Hermann Wilhelm Göringnote (12 January 1893 — 15 October 1946) was an official in Nazi Germany, and the de facto second-in-command to Adolf Hitler for almost all of the Third Reich's existence. He played a major role in the rise of the Nazi Party and its ascension to power, and — with some help from Hitler's own Armchair Military tendencies — played perhaps as big of a role in its downfall.
Göring was born in the town of Rosenheim in Bavaria, and enlisted in the German military two years before the outbreak of World War I. He spent the first two years of the conflict stationed in trenches, but his witnessing the general futility of this approach to warfare convinced him to instead request to become a pilot, ultimately becoming commander of the famed "Flying Circus" unit in the final months of the conflict. While reputedly unpopular with the men under his command, Göring became an Ace, amassing quite an impressive flying record. Unfortunately for him, Germany's eventual defeat caused his then-fiancee to dump him (he would, in the event, marry twice thereafter), with the resultant humiliation he experienced playing a major role in his becoming a proponent of the belief that Germany had been stabbed in the back. This in turn caused him to become an early member of the National-Socialist Party in 1922.
Soon becoming one of Hitler's most trusted confidantes, Göring played a major role in helping to organize the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. The attempted coup ended up failing badly, and Göring suffered a serious gunshot wound, ultimately having to flee to Austria to escape arrest. It was during his treatment for the wound that Göring developed the heavy addiction to morphine that would plague him for the rest of his life, and resulted in his twice having to be institutionalized. In the meantime, Göring spent the next four years living in Austria, helping to develop that country's Nazi movement and also fostering relationships between Hitler and Benito Mussolini. After an amnesty was declared for Putsch participants, Göring returned to Germany in 1927, but his time in Austria helped him realize that the country's mineral resources would be of major benefit if ever the two countries were reunified, causing him to become a major proponent of the Anschluss the following decade.
On his return to Germany, Göring briefly worked in the aircraft industry, before becoming one of the first twelve Nazis to be elected to the Reichstag in 1928. In this role he was able to greatly expand the party's influence, bringing prominent members of German society into the party. Shortly after the Reichstag Fire of 1933note , Göring's political manoeuvrings played a key role in allowing the passage of the Enabling Act and Reichstag Fire Decree, both of which allowed Hitler to assume total power over the country.
While Hitler's official second-in-command for much of his time in office was Rudolf Hessnote , Göring held the most power after Hitler himself. Göring was given the unique military rank of Reichsmarshall, ranking him above any of Germany's Generals or Field Marshals (below only Hitler as Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht), and became the commander of the country's revitalized air force, the Luftwaffe. He took charge of the Reich's industrial and business policies as Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan (to rival the Soviet Five Year Plans) and held absolute power over the greatest conglomerate of iron and steel industry in the Reich and possibly the largest company under a single leader in the entire world by 1941, the Hermann-Görings-Werke
, and by absorption of the captured Czech and Soviet factories he became the greatest steel baron in history. Above the likes of Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Charles M. Schwab or any other business magnate in popular culture. Politically, Göring also served as President of the Reichstag, though there was little need for a legislature in a single-party autocracy. He also became Minister-President of Prussia and founded The Gestapo to bring most of the police forces of the federal Weimar Republic under his control, but he later transferred control of the organization to Himmler, who made it a subsidiary of the SS. Whereas Hitler was promoted as a practically god-like figure, Göring prided himself on his image as an everyman, and often acted as the public face of the Third Reich.
When World War II began, Göring commanded the Luftwaffe to impressive victories in the invasion of France. However, he made the first of what would prove to be several critical blunders when he convinced Hitler that there was no need to have their ground troops crush the remnants of the British Expeditionary Force that had been forced to retreat to Dunkirk, and that their air forces could be relied on to bomb what was left of the BEF out of existence. The Luftwaffe utterly failed to do so, however, and combined to the fierce French defenses of the Lille and Dunkirk pockets, it allowed time for the BEF to be evacuated by a ragtag group of military and civilian boats, and turning what by any means should have been a devastating loss into what was actually considered a morale-boosting victory by the British. This in turn was followed by the German losses in the Battle of Britain and then the ultimate failure of the Blitz to force the British to stand down — and while Göring had actually advised Hitler against the former, his lack of strategic planning was blamed for the latter, as he had the Luftwaffe concentrate on civilian targets in an attempt to intimidate the British into surrender, rather than focusing on destroying the country's military and industrial infrastructure.
Despite his military shortcomings becoming increasingly apparent, in 1941 Hitler signed a decree naming Göring as his successor should he ever be killed or incapacitated. It's commonly believed that Hitler's actual preference for his ultimate successor was Reinhard Heydrich, but after Heydrich's assassination in 1942, Hitler never bothered with any long-term plans in this regard and left Göring as next-in-line.
The German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941 — apparently over Göring's misgivings — and followed the same pattern as the war in Western Europe, with impressive early victories by German air forces soon petering out into a stalemate. More damagingly, the Luftwaffe seriously struggled to keep up the German supply lines (partly due to poor management on Göring's part, though also partly due to the much greater distances involved and their forces being spread too thin), ultimately leading to the invasion effort collapsing and Germany being forced onto the back foot.
By 1943, Göring's mismanagement of the Luftwaffe was becoming increasingly apparent. It was Göring's insistence that the Sixth Army did not need to withdraw from Stalingrad by claiming the Luftwaffe would be able to keep it supplied from the air; this failure resulted in the army's complete destruction and the Nazis' first acknowledgement of major defeat. He refused to believe reports that the Allies had modified their aircrafts to greatly increase their range until Allied bombing runs were inflicting major damage on Germany's infrastructure.
In April 1945, when it was becoming clear that Germany was on the brink of defeat, Hitler dejectedly announced his intention to stay in Berlin until the very end and then kill himself, and said that Göring would be better-placed to initiate peace negotiations with the Allies. Göring responded to this by sending Hitler a telegram asking permission to take full control of the Third Reich, adding that if he did not hear from Hitler by that evening, he would assume he was unable to continue ruling. Hitler, prodded on by Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbelsnote , angrily interpreted this as a demand to step down or be overthrown. Albert Speer and Walther Hewel were apparently able to talk Hitler down into sending him a reply specifying that he was authorized to begin negotiating with the Allies and nothing more... until it emerged that Göring had pre-empted Hitler's decision by sending telegrams to other officials claiming that he would imminently take control of the Third Reich. This was enough for Hitler to remove Göring from his office and order him expelled from the Nazi Party, and would probably have resulted in Göring's being executed if not for a passing Luftwaffe unit freeing him a few days later.
The Allies soon captured Göring and weaned him off his morphine addiction — ironically sharpening his mind and enabling him to give what observers described as a surprisingly effective and convincing defence at the Nuremberg Trials. However, the evidence against Göring was simply too overwhelming, and when combined with most of the other high-ranking members of Hitler's inner circle (including Goebbels, Bormann, Himmler and Heydrich) being dead already, he was always going to be the one who most carried the can for the Nazis' crimes against humanity. Not surprisingly, he was sentenced to death, and after having his request to be executed by a military firing squad rejected, he decided it was Better to Die than Be Killed and committed suicide the night before his scheduled execution, with a cyanide capsule he managed to have smuggled into his cell.
Appearances in fiction:
Comic Book
- In the Alternate History comic book Block 109, Hitler is assassinated in March 1941, Himmler takes over with the shadowy help of Heydrich, and starts a purge. Göring, Sepp Dietrich, Martin Bormann, Rudolf Hess and some others are accused of high treason, arrested by The Gestapo and hanged a few days later. Goebbels is spared, thanks to his propaganda talents.
Film
- Played by Hein Riess in Battle of Britain.
- A young Göring appears in Von Richthofen And Brown during his service years as a pilot in WWI. Manfred van Richthofen aka the "Red Baron" dresses down Göring for firing on medical personel, and they get into a heated argument over it.
- Conspiracy: Göring does not appear in person, but Erich Neumann is at the Wannsee Conference as Göring's subordinate as Director of the Four-Year Plan. While the attendants have no illusions about Göring's powernote , the other members of the SS and NSDAP-dominated conference generally try to sideline Neumann. At that point, Göring is involved in a power struggle with Himmler and Bormann.
- Played by Mathias Gnädinger in Downfall. Goering only appears in a single scene, since he had already fallen out of favor with Hitler by the Battle of Berlin and the Luftwaffe was all but completely destroyed- he can be identified by him checking his watch. His biggest contribution to the plot is sending Hitler into another Villainous Breakdown from the infamous "Goring Telegram".
- Appears as a background character in Inglourious Basterds (2009) with a cigar in his mouth, and presumably perishes in Operation Kino. Played by Sönke Korries.
- Valkyrie (2008): Göring briefly appears when Stauffenberg goes to a meeting at Hitler's Berghof residence in Bavaria. The Reichsmarshall assures Hitler that the Luftwaffe will effortlessly repel the Allied invasion of Normandy. Played by Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg.
Live-Action TV
- Hitler: The Rise of Evil: Göring joins the NSDAP during its early years and plays a pivotal role in Hitler's rise to power, especially in his function as President of the Reichstag. Played by Chris Larkin.
- The Man in the High Castle: Goering is referenced, but does not appear. In the Alternate History, he tried to seize power from Hitler several years before the main events of the series, which resulted in his execution. We are also told that he oversaw the capitulation of the United States after the nuking of Washington D.C.
- Nuremberg: He is played by Scottish actor Brian Cox, who despite his nationality manages to make the Reichsmarshall quite the Smug Snake.
- Speer Und Er: Portrayed by Hannes Hellmann.
Music
- Naturally, Göring is mentioned in the wartime "The Villain Sucks" Song "Hitler Only Has One Ball". Göring has two, but they're very small.
Webcomics
- Subnormality: Göring shows up in the comic #96 "Appetite for Destruction" to inspect a ridiculously oversized Nazi super fighter jet. His second begs him not to waste Germany's resources on Awesome, but Impractical Wunderwaffen. When Göring is shown a picture of the planned buffet table at the official launch ceremony, he approves the project without question.
Western Animation
- Alfred J. Kwak: Geppe appears to be based on Göring, being a fat hippo who serves as the second-in-command to the show's Hitler-expy Dolf. In the English dub, he's even given a Dub Name Change to Hermann.
- A brief caricature of Göring appears in the Disney Wartime Cartoon Der Fuehrer's Face. Göring is presented as a rotund Sissy Villain with a chest covered with medals. The theme song also mentions him by name, specifically mocking his boast to the German public that the Ruhr would not be bombed under his watch.
When Herr Goebbels says we own the world and space
We heil (pffft) heil (pffft) right in Herr Goebbels' face
When Herr Göring says they'll never bomb dis place
We heil (pffft) heil (pffft) right in Herr Goering's face - Herr Meets Hare, a famous American Wartime Cartoon that particularly ridicules Göring. Voiced by Mel Blanc.
Video Games
- The New Order: Last Days of Europe: Göring appears as one of Hitler's likely successors. Representing the militarist faction, Göring's path is one of rapid conquest that will more than likely end in disaster rather than triumpth.
