Brough's Books on Hermann Goering

Hermann Goering

History of Nazi Germany
Home > History > Military > Hermann Goering
dblogoRelated Books
World War II
Rommel
Luftwaffe
Nazi SS
Hitler
Third Reich
dblogoDepartments
Posters
Calendars
History Magazines
Documentaries
Resources
Click here for UK Books
History Books UK

 
 
 
Goering in the Dock at Nuremburg
Related Articles
  • World War II
  • 1940s Timeline
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Nuremburg Trials

  •  
     
    Hermann Wilhelm Göring (January 12, 1893 - October 15, 1946) was a prominent and early member of the Nazi party and one of the main architects of Nazi Germany. During World War II he acted as commander of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), and was the driving force behind the failed attempt to force Britain's surrender (or at least acquiescence) by the air battle known as the Battle of Britain. After that campaign he lost much of his influence in the Nazi hierarchy, exacerbated by the Luftwaffe's failings in Russia and against the Allied bomber raids. He was captured by American troops on May 8/9 1945 in Austria and he was taken before the Nuremberg Trials for war crimes, and despite defending himself vigorously he was sentenced to death; "His guilt is unique in its enormity" stated the judgement. He managed to commit suicide with a smuggled cyanide capsule the night before he was supposed to be hanged. 

    During World War I he flew in the Luftwaffe together with Manfred von Richthofen, the famous "Red Baron". He was the last commander of the Richthofen Fighter Squadron and finished the war as an 'ace', with twenty-two confirmed kills and the medals Pour le Merite and the Iron Cross

    It was Göring who is said to have originated the famous quote, "When I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun"; the version "When I hear the word culture, I reach for my Browning" has a subtle shift in just who in the dialogue has the potential to be the Philistine. 

    Another famous quote, said by Goering during his trial in Nuremberg, follows: "Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." 

    In his political testament Hitler expelled Goering and Heinrich Himmler from the party and from all offices of State for disloyalty to him and negotiations with the enemy without his knowledge and against his wishes, and for illegally attempting to seize power in the State for themselves.


     

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html for details. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Hermann_Goering

    Search This Site

    History
    History A-Z - Africa - Americas- Ancient - Asia - Europe - Medieval - Middle East - Military - Oceania - Russia - United States - World
    Copyright © 1997-2024 dropbears.com
    Pandora's Box. Do NOT go here or bad things will happen!