La Resa Tedesca in Italia

BY 1945 THE RULERS of Nazi Germany had belatedly begun to understand that the military collapse of the Third Reich was inevitable. Diplomacy came to be seen as the only means of saving the situation. Wehrmacht generals (Guderian), leaders of the SS (Kaltenbrunner and Wolff in Italy), leading officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Weizsàcker and Hesse) insisted on more active diplomatic soundings. Even the top-level leaders of the Reich—Hitler, Goering, Himmler and Goebbels—agreed that diplomatic action was necessary (Herbstnebel plan). But among the Nazi leaders there was confusion over how to find salvation from the impending catastrophe. Hitler and his closest associates in the Nazi Party believed a military clash between the Soviet Union and the Western Powers to be inevitable. They rejected the idea of any sort of capitulation, hoping that at the moment of the collision between the Powers of the anti-Hitler coalition the Nazi state would be able to play the part of the "Third Rejoicer" and leave the war not only not weakened, but even strengthened. The first meeting between Dulles and Wolff took place in Zurich, on March 8. Dulles gave the SS general rather a warm reception, trying to create an informal, friendly atmosphere, entertaining his guest, and joking. Dulles obviously liked the Nazi envoy. Dulles made a favorable impression on Wolff, as he admitted later. That first meeting gave a start to a years-long friendly relationship.