Flensburg government
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The Flensburg government was the short-lived administration that attempted to rule Germany in May 1945 following the suicides of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels and the Fall of Berlin. Led by Hitler's designated successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, the administration was referred to as the Flensburg government, as Flensburg, near the border with Denmark, was the headquarters of Dönitz by this time, and because the area the government controlled was limited to the vicinity of the town by the encroaching Allied armies. Dönitz asked Ludwig von Krosigk to be Chancellor on May 1, 1945 (Goebbels, whom Hitler had appointed Chancellor, committed suicide in Berlin on that day). Von Krosigk refused the job, and instead the two agreed that Von Krosigk would be the 'Leading Minister'. The cabinet had its first meeting in Flensburg on May 5. Heinrich Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg were both dismissed from office on May 6. Some accounts say this was done in an attempt to make the government more acceptable to the Allies, others because the two were interfering with the functioning of the new regime. Other members of the Flensburg government included Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, General Alfred Jodl, and Albert Speer. They attempted to direct what was left of Germany's armed forces towards the invading western armies in hopes that they would be captured by British and American forces rather than the Soviet Red Army.
[edit] Dönitz designated Head of State
On 30 April 1945, Hitler committed suicide in Berlin. In his last testament, Hitler surprisingly designated Dönitz his successor as Head of State (Staatsoberhaupt). Significantly, Dönitz was not to become Führer, but rather President (Reichspräsident), a post Hitler had abolished years earlier. Propaganda Minister Joseph Göebbels was to become Head of Government and Chancellor of Germany (Reichskanzler).
Hitler condemned both Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler as traitors and expelled them both from the Nazi Party. Göring was in Bavaria. Himmler was with Dönitz. But Dönitz was not informed of his being condemned by Hitler.
On 1 May, Dönitz became the sole representative of the crumbling Reich when he learned that Göebbels too had committed suicide in Berlin. Dönitz appointed Count Ludwig Schwerin von Krosigk as Reichskanzler and they attempted to form a government. During his brief period in office, Dönitz devoted most of his efforts to ensuring the loyalty of the German armed forces and trying to ensure German troops would surrender to the British or Americans and not the Soviets. He correctly feared vengeful Soviet reprisals.
On May 7, 1945, Dönitz authorized General Alfred Jodl, the Chief-of-Staff of the German Armed Forces, to sign the unconditional surrender of German forces to the Allies in Rheims. On May 8, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel repeated the signing in Berlin.
Albert Speer suggested that, after the surrender, the Flensburg government should dissolve itself. Instead Dönitz and his ministers chose to continue in hope of presiding over post-War Germany as a provisional government. However, the Allies wished only the unconditional surrender of the German state, government, and armed forces. Following the surrender it was only a matter of time before the occupation would hold the German government to account for World War II. The Flensburg government's attempts to work with the occupation forces were ignored by General Dwight Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander in Europe.
Dönitz and his ministers attempted to run what was left of Germany. They communicated government orders through Radio Flensburg. In this effort, they were largely unsuccessful.
On May 20, the Soviet government made it clear what they thought about the Flensburg government. They attacked the Dönitz government and referred to it as the "Dönitz Gang". The following was published in PRAVDA:
- "Discussions of the status of the Fascist gang around Dönitz continue. Several prominent Allied circles will deem it necessary to make use of the 'services' of Dönitz and his collaborators. In the British Parliament, this gang has been described as the 'Dönitz Administration' . . . . A reporter of the reactionary Hearst press has called the enlistment of Dönitz 'an act of political sagacity.' Thus a Fascist scribbler has seen fit to make common cause with Hitler's marauding disciple. At the same time, the Fascist press on both sides of the Atlantic has put it abroad that conditions in Germany in 1918, when German Rightists produced similar fairy-tales of impending chaos. Then, the intact German Army units were used for new adventures in the East, immediately after capitulation. The present campaign has similar objectives. Many reactionary circles around the Allies are opposed to the creation of a new Europe on the basis of the Crimea Conference. These circles considr the preservation of Fascist states and breeding grounds a means of thwarting the democratic aspirations of all freedom-loving nations . . . . "
On May 23, 1945, a British liaison officer went to Dönitz's headquarters and asked to speak with all members of the government. He then read an order from American General Eisenhower quashing the government and ordering the arrest of all its members.
[edit] The Dönitz Cabinet
- Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, Reich President
- Ludwig von Krosigk, Leading Minister, Foreign Minister, Minister of Finance, and presiding officer of the Cabinet
- Heinrich Himmler, Minister of Interior (dismissed May 6, 1945)
- Alfred Rosenberg, (dismissed May 6, 1945)
- Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, Minister of Culture, succeeded Himmler as Minister of the Interior
- Albert Speer, Minister of Industry and Production
- Dr. Herbert Backe, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Forests
- Dr. Franz Seldte, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
- Dr. Julius Dorpmüller, Minister of Posts and Communications
- General Alfred Jodl was Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces and Dönitz' representative in negotiations with the Allies
- Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel was on the General Staff and represented Dönitz in negotiations with the Red Army
