Today in History: The July 20 Bomb That Almost Ended Hitler

JFeed ^ | July 20, 2026 | Bianca Jones

[Leaning Right]

On July 20, 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg's bomb plot to kill Hitler failed by inches, triggering a Nazi purge that killed hundreds of German resistance figures.

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TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: july20; plot

[Leaning Right]

The British considered assassinating Hitler in 1944 (Operation Foxley). A sniper was proposed to do the job.

But it was called off. Some think that was because Hitler was a terrible strategist. So it was better to keep him in charge.

I read elsewhere that the plotters assumed that once Hitler was dead, the western allies would make a separate peace with Germany. And Germany would be allowed to keep Poland.

Both assumptions show how delusional the plotters were.

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By the way, the linked site’s article is a good one. But it sure does have its share of ads.

[Honorary Serb]

The July 20 plotters were heroes, and some are venerated as martyrs by sone churches.

But Hitler and his henchmen took horrible revenge on them!

[Leaning Right]

> The July 20 plotters were heroes <

They certainly were. But unfortunately, many of them lost their nerve once they realized Hitler was still alive.

Could the plot have succeeded anyway? Maybe. But it would have taken an enormous amount of boldness and coordination.

And a civil war probably would have broken out between the army and the SS. The army was larger. But most of it was pinned down at the front.

[RetiredArmy]

I believe I read that Hitler had over 5,000 arrested and executed for the plot. I believe that was the number.

[RetiredArmy]

Yup, this was what I found:

After the failed July 20, 1944 plot, the Nazi regime arrested thousands of suspects and executed 4,980 people in connection with the conspiracy (including about 200 conspirators).

Wikipedia

[DFG]

November 4, 1921 : An opponent fired 2 pistol shots at Hitler during a speech in Munich but missed.

November 9, 1939 : Craftsman Johann Georg Elser planted a time bomb in a Munich beer hall expecting Hitler to speak long. Hitler left early and the bomb killed eight people minutes later.

March 13, 1943 : Major Henning von Tresckow and Fabian von Schlabrendorff hid a time bomb disguised as Cointreau brandy bottles on Hitler’s aircraft but the detonator failed due to freezing cargo hold temperatures.

March 21, 1943 : Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff planned to blow himself up alongside Hitler during an exhibition of captured Soviet flags but Hitler rushed through the exhibit too quickly to trigger it.