Fiz Brown From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Fiz Brown Coronation Street character Portrayed by Jennie McAlpine Duration 2001 First appearance Episode 5022 20 April 2001 Introduced by Jane MacNaught Spinoff appearances Out of Africa 2008 Classification Present regular Profile Other names Fiz Stape Occupation Machinist Café Waitress Café Coowner Home 9 Coronation Street Family Fiona Fiz Stape also Brown is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street Portrayed by Jennie McAlpine the character first appeared on screen on 20 April 2001 Initially appearing for five episodes McAlpines contract was soon extended and Fiz became a regular character In May 2014 it was announced that McAlpine was expecting her first child and Fiz temporarily departed on 14 November 2014 returning on 19 June 2015 In November 2017 McAlpine took a break from filming to take part in the 17th series of the ITV reality show Im A CelebrityGet Me Out of Here and her exit aired on 18 December 2017 she returned on 2 March 2018 In April 2018 McAlpine announced that she is expecting her second child she took maternity leave from the show on 5 December 2018 and will return in 2019 Fiz initially appeared as a troubled teenager briefly fostered by Roy David Neilson and Hayley Cropper Julie Hesmondhalgh at the age of 15 She later started working at the Underworld factory Fiz was involved in a murder storyline in which her husband John Stape Graeme Hawley committed three murders and had Fiz help him bury the bodies She had to implicate other people in order to cover for John She gave birth to her daughter Hope prematurely in the live 50th anniversary episode with McAlpine becoming the first actress to act out a birth live on a soap opera Contents 1 Storylines 2 Creation 3 Development 4 5 External links Storylines Fizs first appearance was as a troubled sixteenyearold fostered by Roy David Neilson and Hayley Cropper Julie Hesmondhalgh Her boisterous attitude clashes with the pair and Roy gets angry with her when she starts a small fire in the flat while cooking chips Fiz claims Roy hit her the claim is quickly dismissed and Fiz is sent to another foster family Fiz reappears a few months later having dropped out of school and gets a job as a machinist at Mike Baldwin s Johnny Briggs factory She is initially dismissive of Roy and Hayley but when Hayley is held on remand for kidnapping Wayne Hayes Gary Damer a boy the Croppers were trying to save from his abusive stepfather she changes her mind recognising the Croppers are the only parental figures who truly cared for her and takes it upon herself to look after Roy in Hayleys absence Fiz made her interest in Tyrone Dobbs Alan Halsall clear kissing him When his fiancé Maria Sutherland Samia Ghadie found out she broke up with him and Tyrone and Fiz became a couple When Terry Duckworth Nigel Pivaro the son of Tyrones surrogate parents Jack Bill Tarmey and Vera Elizabeth Dawn is arrested on a false assault charge after coming out of hiding to take Jack to hospital Fiz sells the story to the newspapers The Duckworths are initially angry but it results in a witness coming forward to clear Terry Fiz convinces Mike to use some designs she has done at the factory but she has accidentally plagiarised other designers and Mike sacks her She stages a topless protest on the roof of the factory which gets her her job back but sees Tyrone break up with her Fiz is nearly arrested on a trip to Blackpool with Tyrone Kirk Sutherland Andrew Whyment and Jason Grimshaw Ryan Thomas since unknown to the others Kirk has broken into the caravan they are using When Maria leaves town Fiz moves into her old room in the flat above the salon sharing with Toyah Battersby Georgia Taylor who soon becomes a close friend She sleeps with Kirk but believes he would not be interested in a relationship Toyah manages to convince the pair to become a couple Maria returns and is unhappy to find herself not only sharing with Fiz but with Kirk in regular attendance Fiz is caught in the middle when Maria becomes pregnant by Toyahs boyfriend John Arnley Paul Warriner and supports her when she has an abortion Toyah leaves town not long afterwards after saying a fond farewell to Fiz Fiz subsequently finds herself called on to play agony aunt to a succession Candice Stowe Nikki Sanderson and Claire Casey Julia Haworth Fiz becomes friends with Les Battersby Bruce Jones and is one of the few people to believe he is innocent of assaulting corrupt policeman Mick Hopwood Ian Gain Les introduces Fiz and Kirk to his new girlfriend who turns out to be Fizs mother Cilla Wendi Peters Fiz learns Cilla has left her younger brother Chesney Sam Aston home alone and Les brings him to live on the street When Fiz and Kirk break up Tyrone declares his interest again Fiz and Tyrone sleep together but are interrupted by Tyrone serenading her with The Real Slim Shady Both Kirk and Tyrone propose Tyrone hires a horse to do so on horseback while Kirk steals an expensive ring from a jewellers When Fiz finds out she enlists Tyrone to return the ring secretly and Kirk is let off with a caution Despite not getting engaged Fiz reunites with Kirk Kirks parents emigrate and sign their kennel business over to him He and Fiz move into the adjacent house but Fiz is not happy looking after dogs and soon moves out Kirk instead employs Molly Compton Vicky Binns a girl Fiz bullied at school to cope with being bullied herself Molly considers taking Kirk off Fiz as payback but ends up dating Tyrone instead When first Cilla and then Les leave the area Fiz moves into No 5 with Kirk and Chesney Eventually Fiz is reacquainted with her first boyfriend John Stape Graeme Hawley who is now working at Weatherfield High School Fiz leaves Kirk declining his proposal of marriage and starts dating John moving back into the salon flat withhim When John begins an affair with student Rosie Webster Helen Flanagan Fiz thinks he is having an affair with Rosies mother Sally Sally Dynevor whom he has been teaching However the truth is revealed on Christmas Day 2007 when John inadvertently mixes up Fiz and Rosies presents When Fiz returns she is shocked to learn what has happened but bravely decides to move on with her life and applies to be Chesneys guardian Chesney and his beloved Great Dane Schmeichel are allowed to return home after Fiz moves into No 5 Initially she clashes with Kirks girlfriend Julie Carp Katy Cavanagh While she is happy that Kirk has moved on she is unhappy with Julies attempts to be Chesneys carer feeling that it is her job After a few months they become friends Fiz receives numerous unknown phone calls She discovers that it is exboyfriend John seeking a reconciliation but declines his requests He takes a job with StreetCars so he can be close to her and buys Chesney a bike for his birthday Fiz and John become friends again and she soon agrees to give him another chance However Fiz ends things when she realises that he wants them to move into his grandmothers house in the countryside Fiz becomes worried when he constantly claims that he has to go to his grandmothers house to feed the cat and eventually discovers that he is holding Rosie hostage there supposedly for ruining his relationship with Fiz Fiz releases Rosie and John is arrested for kidnap and false imprisonment John Coronation Street Out of Africa and Cilla tells Fiz that Chesney has been in an accident When Fiz arrives she is very upset to see Chesney in a wheelchair She is relieved yet angry when they tell her that it is a scam to win a Sunshine Families competition with a 500000 prize Fiz later returns to Weatherfield Fiz decides that she still loves John and wants to marry him She proposes to him by writing a message so that she is allowed into the prison after talking about him being on suicide watch Fiz is allowed to see John briefly and as he is led away Fiz asks him if he will marry her John instantly agrees John later sends Fiz his grandmothers engagement ring and a visiting order She sees him and he places the engagement ring on her finger Fiz and John marry on 28 September 2009 The wedding is held in the prison chapel but Fiz can not go through with the ceremony without Chesneys support revealing that all of their friends and neighbours are against the marriage John does his best to persuade Fiz to go ahead regardless but she refuses walking out and collapsing in tears outside the prison Just as it seems that Fizs big day is doomed Chesney arrives with Roy and Hayley He apologises to Fiz and he is there when Fiz and John marry Fiz is shocked to hear of the letters that John has written to the Street residents informing them that he will soon be released and asks for their backing to live there with Fiz The street is split down the middle for instance the Croppers agree but Eddie Windass Steve Huison despite never having met John and baked his and Fizs wedding cake is against it When Sally learns of the letters she is left fuming and angrily organises a protest meeting in The Rovers for that evening At the meeting Sally gives a speech against John wanting residents to write back and refuse his request which Dev Alahan Jimmi Harkishin completely backs However Roy fights Johns corner with Ken Barlow William Roache pointing out that John is entitled to live wherever he wants and Graeme Proctor Craig Gazey outright supports him to the disgust of Blanche Hunt Maggie Jones As Norris Cole Malcolm Hebden expresses his neutralness Fiz gives an impassioned speech about how John is sorry and wants to set things right pointing out how Sally and Rosie have been compensated for Johns actions Fizs speech is applauded by the majority of residents much to the disgust of Sally and Dev The residents all write back with the overwhelming majority agreeing to let him return to Weatherfield In midNovember John is released Sally furious that John has moved back to the street paints the windows of No 5 black during the night Fiz furious wants to phone the police particularly after Sally admits what she has done in front of witnesses but John refuses He and Fiz spend the day scraping the paint off and accept Graemes help in repainting the upstairs of the house to match Rosie does not seem to care that he is living across the street until swindled out of her compensation by Luke Strong Craig Kelly the acting owner of Underworld whom she had been having a fling with she tells John that she has decided to return to college and study to be a doctor She asks him for 50000 to fund this and is stunned when he refuses so she tries blackmailing him claiming that he had grabbed her and locked her in Roys Rolls where he is now working Sally and Kevin call the police and John is arrested but released pending further inquiries That night in the pub he challenges Rosie about her version of events and when unable to answer his questions she reveals that she has lied Furious Kevin orders her to apologise the next day and withdraw her statement to the police Sally also apologises to John and Fiz and asks them not to press charges John agrees but Fiz is openly angry The Stapes and the Websters both agree to stay out of each others way John meets one of his exteacher colleagues Colin Fishwick David Crellin in the café who invites him and Fiz to his leaving party before he emigrates to Canada Whilst at the party Colin makes it clear to John that he wants to stop teaching John thinks up a plan to start teaching again himself by stealing Colins identity as he has a clean CRB Fiz is initially incredulous when John tells her about his plans but because she loves John she soon weakens and agrees to go along with his plan They both agree to keep the truth from Chesney who has not been particularly fond of John since his affair with Rosie Eventually Fiz sees what risk John is taking and they begin to row Fiz later Nick Tilsley Ben Price and Leanne Battersby s Jane Danson bar The Joinery so she is sent to hospital and gives birth to a baby girl whom she names Hope Straight after her birth Hope is transferred into an incubator as she is three months premature Due to her prematurity her immune system is failing and is diagnosed with an infection Fiz is told that Hope will need a transfusion in order to fight the infection John has a breakdown following his involvement in three deaths unbeknownst to Fiz Fiz is left at home alone with baby Hope who has now been allowed to leave the hospital Joy Fishwick Doreen Mantle Colins mother asked her solicitor to track down her son before her death and Colin is tracked at Number 5 Horrified Fiz forces herself to pretend to be Mrs Fishwick The solicitor informs Fiz of Joys death and that she has left her fortune to Colin John returns home in March 2011 and things seem to look up but John realises all of the new things that Fiz has bought which she dishonestly explains are from money she received when the factory girls had a whipround for her In April 2011 John decides to stop taking his medication despite Dr Matt Carter s Oliver Mellor objection Joys solicitor turns up at No 5 with Fiz having to pose as Mrs Fishwick again The solicitor reveals that Joys house had been sold and the money is to be transferred into Fizs ie Mrs Fishwicks bank account John is furious with Fiz for what she has done thinking it is all over for him John suffers another breakdown locking himself in the bookies after which he runs away Peter Barlow Chris Gascoyne and Dr Carter suggest that they call the police but Fiz knowing the potential imprisonment of both she and John decides to wait and see if he returns The police arrive at Fizs home to notify herself and Chesney that John had been caught on CCTV boarding a ferry at Holyhead Eventually Fiz confesses her role in the crime and so the police arrest Fiz for Colins murder At the police station Fiz is interviewed for the murder She is taken into custody but is released and then attends Magistrates Court The incident is deemed too serious so she is sent to Crown Court Fiz is charged with three murders after John flees the country to Ireland Fiz is remanded in custody and faces trial at Crown court Fiz is denied bail and is sent straight to prison to await trial Fiz struggles with life in prison and struggles to cope without Hope who has been left in the care of Roy and Hayley She is offered a place in the Mother and Baby unit but refuses as she feels it is no place to bring her baby up She becomes even more distressed when she is forced to do some cleaning in the mother and baby unit as seeing other mums with their babies upsets her Ginny Portis Ashley McGuire unconscious from a drug overdose Fiz is shocked to discover that her friend Ruth Walsh Rebecca Callard has supplied the drugs When Fiz plans to reveal Ruths drug supply to the governor Ruth threatens to make her life a misery Fiz eventually gets a place in the mother and baby unit but is beaten up by Ruth and other girls when Ruth is removed from the unit for dealing drugs Ruth and her friends continue to torment Fiz After Ruth trashes her room Fiz stands up to her and tells her to keep away from she and Hope Upon learning the date of Fizs trial it is revealed to the audience that John has returned Spotting Rosie Fizs trial begins and she provides her evidence before the jury leave to consider their verdicts Fiz is found not guilty of the murders of Joy and Charlotte Hoyle Becky Hindley but the jury find her guilty of Colins murder Fiz later learns that John has returned but is in a critical condition in hospital after his car accident Fiz goes to the hospital and tells John that she forgives him for everything he has done John gives the police his statement and he then dies from his injuries Fiz then breaks down in tears and whispers to him that he will always be her John Unfortunately John was too late Fiz is sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years Fiz and Chesney are devastated Fiz asks Katy Armstrong Georgia May Foote convinces him to he agrees Chesney later receives a phonecall from Fiz saying that she has been granted bail before her review Fiz later begins a feud with Kirsty Soames Natalie Gumede after she nearly slices Fizs fingers off at work using a sowing machine When Kirsty later attacks Fiz in her own home Fiz realises that Kirsty is beating up her fiancé Tyrone Fiz helps Tyrone through his dilemma with Kirsty but ends up developing feelings for him and they begin an affair When Kirsty beats up Tyrone again Fiz advises Tyrone to marry Kirsty so he can gain custody of his daughter Ruby Kirsty accepts Tyrones proposal but discovers Fiz and Tyrones affair the day before the wedding She humiliates the pair at the church as many of the residents watch as Kirsty reveals Fiz is Tyrones mystery lover During an argument at the top of the stairs Kirsty attempts to hit Tyrone again but ends up falling down the stairs Fiz Tommy Duckworth Chris Fountain Eileen Grimshaw Sue Cleaver Sean Tully Antony Cotton and Paul Kershaw Tony Hirst race round to the house to see what has happened and Kirsty tells the police that Tyrone has been abusing her for months Tyrone is arrested which devastates Fiz Tyrones court hearing arrives and Kirstys mother Alison Dawn Hope tries to persuade Kirsty to tell the truth but she refuses After Kirsty assaults Julie Kirsty confesses to the jury that she has been beating Tyrone Tyrone is freed and Kirsty is sent to prison Fiz is later distraught to hear that Hayley has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer There is further devastation when Fiz is told that Hayleys tumour is terminal and only has six to twelve months to live Fiz promises Hayley that she will take care of Roy after she has died Fiz and Tyrone are present at Roys birthday party in The Rovers on 20 September 2013 and Fiz asks Hayley and Roy whether they would like to spend more time with Hope and Ruby which they both accept gladly Fiz is puzzled when Hayley walks out on Roy and moves in with her and Tyrone Unknown to Fiz Hayley has recently told Roy that In January 2014 Fiz is devastated when she learns from Anna Windass Debbie Rush that Hayley has died Fiz is unaware however that Hayley committed suicide after drinking a lethal cocktail She and Tyrone rush over to the café flat where Fiz finds Hayleys corpse on the bed with Roys arm around her Chesney later arrives and he Fiz Tyrone Anna and Carla Connor Alison King all try to help Roy through his grief A few days later Roy is struggling to come to terms with Hayleys death but Fiz learns that Hayley killed herself and angrily confronts Roy and shouts at him Anna tries to get through to Fiz that it is what Hayley wanted and that it was not assisted suicide but Fiz only listens to Carla On the day of Hayleys funeral Fiz Carla and Anna try and persuade Roy to attend as he is refusing He eventually attends but in the middle of Fizs eulogy Roy stands up and interrupts her speech Sylvia Goodwin Stephanie Cole for a while The pair start to panic however when a pipe bursts at the café and realize that Roy has been away for 10 days They call Sylvia but her sister Jean answers the phone and explains that she hasnt heard from Roy is six months and that Sylvia is in Tenerife Fiz calls the police and they explain Roys situation without revealing Hayleys suicide When the police leave Fiz and Anna have many arguments about his whereabouts as Tyrone tries to calm the bickering women down When they get home Fiz reveals to a stunned Tyrone that she In October 2014 Cilla returns to the street and reveals that she is seriously ill suffering from osteoporosis Although Fiz is sympathetic towards her mother Chesney can not forgive her for the way she treated him as a child especially when his son Joseph LuccaOwen Warwick suffers a minor injury whilst in her care When Cilla reveals that she has been advised to attend a clinic in Wolverhampton so that they can help her recover Fiz decides to go and look after her mother leaving Hope and Ruby in Tyrones care On Christmas Day Tyrone Hope and Ruby go to stay with Fiz and Cilla for a few days and on his return Tyrone reveals that Hope and Ruby will be staying with Fiz for a while In October 2015 it is revealed Hope is suffering from a type of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma plunging Fiz and Tyrone into panic Hope was eventually cured but Fiz and Tyrones insistence to provide a perfect Christmas to her in case it turned out to be her last This later gave them financial issues Creation Fiz initially appeared as a troubled teenager briefly fostered by Roy David Neilson and Hayley Cropper Julie Hesmondhalgh at the age of 15 She leaves and then returns to Coronation Street and starts work at the Underworld factory Her name is presumably due to her distinctive afrolike hair however she was born as Fiona Her mother Cilla Wendi Peters and her brother Chesney Sam Aston are introduced when they come to live on the street with Les Battersby Bruce Jones Fiz has a bad history with her mother who has often left her in care and never put her children first Fiz Brown as she appeared in 2001 The character first appears onscreen during the episode airing on 22 April 2001 The character of Fiz is a good hearted young woman who has made many puzzling decisions and is often unlucky in love Actress Jennie McAlpine stated that she would prefer the character to stay unlucky in love because she enjoys portraying the rowing and screaming that comes with it rather than seeing her character living happily ever after Fizs personality has taken some rapid transformations over the years Starting out as a dopey teenage tearaway she is now responsible for her younger brother constantly trying to do the right thing by him and sometimes failing When interviewed about this on the soap operas official website McAlpine stated I like Fiz I think she is a good person I know she does get it wrong sometimes but she is just trying shes just trying to get it all right she doesnt always but she does try During the same interview she then said Oh Fiz has changed over the years Luckily shes changed because I dont think Id be here if she hadnt because she started off being a pretty pretty bad girl actually causing loads of trouble for Roy and Hayley Development In November 2012 The Sun newspaper reported that romance will blossom for the old flames as Fiz continues to support Tyrone Dobbs Alan Halsall through his domestic violence ordeal with girlfriend Kirsty Soames Natalie Gumede It was reported that Kirsty would deliberately cause injury to Fizs hand according to the Daily Star Fiz would attempt to fix her machine at the factory when it breaks only to get her hand trapped when Kirsty switches the power back on Fiz apparently needs emergency medical attention due to the bloody injury and soon starts spreading the word that Kirsty harmed her on purpose She is quoted as telling Tyrone Kirsty said she didnt do it and you might believe her but in your head I dont think you do Whats she going to do next She injured you and now shes injured me Whos going to be next Ruby McAlpine spoke about the storyline and told Whats On TV Kirsty continues to look after Fiz and stays with her while she is treated at the hospital and even returns home with her She is quite sinister and when she finally leaves Fiz is quite shaken by Kirstys behaviour Fiz has now seen how scary Kirsty can be with her own eyes Fiz is not soft she has spent time in prison before but she has now seen what Tyrone has to cope with when Kirsty gets angry She added Fiz really cares about Tyrone Fiz is also very stubborn and has a sense of justice She will probably want McAlpine said that her emotional scenes with Hawley John Stape were very draining and very hard work She told The Mirror Its been very draining Not emotionally because I never take my work home with me but genuinely physically exhausting Its tiring having to cry continuously and I take a long time to recover from that My face goes all red and my eyes sting for ages afterwards Im not a good crier She added Ive always been a huge Corrie fan Being a Northern girl it was always on in my living room And even today I love sitting down and catching up with whats going on This is my dream job McAlpine admitted that her wedding plans caused her to receive a mixed reaction from viewers On This Morning McAlpine revealed It has divided the nation some people think shes absolutely mad But its funny before I proposed and did that big thing with the banner everyone was saying Oh I think you should marry him and now Ive taken the decision into my own hands I dont think they like it now I think people arent happy about it now They liked the idea but now they are worried McAlpine added He didnt mean to do it for five weeks he didnt mean to lock her up for that long I know that I do believe him References Kris Green 13 July 2009 Coronation Street Spoiler John gives Fiz an engagement ring Digital Spy Retrieved 20090826 Coronation Street 20150902 The Doctor Has Bad News For Fiz And Tyrone Coronation Street retrieved 20170316 a b c Webmaster 2007 Coronation Street Cast Characters Fiz Brown ITVcom Archived from the original on 7 June 2009 Retrieved 3 June 2009 Kris Green Simon Reynolds 28 October 2008 Jennie McAlpine Fiz Brown Corrie Digital Spy Retrieved 20090603 Kilkelly Daniel Coronation Street New romance twist for Tyrone Digitalspycouk Retrieved 20170316 Kilkelly Daniel Coronation Street Kirsty to face police questioning Digitalspycouk Retrieved 20170316 Kilkelly Daniel Coronation Street Jennie McAlpine Sinister Kirsty will scare Fiz Digitalspycouk Retrieved 20170316 Kilkelly Daniel McAlpine Corrie storyline is draining Digital Spy Hachette Filipacchi UK Retrieved 5 September 2011 Kilkelly Daniel McAlpine Corrie plot is dividing fans Digital Spy Hachette Filipacchi UK Retrieved 5 September 2011 External links Fiz Brown at itvcom v t e Coronation Street characters Categories Coronation Street characters Fictional factory workers Fictional characters introduced in 2001 Fictional waiting staff Fictional machinists Female characters in television

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O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 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Flensburg Government From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Schwerin von Krosigk Cabinet 50px cabinet of Germany 1945 Leading Minister Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk Date formed 2 May 1945 Date dissolved 23 May 1945 People and organisations Head of state Karl Dönitz Head of government Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk Member party Nazi Party Opposition party None History Predecessor Goebbels cabinet Successor Allied Control Council First Adenauer cabinet from 20 September 1949 Council of Ministers of East Germany from November 1950 The Flensburg Government German Flensburger Regierung also known as the Flensburg Cabinet Flensburger Kabinett the Dönitz Government Regierung Dönitz or the Schwerin von Krosigk Cabinet Kabinett Schwerin von Krosigk was the shortlived government of Nazi Germany during a period of three weeks around the end of World War II in Europe The government was formed following the suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April 1945 during the Battle of Berlin It was headed by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as the Reichspräsident and Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the Leading Minister The administration was referred to as the Flensburg Government because Dönitzs headquarters had been relocated in the port of Flensburg in northern Germany on 3 May 1945 Due to the rapid Allied advance its nominal jurisdiction at the outset was limited to a narrow wedge of territory running from the Austrian border through Berlin to the Danish border which since 25 April 1945 had been cut in two by the American advance to join with Soviet forces at Torgau on the Elbe Following the capitulation of all German armed forces on 8 May the Flensburg government lost all direct territorial military or civil jurisdiction and all diplomatic relations were withdrawn The western Allies allowed the Flensburg government to continue to meet and conduct what business it could until 23 May when they dissolved the government and arrested its members as prisoners of war Contents 1 Formation 2 Cabinet 21 Armed forces High Command 3 Actions 31 Partial capitulations in the West 32 General capitulation on all fronts 4 Dissolution 41 Withdrawal of diplomatic recognition 42 Nazi war crimes 43 Allied perspectives 44 Final dissolution of the Flensburg Government 45 Berlin Declaration 5 June 1945 5 See also 6 Formation Karl Dönitz Once it became apparent that Hitler intended to stay and die in the besieged city of Berlin effective overall command of German armed forces was exercised through the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht German High Command which had relocated to Rheinsburg Anticipating that Germanheld territory would be split separate military and civilian commands had provisionally been established on 15 April under Field Marshal Albert Kesselring at Pullach for forces in the south and west and under Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz at Plön for forces in the north and east but then Hitler had stalled on transferring executive military authority to them On 27 April Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl of the Army High Command met at Rheinsburg with Karl Dönitz and Heinrich Himmler to discuss the war situation now that the fall of Berlin could not be averted Himmler took the chair as the acknowledged deputy Führer and since the disgrace and dismissal of Hermann Göring Hitlers expected successor As they were leaving Rheinsberg on 28 April Himmler asked Dönitz to confirm that he would be willing to serve in a successor government that Himmler might form That day however the British and Americans published Himmlers secret proposals for a separate peace in the West which they had rejected On 29 April Dönitz received a telegram from Martin Bormann announcing Himmlers dismissal from all posts and ordering his arrest for treason Dönitz went to Himmlers headquarters in Lübeck on 30 April to confront him with the accusations but Himmler denied them as fabricated propaganda When a further telegram from Bormann that day confirmed both the dismissal and Dönitzs appointment as Hitlers successor Himmlers position became untenable and Dönitz summoned him to Plön that night to tell him so Situation of World War II in Europe at the time of Hitlers death The white areas were controlled by German forces the pink areas were controlled by the Allies and the red areas indicate recent Allied advances With Himmler and Göring standing accused of treasonable negotiation with the enemy Hitler in his political testament had named Grand Admiral Dönitz his successor as Reich President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and designated Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels head of government as Reich Chancellor Goebbels committed suicide in the Berlin Führerbunker on 1 May The same day Dönitz accepted the offices of Supreme Commander and Head of State in separate broadcast addresses to the German armed forces and German people Residual ministers of the Hitler cabinet who had fled from the fall of Berlin to join Dönitz at the Wehrmacht barracks near Plön in Holstein resigned the next day Suspecting that Bormann might also have escaped from Berlin and be intending to seize power Dönitz met with Hitlers former Finance Minister Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk and asked him to constitute a new Reich government Von Krosigks cabinet first met in Eutin to which he and his ministerial staff had been evacuated on 2 May Later on 2 May and in view of the rapidly advancing British Second Army forces which were approaching Lübeck Dönitz met with von Krosigk Paul Wegener Himmler and Keitel to discuss the urgent necessity of a further relocation Himmler argued for a move to Prague then the last major central European capital city in German hands and closer to advancing American forces with whom he hoped to negotiate personally but Dönitz refused to sanction any move outside the borders of Germany Moreover the political situation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was highly unstable Dönitz decided instead to proceed to the Mürwik naval academy in Flensburg near the Danish border The cabinet met in the Sportschool of the naval academy while administrative offices and accommodation for the various ministries were established on the liner Patria de moored in Flensburg harbour The German High Command which had moved from Rheinsburg to Neustadt in Holstein two days before then also relocated to Flensburg while the SS leadership had been gathering at Flensburg since 28 April Cabinet Retaining some members from the previous Hitler cabinet and Goebbels cabinet Karl Dönitzs government consisted of the following people Portfolio Minister Took office Left office Party Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz 30 April 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Leading Minister Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk 2 May 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister for Foreign Affairs Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk 2 May 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Stuckart 2 May 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister of Justice Otto Georg Thierack 24 August 1942 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister of Finance Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk 1 June 1932 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister of Industry and Production Albert Speer 2 May 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister for Food and Agriculture Herbert Backe 2 May 1942 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister for Labour Franz Seldte 2 May 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister of War Karl Dönitz 30 April 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister of Transport Julius Heinrich Dorpmüller 2 February 1937 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister for Postal Affairs Julius Heinrich Dorpmüller 2 May 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Minister for Armaments and War Production Karl Saur 30 April 1945 23 May 1945 NSDAP Dönitz avoided including prominent Nazi leaders in his cabinet other than Speer but included several serving officers in the SS and others who had been closely involved in formulating and prosecuting the genocidal policies of the former regime Herbert Backe had been the author of the Hunger Plan of 1941 a deliberate strategy for mass elimination by starvation of Soviet prisoners of war and surplus Soviet urban populations Speers deputy in the Economics Ministry was Otto Ohlendorf who had personally directed the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews and Communists in occupied Soviet territory Wilhelm Stuckart had been a participant at the Wannsee Conference of January 1942 when the administrative responsibilities for the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem had been agreed Otto Ohlendorf had transferred across directly from directing Himmlers office as ReichsführerSS and overall of 350 staff working in the offices of the Flensburg government 230 had been members of the SS or other security services Dönitzs cabinet picks were clearly circumscribed by who was available Otherwise and in spite of his subsequent claim that his government was unpolitical the most consistent characteristic of those chosen was a virulent opposition to Bolshevism and a determination to ensure that the revolutionary events in Germany attending the Armistice of 1918 would not be repeated in 1945 As Dönitz did not then intend any surrender to the Soviets or Poles and continued to identify Jews and profiteers as enemies of the German people he had little compunction over including in his cabinet men with blood on their hands so long as that blood was Russian East European or Jewish For the first few days the post of Minister of the Interior was kept vacant This had been the office of Heinrich Himmler but Himmler had been condemned as a traitor dismissed from all functions and ordered to be arrested in Hitlers Last Testament Dönitz did not want Himmlers name associated with his new government but nor could he afford to alienate the SS who remained armed and powerful He tacitly set Hitlers instructions aside and continued to see Himmler on a daily basis without according him any formal appointment It was only on 6 May 1945 while final negotiations were in prospect for a capitulation to US General Dwight D Eisenhower in the west that Dönitz dismissed Himmler from all his posts and appointed Stuckart in his place Armed forces High Command Wilhelm Keitel Dönitz had hoped to be able to appoint Field Marshal Erich von Manstein as Commander in Chief of the Army and Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces Oberkommando der Wehrmacht to which the Army High Command Oberkommando des Heeres had been subject since 28 April 1945 but he could not be contacted on 2 May and so Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel was kept in post and in this capacity Keitel signed the act of surrender for the German High Command in Berlin on 8 May A further factor favouring the continuation of Keitel as Commander in Chief was the support for him of Colonel General Alfred Jodl the Chief of Operations Staff of the Wehrmacht whose retention Dönitz recognised as essential Jodl was to represent Dönitz in negotiations with the Allies in Reims France Admiral HansGeorg von Friedeburg was appointed to succeed Dönitz as Commander of the Kriegsmarine and was promoted by Dönitz to the rank of Generaladmiral on 1 May The Air Force had largely been destroyed or grounded due to lack of fuel so no new appointment was made Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim remaining Commander of the Luftwaffe In spite of its repeated relocations the Armed Forces High Command continued to function its organisation and structures having been maintained But the same was not true of any other arm of government Starting in March 1945 the staff of the various ministries had been evacuated to resort hotels in the Bavarian and Austrian Alps chiefly in the region of Berchtesgaden leaving only the ministers themselves in Berlin On 13 April the remaining foreign embassies and the diplomatic corps were evacuated to Bad Gastein Finally on 20 April all the ministers and their personal staffs had been ordered to make their way southwards but as by then the roads had been cut and there were insufficient transport aircraft available several ministers like von Krosigk had perforce headed north instead Thus the government of Germany was at the death of Hitler split over six centres The Propaganda Ministry the personal fiefdom of Joseph Goebbels had remained with him in Berlin as had the Nazi Party Chancellery under Martin Bormann while the Luftwaffe High Command had relocated to Berchtesgaden having been until his abrupt dismissal on 23 April the counterpart fiefdom of Göring Himmler had retained his personal powerbase in the offices of the SS and security apparatus which had been established in Lübeck in the north and then relocated to Flensburg Other government ministries and ministers were then variously located at Berchtesgaden and Dönitzs headquarters in Plön With the Armed Forces High Command also located in the north although many OKW personnel had gone south there was in consequence no semblance any longer of a German central government and most of the members of Actions Heinrich Himmler Dönitzs initial priority was to open communication with the commanders of German armies and to establish with them their acknowledgement of his new authority as sole Supreme Commander of all German armed forces He also sought their agreement with his overall policy of negotiating successive partial surrenders with the Western Allies while maintaining the war against Soviet forces in the east Key to this was sidelining Heinrich Himmler Joachim von Ribbentrop Alfred Rosenberg and other former Nazi grandees who had fled to Flensburg but whose continued participation in government would preclude any negotiation with the western Allies Dönitzs intentions in this were if possible to split the Allies and to offer German military units as components of a common antiBolshevik front Failing that he sought to save as many German soldiers as possible from Soviet captivity by ordering units in the east to retreat westwards and surrender to the British Canadians or Americans and by redoubling Operation Hannibal the maritime evacuation of units trapped on the Baltic coast At Dönitzs urging Field Marshal Keitel and General Jodl attempted to direct what was left of the Wehrmacht towards these goals On 2 May Dönitz obtained pledges of allegiance from the commanders of German armies in Norway Courland East Prussia and Bohemia these pledges were made to him personally as Supreme Commander and not as Head of State in a forthcoming government Otherwise however Dönitzs policies chiefly demonstrated continuity with the previous regime The Nazi party was neither banned nor dissolved Dönitz kept a bust of Hitler in his office and the uniforms insignia and protocol of Nazi Germany were maintained initially including even the Heil Hitler greeting Following a plea from Speer Dönitz on 2 May rescinded the infamous Nero Decree ordering scorched earth destruction of German infrastructure and industrial plant but it was not until 6 May that counterpart destruction orders were rescinded for those territories remaining under German occupation such as Norway Moreover neither summary courts for civil punishment nor military discipline by summary courts martial were abolished with military executions for insulting the memory of Hitler being confirmed even after the final capitulation on 8 May While the presence of SS leaders and their staffs in Flensburg had provided Dönitz with a source of personnel to support his government otherwise they presented problems In particular the SS leadership had access to armed forces that were not under Dönitzs control and remained firmly loyal to Himmler whom Dönitz had surmised was personally unacceptable now both to the Western Allies and to the Wehrmacht Dönitz handled the issue by stringing Himmler along for as long as he could with vague prospects of a possible function in the government Once serious negotiations were underway for surrender to Eisenhower Himmler This came too late for the concentration camp prisoners within the area who were now within Dönitzs nominal authority while under the actual control of the SS These had numbered around 10000 when Dönitz assumed the Presidency mainly former inmates of the Neuengamme camp outside Hamburg which had been shut down in preparation for the surrender of the city to the British Between 16 and 28 April the prisoners had been moved eastwards and concealed by the SS in a flotilla of unseaworthy ships anchored in the Bay of Lubeck where they then remained without food or medical attention At Cap Arcona Partial capitulations in the West On 2 May while still at Plön Dönitz was surprised to learn that German forces in Italy had surrendered unconditionally to the Western Allies The capitulation had been negotiated without Hitlers knowledge or consent and signed at Caserta on 29 April but did not come into effect for three days While Hitler had been still alive Dönitz had followed absolutely his commands to fight on to the last on all fronts However he now realized that the Wehrmachts position in the West was untenable He believed that surrendering German forces only to the Western Allies could present opportunities to split the British and Americans from the Soviets Thereon he assumed direction of further German surrender initiatives exploring opportunities for partial surrender in the West In the East however he continued to order German armies to fight on On Berlin to surrender their forces to the Soviets and on 3 May issued orders to the besieged defenders of Courland and Breslau to maintain their resistance Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery On 3 May Dönitz sent Admiral HansGeorg von Friedeburg his successor as naval commander in chief to the headquarters of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery at Lüneburg with an offer to surrender of German forces in northwest Germany together with the remaining elements of Army Group Vistula Montgomery informed Admiral von Friedeburg that he could not accept the surrender of forces fighting on the Eastern Front and that consequently Army Group Vistula would have to surrender to the Soviets although British forces would accept the surrender of any German soldiers fleeing westwards He proposed instead following discussions between Eisenhower and the British government that he would accept the surrender of all German military forces in Northwestern Germany SchleswigHolstein the Netherlands and Denmark including naval forces and warships in those areas Von Friedeburg asked for 48 hours to consider this Montgomery allowed him 24 The proposed inclusion of Denmark and the German warships operating there initially alarmed Dönitz who wished at all costs to maintain Operation Hannibal evacuating German troops across the Baltic to Danish ports but on consideration he reckoned he might secretly evade the obligation to surrender these ships if they were at sea on the date the surrender came into effect Furthermore as it was unlikely that Montgomery would promptly be able to deploy British forces to the Danish islands under German occupation especially Bornholm in the central Baltic there was every possibility that the evacuation proceeding there could continue in total disregard of the agreed surrender terms Consequently authorized by Dönitz von Friedeburg returned on 4 May and signed an instrument of surrender for all German troops and ships in the Netherlands Denmark and Northwestern Germany This was accepted by Montgomery on behalf of Eisenhower This 4 May surrender would become effective at 800 am on 5 May so Dönitz ordered all ships involved in Operation Hannibal to undertake a covert final evacuation voyage while also unilaterally ordering all Uboat actions to cease One crew in the evacuation fleet refused to set sail so Dönitz ordered the ringleaders to be arrested for mutiny tried by summary court martial and shot Also on 5 May 1945 all German forces in Bavaria and South West Germany signed an act of surrender to the Americans at Haar outside Munich coming into effect on 6 May Montgomery always seeking to boost his own public standing at the expense of other Allied commanders had arranged extensive media coverage of the 4 May signing but Dönitz and von Krosigk realised that although he had supplied von Friedeburg with a prepared German text of the surrender documents Montgomery had failed to issue this to the press They consequently broadcast their own doctored German version which differed significantly from that signed specifically in that warships in the Baltic were not included nor was the territory in Schleswig around Flensburg itself and especially 3rd Panzer Army and 21st Army had indeed been able to surrender to the British and Americans rather than the Soviets Realising this Eisenhower determined that no further partial capitulations would be negotiated The capitulations at Luneberg and Haar could do nothing however for the bulk of German forces in Army Group Centre fighting the Soviets in Bohemia and Saxony On 4 May Dönitz together with Karl Frank the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia conceived of a device whereby Army Group Centre might be able to surrender to General George Patton s American forces who had been entering the Sudetenland areas of former Czechoslovakia from the west and approaching Pilsen Dönitz proposed that Frank should dissolve the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and resign in favour of a puppet Czech government who would then declare Prague an open city and invite the Americans in General Pattons virulent anticommunist views were well known to the German leadership who reckoned that with Patton in Prague it would become much easier for Army Group Centre to negotiate surrender terms with him while maintaining their resistance to the Soviets if possible dragging American and Soviet armies into direct confrontation Frank had hopes that we can engineer a disagreement between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union even more serious than that of Poland The ploy was proposed as being put into effect on 5 May but was overtaken by the outbreak of the Prague uprising on that date and over the succeeding three days far from surrendering Prague as an open city SS forces launched a savage response to the insurgents with brutal reprisals against Czech civilians and widespread destruction in central Prague Orders to firebomb the whole of the Old Town were only averted due to lack of fuel for Luftwaffe bombing units Alerted to the German machinations through intercepted Ultra signals Eisenhower ordered Patton to stand still in Pilsen in spite of ever more desperate calls for help from the insurgents Prague was finally relieved by General Konev s forces on 9 May 1945 General capitulation on all fronts SHAEF commanders at a conference in London Following the success of the two partial surrenders of 4 and 5 May Dönitz instructed von Friedeburg to go to the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force SHAEF to negotiate with General Eisenhower terms for a general surrender of all remaining German armies to the Western Allies Since von Friedeburgs meeting with Montgomery Eisenhowers opposition to accepting a German surrender that excluded the Soviet Union had been made clear to the German High Command but Dönitz hoped to change his mind On the next day 5 May von Friedeburg arrived at General Eisenhowers headquarters at Reims France but learned that Eisenhower was resolute that only a total surrender on all fronts to all the Allies could be discussed Jodl arrived a day later ostensibly to sign such a general surrender Dönitz had instructed him to draw out the negotiations for as long as possible so that German troops and refugees could move west to surrender to the Western Powers Eisenhower made it clear that the Allies demanded immediate unconditional surrender on all fronts When it became obvious that the Germans were stalling Eisenhower threatened to close the western front to all surrendering Germans from the east Had this happened German soldiers attempting to cross the line to surrender would be fired on and all subsequent surrenders would have to be to the Soviets When Dönitz learned this he radioed Jodl full powers to sign the unconditional German Instrument of Surrender at 130 am on the morning of 7 May Just over an hour later Jodl signed the documents The surrender documents included the phrase The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military naval and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on 8 May and to remain in the positions occupied at that time The Western Allies had a unified command structure and formed a single expeditionary force the Allied Expeditionary Force US Army General Walter Bedell Smith Eisenhowers chief of staff at SHAEF signed on behalf of the Western Allies and General Ivan Susloparov the Soviet liaison officer at SHAEF signed on behalf of the Soviets French Major General François Sevez signed as the official witness Although Eisenhower had sought to keep General Aleksei Antonov of the Soviet High Command fully informed of the progress of the surrender negotiations no confirmation had been received from the Soviets that the text of the Act of Military Surrender was acceptable to them or that Susloparov was empowered to sign it Accordingly Eisenhower extracted from Jodl an additional signed undertaking that the Chief of the German High Command and the Commanders in Chief of all three German armed services would attend in person and sign a formal ratification of the Act of Military Surrender at a place and date to be specified Some six hours after the signing a response came from Antonov that terms of surrender were unacceptable and that Susloparov could not sign it Eisenhower promptly agreed and undertook to attend together with the rest of the SHAEF for the definitive signing in Berlin two days later Antonovs response also noted that von Friedeburg had been referring matters back to Dönitz over the radio and that Dönitz in direct breach of the signed surrender terms had still not issued orders for German forces in the east to remain in their positions but was instead instructing them to continue their resistance A second amended instrument of surrender was accordingly signed at Karlshorst Berlin on 8 May shortly before midnight Marshal Zhukov signed for the Soviet High Command and the British Marshal of the Royal Air Force AW Tedder signed on behalf of the Western Allies Tedder acted as Eisenhowers representative at the Berlin ceremony and signed on behalf of the Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force in his capacity as Deputy Supreme Commander French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny and US Army Air Forces General Carl Spaatz signed as the official witnesses The Allies had demanded that representatives of the German Army Navy and Air Force and the High Command of the Armed Forces sign the ratification of unconditional surrender and that they should present full powers authorizing them to do so on behalf of the German High Command Complying with that demand Dönitz issued a telegraphed communication from his Supreme Commander Headquarters Der Oberste Befehlshaber Hauptquartier granting the necessary full powers and accordingly the second Act of Military Surrender was signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces and as acting Commander in Chief of the Army by Admiral von Friedeburg as the Commander in Chief of the Kriegsmarine navy by General HansJürgen Stumpff as Deputy Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe air force as Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim the Air Force Commander had been injured At the time specified World War II in Europe ended On 9 May Dönitz issued orders to the German Armed Forces regarding the military surrender The text of the definitive surrender document signed in Berlin differed from that previously signed at Reims chiefly in that to the second article was added the words and to disarm completely handing over their weapons and equipment to the local allied commanders or officers designated by the Representatives of the Allied Supreme Command which had the effect of requiring German troop facing Soviet forces to hand over their weapons disband and give themselves up as prisoners Otherwise neither the Reims nor Berlin surrender instruments provided explicitly for the surrender of the German State because the draft surrender document prepared European Advisory Commission EAC was not used Instead a simplified militaryonly version had been produced by the SHAEF based largely on the wording of the partial surrender instrument of German forces in Italy that had been signed at Caserta This definition of the surrender as an act of military capitulation sidestepped any Allied recognition of the German Government or of Dönitz as Head of State The question of the civil effects of the unconditional surrender was only settled later when the Allies decided to dissolve the Flensburg Government 23 May and issued the Berlin declaration proclaiming the direct assumption of the supreme governmental Dissolution Withdrawal of diplomatic recognition Walter Schellenberg During 1944 and 1945 countries that had been neutral or allies of Germany had been joining the Allied Powers and declaring war on Germany The German embassies to these countries had been closed down and their property and archives held in trust by a nominated protecting power usually Switzerland or Sweden under the terms of the Geneva Conventions There were counterpart arrangements for the former embassies of Allied countries in Berlin The United States Department of State had prepared for the diplomatic consequences of the war ending on the assumption that there would have been an explicit statement of unconditional surrender of the German state in accordance with the terms of a draft surrender text jointly agreed by the Allied powers in 1944 In the final days of April 1945 the State Department had notified the protecting powers and all other remaining neutral governments such as Ireland that following the forthcoming German surrender the continued identity of the German state would rest solely in the four Allied Powers The Allied Powers would immediately recall all German diplomatic staff take ownership of all German state property extinguish all protecting power functions and require the transfer of all archives and records to one or another of the embassies of the western Allies On 8 May 1945 these arrangements were put into effect in full notwithstanding that the only German parties to the signed surrender document had been the German High Command The western Allies maintained that a functioning German state had already ceased to exist and that consequently the surrender of the German military had effected the complete termination of Nazi Germany The protecting powers complied fully with the Allied demands Sweden Switzerland and Ireland announced the breaking off of relations consequently the German state ceased as a diplomatic entity on 8 May 1945 Imperial Japan the only remaining Axis belligerent had already denounced the German surrender and Flensburg government and seized the German embassy in Tokyo and seven Uboats Henceforward although the Flensburg government had a nominated Minister for Foreign Affairs it had no access to the diplomatic assets of the former German state and was not accorded diplomatic recognition by any of the former protecting powers or other remaining neutral countries On 5 May Von Krosigk had dispatched Walter Schellenberg to Sweden as a personal emissary via Folke Bernadotte hoping to establish diplomatic relations and to expedite a partial surrender of German forces in Norway This mission was overtaken by the general capitulation of all German forces and following 8 May all further approaches from the Flensburg Government to Sweden were ignored Former armaments minister 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 postwar Germany as a provisional government Even though they could exercise no direct territorial authority the cabinet still met daily at 1000 am Various papers on postwar reconstruction issues were proposed to be prepared but the Western Allies showed no sign that they might receive them Otherwise much time was devoted to discussion of how far the symbols medals and insignia of the Hitler regime should be retained within the Flensburg headquarters Nazi war crimes Some acknowledgement of Nazi war crimes became unavoidable The departure of the SS leadership from Flensburg opened the way for the Dönitz government to offer its own version of how the murder squads concentration camps and killing facilities had come into being Their response was that all these atrocities had been undertaken in secret and entirely by Himmler and the SS Dönitz and Jodl issued a joint public statement that neither the German Wehrmacht nor the German people had knowledge of these things While this statement was mostly untrue the consequent myth of the good Wehrmacht as having been deceived and betrayed by the evil SS was to achieve wide currency for decades in postwar Germany Allied perspectives While it had been agreed amongst the Allies that the Flensburg government should be accorded no official recognition Winston Churchill proved reluctant to toe the line In his speech announcing victory to the British people on 8 May Churchill specified that the surrender had been authorised by Grand Admiral Dönitz the designated Head of the German State Equally following the unconditional surrender Churchill was instrumental in urging that the Flensburg Government should not immediately be closed down saying that he could see great advantages in letting things slide for a bit Churchills attitude in this was conditioned by his concern that Soviet forces might seek to establish themselves in Denmark and he saw the temporary continuation of the Flensburg government in territory under British control as establishing a bargaining counter for the British in any negotiations regarding Soviet intentions in the western Baltic while also facilitating the disbanding of German forces Conversely Soviet statements consistently characterised the Flensburg government as an antiBolshevist clique On 20 May the Soviet government made it clear what it thought about the Flensburg Government It attacked the Dönitz Administration calling it the Dönitz Gang and harshly criticised any idea of allowing it to retain any power Pravda said 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 press has called the enlistment of Dönitz an act of political sagacity Thus a Fascist scribbler has seen fit to make common cause with Hitlers 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 fairytales 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 General Eisenhower tended rather to agree with the Soviet position if not the reasoning behind it suspecting that Dönitz and his cabinet could be a front while the real German leadership perhaps including Himmler Martin Bormann and Hitler himself whose remains were not then known to have been identified remained operating behind the scenes or otherwise plotting for their concealment and escape With illdisguised reluctance Eisenhower agreed to defer to the British view for a short period but issued a clarifying statement that the continuation of the Dönitz government did not constitute his being recognised as a head of state but only and temporarily under the instructions of the Allied Commanders to carry out duties concerning the feeding disarming and medical care of the German Armed Forces Three members of the Flensburg Government General Alfred Jodl Dr Albert Speer and Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz after their arrest by the Allies Final dissolution of the Flensburg Government On 12 May American Major General Lowell W Rooks and his British deputy Brigadier E J Foord arrived in Flensburg and established their quarters in the passenger ship Patria docked in Flensburg harbour displacing the administrative offices of the Flensburg government that had been housed there Their mission was to liaise with the Dönitz acting government as it was then referred to by the SHAEF and to impose the will of the victorious Allied Powers on the German High Command Although the liaison mission arranged meetings with members of the Flensburg government these only confirmed that neither Dönitz nor his ministers had been able to establish any degree of civil authority Churchill withdrew his protection once it became clear that the Soviet High Command would otherwise have to be represented in the liaison mission On 21 May the SHAEF acceded to Soviet proposals that the Flensburg Government be dissolved and its members arrested as POWs The dissolution was carried out on 23 May On that day a British officer went to Dönitzs headquarters and asked to speak to the members Patria where Maj Gen Rooks informed them of the dissolution of the government placing them under arrest and ordering that they be stripped and searched for concealed phials of poison The communication regarding the dissolution of the acting government and the arrest of its members was made in a formal manner around a table on Patria s deck Dönitz Jodl and Von Friedeburg sat on one side with Major General Rooks British Navy Captain Mund and Soviet General Trusov on the other Brigadier Foord remained standing next to Maj Gen Rooks and an official interpreter was also present at the proceedings that were photographed By the time Dönitz emerged from the ship the towns main street was filled with British tanks and troops rounding up the Germans Faced with the prospect of being stripsearched von Friedeburg committed suicide while Dönitz Speer Jodl and other members of the dissolved Flensburg Government were taken prisoner under the responsibility of a RAF Regiment task force commanded by Squadron Leader Mark Hobden The prisoners were later handed over to the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry Some Flensburg Government POWs such as Albert Speer were subsequently moved to the British POW camp Dustbin in Castle Kransberg while others including Dönitz were transferred to the Americanled Camp Ashcan Later all Camp Ashcan prisoners were moved to Nuremberg to stand trial Berlin Declaration 5 June 1945 Albert Speer left Karl Dönitz center and Alfred Jodl right after their arrest With the arrest of the Flensburg Government on 23 May 1945 the German High Command also ceased to exist with no central authority having been kept in place to govern Germany even in a nominal capacity or to assume responsibility for complying with the demands and instructions of the victorious nations This power vacuum continued for almost two weeks until 5 June 1945 when the representatives of the Allies signed the Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Authority by Allied Powers also known as the Berlin Declaration The Sportschool in Mürwik on the edge of the Naval Academy Mürwik the seat of the Flensburg Government The declaration issued in Berlin at 1800 on 5 June 1945 and signed by General Eisenhower on behalf of the United States Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery on behalf of the United Kingdom Marshal Georgiy Zhukov on behalf of the Soviet Union and by General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny on behalf of the French Provisional Government contained the following statement The Governments of the United States of America the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom and the Provisional Government of the French Republic hereby assume supreme authority with respect to Germany including all the powers possessed by the German Government the High Command and any state municipal or local government or authority The assumption for the purposes stated above of the said authority and powers does not affect the annexation of Germany Therefore from 5 June 1945 Germany did not possess a native government complete authority and sovereignty being thereafter assumed by the Allied Military Occupation Government The contention of the Allied Powers that the German state ceased to exist as of 5 June 1945 was then generally accepted but came subsequently to be challenged in legal and political debate In any event the Berlin Declaration maintained the continued existence of Germany as a national territory implying the continuation of a German nation During the initial stage of the occupation of Germany supreme authority was discharged by the Four Powers jointly for all occupation zones via the Allied Control Council so that this council was the immediate successor of the Dönitz Administration in the Government of Germany See also Germany portal 32x28px Nazi Germany portal Fascism portal World War II portal End of World War II in Europe German Instrument of Surrender Victory Day 9 May Victory in Europe Day References Notes a b Jones 2015 p 88 Jones 2015 p 323 Jones 2015 p 20 Jones 2015 p 89 Jones 2015 p 96 Biography on dhmde in German a b c Kershaw 2012 p 359 Kershaw 2012 p 360 Kershaw 2012 p 362 Kershaw 2012 p 361 a b c d e f The German Surrender Documents WWII iBiblio Kershaw 2012 p 352 Kershaw 2012 p 367 Kershaw 2012 p 369 Kershaw 2012 p 371 Kershaw 2012 p 372 The text of the full powers in German was as follows A b s c h r i f t Der Oberste Befehlshaber Hauptquartier den 7545 der Wehrmacht Bitte in der Antwort vorstehendesGeschaftszeichen das Datum und kurzen Inhalt anzugegenICH BEVOLLMACHTIGE GENERALFELDMARSCHALL K E I T E L ALS CHEF DES OBERKOMMANDOS DER WEHRMACHT UND ZUGLEICH ALS OBERBEFEHLSHABER DES HEERES GENERALADMIRAL VON FRIEDBERG ALS OBERBEFEHLSHABER DER KRIEGSMARINE GENERALOBERST S T U M P F ALS VERTRETER DES OBERBEFEHLSHABERS DER LUFTWAFFE ZUR RATIFIZIERUNG DER BEDINGUNGSLKSEN KAPITULATION DER DEUTSCHEN STREITKRAFTE GEGENUBER DEM OBERBEFEHLSHABER DER ALLIIERTEN EXPEDITIONSSTREITKRAFTE UND DEM SOWYETOBERKOMMANDO DONITZ GROßADMIRAL Siegel Kershaw 2012 p 376 Eckert Astrid M 2012 The Struggle for the Files Translated by Dona Geyer CUP p 222 Churchill Winston End of the War in Europe Dollinger Hans 1995 1965 The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan A Pictorial History of the Final Days of World War II p 239 a b Chapter XV The Victory Sealed Globalsecurityorg a b 26 May 1945 High Command Arrested Trovenlagovau 26 May 1945 Oliver Kingsley M The RAF Regiment at War 19421946 Great Britain 2002 Pen Sword p 118 Daily Telegraph a b Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Authority by Allied Powers June 5 1945 Lillian Goldman Law Library Yale Law Library 2008 Retrieved 30 November 2018 Bibliography Kershaw Ian 2012 The End Hitlers Germany 194445 Penguin 9780713997163 Jones Michael 2015 After Hitler The Last Days of the Second World War in Europe John Murray Publishers Ltd 9781848544963 v t e German cabinets German Empire 18711918 Bismarck Caprivi HohenloheSchillingsfürst Bülow BethmannHollweg Michaelis Hertling Baden Weimar Republic 19181933 Council of the Peoples Deputies Scheidemann Bauer Müller I Fehrenbach Wirth I Wirth II Cuno Stresemann I Stresemann II Marx I Marx II Luther I Luther II Marx III Marx IV Müller II Brüning I Brüning II Papen Schleicher Nazi Germany 19331945 Hitler Goebbels Schwerin von Krosigk Federal Republic of Germany since 1949 Adenauer I Adenauer II Adenauer III Adenauer IV Adenauer V Erhard I Erhard II Kiesinger Brandt I Brandt II Schmidt I Schmidt II Schmidt III Kohl I Kohl II Kohl III Kohl IV Kohl V Schröder I Schröder II Merkel I Merkel II Merkel III Merkel IV Categories Provisional governments Government of Nazi Germany Historic German cabinets Flensburg 1945 establishments in Germany 1945 disestablishments in Germany Cabinets established in 1945 Cabinets disestablished in 1945 1945 in Germany

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O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O B I I O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

flensburg government
nazi germany
world war ii