Blomberg-Fritsch Affair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Blomberg-Fritsch Affair (also known as Blomberg-Fritsch-Krise or Blomberg-Fritsch crisis) were two related scandals in early 1938 that resulted in the subjugation of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) to dictator Adolf Hitler. As documented in the Hossbach Memorandum, Hitler had been dissatisfied with these two highest ranking military officials and regarded them as too hesitant towards the war preparations he demanded.
Contents |
[edit] Blomberg marriage
The affair started after the 12 January 1938 marriage of War Minister Werner von Blomberg when a policeman reported that the young bride was a former prostitute. This violated the standard of conduct for officers as defined by Blomberg himself and was a shock to Hitler. Head of the German Air Force (Reichsluftfahrtminister) Hermann Göring had been Blomberg's best man and Hitler himself a witness. Hitler ordered Blomberg to annul the marriage in order to avoid a scandal and to preserve the integrity of the army. Blomberg refused to annul the marriage and, when Göring threatened to make his wife's past public knowledge, consequently resigned all of his posts on 27 January 1938.
[edit] Fritsch
The events surrounding Blomberg's marriage inspired Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler to arrange a similar affair for Commander-in-Chief Werner von Fritsch. Göring did not want Fritsch to become the successor to Blomberg and thus his superior. Himmler wanted to weaken the Wehrmacht and its mainly aristocratic leaders in order strengthen his Schutzstaffel and especially the Waffen-SS as a competitor to the regular German Army (Wehrmacht Heer).
A few days later, Fritsch was accused of being a homosexual by Himmler and the SS. A police file was produced which the Gestapo had already shown to Hitler in 1935. At that time, Hitler rejected it and ordered its destruction.
It is reported [1] that Fritsch was encouraged by General Ludwig Beck to carry out a military putsch against the State, but that he declined and resigned on 4 February 1938, to be replaced by Walther von Brauchitsch, whom Fritsch himself had recommended for the post.
[edit] Re-organization
Hitler used the situation to transfer the duties of the Ministry of War (Reichskriegsministerium) to a new organization — the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, or OKW) — and Wilhelm Keitel, who became the new head of the OKW on 4 February 1938.[2] This weakened the traditional Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres, or OKH) which was now subordinated to the OKW.
Hitler took advantage of the situation by replacing several generals and ministers with people even more loyal to him, taking more effective de facto control of the Wehrmacht which he de jure commanded. These changes were protested by some senior members in the Wehrmacht, most notably General Ludwig Beck.
[edit] Follow-up
Soon, it became known that the charges were false, the file was about someone with a name similar to Werner von Fritsch (Rittmeister von Frisch). Himmler then presented a witness who supported the charge. The Wehrmacht demanded that an honour court of officers examined the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair as it was called by now. The proceedings were presided over by Hermann Göring himself.
The witness supplied by Himmler claimed to recognise von Fritsch as an officer whom he had witnessed in a homosexual act with a man known (in translation) as "Bavarian Joe". [3]. The witness turned out to be a Munich streetwalker who was bribed to buttress the accusation. The man called Otto Schmidt had a long criminal record. His chief criminal activity was spying on and then blackmailing homosexuals.
The members of the German officer corps were appalled concerning the maltreatment of Fritsch and, in the next meeting, Himmler, Göring, and even Hitler might have come under pressure from them. But the successful annexation of Austria (Anschluss) on 12 March silenced all critics.
[edit] Acquittal
The witness against Fritsch withdrew his accusation, but was murdered later on. Fritsch was acquitted on 18 March, but the damage to his name was done. He was never reinstated as the Commander-in-Chief.
However, bound by the personal oath to Hitler (Reichswehreid of 1934, issued by Blomberg) taken by the members of the Wehrmacht, little action came of the resentment felt by many in the service. Thus, the stage was set for the Wehrmacht to be merely an instrument of Hitler's will and ultimately for its destruction.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Wheeler-Bennett Nemesis p369
- ^ Keitel, according to his memoirs, had met with Hitler on 26 January 1938 to discuss Blomberg's successor. At this meeting Keitel records that Hitler showed him the indictment against Fritsch under Paragraph 175 of the penal code and explained that despite his efforts to suppress the matter it had now come to a head. See In the Service of the Reich Irving P.51
- ^ Hans Gisevius To the Bitter End, p 229
