I think "coward" cannot be used for these guys-- I'm surprised ANYBODY here is uninformed enough on the political climate in Germany in 1944 to think that these men imagined anything other than death for themselves should their plan fail. And the historic record shows they DID imagine they might fail.
The question should be "heroes or traitors" or "patriots or traitors", which, I would agree, would come down to what side of the fence you come down on. In the summer of 1944, there were certainly still Germans suffering from the delusion that the war was winable for Germany, and to those people the conspirators must have seemd like traitors. But, contrary to what some people have said here, the German army did NOT "blindly" follow AH. On the contrary, from veterans I have talked to, to first hand written accounts, many front line soldiers and officers knew, often quite early, that the cause was lost. Their problem was that there was simply nothing any of them could do about it. They didn't have much of a choice except to defend Germany to the extent possible.
As it turns out, the conspirators were right-- Germany lost the war, her cities were destroyed to a greater extent in early 1945 than they had been before, her industry and art were looted, her women raped, and the country was partitioned for 40 years. Who knows what fate would have awaited Germany had the conspirators succeeded, but at least THE POSSIBILITY would have existed for a negotiated surrender, had Hitler been out of the way. As it was, the hammer and sickle went up over the Reichstag and, at least in spirit, stayed there for 40 years.
The conspirators were naive, they were overconfident, they were ill-organized, but they were certainly courageous-- they clearly knew that even TALKING about killing AH could get them shot, and yet they went out on a limb time and again, to recruit more conspirators, any of whom could have (and some who did) rat on them, and ultimately they went through with their plot, gambling with their lives, and lost.
In the end, I would have to call them patriots, not traitors-- it is obvious to me that they were acting as they did not for personal aggrandizement or to gain power as one would in a traitorous coup, but to try in a last-ditch effort to save Germany from her terrible fate, a fate that, as the war wore on, AH almost seemed to be TRYING to realize... a great national Götterdämmerung. Their motives were clearly patriotic in the best sense of the word, in that they placed loyalty to their country and concern for the fate of its people above their allegiance to their leaders, and above their lives.
The question should be "heroes or traitors" or "patriots or traitors", which, I would agree, would come down to what side of the fence you come down on. In the summer of 1944, there were certainly still Germans suffering from the delusion that the war was winable for Germany, and to those people the conspirators must have seemd like traitors. But, contrary to what some people have said here, the German army did NOT "blindly" follow AH. On the contrary, from veterans I have talked to, to first hand written accounts, many front line soldiers and officers knew, often quite early, that the cause was lost. Their problem was that there was simply nothing any of them could do about it. They didn't have much of a choice except to defend Germany to the extent possible.
As it turns out, the conspirators were right-- Germany lost the war, her cities were destroyed to a greater extent in early 1945 than they had been before, her industry and art were looted, her women raped, and the country was partitioned for 40 years. Who knows what fate would have awaited Germany had the conspirators succeeded, but at least THE POSSIBILITY would have existed for a negotiated surrender, had Hitler been out of the way. As it was, the hammer and sickle went up over the Reichstag and, at least in spirit, stayed there for 40 years.
The conspirators were naive, they were overconfident, they were ill-organized, but they were certainly courageous-- they clearly knew that even TALKING about killing AH could get them shot, and yet they went out on a limb time and again, to recruit more conspirators, any of whom could have (and some who did) rat on them, and ultimately they went through with their plot, gambling with their lives, and lost.
In the end, I would have to call them patriots, not traitors-- it is obvious to me that they were acting as they did not for personal aggrandizement or to gain power as one would in a traitorous coup, but to try in a last-ditch effort to save Germany from her terrible fate, a fate that, as the war wore on, AH almost seemed to be TRYING to realize... a great national Götterdämmerung. Their motives were clearly patriotic in the best sense of the word, in that they placed loyalty to their country and concern for the fate of its people above their allegiance to their leaders, and above their lives.
Kartofelpreußer
. Hitler would have loved you. 
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