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| https://www.academia.edu/33590686/Fighting_to_Lose_The_German_Intelligence_Service_i "To what extent did the Abwehr contribute to the downfall of the National Socialist regime?" |
Juliet Armstrong
This paper explores the various ways in which the Abwehr, led by Admiral Canaris during the years 1935-44, may have contributed to the fall of the National Socialist regime in Germany.
The conspiracy against the National Socialists varied throughout the extent of the regime's control over Germany and the Third Reich, but it has often been thought that the Abwehr provided a vital and constant role during the war years as a shield for the military conspiracy against the regime, yet were inefficient and ineffectual as regards their role within the resistance movement.
From a re-evaluation of the available sources and historiography, this paper concludes that, although the Abwehr was useful as a shield and may indirectly have led to the assassination of Heydrich, its primary contribution to the resistance and hence to the compromising of the regime was to staff its ranks with anti-Nazis, legally designated 'undesirables' and incompetents, in addition to not being totally efficient as a result of disloyalty to the regime. This deprived the National Socialist war effort of an extremely valuable tool for the waging of war. In comparison with the role the British intelligence services played for the Allied war effort during the war, the Abwehr did the National Socialist regime a great disservice by acting in this way and thus did contribute to the downfall of the regime, even though the conspiracy in which they were involved failed to do so directly itself.
Although there is a lack of available documentation due to the nature of conspiracy, the arrest of key figures and circumstance at the end of the war, evaluations have been drawn from the information available to provide the afore-mentioned conclusions.
The conspiracy against the National Socialists varied throughout the extent of the regime's control over Germany and the Third Reich, but it has often been thought that the Abwehr provided a vital and constant role during the war years as a shield for the military conspiracy against the regime, yet were inefficient and ineffectual as regards their role within the resistance movement.
From a re-evaluation of the available sources and historiography, this paper concludes that, although the Abwehr was useful as a shield and may indirectly have led to the assassination of Heydrich, its primary contribution to the resistance and hence to the compromising of the regime was to staff its ranks with anti-Nazis, legally designated 'undesirables' and incompetents, in addition to not being totally efficient as a result of disloyalty to the regime. This deprived the National Socialist war effort of an extremely valuable tool for the waging of war. In comparison with the role the British intelligence services played for the Allied war effort during the war, the Abwehr did the National Socialist regime a great disservice by acting in this way and thus did contribute to the downfall of the regime, even though the conspiracy in which they were involved failed to do so directly itself.
Although there is a lack of available documentation due to the nature of conspiracy, the arrest of key figures and circumstance at the end of the war, evaluations have been drawn from the information available to provide the afore-mentioned conclusions.
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