Blomberg-Fritsch Affair
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
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Armed Forces (Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

) to dictator Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

. As documented in the Hossbach Memorandum
Hossbach Memorandum
The Hossbach Memorandum was the summary of a meeting on November 5, 1937 between German dictator Adolf Hitler and his military and foreign policy leadership where Hitler's future expansionist policies were outlined. The meeting marked a turning point in Hitler's foreign policies, which then began...

, Hitler had been dissatisfied with these two highest ranking military officials and regarded them as too hesitant towards the war preparations he demanded.

Blomberg marriage

The affair started after the 12 January 1938 marriage of War Minister Werner von Blomberg
Werner von Blomberg
Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg was a German Generalfeldmarschall, Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces until January 1938.-Early life:...

 when a policeman reported that the young bride had previously posed for pornographic photos, and as a result had a criminal record. This violated the standard of conduct for officers as defined by Blomberg himself and was a shock to Hitler—Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 chief Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...

 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.

Fritsch

The events surrounding Blomberg's marriage inspired Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

 to arrange a similar affair for Commander-in-Chief Werner von Fritsch
Werner von Fritsch
Werner Thomas Ludwig Freiherr von Fritsch was a prominent Wehrmacht officer, member of the German High Command, and the second German general to be killed during World War II.-Early life:...

. 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 to strengthen his Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

as a competitor to the regular German Army (Heer).

A few days later, Fritsch was accused of being a homosexual by Himmler and the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

. 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 that Fritsch was encouraged by General Ludwig Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....

 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
Walther von Brauchitsch
Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch was a German field marshal and the Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres in the early years of World War II.-Biography:...

, whom Fritsch himself had recommended for the post.

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
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...

, or OKW)—and Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...

, who became the new head of the OKW on 4 February 1938. This weakened the traditional Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...

, 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 Colonel General Ludwig Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....

 who circulated a petition that was signed by Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....

 and others.

Follow-up

Soon it became known that the charges were false—the file was about someone with a similar name: Rittmeister von Frisch. Himmler then presented a witness who supported the charge. The Wehrmacht demanded that an honour court of officers examine the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair as it had come to be known. The proceedings were presided over by Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...

 himself.

The witness supplied by Himmler claimed to recognise von Fritsch as an officer whom he had witnessed in a homosexual act in a public lavatory in Berlin with a man known (in translation) as "Bavarian Joe". The witness, a man named Otto Schmidt, turned out to be a Munich streetwalker with a long criminal record who had been bribed to support the accusation—his chief criminal activity had been spying on and blackmailing homosexuals.

Members of the German officer corps were appalled at Fritsch's maltreatment and, in the next meeting, Himmler, Göring, and even Hitler might have come under pressure from them. The successful annexation (Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

) of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

  shortly thereafter silenced those critics. Colonel General Beck resigned on 18 August 1938 and Colonel General von Rundstedt obtained permission to retire in October 1938.

Acquittal

The witness against Fritsch later withdrew his accusation, but was murdered. Fritsch was acquitted on 18 March, but the damage to his name was done; he was never reinstated as Commander-in-Chief. Despite the Army demanding his rehabilitation, Hitler would only go as far as naming him honorary colonel of an artillery regiment. He was inspecting the front lines just after the invasion of Poland when he was shot in the leg and died within a minute. Some believed that he'd been seeking his own death.

Bound by their personal oath to Hitler (the Reichswehreid
Reichswehreid
The Reichswehreid and from August 1934 Führereid was the name for three different versions of the oath of allegiance of the German Forces, called Reichswehr from 1919 to 1935, and then Wehrmacht until 1945.- 1919–1933 :...

of 1934, ironically ordered by Blomberg), many members of the Wehrmacht never acted on their feelings of displeasure regarding this event. Thereafter, the army was more or less a reliable instrument for Hitler, ultimately leading to the destruction of both.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK