World War II Hermann Göring

1 world war ii

1.1 success on fronts
1.2 decline on fronts
1.3 war on germany
1.4 end of war

world war ii
success on fronts

göring , other senior officers concerned germany not yet ready war, hitler insisted on pushing ahead possible. invasion of poland, opening action of world war ii, began @ dawn on 1 september 1939. later in day, speaking reichstag, hitler designated göring successor führer of germany, if should befall me. big german victories followed 1 after other in quick succession. of luftwaffe, polish air force defeated within week. fallschirmjäger seized vital airfields in norway , captured fort eben-emael in belgium. göring s luftwaffe played critical roles in battles of netherlands, belgium , france in may 1940.

after fall of france, hitler awarded göring grand cross of iron cross successful leadership. during 1940 field marshal ceremony, hitler promoted göring rank of reichsmarschall des grossdeutschen reiches (reich marshal of greater german reich), special rank made him senior field marshals in military, including luftwaffe. result of promotion, top ranking soldier of germany until end of war. göring had received knight s cross of iron cross on 30 september 1939 commander in chief of luftwaffe.

the uk had declared war on germany after invasion of poland. in july 1940, hitler began preparations invasion of britain. part of plan, royal air force (raf) had neutralized. bombing raids commenced on british air installations , on cities , centres of industry. göring had announced in radio speech, wenn auch nur ein feindliches flugzeug unser reichsgebiet überfliegt, ich meier heißen! ( if as single enemy aircraft flies on german soil, name meier! ), return haunt him, when raf began bombing german cities on 11 may 1940. though confident luftwaffe defeat raf within days, göring, admiral erich raeder, commander-in-chief of kriegsmarine (navy), pessimistic chance of success of planned invasion (codenamed operation sea lion). göring hoped victory in air enough force peace without invasion. campaign failed, , sea lion postponed indefinitely on 17 september 1940. after defeat in battle of britain, luftwaffe attempted defeat britain via strategic bombing. on 12 october 1940 hitler cancelled sea lion due onset of winter. end of year, clear british morale not being shaken blitz, though bombings continued through may 1941.

decline on fronts

hitler meeting göring , automotive engineer ferdinand porsche @ wolf s lair in 1942

in spite of molotov–ribbentrop pact, signed in 1939, nazi germany began operation barbarossa—the invasion of soviet union—on 22 june 1941. luftwaffe @ advantage, destroying thousands of soviet aircraft in first month of fighting. hitler , top staff sure campaign on christmas, , no provisions made reserves of men or equipment. but, july, germans had 1,000 planes remaining in operation, , troop losses on 213,000 men. choice made concentrate attack on 1 part of vast front; efforts directed @ capturing moscow. after long, successful, battle of smolensk, hitler ordered army group centre halt advance moscow , temporarily diverted panzer groups north , south aid in encirclement of leningrad , kiev. pause provided red army opportunity mobilize fresh reserves; historian russel stolfi considers 1 of major factors caused failure of moscow offensive, resumed in october 1941 battle of moscow. poor weather conditions, fuel shortages, delay in building aircraft bases in eastern europe, , overstretched supply lines factors. hitler did not give permission partial retreat until mid-january 1942; time losses comparable of french invasion of russia in 1812.

hitler decided summer 1942 campaign concentrated in south; efforts made capture oilfields in caucasus. battle of stalingrad, major turning point of war, began on 23 august 1942 bombing campaign luftwaffe. sixth army entered city, because of location on front line, still possible soviets encircle , trap there without reinforcements or supplies. when sixth army surrounded end of november in operation uranus, göring promised luftwaffe able deliver minimum of 300 tons of supplies trapped men every day. on basis of these assurances, hitler demanded there no retreat; fight last man. though airlifts able through, amount of supplies delivered never exceeded 120 tons per day. remnants of german sixth army—some 91,000 men out of army of 285,000—surrendered in february 1943; 5,000 of these captives survived russian prisoner of war camps see germany again.

war on germany

göring hitler , albert speer, 10 august 1943

meanwhile, strength of , british bomber fleets had increased. based in britain, began operations against german targets. first thousand-bomber raid staged on cologne on 30 may 1942. air raids continued on targets further england after auxiliary fuel tanks installed on fighter aircraft. göring refused believe reports american fighters had been shot down far east aachen in winter 1943. reputation began decline.

the american p-51 mustang, combat radius of on 1,800 miles (2,900 km) when using underwing drop tanks, began escort bombers in large formations , target area in 1944. point onwards, luftwaffe began suffer casualties in aircrews not sufficiently replace. targeting oil refineries , rail communications, allied bombers crippled german war effort late 1944. german civilians blamed göring failure protect homeland. hitler began excluding him conferences, continued him in positions @ head of luftwaffe , plenipotentiary of 4 year plan. lost hitler s trust, göring began spend more time @ various residences. on d-day (6 june 1944), luftwaffe had 300 fighters , small number of bombers in area of landings; allies had total strength of 11,000 aircraft.

end of war


göring in captivity 9 may 1945

as soviets approached berlin, hitler s efforts organise defence of city became ever more meaningless , futile. last birthday, celebrated @ führerbunker in berlin on 20 april 1945, occasion leave-taking many top nazis, göring included. time, carinhall had been evacuated, building destroyed, , art treasures moved berchtesgaden , elsewhere. göring arrived @ estate @ obersalzberg on 22 april, same day hitler, in lengthy diatribe against generals, first publicly admitted war lost , intended remain in berlin end , commit suicide. stated göring in better position negotiate peace settlement. in 1941—a week after start of soviet invasion—hitler had issued decree naming göring successor in event of death.

okw operations chief alfred jodl present hitler s rant, , notified göring s chief of staff, karl koller, @ meeting few hours later. sensing implications, koller flew berchtesgaden notify göring, feared being accused of treason if tried take power. on other hand, if did nothing, feared being accused of dereliction of duty. after hesitation, göring reviewed copy of 1941 decree naming him hitler s successor. not placed göring first in line of succession, stated that, if hitler ever lost freedom of action, göring had complete authority act on hitler s behalf deputy. after conferring koller , hans lammers, state secretary of reich chancellery, göring concluded that, remaining in berlin face death, hitler had incapacitated himself governing. agreed göring therefore had clear duty take power in hitler s stead. motivated fears rival, martin bormann, seize power upon hitler s death , have him killed traitor. in mind, göring sent worded telegram asking hitler permission take on leader of germany, stressing acting hitler s deputy. added that, if hitler did not reply 22:00 night (23 april), assume hitler had indeed lost freedom of action, , assume leadership of reich.

detention report

the telegram intercepted bormann, convinced hitler göring traitor , telegram demand resign or overthrown. hitler sent reply göring—prepared bormann s help—informing him that, unless resigned immediately, executed high treason. afterward, hitler removed göring of offices , ordered göring, staff, , lammers placed under house arrest @ obersalzberg. bormann made announcement on radio göring had resigned health reasons.

by 26 april, complex @ obersalzberg under attack allies, göring moved castle @ mauterndorf. in last , testament, hitler expelled göring party , formally rescinded decree making him successor. appointed karl dönitz, navy s commander-in-chief, president of reich , commander-in-chief of armed forces. hitler , wife, eva braun, committed suicide on 30 april 1945, few hours after hastily arranged wedding. göring freed on 5 may passing luftwaffe unit, , made way lines in hopes of surrendering them rather soviets. taken custody near radstadt on 6 may elements of 36th infantry division of army. move saved göring s life; bormann had ordered him executed if berlin had fallen.