Hitler, as Führer, was the leader of the German High Command, which directed Germany’s armed forces. The High Command consisted of the War Ministry, the Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht – OKW), and the high commands of the three services: the air force (Luftwaffe), the navy (Kriegsmarine), and the army (Heer). Wilhelm Keitel was Chief of the OKW.
In Lebensborn, the second novel in the trilogy The Addlestone Chronicles, James and Donald make contact with Wilhelm Fleischer, a high-ranking Gestapo officer. Over lunch, they learn that Fleischer had met the head of the OKW, Wilhelm Keitel, in Berlin. Donald reported to his superiors in MI6 the following information:
“Fleischer told me Keitel is not particularly clever and a bit of a fanatic. He’s totally loyal to the Party and follows Hitler’s every whim without question. For that reason alone, he’s been promoted to the rank of major general. I learned from this Gestapo functionary that Hitler demands oral and written oaths of loyalty from all senior civilian and military personnel. Apparently, Keitel has taken this to a new level of blind obedience. His extremism has encouraged him to sign all sorts of executive orders, many of which violate the legal principles of war embodied in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 as well as the 1929 Geneva Convention.”
It was Hitler’s plan to surround himself with loyalists who were required to not only swear an oath of fealty but also put that oath in writing. However, the existing military structure had generals and leaders already in place, and Hitler was unwilling to go so far as to fire or relieve them of their duties.
There were 24 documented attempts to assassinate Hitler, several of which involved high-ranking military officers and political appointees, despite their having sworn an oath of allegiance to der Führer.
On October 22, 2024, Trump said, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” He has expressed a desire to force military leaders—and indeed all civil servants—to be obedient to him and not to the Constitution. He should be careful about what he wishes for.