured and sentenced to death.