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Most of the German General Staff came to oppose Hitler's plans for military invasions during the late 1930s and Reichenau was no exception. He met with a representative of the military plotters in the German Resistance in July, 1939 [1]

Almost immediately after the invasion of Poland, Hitler expressed his intention to launch an attack on the Low Countries and France in the late autumn or early winter. "[Reichenau] first became aware of Hitler's intentions in the West on October 10, when he and his chief of staff...arrived [at Berghof] to take over an army command from General Curt Liebmann, who, having been labeled to Hitler a 'defeatist,' was being shoved off to an obscure occupation post in Poland. In a conference that evening Reichenau learned from his predecessor that current preparations pointed to an early attack through Belgium and the Netherlands. Reichenau was 'thunderstruck' and responded vehemently that such a step would be 'veritably criminal {geradezu verbrecherisch},' and that he would use his entire influence, going up to the Fuehrer himself if necessary, to prevent such a thing."[2]

On October 30, Hitler announced his determination before the army generals to invade in the West through the Netherlands and Belgium. "Reichenau alone had the courage to take sharp issue with him and was reported in Opposition circles to have spoken out also against the bestialities in Poland." On November 1 in Berlin, Reichenau again "held forth at length" with Hitler. "Thereby he threw the Fuehrer into such a rage that, apparently still somewhat constrained in dealing with Reichenau personally, he made a whipping boy of the more supine Keitel." [3]

Apparently, Reichenau's forthrightness cost him an appointment to the supreme command of the Wehrmacht a few weeks later, but also "...led him to one of the most extraordinary one-man attempts to thwart Hitler in World War II." On November 6, Reichenau met with Carl Goerdeler, former mayor of Leipzig and civilian leader of the German Resistance, in the home of Fritz Elsas, former deputy mayor of Berlin, and told them of Hitler's plan to attack in the West. "Such an offensive, he affirmed, was absolutely crazy (völlig wahnsinnig)." He indicated to Goerdeler and Elsas that the Dutch and British ought to be warned and, further, suggested how the Dutch might shore up their defenses.[4]

Reichenau's attempt to forestall the arrival of widespread war by removing the element of surprise was set in motion by Elsas' contacts with the British. Unfortunately, several factors intervened to prevent the Western Allies from making use of the information, especially the postponement of the offensive.

1. Herald-News (North Jersey), August 28, 1958, Thurston M. Egbert, Jr, "Fantastic Tale Unfolds in Naturalization Court- Wayne Woman, Registered as Foreign Agent, Tells of Work Against Nazis" 2. The Conspiracy Against Hitler in the Twilight War, Harold C. Deutsch, University of Minnesota Press, 1968, p. 72-73. This book was first published in the same year in Germany as Verschwörung gegen den Krieg. 3. lbid, p. 73-4. 4. Loc cit. Radixetramus (talk) 19:17, 29 June 2015 (UTC)