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Originally Posted by BraselC5048
For an alternate history idea, what would have happened if Hitler was assassinated around late 1935-36 or so? After remilitarizing the rhineland, but before annexing Austria. I suppose the Nazi party would have picked a new leader, perhaps Goring?
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Göring is the obvious pick, especially with the military. The diplomats of the era genuinely liked him, which would keep the Entente at bay for a bit. The big issue is the guy was a rotten leader, solely interested in feathering his own nest. There would be a big fight between the Wehrmacht and the NSDAP, with the rest of the German government as the spoils.
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Originally Posted by gruundehn
The Nazi Party was not a single monolith but a wide ranging collection of views going from extreme left to extreme right united only by the loyalty to Hitler.
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The left wing of the NSDAP, which was only on the left economically anyways (otherwise it was just as reactionary), was wiped out on the Night of the Long Knives at the end of June 1934, so it isn't important here. Otto Strasser, its lone leader left alive (Göbbels having defected to Hitler and the party right in 1928), was marginalized.
One thing that definitely would not have happened was the German-Japanese alliance. The catalyst for that was Ribbentrop, and everyone thought Ribbentrop was a pathetic clown … everyone but Hitler, that is. Göring really hated the guy, as is evident
Nurenburg Diaries. Without Ribbentrop cheering Japan, Germany's ally in the east would have been China.