rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich-william-shirer-pdf

Chapter 12THE ROAD TO MUNICHCase Green was the code name of the plan for a surprise attack on Czechoslovakia.It had first been drawn up, as we have seen, on June 24, 1937, by FieldMarshal von Blomberg, and Hitler had elaborated on it in his lecture to the generalson November 5, admonishing them that ”the descent upon the Czechs”would have to be ”carried out with lightning speed” and that it might take place”as early as 1938.” ∗Obviously, the easy conquest of Austria now made Case Green a matterof some urgency; the plan must be brought up to date and preparations forcarrying it out begun. It was for this purpose that Hitler summoned Keitel onApril 21, 1938. On the following day, Major Rudolf Schmundt, the Fuehrer’snew military aide, prepared a summary of the discussion, which was divided intothree parts: ”political aspects,” ”military conclusions’” and ”propaganda.” 327Hitler rejected the ”idea of strategic attack out of the blue without cause orpossibility of justification” because of ”hostile world opinion which might leadto a critical situation.” He thought a second alternative, ”action after a periodof diplomatic discussions which gradually lead to a crisis and to war,” was”undesirable because Czech (Green) security measures will have been taken.”The Fuehrer preferred, at the moment at least, a third alternative: ”Lightningaction based on an incident (for example, the murder of the German minister inthe course of an anti-German demonstration).” † Such an ”incident,” it will beremembered, was at one time planned to justify a German invasion of Austria,when Papen was to have been the victim. In Hitler’s gangster world Germanenvoys abroad were certainly expendable.The German warlord, as he now was – since he had taken over personalcommand of the armed forces – emphasized to General Keitel the necessity ofspeed in the operations.The first four days of military action are, politically speaking, decisive.In the absence of outstanding military successes, a Europeancrisis is certain to rise. Faits accomplis must convince foreign powersof the hopelessness of military intervention.As for the propaganda side of the war, it was not yet time to call in Dr.Goebbels. Hitler merely discussed leaflets ”for the conduct of the Germans∗ See above, p. 268.† The parentheses are in the original.319