62 years ago a very dignified seditious act took place. A group of German military men had been preparing for some time a plot to kill Hitler, as they had correctly reached the conclusion that his ambitions would lead Germany to disaster. By 1944 it was evident that there was no way that Germany could win the war.
On July 20, 1944 the plan was to be executed. One of the conspirators, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a Catholic from the Southern part of Germany, was in charge of delivering the hit. Stauffenberg took a bomb in his briefcase, to one of the many meetings he attended in which the Führer was present.
The plot was not a success because the briefcase was removed from the side of Hitler, by accident. The same day the main group of the conspirators were rounded up and summarily executed, including von Stauffenberg.
But the point is, why should we celebrate this day? Well, the attempt to kill a person is in principle an evil act. However, there is an exception to this principle, and it is the legitimate act of self-defense. One may justly kill another person when it is done in order to defend oneself from aggression. And as governments are only servants of the people. whenever a government becomes tyrannical of its citizens, it is the right of the people to depose that government. If the only practical way to attain this is the killing of the leader of the government, then it is legitimate, in moral terms, to do so.
This is the doctrine of tyrannicide as self-defense. Remember: the government is a servant of the people and when it tries to extend too much its powers violating people's rights, it is that people's right to defend from that aggression.
Claus von Stauffenberg is celebrated today as a hero in Germany. And rightly so.
On July 20, 1944 the plan was to be executed. One of the conspirators, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a Catholic from the Southern part of Germany, was in charge of delivering the hit. Stauffenberg took a bomb in his briefcase, to one of the many meetings he attended in which the Führer was present.
The plot was not a success because the briefcase was removed from the side of Hitler, by accident. The same day the main group of the conspirators were rounded up and summarily executed, including von Stauffenberg.
But the point is, why should we celebrate this day? Well, the attempt to kill a person is in principle an evil act. However, there is an exception to this principle, and it is the legitimate act of self-defense. One may justly kill another person when it is done in order to defend oneself from aggression. And as governments are only servants of the people. whenever a government becomes tyrannical of its citizens, it is the right of the people to depose that government. If the only practical way to attain this is the killing of the leader of the government, then it is legitimate, in moral terms, to do so.
This is the doctrine of tyrannicide as self-defense. Remember: the government is a servant of the people and when it tries to extend too much its powers violating people's rights, it is that people's right to defend from that aggression.
Claus von Stauffenberg is celebrated today as a hero in Germany. And rightly so.
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