| August 22 |  |
Editor says, what if the Paris military governor Major General Dietrich von Chotitz followed Hitler's orders and destroyed the city? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1944, on this day Adolf Hitler decreed that if Germany was forced out of Paris the city and all it's landmarks should be left a smoldering ruin.
Paris burns bright redThe Führer's order was relayed by Chief of Staff Admiral Alfred Jodl to Dietrich von Choltitz (pictured) who had been promoted to the rank of General der Infanterie and then appointed military governor of Paris just three weeks earlier.
And his instructions were explicit, "The city must not fall into the enemy's hand except lying in complete debris".To avoid any possibility of confusion Hitler also phoned him in a rage, screaming, "Brennt Paris?" ("Is Paris burning?"). In effect, Von Choltitz was required to organize a rapid disengagement of German Forces whilst simultaneously dealing with a complete uprising of the city's inhabitants.
Meanwhile U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the head of the Allied invasion, had refused to divert troops to liberate Paris. Resistance forces loyal to De Gaulle failed to overcome red influence during and after Liberation, and were unable to prevent communists taking control of the city and then of France. Ironically, the destruction of the cultural fabric of the city removed any symbolic vestiges of the past, ushering in the new and frightening communist future that Adolf Hitler had predicted.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2006-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Paris, Nazi, Germany, Occupied France, Allies.
~ I really can't see the Communists holding onto Paris, let alone France, for more than a few days. Not only will de Gaulle's forces fight them, but be rest assured that the British, & above all the Amercians, will crush them as well.
~ Most likely, the Communists would have been smashed by the U.S./ as soon as Japan fell and America was no longer distracted by the Pacific war. France would, in short, have been handled as Greece was in the early postwar period--only by direct armed intervention rather than the CIA.
The result might well have been a new hard-line republic under a military junta, as in Greece (and elsewhere), perhaps not returning to democracy for decades.
~ I've always wanted to know _how_ Hitler expected von Choltitz to burn Paris? The Turd Reich was starved for fuel as it was---did he have that much petroleum products to spare?
~ 1. Germans could have dynamited some key buildings but the garrison lacked the manpower to control the streets long enough for serious arson, especially once the Paris police and the remaining Vichy cadres went over to DeGaulle.
2. The gendarmes and remaining Vichyites had superiority in both manpower and firepower so the idea of the Communists taking over is absurd. More so as DeGaulle sent the French 2nd Armored Division into the city in defiance of Ike's orders. Big Charlie's emissaries essentially made deal with the cops and militia by which most past sins were forgiven in return for backing his regime. all this scenario does is get more people with drity hands fast pardons as DeGaulle would need more firepower.
3. let us presume the reds take the city. Ike had gone around Paris to avoid getting stuck with the logistical problem of feeding the several million people involved. The Commies either geek/submit to DeGaulle who disarms them or Ike doesn't feed the city and they starve [i.e. geek later]. This is Warsaw in 1944 in reverse - the guy with the big army calls the shots whatever the rebels say.
~ If communists gained control for even a few minutes, I'd imagine the USSR would sneak in all the resources they could muster. Perhaps a troubled red France might have been enough fire to warm up the Cold War to a hot one?
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
