The Oster Conspiracy of 1938: The Unknown Story of the Military Plot to Kill Hitler Avert World War II by Terry M. ParssinenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amazon Book Description
September 1938. In power more than five years, Hitler
unilaterally dismantled the Treaty of Versailles, provision by
provision, daring Britain and France to stand up to him. Earlier that
year, he forced Austria into his Third Reich without firing a single
shot. Now his sights were set on Czechoslovakia.
It was in this dangerous climate that the first anti-Nazi coup was born. The plot was spearheaded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Oster, and its members included top German military leaders, the Berlin police, local troop commanders, civil authorities, religious leaders, and a group of resisters whose names have been wiped from the pages of history. Their mission was to kill Hitler and to overthrow the Nazi regime.
Using British and German sources and previously unknown documents in the Military History Institute of the U.S. Army War College, historian Terry Parssinen has documented this conspiracy. Illustrated with photographs and maps, this highly provocative work is narrative history at its best.
It was in this dangerous climate that the first anti-Nazi coup was born. The plot was spearheaded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Oster, and its members included top German military leaders, the Berlin police, local troop commanders, civil authorities, religious leaders, and a group of resisters whose names have been wiped from the pages of history. Their mission was to kill Hitler and to overthrow the Nazi regime.
Using British and German sources and previously unknown documents in the Military History Institute of the U.S. Army War College, historian Terry Parssinen has documented this conspiracy. Illustrated with photographs and maps, this highly provocative work is narrative history at its best.
A well-researched and documented look at the Oster Conspiracy that began to formulate in 1938, prior to Hitler's declaration of war on Poland. Much is known about the July 20th failed plot to kill Hitler, but this is the story of a large group of German military men that saw the invasion of Czechoslovakia as a foreshadowing of disaster for Germany and the German people. The group of conspirators were counting on Chamberlain sticking by Czechoslovakia and not giving into another one of Hitler's demands. Chamberlain's appeasement during that time was what kept the assassination plot from launching. An interesting and thought-provoking book that begs the question of how many lives may have been saved if Hitler had been killed before WWII had a chance to begin. Interestingly, the idea for the book came from a student he had as a Professor at the University of Tampa who asked him when the last moment could have been that would have stopped Hitler from attacking Poland.
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