Editor says, what if the July 20th plotters had succeeded in killing Hitler? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).

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Eric Oppen commented on 2009-07-19 21:17:03 ~ This would have been very interesting indeed. Among other things, the Communist parties in the West, which were disproportionately influential due to the large numbers of sympathizers in academic and literary circles, would have raised a giant howl about how the evol capitalists had sacrificed the Workers' Motherland. OTOH, if Katyn had been announced to the world by the Valkyrie conspirators, that might have shot a lot of the goodwill the USSR had; as well as reminding the West that the USSR had conspired with Hitler quite happily to help carve up Poland, and had attacked Finland and the Baltics with Hitler's cooperation.

David Atwell commented on 2009-07-19 22:30:22 ~ I'd be keen to know, if the Western Allies had accepted such a peace truce/treaty, whether Stalin would have been forced to go along with something similar rather than face Germany without any Lend-Lease support. That could have made for an interesting post-WWII period not to mention whatever may take place in respect to a Cold War (if it happens).

H. Torrance Griffin commented on 2009-07-20 05:57:19 ~ I am given to understand that the Red Army has hit thier stride at this point, and odds are the new Junta will need an external enemy to keep thier coalition together at least for a moment.

Zach Timmons commented on 2009-07-20 12:30:32 ~ As I understand it, the intention of the conspirators was always to reach an accomodation with the West - the Soviets were seen as the real enemy, the ones who would truly ruin Germany should they win. As powerful as the Red Army was in mid-1944, I think the transfer of around 1.5 million troops, plus countless tanks, 88mm guns, artillery, etc., could've at least forced a stalemate on the Eastern Front. Henry Wallace may not have been happy, but he was on his way out anyhow.

Eric Lipps commented on 2009-07-20 17:24:01 ~ One wonders what would have happened to the Nazi Party. would the military have gone on to eviscerate the Party, or would it have reached some sort of modus vivendi with the purely politcal arms? As written, this scenario appears to envision a postwar era in which the Nazis are a l;egal politicala movement (rather than being banned as in OTL's postwar Germany). And with Germany suddenly transformed from foe to "bulwark against the Bolsheviks," as some Nuremberg defendants tried to claim it had been under Hitler, would there have been as much willingness to reveal the Holocaust?