6:38 "Canaris and Heydrich [...] lived on the same street and had a personal and friendly relationship, even though they were enemies." I can only imagine how they must have interacted. These people are experts at leading double lives.
Imagine a Bond movie where one of the antagonist named Canaris who turns out to be a double agent trying to take down some sort of evil organization from the inside but only revealed later in the movie
Actually it’s “ darned if you do and damned if you don’t .” A little humor but meaning if you do something good it will still be bad for somebody but if you don’t do anything it’s far worse!!!!
"Badly mishandled. Nose broken at last interrogation. My time is up. Was not a traitor. Did my duty as a German. If you survive, please tell my wife..." -Canaris' last coded message to a cellmate prior to his execution on April 9, 1945
He was a traitor to the Germany, but he was loyal to the human race. I think it should take precedence, the fate of our species is more important than fate of one country. German victory would be quite bad for ethic system of humanity for a couple of centuries or so. Could possibly result in constant waves of "cleansings" (Nazi were dividing even Germans into different tiers/categories from the start).
@@Runenschuppe Only in some sense. In the way that is most real - Germans voted for Nazi, didn't participated in major revolts, German soldiers died in millions for the Reich and had no real problems with extermination Jew, Gypsy, Slav, POWs and communists in the name of the Aryan race, etc, etc - You can lie to yourself but people in general are passive and don't think much. People will believe in anything if they live in info-bubble... and so whole Germany was with Hitler - except maybe ~5%
@Fabian Kirchgessner I'm not sure if I can explain this without getting in long philosophical discussion... but map isn't real territory. Those 3 groups of German POW lived in 3 different Deutschlands. Perceived Deutschlands. And ofc Canaris lived in anti-Nazi Germany and was very loyal to it, to his idea of Germany. - But to outside world - Jews and Slavs didn't care if German soldier killed local population because he hated subhumans or he didn't care about them and "just followed orders". So, effective Germany, real-life Germany was about killing subhumans and taking their stuff and Canaris wasn't loyal to it.
Just eg like CEO’s of car companies will not say EV are the future unless they are ready for it. What counts is when rearmament starts - not what leaders say.
@@71kimg --- EV are not the future. The resources necessary to fulfill the proposed EV Utopia are not available in the required quantities and would constitute and environmental catastrophe even if they were available.
Man I wish my dad had been alive to watch your videos. He was born to German refugees from the soviet union in Danzig during the war. You cover these subjects in a detail that he would have loved.
@typo pit German Resistance was not one single group or individual, but took many independent forms. Many people were saved and smuggled out of Nazi controlled territory thanks to German resistance fighters (civilians and military). Consider this next time you pass your inadequate judgement.
Their Chief weapon was Secrecy......., and Guile. Sorry, their Chief weapons were Secrecy and Guile........, and Planning. I beg your pardon, their three Chief weapons were Secrecy, Guile, and Planning......., and willingness to die for the cause. Oh God, can I start that again?
I also always wondered how the swedish could give so much accurate information to the British , but it makes more sense if they were given the information.
@@matso3856 Swedish intelligence had many friends in the Abwehr. And Swedish diplomats and military officers could mover freely around Germany, thanks to their neutrality, many personal connections with the German aristocracy and the efforts of the Red Cross. Oh yeah, and the Swedes were reading German diplomatic cables via codebreaking and literally tapping the German cable lines. A good book to read on Sweden's role in the intelligence war is called "Duel for the Northland."
@@crownprincesebastianjohano7069 A whole list of people having lunch in restaurants and being sat next to a table with an attaché quietly having lunch. Would be terrible if the Swedish attaché 'accidentally' overheard all the latest German troop movements in Norway. They would report that home where a few Swedish civil servants might end up discussing it at lunch, on a table next to the British naval attaché.
@@DERP_Squad Funny how often that might happen. Or how a whole V2 might come crashing down on Swedish soil. It has to be disposed of. Perhaps the British can remove it for 100 Spitfires.
@@crownprincesebastianjohano7069 Remove what for 100 Spitfires? No, the Spitfires were just a gift, to ensure that Sweden is able to maintain it's position of armed neutrality. Now, on a completely separate note, I'm glad that the reports of some kind of German prototype missile landing in Sweden were just some local farmer's boy getting over excited about a weather balloon.
@@TheImperatorKnight I think that the Allies may have been guilty of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. After Hitler annexed and attacked several regions and nations, breaking every pact. It was hard to trust anything coming out of Germany. There are a lot of "grey" characters in Nazi Germany.
@@michaelstanton7904 The Wikipedia article on Erwin Rommel contains the following interesting comment:- "When told by Hitler himself that 'no one will make peace with me', Rommel told Hitler that if he was the obstacle for peace, he should resign or kill himself..." Rommel seems to have been another "grey" figure who had significant involvement with the resistance. He wrote actively trying to encourage Hitler to negotiate a peace, and was a key figure in later plotting.
Halder was a highly skilled and trained General. One rarely gets to general and especially the most senior levels of general with out becoming political. At that height, though, one definitely must also be a political general, and Halder constantly played that role to his fullest. Once a general takes that move, his ability to be an effective military general often fails badly. He never surprised me in his writings later with his constantly and consistently trying to say everything and nothing. His denouement is his complete failure to handle his troublesome situation. His main goal was to stay in power at the highest level he could reach and he sacrificed his humanity and any final success on that alter.
@@davidburroughs2244 I get what you’re saying, I can’t remember who it was but U.S. Grant said of one General ‘ You will never find a more talented Division Commander, but he is absolutely useless in command of a corps. ‘ But the thing about Halder , or a great many General or Flag officers if they can’t own their mistakes and push the blame up or down the chain of command. Their value plummets greatly. If WWIII had come in Europe would Halder and his fan club’s assessment of the Red army been More help or Hinderance ? In my teens , twenties and thirties I bought the Wehraboo BS I thought that If the western armies beat Germany than we were hot shit , now I know better , we’re just like everyone else.
I myself am really liking his coverage of the Soviet/German Front. Fantastic info and he's been having Eastory doing the animated maps. Seeing the ebb and flow is awesome.
He was in a perilous position and tried to do the right thing. Deep respect to him for that. He could have easily just shrugged and played it safe. Most others did.
That would be so frustrating! I mean, these guys were doing all of this at great personal risk to themselves just to see the other powers stick their fingers in their ears and go, "lalalalalalala..."
@@TheImperatorKnight Franco listened to Wilhelm Canaris screwing Germany from taking Gibraltar. He told Franco to ask for naval guns Germany didn't have
Well to be fair Canaris was associated with Hitler, being very highly ranked in the German government, a government Hitler has spent almost a decade purging the ranks of and replacing with yesmen. So, would you really trust this guy so easily?
Boy, you're really killing me with these teasers about videos on Stalin ignoring the warnings regarding Barbarossa and the Hess Affair/Royal Family connection. Can't wait! Great video as always.
Stalin ignoring the warnings regarding Barbarossa? The Soviets were restructuring their massive army, they knew exactly what was coming, they just weren't ready for it when it happened, they thought they had more time. That Barbarossa would eventually happen was most certainly no surprise to anyone.
Stalin knew what was coming and Hitler knew after Nov.1940 (visit Molotow in Berlin)that he has to start before Stalin, who needed more time after killing many Russian Army officers etc.Or does one think you can deploy 3,5 Million soldiers along the line from East Prussia to the Black Sea without knowing of the other side? Listen to Stalin's secrete speaches before June 1941.One has to go into the deatails to get a better realistic picture, not what is written in school books or most of the historians have written! In 1939 British and French Delegations were several times in Moskau to try to encircle Germany like before 1914. Stalin demanded the right to march through Poland, which refused that knowing they would never ever get rid of them. Even Poland was prepared to attack Germany in 1939 ( we will be in Berlin in about one week!)of course only if the West's guaranty would be kept. And we know it was not even kept when Germany attacked Poland on Sept.1st, and Stalin according to the secrete Agreement with Hitler on Sept.17th 1939 the West wisely did not declare War on Russia, which would bound Germany and Russia together, undefeatable! Poland was betrayed like the Ukraine in our time! One German high ranking member of the German Embassy in Moskau handed over the complete Nonaggressian Pact etc.to the US Embassy in Moskau after it was signed! Why did London still keep the reason of the Hess flight to Scotland in May 1941 secrete??? Napoleon tried to defeat Russia 129 years before ( Britain's Festland Degen)and failed when Prussian and Russian Generals met in Tauroggen, 1/3 of Napoleon's Army were Germans! Germany switched side then.The nightmare of German-Russian cooperation still exists today,even it is peacefully.Unfortunately we are still in Nato which should have been dissolved after the Warsaw Pact was! The one who fires the first shot gets the blame, 1914,1939,2023, if you push him into the wanted position! Why should we fight shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers with the Angloamericans again against Russia on the back of Ukraine and the rest of Europe? The West wants us to believe Russia destroyed the Baltic Pipeline!? They come out with strange theories, lies. Because the West pushed Nato eastwards and thread Russia, which told the US many times Ukraine and Georgia is the absolute red line, nobody listened thinking Rusdia would back off? Njet means Njet! Big business for the industrial- military complex! Next target is China. Good luck! Europe is the vasalle of the Angloamericans, Poland does not learn either even they were betrayed in 1939 and 1945.Do they think they can get back a piece of Western Ukraine?
In the grand scheme of things, I think Carnaris did the best he could with few resources and support at hand. Moreover, I don’t begrudge him for having to work with the Einsatzgruppen when he worked to limit their killcount and preserve evidence of their atrocities.
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw I've been seeing your non sense all over this comment section. You got something that you want to speak plainly about Nazi slave labor, the Holocaust, and other related massacres particularly on the Eastern Front? Don't be shy.
He was a naval officer in the First World War he was taken prisoner by the British after his cruiser was destroyed and interred in Chile. He escaped back to Germany. It was quite the adventure.
So Canaris sent his agents to record the war-crimes being committed in the East? While this may have done little at the time, this would probably prove very useful at the Nuremberg trials, and for later generations, as a strong argument National Socialism.
I just wanted to thank Tik for his great work! I checked the channel and found it has been a year since the 6th Army began attacking the Don River towards Stalingrad!
Agree. His manoeuvering to dissuade Hitler from seizing Gibraltar at a time when he had the power to do so was of incalculable value to the Allied war effort and thus keeping the Mediterranean open was hugely draining on German forces particularly in the North African theatre.
@@lovablesnowman True. Again this was early war when the Nazi's were doing really well. It's funny when you think how Hitler later complained he just couldn't make any headway with Franco.
Canaris was a good friend of Spain. He warned our Caudillo on how the war was not over yet and that entering would be counterproductive and riskful. We saved ourselfs from complete destruction after a civil war, in part thanks to him.
@typo pit None of the articles I've found - after what was admittedly a quick Google - say that Canaris was the one who suggested making Jewish people where stars. USHMM indicates that Heydrich was the main mover: encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-badge-during-the-nazi-era. As for the second part of your comment, that would only apply to Canaris if you regard the people fighting the Nazis as Germany's enemies - something that I would argue was not the case. Apart from anything else, the Nazis had plenty of Germans on their kill list.
Actually, everyone knows about Stauffenberg and the July plot..That group was known by the Gestapo as the black orchestra. Before that group, there was the Red Orchestra, not as well known, Canaris actually managed the one real act against Hitler when he convinced his friend Franco ( Canaris was a major player in Germany's help to Franco in the Spanish civil war) not to allow Hitler access to Portugal's ports.
Is there any law in the UK to forcefully publish old secret documents after any amount of years after the event? So many years have gone by after ww2, i don't understand the need for secrets.
Yes, there's the Public Records Act of 1958 and the Freedom of Information Act of 2000. But under the Official Secrets Act, the Royal Archives and the Secret Service archives are exempt from these other acts for "national security" reasons.
@@TheImperatorKnight Aren’t they required to release the information after a certain amount of time? I think I once read certain files had to be revealed after 90 years.
@@thelizardking3036 As a conspiracy theorist, I theorise many things that are kept secret may still be relevant to this day, hence the exemption under the law.
@@thelizardking3036 90 years since the information was last of importance to a government department or body. There are plenty of documents that become of interest to a government department or body a couple of months before the 90 year deadline, resetting it.
I am really fascinated about the year 1934, and I'm glad that you're talking about it quite a lot. I am very interested in the failed Anschluss but also about the events of the Night of the Long Knives. I read the very detailed account of it in Churchill's memoirs and it's absolutely fascinating.
@@BOB-wx3fq Almost like he allowed a Pearl Harbor to happen signed FDR. I 100% think he did know, he also placed so may forces close to the border to begin with, why? He knew full well war was coming maybe not the time but he did know it. Why was Soviet air force within range of German air force? So the Soviets could strike German air force. There is simply no other logical reason. In my business dealing its very common for senior level ex to claim ignorance & or isolate themselves from the fire when they know full well whats going on or about to happen or want it to happen.
@@tuscanyjc another theory is that Soviets were prepared to hit first, hence the amazing of planes and tanks at western border. Hitler hit faster, see Vladimir Suvorov books
@@ElGrandoCaymano I'd have to disagree, maybe during ww2 you could make that argument, that's 3+ decades after he scaled his way from the bottom of the party to the party boss.. that takes determination Cognitive dissonance is a buzzword that popped up during trump administration and is now thrown around
Canaris: "It is dreadful. Our children's children will have to bear the blame for this" How prophetic. I remember that during the troubles after the break up of Yugoslavia, NATO was sending troops down to separate everyone, Germany stated that they couldn't send anyone because of how badly they treated the Serbs during WW2.(lets not start on Yugoslavia, I only used it for an example on how Germany is still suffering for what happened in WW2) TIK, when you say it was largely ineffective, I think you are looking at it from the wrong angle. True, by the time the Allies started believing the intel coming from Canaris it really didn't matter but you need to look at it abstractly. The man in charge of their intelligence agency was actively working against them. When you need the best information possible for Diplomacy and military operations, Canaris was not only withholding that information, he was actually supplying them with false information, and he did that for almost 6 years of war. We will never know for sure how much it hurt the Germans but imagine how much a committed believer like Heydrich could have done in his place
To be honest, I find it pretty irrelevant which one wins. My grandpa sabotaged the Kirov railway and was not even promoted. However, in civilian life he had better luck than the "winners" had.
@@scratchy996 Yep. The only truly effective resistance movement, IIRC, were Tito's partisans, and even then it's mostly because Tito forced them to cooperate.
a bit similar to the french resistance(divided into different political faction). Post-war the communists resistant were depicted as hero but they were inactive/collaborating before operation barbarossa.
I don’t know if this is exactly what you mean but I’m pretty sure that the home guard was more effective than Noel Coward’s ' Please oblige us with a Bren gun '. and ' Dad’s Army ' would have us believe.
@@philvanderlaan5942 I thought English resistance means resisting the English.. I’m not sure if the Allied (2016) film plot happened in the UK, but it did happen in France. Oh it did happen in London. Mathilde Carré was sent to London to infiltrate the SOE.
@@jussim.konttinen4981 Yep, I like how people automatically assume the resistance "against the Germans/ Europeans" and not the resistance "against the British/ Americans". Which would make for an interesting video since no one knows anything about it. Though I'm sure there would have been such individuals acting against their governments as much as there was in Germany.
Let's not forget all those times that the German military intelligence underestimated the Soviet forces opposite them. Almost like they were getting it wrong on purpose.
I am glad that you are covering resistence members like Canaris, Goerdeler and Beck, because even in germany they are not very well known (The foucus is often on the more left lining resistence like the Weiße Rose, even tho they were mostly insignificant ). They deserve ther place in history and we shoud not forget them, just because they had the "wrong" political believs (compared to today). Thank you Tik for this video.
The way Tik speaks about Halder I am guessing one day he'll write a book "Halder is the worst dude ever", or "Franz Halder single-handedly lost WW2." And at this point I'd read it.
@TIK just wanted to say how much I appreciate the in video references. Its something small but has a large impact for people who are serious about the histioriography
That the real motivation for the english assassination of Heydrich to protect Canaris as an intelligence source is really interesting! ... What is the source for this?
Thanks for the video, it was very interesting. I am convinced that Canaris helped much more than we know. I personally admire Canaris, as a Spaniard I could not have been born (given the crimes that the Nazis also committed in the allied countries). Not to mention that there is no war worse than a civil war, and in that situation, Germany would have dominated the Mediterranean Sea instead of losing and abandoning the African campaign, and would have sent the Spanish to fight in Russia (as they already did volunteer units, the blue division). The world war would have dragged on. I think Canaris hastened the end of the war as you said, and given the technological evolution of Germany, it was important that it end before they mass produced the new weaponry. But hey, it's guesswork, who knows. Ironically, at the end of the war, Canaris's wife was not entitled to a pension because her husband was labeled a "Nazi", but Franco was very grateful to Canaris and sent a life pension to Canaris's widow after the war.
@Fabian Kirchgessner Another question is how "progressive" was the SPD at the time. Divorce, abortion, and the birth control pill didn't exist. I suspect their goal was to hold fair elections, which sounds quite Republican.
Hey TIK. Watching this made me go back to Operation Valkyrie again. A few quotes by Henning von Tresckow caught my eye that I thought were quite relevant to your question about how much of an impact Canaris had. Paraphrasing the quotes, "the world and historical records need to know that there were those that fought back, even if we failed. That we were not all behind this regime." I think that's true... people like von Stauffenberg, Tresckow, and Canaris shows us people who were neither enthralled nor cowed, people who seemed to really love their homeland more than anything else. I think this alone makes them worth more than just the metric of tangible gains. What do you think?
Not many people know the truth, the whole story of the 20th century.They show the Germans stupid, all Nazis etc.( Hollywood-Style). The first people landing in Dachau-KL were Germans.Our "Alliies" of today plundered Germany twice (made it easy by the stupid German Policy). They desroyed the Prussian spirit but in 1950 they told the West Germans to rebuild their Army in the fight against Bolshewism which they let in to the center of Europe.In 1955 most of the Army leaders where taken from the defeated Wehrmacht, the first General Inspector, General Heusinger, was in the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia with Hitler at the chest board moving the Divisions in Russia.He was injured when the bomb under the table exploded July 20th 1944.And of course all sophisticated Weaponry was taken away for their own purpose. Later the Rocket specialist Wernherr von Braun flew the US to the Moon! Today the "Alliies" want us to fight again against Russia in Ukraine what Eisenhower forgot to do in 1945? Now they want to torpedoe the Kooperation between Germany and Russia, establish another Iron Curtain further East? How stupid can one get!
@@Outlier999 Canaris hated communists so I doubt it he also knew what attrocieties Stalin ordered his men to commit and that does not help since Canaris seemed to dislike violence
@@LaloSillymanca I am sure he did know what the Soviets were doing. A man who hates violence has no business in the military. I doubt he hated it that much, considering his WW1 record. But I don’t want to get into a debate about that.
@@Outlier999 I mean he hated violence violence. Not like shooting someone someone who wants to shoot you too. But he was against the Jewish genoicide and hated the Einsatzgruppen since he had to witness that they did first hand. Also while walking into destroyed Poland he shed a tear of sadness which was used against him.
Interesting synopsis of Canaris' (Oster's) resistance group. The only issue I see is that you refer to them as "the" resistance. There were quite few resistance groups in Nazi Germany, but they were scattered over the Reich and the annexed areas, not linked to each other and frequently at cross-purposes to boot. Yet they existed and while not impacting the larger picture, they still saved people or sabotaged production at great risk - or cost.
Sidenode: It was Wilhelm Canaris who first suggested to mark Jews in public, by forcing them to wear the Star of David. We always have to keep this in mind, when discussing the German resistance in this regard. Great video by the way. :)
I remember watching an interview on a cable TV history program years ago with one of Canaris' subordinates whose name I cannot remember and during the interview he said that when Heydrich was assassinated Canaris himself told this man the news and the man was delighted to hear that but Canaris reproached him for being so happy at Heydrich's demise....why I cannot say for sure but he told the man Heydrich was a human being too and did not deserve to die like that. It seems to me that man said something like, "good riddance to that swine" or words to that effect.
I have read somewhere that Canaris visited Belgrade after it was bombed by Luftwaffe in April 1941. What he saw made a huge impression on him, resulting in a nervous breakdown.
There is much more to Hess's story than governments have released. He was taken off the board to early to be one of the big bads but yet he was the only one who spent the rest of his life in prison. Something just doesn't add up there.
@@korbell1089 Soviet vindictiveness. In the latter part of Hess' life, the Americans, British, and French wanted to release him, but the Soviets balked.
@@diarradunlap9337 REcall Hess was the one that disclosed the Germany Russian secret treaty division of Poland at his Nuremberg war crimes trial. Caught the Russians unaware and embarrassed with Nazi collaboration . I have always wondered what else Hess knew and he was never allowed to disclose. Not even to her family for visits. Indeed they destroyed the prison after his death. Perhaps to destroy any secrets Hess might have hidden? Guess we will never know?
The biggest What Ifs that are overlooked, IMHO: What if Canaris wasn't a traitor, what if Halder hadn't moved the schwerpunkt from the Caucasus to Moscow, and what if the Italians were competent?
No matter if his actions had great effect or not, I still think he is an unsung hero. Sabotaging the system from within is often effective, but still *very* risky business.
Well, I'd say there is a *marked* difference between betraying one's government for the sake of conscience, and betraying someone for the sake of one's own gain. The former may be looked upon as heroic, but the latter is despised even by the enemy who gains from the betrayal.
Many so-called "good Germans" were snobbish aristocrats and wannabes who would have gladly and enthusiastically fought a second war if the Hohenzollerns had still been in charge. I know Canaris' WWI record and he was no saint. To quote one historian, "Canaris was not a particularly moral man but he had his limits." Many other "resistance heroes" were Communists who had no problem with committing atrocities if they were ordered by Stalin or Walter Ulbricht.
Mr. TIK, I am fully aware your videos would take several hours when going more into detail (And anyway, thanks for making them!). If I am correct the British dropped a corps near the Spanish coast dressed as an officer with "highly secret" documents on him that the invasion would take place in Greece. The Abwehr passed this message on to high command apparently without any basic checks, leading to several devisions being placed in Greece and therefore useless for the invasion in Normandy. Seems rather effective and of quite some importance to me. What are your thoughts on this?
That was great! I really like the part about the interactions between Franco and Hitler. I especially like how Hitler came to regret helping the Spanish right-wing win the Spanish Civil War. The fact that Hitler was upset that Franco had reinstated all the traditional institutions of Spain (the Church, the nobility, etc.) goes to further prove thay Hitler and the Nazis were not right wing. Had Hitler and the Nazis been genuine right-wing, they would have been all about the traditional structures of Germany right down to the prussians. But Hitler hated the prussians and he hated German nobility.
@@hermitoldguy6312 Franco was right wing. He was a constitutional monarchist. It's hard to get more right-wing than that. Yes, he allied with and used the fascists who were left wing. But, the man himself was right-wing. Left-wingers do not reinstate the clergy and the nobility the way Franco did.
It’s crazy how close some of these dates get. Had chamberlain hesitated for a moment after Czechoslovakia fell, Poland would have fallen too, without allied intervention. I had no idea how much the resistance was involved.
One thing worthy of examination is the preposterously ineffective preparation of Abwehr agents sent to Allied and neutral countries.This was in very many cases amateurish beyond belief. Those who did not directly go to the police as soon as they landed were in most cases easily turned. Was this a result of mere inefficiency, or perhaps, an expected or hoped for result? I have long wondered and would appreciate your view on this, Mr. Tik.
Yes their performance was somewhere between woeful and laughable. But it was exceedingly difficult for Germans not to stand out in UK and British not to stand out in Germany due to the large number of subtle cultural differences quite apart from linguistic ones.
27:00 - Try "Szoltikoff" Love it when the letters for vowels and consonents are used differently in every language, including latinization of cyrillic.
For the stalin part; i would recommend the books, Stalin's war by sean mcmeekin, which argues that Stalin had spies on both sides of the war and if you do a video on the Moscow campaign, i would recommend retreat from Moscow by david stahel
Hi TIK. Really enjoyed this. Studied a lot of ww2 history, specializing in Luftwaffe 38-45. Helped me fill in some of the blanks from my research. Very nice presentation and well researched. Thank you. Of course I still have more questions just like you. History is fun. Do you think some of em bailed to Antarctica?
Seems to me that there is a lot more to be said for Paul Thummel than history credits him for. He was passing absolutely solid, reliable information yet it largely fell on deaf and dumb ears. Quick check on Wikipedia: less than half a page about him. Like literally wtf? Guy was a friggin hero.
11:05 Thümmel is pronounced with a strong t, and afterwards a short ü while stretching the pronunciation of the doulbe mm. You can search for the german word "tümmler" (a name for a dolphin species, that is pronounced very similar) if you need any reference. the "Th" sounds more like the "th" of the name "Thomas"
I love it when the english pronounce germanic names. Im following the channel Operations Room where hes got a few films about the norwegian campaign and its wonderful to hear how wrong the names are said. Really; So what :-D the english cringe when I say the word war-chest-er-shire sauce LoL.
@@P4neK4ke yeah it‘s amusing xD The reason I post this is bc TIK comstantly tries to get better at his name pronunciation God I can‘t imagine how I would butcher norwegian names...
I don't know how accurate this view is, but I had heard that the Allies tried & wanted to kill Hitler but as the war went on they realized that Hitler was causing more issues to any Axis finale victory. So it was believed that it was better to leave him in place while mismanaging the whole affair. Like I said, I don't know the veracity of this view.
Excellent and thorough review of a rarely discussed topic, critical as it could have been had the countries soon to be attacked and/or swallowed had listened. Why this formidable mistrust after warning after warning became reality as early as 1939? Finally, I'm surprised you did not mention Rudolf Hess and his bizarre 'escape." Was he not involved with the Abwehr?
Excellent video on a topic you never really hear about ,makes you think though what effect on the Allies efforts in the Mediterranean if the Axis controlled Gibraltar , again thanks really enjoyable...
Well if i take a hammer and use the handle to hit the nails i would also found it ineffective Great video The duality of appearing NAZI while conspiring against may reminds us of Oskar Schindler or even the controversial Pope Pius (neutral rather than appearing Nazi)
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 Correct. Although I will point out that adrevenue is just the cherry on the cake, and a bit hit or miss. It's the Patreons and SubscribeStars that are keeping this whole thing going.
Maybe would have worked if you starved the British a few years with Torpedo Bombers and U Boats, cut them off of their oil supplies and the US not intervening. Unfortunate Göring was incompetent as fuck and the High Command didn't have a solid plan against Britain (Only attacking Egypt after Italy is failing in North Africa). But I admit even if all of these requirements are met this is still a huge task and beside Operation Weserübung and the few paratrooper landings the Germans had (and have) little experience in amphibious landings. And a invasion of the British Isles after their unification is the Holy Grail of Naval Invasions.
@@derkommentierer4160 England was able to feed itself from its land at least on a bare survival level. Germany did not have the means to do it in 1940 and would have had to forego Barbarossa to have a crack in 1941. But I just don't think they would ever have achieved the total air supremacy and the amphibious know how.
5:14 "To comply with TH-cam's communist guidelines." I was going to question how they would allow that, but then I realized that the TH-cam censors would probably take being called a communist as a compliment.
no mention of walter schellenburg's book "hitler's masterspy. ". he knew heydrich well and was convinced that he was taken out by the british to protect canaris. he also says that when the Spanish civil war started hitler wasn't interested in intervening, but was steered that way by canaris, who had a great admiration for franco.
Gives me a completely different perspective on Canaris. I always assumed he had a hammer and sickle under his coat. He was simply a stand up guy, that got stood up as happened alot to stand up people of the resistance under the Reich !
Very interesting... I am looking forward for the videos you are planning on suppression of information. Also, from what I know Canaris' naked body was hanged on a trident, in Flossenburg.
How strong was Canaris's relationship with British Intelligence? Could he have been played by them? Did he have any contribution to the assassination of Heydrich?
He had good contact to British intelligence that's for sure. Was he a British spy? We can't know by now because the Brits have their files on him still under lock.
Never usually talked about is that a lot of Germans, including many in the German military were monarchists. Canaris was never going to accept Hitler and the Nazis. No doubt he hoped for a restoration of the Kaiser.
I have to agree with Mr Stanton a very interesting subject canaris was a very complex individual and you seem to have managed to get a handle on him from a broad standpoint how deep can you go without boring people rigid great bid keep them coming
6:38 "Canaris and Heydrich [...] lived on the same street and had a personal and friendly relationship, even though they were enemies."
I can only imagine how they must have interacted. These people are experts at leading double lives.
My regular work day. My workmates are Brexiteers. I don't support such ideas but need money.
@@benbenjan811 are you comparing brexiteers to Heydrich or yourself to Heydrich
Yeah, I wonder what Heydrich and the Pope chatted about during their bike rides together?
@@benbenjan811 that was your...
"Don't tell him Pike!" moment
Who do you think, you are kidding Mr Benjan!
@@benbenjan811 helluva comparison you've got there mate. Taken the schizo pills anytime recently?
One thing I will say, "Canaris" is a beautiful and interesting last name, specially for a intelligence guy. It sounds like a Bond character
I mean...Bonds PPK is German so.
more interesting about the guy is that his name is of a singing bird........... get it?
Imagine a Bond movie where one of the antagonist named Canaris who turns out to be a double agent trying to take down some sort of evil organization from the inside but only revealed later in the movie
@@hopfinatorischerkuchenkrieger
My PPK was made in France 😜
@@AHappyCub The Severus Snape of the 3rd Reich?
Canaris's situation was the epitome of "Damned if you, damned if you don't".
Actually it’s “ darned if you do and damned if you don’t .” A little humor but meaning if you do something good it will still be bad for somebody but if you don’t do anything it’s far worse!!!!
No, he did the right thing.
Hell yes.
So, the guy tried to warn about the coming war in Europe? I guess he was a
*Canaris* *in* *a* *coal* *mine*
Boooooo! lol
ill get your coat, doors to the left
this comment needs way more likes
Badum tsssh
Bold words for a bird profile picture.
"Badly mishandled. Nose broken at last interrogation. My time is up. Was not a traitor. Did my duty as a German. If you survive, please tell my wife..."
-Canaris' last coded message to a cellmate prior to his execution on April 9, 1945
He was a traitor to the Germany, but he was loyal to the human race. I think it should take precedence, the fate of our species is more important than fate of one country.
German victory would be quite bad for ethic system of humanity for a couple of centuries or so. Could possibly result in constant waves of "cleansings" (Nazi were dividing even Germans into different tiers/categories from the start).
@@ImperativeGames No, he might have been a traitor to Hitler and his regime, but he was loyal to Germany. He served his country to his death.
@@Runenschuppe Only in some sense. In the way that is most real - Germans voted for Nazi, didn't participated in major revolts, German soldiers died in millions for the Reich and had no real problems with extermination Jew, Gypsy, Slav, POWs and communists in the name of the Aryan race, etc, etc
-
You can lie to yourself but people in general are passive and don't think much.
People will believe in anything if they live in info-bubble... and so whole Germany was with Hitler - except maybe ~5%
@Fabian Kirchgessner I'm not sure if I can explain this without getting in long philosophical discussion... but map isn't real territory.
Those 3 groups of German POW lived in 3 different Deutschlands. Perceived Deutschlands. And ofc Canaris lived in anti-Nazi Germany and was very loyal to it, to his idea of Germany.
-
But to outside world - Jews and Slavs didn't care if German soldier killed local population because he hated subhumans or he didn't care about them and "just followed orders".
So, effective Germany, real-life Germany was about killing subhumans and taking their stuff and Canaris wasn't loyal to it.
@@ImperativeGames depends on who you ask really, canaris was loyal to the idea of Germany and not the nazi regime that was in control of it
Holy crap EVERY country actually knew what was coming and NO ONE acted on the information !
Never knew this. Shameful.
Knowing is one thing and acting on it is another.
Just eg like CEO’s of car companies will not say EV are the future unless they are ready for it. What counts is when rearmament starts - not what leaders say.
A bit like watching the GOP now.
@@71kimg --- EV are not the future. The resources necessary to fulfill the proposed EV Utopia are not available in the required quantities and would constitute and environmental catastrophe even if they were available.
@@waynepatterson5843 ----Agreed its a "Green" scam £$£$£$
Man I wish my dad had been alive to watch your videos. He was born to German refugees from the soviet union in Danzig during the war. You cover these subjects in a detail that he would have loved.
“Nobody believes the German resistance!” Sounds like a Monty Python quote.
The original Shut up! I don't believe you! You're a N4ZI!!1!
"Don't Mention the War!" lol
@typo pit what about Von Staufenberg and similar?
@typo pit German Resistance was not one single group or individual, but took many independent forms. Many people were saved and smuggled out of Nazi controlled territory thanks to German resistance fighters (civilians and military). Consider this next time you pass your inadequate judgement.
Their Chief weapon was Secrecy......., and Guile.
Sorry, their Chief weapons were Secrecy and Guile........, and Planning.
I beg your pardon, their three Chief weapons were Secrecy, Guile, and Planning......., and willingness to die for the cause. Oh God, can I start that again?
Still a mistery is the source that fed important info to the swiss government it must have been close to the power center.
I also always wondered how the swedish could give so much accurate information to the British , but it makes more sense if they were given the information.
@@matso3856 Swedish intelligence had many friends in the Abwehr. And Swedish diplomats and military officers could mover freely around Germany, thanks to their neutrality, many personal connections with the German aristocracy and the efforts of the Red Cross. Oh yeah, and the Swedes were reading German diplomatic cables via codebreaking and literally tapping the German cable lines.
A good book to read on Sweden's role in the intelligence war is called "Duel for the Northland."
@@crownprincesebastianjohano7069 A whole list of people having lunch in restaurants and being sat next to a table with an attaché quietly having lunch. Would be terrible if the Swedish attaché 'accidentally' overheard all the latest German troop movements in Norway. They would report that home where a few Swedish civil servants might end up discussing it at lunch, on a table next to the British naval attaché.
@@DERP_Squad Funny how often that might happen. Or how a whole V2 might come crashing down on Swedish soil. It has to be disposed of. Perhaps the British can remove it for 100 Spitfires.
@@crownprincesebastianjohano7069 Remove what for 100 Spitfires? No, the Spitfires were just a gift, to ensure that Sweden is able to maintain it's position of armed neutrality.
Now, on a completely separate note, I'm glad that the reports of some kind of German prototype missile landing in Sweden were just some local farmer's boy getting over excited about a weather balloon.
Heydrich: Wait, it's all Canaris?
Resistance: Always has been.
Another great subject TIK. My hat is off to you.
Thanks! I believe you were first as well!
@@TheImperatorKnight I think that the Allies may have been guilty of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. After Hitler annexed and attacked several regions and nations, breaking every pact. It was hard to trust anything coming out of Germany. There are a lot of "grey" characters in Nazi Germany.
@@michaelstanton7904 The Wikipedia article on Erwin Rommel contains the following interesting comment:-
"When told by Hitler himself that 'no one will make peace with me', Rommel told Hitler that if he was the obstacle for peace, he should resign or kill himself..."
Rommel seems to have been another "grey" figure who had significant involvement with the resistance. He wrote actively trying to encourage Hitler to negotiate a peace, and was a key figure in later plotting.
Halder : Hitler was an Idiot who lost us the war, oh yeah and I helped too!
( I get the idea that Halder would say just about anything)
"I am definitely a master general aiding the west and absolutely didn't catastrophically fail on the ostfront!"
Halder probably.
@@orksy2935 I'm sure he intentionally planned operations badly to help the west. 300 IQ move right there
@@hopfinatorischerkuchenkrieger Halder, what an idiot he was
Halder was a highly skilled and trained General. One rarely gets to general and especially the most senior levels of general with out becoming political. At that height, though, one definitely must also be a political general, and Halder constantly played that role to his fullest. Once a general takes that move, his ability to be an effective military general often fails badly. He never surprised me in his writings later with his constantly and consistently trying to say everything and nothing. His denouement is his complete failure to handle his troublesome situation. His main goal was to stay in power at the highest level he could reach and he sacrificed his humanity and any final success on that alter.
@@davidburroughs2244 I get what you’re saying, I can’t remember who it was but U.S. Grant said of one General ‘ You will never find a more talented Division Commander, but he is absolutely useless in command of a corps. ‘
But the thing about Halder , or a great many General or Flag officers if they can’t own their mistakes and push the blame up or down the chain of command. Their value plummets greatly.
If WWIII had come in Europe would Halder and his fan club’s assessment of the Red army been More help or Hinderance ?
In my teens , twenties and thirties I bought the Wehraboo BS I thought that If the western armies beat Germany than we were hot shit , now I know better , we’re just like everyone else.
This is the best WW2 channel I've ever seen
I found your channel last week and have been binging a ton of your videos. They are so educational and great.
I myself am really liking his coverage of the Soviet/German Front. Fantastic info and he's been having Eastory doing the animated maps. Seeing the ebb and flow is awesome.
He was in a perilous position and tried to do the right thing. Deep respect to him for that. He could have easily just shrugged and played it safe. Most others did.
He deliberately picked eight weaklings and incompetents for "Operation Pastorius" because he wanted it to fail. A clever ploy, I admit.
He betrayed Europe.
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw How?
@@Outlier999 He made Europe Communist and Islamic.
Yeah, because disloyality, disobey your oath and betray your own homeland is what your kind calls "right thing"
Canaris must have been pulling his hair out because nobody wanted to listen
I know that feeling
That would be so frustrating! I mean, these guys were doing all of this at great personal risk to themselves just to see the other powers stick their fingers in their ears and go, "lalalalalalala..."
@@TheImperatorKnight Franco listened to Wilhelm Canaris screwing Germany from taking Gibraltar. He told Franco to ask for naval guns Germany didn't have
@@TheImperatorKnight Hitler was not a socialist! 🙉🙉🙉😝
Well to be fair Canaris was associated with Hitler, being very highly ranked in the German government, a government Hitler has spent almost a decade purging the ranks of and replacing with yesmen. So, would you really trust this guy so easily?
Boy, you're really killing me with these teasers about videos on Stalin ignoring the warnings regarding Barbarossa and the Hess Affair/Royal Family connection. Can't wait! Great video as always.
Stalin ignoring the warnings regarding Barbarossa?
The Soviets were restructuring their massive army, they knew exactly what was coming, they just weren't ready for it when it happened, they thought they had more time. That Barbarossa would eventually happen was most certainly no surprise to anyone.
31:15 this seems like not ignoring but fully praying to have more time and maybe the germans were attacking later by not hearing all the red flags🤣
Stalin knew what was coming and Hitler knew after Nov.1940 (visit Molotow in Berlin)that he has to start before Stalin, who needed more time after
killing many Russian Army officers etc.Or does one think you can deploy 3,5 Million soldiers along the line from East Prussia to the Black Sea
without knowing of the other side? Listen to Stalin's secrete speaches before June 1941.One has to go into the deatails to get a better realistic picture,
not what is written in school books or most of the historians have written!
In 1939 British and French Delegations were several times in Moskau to try to encircle Germany like before 1914.
Stalin demanded the right to march through Poland, which refused that knowing they would never ever get rid of them.
Even Poland was prepared to attack Germany in 1939 ( we will be in Berlin in about one week!)of course only if the West's guaranty would be kept.
And we know it was not even kept when Germany attacked Poland on Sept.1st, and Stalin according to the secrete Agreement with Hitler on Sept.17th 1939
the West wisely did not declare War on Russia, which would bound Germany and Russia together, undefeatable! Poland was betrayed like the Ukraine
in our time!
One German high ranking member of the German Embassy in Moskau handed over the complete Nonaggressian Pact etc.to the US Embassy in Moskau
after it was signed! Why did London still keep the reason of the Hess flight to Scotland in May 1941 secrete???
Napoleon tried to defeat Russia 129 years before ( Britain's Festland Degen)and failed when Prussian and Russian Generals met in Tauroggen,
1/3 of Napoleon's Army were Germans! Germany switched side then.The nightmare of German-Russian cooperation still exists today,even it is
peacefully.Unfortunately we are still in Nato which should have been dissolved after the Warsaw Pact was!
The one who fires the first shot gets the blame, 1914,1939,2023, if you push him into the wanted position!
Why should we fight shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers with the Angloamericans again against Russia on the back of Ukraine and the rest of Europe?
The West wants us to believe Russia destroyed the Baltic Pipeline!? They come out with strange theories, lies.
Because the West pushed Nato eastwards and thread Russia, which told the US many times Ukraine and Georgia is the absolute red line,
nobody listened thinking Rusdia would back off? Njet means Njet! Big business for the industrial- military complex!
Next target is China. Good luck! Europe is the vasalle of the Angloamericans, Poland does not learn either even they were betrayed in 1939 and
1945.Do they think they can get back a piece of Western Ukraine?
In the grand scheme of things, I think Carnaris did the best he could with few resources and support at hand. Moreover, I don’t begrudge him for having to work with the Einsatzgruppen when he worked to limit their killcount and preserve evidence of their atrocities.
There were no "atrocities".
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw So, what happened to the millions they killed?
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw I've been seeing your non sense all over this comment section. You got something that you want to speak plainly about Nazi slave labor, the Holocaust, and other related massacres particularly on the Eastern Front? Don't be shy.
@@derpphil5400 The Allies used slave labour. Churchill caused the Holocaust. The USSR had never signed the Geneva Convention.
He was a naval officer in the First World War he was taken prisoner by the British after his cruiser was destroyed and interred in Chile. He escaped back to Germany. It was quite the adventure.
So Canaris sent his agents to record the war-crimes being committed in the East? While this may have done little at the time, this would probably prove very useful at the Nuremberg trials, and for later generations, as a strong argument National Socialism.
I just wanted to thank Tik for his great work! I checked the channel and found it has been a year since the 6th Army began attacking the Don River towards Stalingrad!
He probably helped more than we know.
Agree. His manoeuvering to dissuade Hitler from seizing Gibraltar at a time when he had the power to do so was of incalculable value to the Allied war effort and thus keeping the Mediterranean open was hugely draining on German forces particularly in the North African theatre.
He was sent to get Franco to join the war and spent the entire meeting convincing Franco to not join the war lol.
@@lovablesnowman True. Again this was early war when the Nazi's were doing really well. It's funny when you think how Hitler later complained he just couldn't make any headway with Franco.
Canaris was a good friend of Spain. He warned our Caudillo on how the war was not over yet and that entering would be counterproductive and riskful. We saved ourselfs from complete destruction after a civil war, in part thanks to him.
@typo pit None of the articles I've found - after what was admittedly a quick Google - say that Canaris was the one who suggested making Jewish people where stars. USHMM indicates that Heydrich was the main mover: encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-badge-during-the-nazi-era. As for the second part of your comment, that would only apply to Canaris if you regard the people fighting the Nazis as Germany's enemies - something that I would argue was not the case. Apart from anything else, the Nazis had plenty of Germans on their kill list.
Actually, everyone knows about Stauffenberg and the July plot..That group was known by the Gestapo as the black orchestra. Before that group, there was the Red Orchestra, not as well known, Canaris actually managed the one real act against Hitler when he convinced his friend Franco ( Canaris was a major player in Germany's help to Franco in the Spanish civil war) not to allow Hitler access to Portugal's ports.
Is there any law in the UK to forcefully publish old secret documents after any amount of years after the event? So many years have gone by after ww2, i don't understand the need for secrets.
Yes, there's the Public Records Act of 1958 and the Freedom of Information Act of 2000. But under the Official Secrets Act, the Royal Archives and the Secret Service archives are exempt from these other acts for "national security" reasons.
@@TheImperatorKnight Aren’t they required to release the information after a certain amount of time? I think I once read certain files had to be revealed after 90 years.
@@thelizardking3036 As a conspiracy theorist, I theorise many things that are kept secret may still be relevant to this day, hence the exemption under the law.
@@Hornbowman Yeah, You’re probably right.
@@thelizardking3036 90 years since the information was last of importance to a government department or body. There are plenty of documents that become of interest to a government department or body a couple of months before the 90 year deadline, resetting it.
"Suppression of information"
Indeed, Rudolf Hess could probably have told a hell of a lot about that subject.
I am really fascinated about the year 1934, and I'm glad that you're talking about it quite a lot. I am very interested in the failed Anschluss but also about the events of the Night of the Long Knives. I read the very detailed account of it in Churchill's memoirs and it's absolutely fascinating.
I’ve heard somewhere that Stalin didn’t believe the intel he was receiving because of the series of changes in the dates of the start of Barbarossa.
Yea but he was getting information from bletchley, the werhmacht and his *own* people and he heeded none of it
@@BOB-wx3fq Almost like he allowed a Pearl Harbor to happen signed FDR. I 100% think he did know, he also placed so may forces close to the border to begin with, why? He knew full well war was coming maybe not the time but he did know it. Why was Soviet air force within range of German air force? So the Soviets could strike German air force. There is simply no other logical reason. In my business dealing its very common for senior level ex to claim ignorance & or isolate themselves from the fire when they know full well whats going on or about to happen or want it to happen.
@@tuscanyjc another theory is that Soviets were prepared to hit first, hence the amazing of planes and tanks at western border. Hitler hit faster, see Vladimir Suvorov books
Stalin's behavior is a textbook example of cognitive dissonance.
@@ElGrandoCaymano I'd have to disagree, maybe during ww2 you could make that argument, that's 3+ decades after he scaled his way from the bottom of the party to the party boss.. that takes determination
Cognitive dissonance is a buzzword that popped up during trump administration and is now thrown around
Thank you for a wonderful thought provoking and heart breaking presentation of a possible missed opportunity to lessen the tragedy of WWII.
Canaris: "It is dreadful. Our children's children will have to bear the blame for this"
How prophetic. I remember that during the troubles after the break up of Yugoslavia, NATO was sending troops down to separate everyone, Germany stated that they couldn't send anyone because of how badly they treated the Serbs during WW2.(lets not start on Yugoslavia, I only used it for an example on how Germany is still suffering for what happened in WW2)
TIK, when you say it was largely ineffective, I think you are looking at it from the wrong angle. True, by the time the Allies started believing the intel coming from Canaris it really didn't matter but you need to look at it abstractly.
The man in charge of their intelligence agency was actively working against them. When you need the best information possible for Diplomacy and military operations, Canaris was not only withholding that information, he was actually supplying them with false information, and he did that for almost 6 years of war. We will never know for sure how much it hurt the Germans but imagine how much a committed believer like Heydrich could have done in his place
To be honest, I find it pretty irrelevant which one wins. My grandpa sabotaged the Kirov railway and was not even promoted. However, in civilian life he had better luck than the "winners" had.
Canaris was such a tragic character.
@typo pit Did you even pay attention to the video?
The resistance movements in general were largely useless. Propaganda after the war made them appear more effective than they actually are.
They were also politically divided into multiple cells, often fighting each other.
@@scratchy996 Yep. The only truly effective resistance movement, IIRC, were Tito's partisans, and even then it's mostly because Tito forced them to cooperate.
a bit similar to the french resistance(divided into different political faction). Post-war the communists resistant were depicted as hero but they were inactive/collaborating before operation barbarossa.
@@ladygrey7425 you don't mess with Tito.
Not in Yugoslavia. Read up on it.
Next up "how effective was the English resistance"
@@Edax_Royeaux English ordered passive resistance there to dissuade reprisals, plus not really much they could do on the islands anyway
I don’t know if this is exactly what you mean but I’m pretty sure that the home guard was more effective than Noel Coward’s ' Please oblige us with a Bren gun '. and ' Dad’s Army ' would have us believe.
@@philvanderlaan5942 I thought English resistance means resisting the English..
I’m not sure if the Allied (2016) film plot happened in the UK, but it did happen in France. Oh it did happen in London. Mathilde Carré was sent to London to infiltrate the SOE.
@@jussim.konttinen4981 Yep, I like how people automatically assume the resistance "against the Germans/ Europeans" and not the resistance "against the British/ Americans".
Which would make for an interesting video since no one knows anything about it. Though I'm sure there would have been such individuals acting against their governments as much as there was in Germany.
@@AFGuidesHD so you like the nazi regime russia troll
Let's not forget all those times that the German military intelligence underestimated the Soviet forces opposite them. Almost like they were getting it wrong on purpose.
VERY INTERESTING.......WELL DONE
I am glad that you are covering resistence members like Canaris, Goerdeler and Beck, because even in germany they are not very well known (The foucus is often on the more left lining resistence like the Weiße Rose, even tho they were mostly insignificant ). They deserve ther place in history and we shoud not forget them, just because they had the "wrong" political believs (compared to today).
Thank you Tik for this video.
The way Tik speaks about Halder I am guessing one day he'll write a book "Halder is the worst dude ever", or "Franz Halder single-handedly lost WW2." And at this point I'd read it.
You said that Canaris grossly exaggerated British strength in the run up to Operation Sealion. That sounds pretty effective to me .
Hitler never intended to invade the UK. As soon as Stalin broke the pact in June 1940 the OKW started preparing for Barbarossa.
Hitler wanted to invade the soviets way before they broke any pact, it was their main goal.@JamesRichards-mj9kw
@TIK just wanted to say how much I appreciate the in video references. Its something small but has a large impact for people who are serious about the histioriography
That the real motivation for the english assassination of Heydrich to protect Canaris as an intelligence source is really interesting! ... What is the source for this?
33:10
Ashdown "Nein" p166-176
Mueller "Nazi Spymaster" p209,p214-219
Another excellent video well researched and as always thanks for making me rethink history.
Thanks for the video, it was very interesting. I am convinced that Canaris helped much more than we know.
I personally admire Canaris, as a Spaniard I could not have been born (given the crimes that the Nazis also committed in the allied countries). Not to mention that there is no war worse than a civil war, and in that situation, Germany would have dominated the Mediterranean Sea instead of losing and abandoning the African campaign, and would have sent the Spanish to fight in Russia (as they already did volunteer units, the blue division). The world war would have dragged on. I think Canaris hastened the end of the war as you said, and given the technological evolution of Germany, it was important that it end before they mass produced the new weaponry. But hey, it's guesswork, who knows.
Ironically, at the end of the war, Canaris's wife was not entitled to a pension because her husband was labeled a "Nazi", but Franco was very grateful to Canaris and sent a life pension to Canaris's widow after the war.
I never understood why leftist say they are the ones who will stand against nazism when irl the german resistance was extremly conservative.
Not to mention Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Republican and more German than SS commandant Karl Chmielewski.
@Fabian Kirchgessner Another question is how "progressive" was the SPD at the time. Divorce, abortion, and the birth control pill didn't exist. I suspect their goal was to hold fair elections, which sounds quite Republican.
Also, a Dutch agent was shot and thereby killed during the Venlo incident.
You are great, man! Such a good grasp of REAL history and not the pablum we are fed in school!
Hey TIK. Watching this made me go back to Operation Valkyrie again. A few quotes by Henning von Tresckow caught my eye that I thought were quite relevant to your question about how much of an impact Canaris had. Paraphrasing the quotes, "the world and historical records need to know that there were those that fought back, even if we failed. That we were not all behind this regime." I think that's true... people like von Stauffenberg, Tresckow, and Canaris shows us people who were neither enthralled nor cowed, people who seemed to really love their homeland more than anything else. I think this alone makes them worth more than just the metric of tangible gains. What do you think?
Doesn't matter to mainstream historians, it failed, barely ever mentioned.
Not many people know the truth, the whole story of the 20th century.They show the Germans stupid, all Nazis etc.( Hollywood-Style).
The first people landing in Dachau-KL were Germans.Our "Alliies" of today plundered Germany twice (made it easy by the stupid German Policy).
They desroyed the Prussian spirit but in 1950 they told the West Germans to rebuild their Army in the fight against Bolshewism which they let in to
the center of Europe.In 1955 most of the Army leaders where taken from the defeated Wehrmacht, the first General Inspector, General Heusinger,
was in the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia with Hitler at the chest board moving the Divisions in Russia.He was injured when the bomb under the
table exploded July 20th 1944.And of course all sophisticated Weaponry was taken away for their own purpose.
Later the Rocket specialist Wernherr von Braun flew the US to the Moon! Today the "Alliies" want us to fight again against Russia in Ukraine
what Eisenhower forgot to do in 1945? Now they want to torpedoe the Kooperation between Germany and Russia, establish another Iron Curtain
further East? How stupid can one get!
Great episode, very informative
My God. What a wonderful video. Keep it up!
Well read and knowledgeable. Thank you for posting!
What an interesting topic! It's always good to learn something new. I never knew about Canaris' role in helping to keep Franco out of the war.
Oh yes. Franco was initially very interested in joining the Axis, I mean everyone was after Germany steamrolled France in 1940.
It didn't take much. Franco was not the fool Mussolini was. I am curious to know if Canaris thought Stalin was any better than Hitler.
@@Outlier999 Canaris hated communists so I doubt it he also knew what attrocieties Stalin ordered his men to commit and that does not help since Canaris seemed to dislike violence
@@LaloSillymanca I am sure he did know what the Soviets were doing. A man who hates violence has no business in the military. I doubt he hated it that much, considering his WW1 record. But I don’t want to get into a debate about that.
@@Outlier999 I mean he hated violence violence. Not like shooting someone someone who wants to shoot you too. But he was against the Jewish genoicide and hated the Einsatzgruppen since he had to witness that they did first hand. Also while walking into destroyed Poland he shed a tear of sadness which was used against him.
An informative and fascinating review of this aspect of World War II history - Thank you.👍
Interesting synopsis of Canaris' (Oster's) resistance group.
The only issue I see is that you refer to them as "the" resistance.
There were quite few resistance groups in Nazi Germany, but they were scattered over the Reich and the annexed areas, not linked to each other and frequently at cross-purposes to boot.
Yet they existed and while not impacting the larger picture, they still saved people or sabotaged production at great risk - or cost.
The worst thing about the effectiveness was less an issue of their efforts, and more the (reasonable) inaction of those they were communicating to.
Sidenode: It was Wilhelm Canaris who first suggested to mark Jews in public, by forcing them to wear the Star of David. We always have to keep this in mind, when discussing the German resistance in this regard. Great video by the way. :)
I remember watching an interview on a cable TV history program years ago with one of Canaris' subordinates whose name I cannot remember and during the interview he said that when Heydrich was assassinated Canaris himself told this man the news and the man was delighted to hear that but Canaris reproached him for being so happy at Heydrich's demise....why I cannot say for sure but he told the man Heydrich was a human being too and did not deserve to die like that. It seems to me that man said something like, "good riddance to that swine" or words to that effect.
I have read somewhere that Canaris visited Belgrade after it was bombed by Luftwaffe in April 1941. What he saw made a huge impression on him, resulting in a nervous breakdown.
Your videos help make mondays less sucked thank you
The last prisoner of Spandau, Rudolf Hess is missing in this video.)
I think tik heavily hinted at hess with the picture he showed and said that he'll touch the subject later.
There is much more to Hess's story than governments have released. He was taken off the board to early to be one of the big bads but yet he was the only one who spent the rest of his life in prison. Something just doesn't add up there.
@@korbell1089 Soviet vindictiveness. In the latter part of Hess' life, the Americans, British, and French wanted to release him, but the Soviets balked.
@@diarradunlap9337 REcall Hess was the one that disclosed the Germany Russian secret treaty division of Poland at his Nuremberg war crimes trial. Caught the Russians unaware and embarrassed with Nazi collaboration . I have always wondered what else Hess knew and he was never allowed to disclose. Not even to her family for visits. Indeed they destroyed the prison after his death. Perhaps to destroy any secrets Hess might have hidden? Guess we will never know?
@@diarradunlap9337 is that really the case....?
Shortening the war in Europe by 3 months may have saved Germany from being the first recipient of a nuclear bomb. That's not nothing!
The biggest What Ifs that are overlooked, IMHO: What if Canaris wasn't a traitor, what if Halder hadn't moved the schwerpunkt from the Caucasus to Moscow, and what if the Italians were competent?
If the Italians were competent, Italy would of invaded Germany when they annexed Austria.
Italians were competent, their economy was just weaker, army had outdated equipment, and were demoralized from the defeats
the Italian divisions when under command of rommel did fairly well in north Africa
No matter if his actions had great effect or not, I still think he is an unsung hero. Sabotaging the system from within is often effective, but still *very* risky business.
He was a traitor.
Well, I'd say there is a *marked* difference between betraying one's government for the sake of conscience, and betraying someone for the sake of one's own gain. The former may be looked upon as heroic, but the latter is despised even by the enemy who gains from the betrayal.
@@raneknudsen4785 He caused the deaths of many people.
Many so-called "good Germans" were snobbish aristocrats and wannabes who would have gladly and enthusiastically fought a second war if the Hohenzollerns had still been in charge. I know Canaris' WWI record and he was no saint. To quote one historian, "Canaris was not a particularly moral man but he had his limits." Many other "resistance heroes" were Communists who had no problem with committing atrocities if they were ordered by Stalin or Walter Ulbricht.
I read a book on UBoats (?) and they mentioned this in passing. Only a couple of paragraphs. Thank you for this video. God Bless.
"all the DOCUMENTS related to the plot" (17:30). What a very German way to organize a secret plot.
Mr. TIK, I am fully aware your videos would take several hours when going more into detail (And anyway, thanks for making them!). If I am correct the British dropped a corps near the Spanish coast dressed as an officer with "highly secret" documents on him that the invasion would take place in Greece. The Abwehr passed this message on to high command apparently without any basic checks, leading to several devisions being placed in Greece and therefore useless for the invasion in Normandy. Seems rather effective and of quite some importance to me. What are your thoughts on this?
That was great! I really like the part about the interactions between Franco and Hitler. I especially like how Hitler came to regret helping the Spanish right-wing win the Spanish Civil War. The fact that Hitler was upset that Franco had reinstated all the traditional institutions of Spain (the Church, the nobility, etc.) goes to further prove thay Hitler and the Nazis were not right wing. Had Hitler and the Nazis been genuine right-wing, they would have been all about the traditional structures of Germany right down to the prussians. But Hitler hated the prussians and he hated German nobility.
The only point of your comment was to repeat the lie that Franco was right wing.
"Verdammt Preuß"
@@hermitoldguy6312 Franco was right wing. He was a constitutional monarchist. It's hard to get more right-wing than that. Yes, he allied with and used the fascists who were left wing. But, the man himself was right-wing. Left-wingers do not reinstate the clergy and the nobility the way Franco did.
It's because Hitler was Austrian. Southern Germans hate the Prussians even to this day, and the sentiment is reciprocated.
@@AllenLinnenJr I live in a constitutional monarchy - it has nothing to do with power. Franco was a far left dictator.
It’s crazy how close some of these dates get. Had chamberlain hesitated for a moment after Czechoslovakia fell, Poland would have fallen too, without allied intervention. I had no idea how much the resistance was involved.
One thing worthy of examination is the preposterously ineffective preparation of Abwehr agents sent to Allied and neutral countries.This was in very many cases amateurish beyond belief. Those who did not directly go to the police as soon as they landed were in most cases easily turned. Was this a result of mere inefficiency, or perhaps, an expected or hoped for result? I have long wondered and would appreciate your view on this, Mr. Tik.
Yes their performance was somewhere between woeful and laughable. But it was exceedingly difficult for Germans not to stand out in UK and British not to stand out in Germany due to the large number of subtle cultural differences quite apart from linguistic ones.
The Abwher was quite active here in Portugal, but in general it was considered to be not very good at the job.
Poor guy trying to do his best in a wrong place at a wrong time.
27:00 - Try "Szoltikoff"
Love it when the letters for vowels and consonents are used differently in every language, including latinization of cyrillic.
For the stalin part; i would recommend the books, Stalin's war by sean mcmeekin, which argues that Stalin had spies on both sides of the war and if you do a video on the Moscow campaign, i would recommend retreat from Moscow by david stahel
Hi TIK. Really enjoyed this. Studied a lot of ww2 history, specializing in Luftwaffe 38-45. Helped me fill in some of the blanks from my research. Very nice presentation and well researched. Thank you. Of course I still have more questions just like you. History is fun. Do you think some of em bailed to Antarctica?
Seems to me that there is a lot more to be said for Paul Thummel than history credits him for. He was passing absolutely solid, reliable information yet it largely fell on deaf and dumb ears. Quick check on Wikipedia: less than half a page about him. Like literally wtf? Guy was a friggin hero.
Seems to me that Mr. Thummel was one of the finest spies of the war. Incredible that he's not more famous.
Interesting video
11:05
Thümmel is pronounced with a strong t, and afterwards a short ü while stretching the pronunciation of the doulbe mm.
You can search for the german word "tümmler" (a name for a dolphin species, that is pronounced very similar) if you need any reference.
the "Th" sounds more like the "th" of the name "Thomas"
I love it when the english pronounce germanic names. Im following the channel Operations Room where hes got a few films about the norwegian campaign and its wonderful to hear how wrong the names are said.
Really; So what :-D the english cringe when I say the word war-chest-er-shire sauce LoL.
@@P4neK4ke yeah it‘s amusing xD
The reason I post this is bc TIK comstantly tries to get better at his name pronunciation
God I can‘t imagine how I would butcher norwegian names...
@@gameer0037 Hehe, yeah, its true he does make an effort. Norwegian names? Oh its easy just...no wait, its not :-D
@@P4neK4ke As long as you don't have any names like Eyafjallajökull... :P
Excellent, Thank you again
I don't know how accurate this view is, but I had heard that the Allies tried & wanted to kill Hitler but as the war went on they realized that Hitler was causing more issues to any Axis finale victory. So it was believed that it was better to leave him in place while mismanaging the whole affair. Like I said, I don't know the veracity of this view.
How would they kill him if he is staying in a bunker all day?
Excellent and thorough review of a rarely discussed topic, critical as it could have been had the countries soon to be attacked and/or swallowed had listened. Why this formidable mistrust after warning after warning became reality as early as 1939? Finally, I'm surprised you did not mention Rudolf Hess and his bizarre 'escape." Was he not involved with the Abwehr?
4:22 Canaris a "far from Aryan-looking German"? How so? He looks highly northern European to me.
Excellent video on a topic you never really hear about ,makes you think though what effect on the Allies efforts in the Mediterranean if the Axis controlled Gibraltar , again thanks really enjoyable...
Well if i take a hammer and use the handle to hit the nails i would also found it ineffective
Great video
The duality of appearing NAZI while conspiring against may reminds us of Oskar Schindler or even the controversial Pope Pius (neutral rather than appearing Nazi)
Pius most certainly wasnt neutral nor sympathetic. He was actively anti nazi actor
@Mock Harris What do you imagine a Pope, a religious head, should do? And he was actively protecting jews that were within his reach in Italy.
@Mock Harris th-cam.com/video/ZIMNRbAamuc/w-d-xo.html
Heres great conversation on the topic on the historical perception of Pius XII
Its kinda incredible that you do this for free.
Oh, he does get paid. TH-cam monetizations and even more important, Patreon members. That's why he can do this full time in the first place.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 Correct. Although I will point out that adrevenue is just the cherry on the cake, and a bit hit or miss. It's the Patreons and SubscribeStars that are keeping this whole thing going.
26:55 well whether the germans tried or not operation sealion would have never worked because of the Royal Navy.
Maybe would have worked if you starved the British a few years with Torpedo Bombers and U Boats, cut them off of their oil supplies and the US not intervening. Unfortunate Göring was incompetent as fuck and the High Command didn't have a solid plan against Britain (Only attacking Egypt after Italy is failing in North Africa).
But I admit even if all of these requirements are met this is still a huge task and beside Operation Weserübung and the few paratrooper landings the Germans had (and have) little experience in amphibious landings. And a invasion of the British Isles after their unification is the Holy Grail of Naval Invasions.
@@derkommentierer4160 England was able to feed itself from its land at least on a bare survival level. Germany did not have the means to do it in 1940 and would have had to forego Barbarossa to have a crack in 1941. But I just don't think they would ever have achieved the total air supremacy and the amphibious know how.
31:16 This is way funnier than it should be.
5:14 "To comply with TH-cam's communist guidelines." I was going to question how they would allow that, but then I realized that the TH-cam censors would probably take being called a communist as a compliment.
no mention of walter schellenburg's book "hitler's masterspy. ". he knew heydrich well and was convinced that he was taken out by the british to protect canaris. he also says that when the Spanish civil war started hitler wasn't interested in intervening, but was steered that way by canaris, who had a great admiration for franco.
Gives me a completely different perspective on Canaris. I always assumed he had a hammer and sickle under his coat. He was simply a stand up guy, that got stood up as happened alot to stand up people of the resistance under the Reich !
so having union jack under his coat makes him a stand up guy? I see..
@@Tallorian i would take the union jack over the hammer and sickle or the swastika any day of the week
@@Tallorian No, he wore the Prussian Flag under his coat.
Very interesting... I am looking forward for the videos you are planning on suppression of information.
Also, from what I know Canaris' naked body was hanged on a trident, in Flossenburg.
How strong was Canaris's relationship with British Intelligence? Could he have been played by them? Did he have any contribution to the assassination of Heydrich?
He had good contact to British intelligence that's for sure. Was he a British spy? We can't know by now because the Brits have their files on him still under lock.
Never usually talked about is that a lot of Germans, including many in the German military were monarchists. Canaris was never going to accept Hitler and the Nazis. No doubt he hoped for a restoration of the Kaiser.
Tik you should make a separate channel dedicated to economics ! That way you can keep both fan based without alienating the other.
No. The whinging is too entertaining.
It had a big effect of you can attribute Germany’s many intelligence failures to Canaris
"When the SS catch you they will pull you apart like warm bread". From the movie, "Valkyrie".
Excellent, excellent,EXCELLENT
Thanks for your Work TIK. And thanks to Canaris for the advice to Franco to dont enter in WW2
I have to agree with Mr Stanton a very interesting subject canaris was a very complex individual and you seem to have managed to get a handle on him from a broad standpoint how deep can you go without boring people rigid great bid keep them coming
That's bid not bid lol
That's vid not bid apologies everyone
Hitler crushed Resistance early on in his Career . All other resistance movements where a bad joke
Love Beck's piano teeth smile!!!
When the head of the secret service is working against the state's policy, I would assume it had something to do with the final outcome.
Heydrich, head of Reich Security (Gestapo and SD), was not working against the state's policy. You're mixing up the organizations.
congrats on 200k