The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

32
Peace Offerings
AFTER HITLER’S TRIUMPHANT return through the streets of Berlin, he had
attended Goebbels’s reception at the Reich Chancellery. There he was asked
by his Propaganda Minister what his plans were for Britain. Hitler told him
the British attack on the French Fleet had changed everything. His planned
speech to the Reichstag, in which he intended to announce a peace offer,
had been nearly finished but now had to be rewritten, because he was no
longer sure he could offer peace with Churchill still Prime Minister.
Goebbels was furious. He hated the British and Churchill especially, whom
he thought was a raving lunatic, and urged Hitler against offering Britain
any easy peace. ‘We must not be guided by hatred,’ Hitler told him, ‘but by
common sense.’
Over the next couple of days, surrounding himself with favourites, the
Führer daydreamed about future plans. There would be new autobahns,
including one from southern Austria all the way to the very northern tip of
Norway; he was also going to build a vast naval base at Trondheim. A
lengthy lunchtime discussion took place over what to call this giant new
port. Himmler favoured ‘Atalantis’, but Goebbels suggested ‘Stella Polaris’.
This was the pinnacle of Hitler’s career so far; never had his power been
greater. For a precious few weeks, he had Europe in the palm of his hand.
Within Germany he had never been more popular; his power was absolute.
Adoring millions waved their flags, courtiers reminded him that he was the
greatest warlord the world had ever seen. Foreign leaders had fallen at his
feet; his vision for the Reich was beginning to be realized. These were
heady times indeed.
He had risked so much for these goals, and they had so nearly been
entirely achieved; nearly – but not quite. Britain still remained, shouting
defiance, sending aircraft to bomb the Reich, preventing him from finishing
the war and then preparing to face the Soviet Union. It was so tantalizing: to
have one’s dreams at one’s fingertips and yet not be able to grasp them
fully. With every passing day it must have become clearer even to him that