Editing 20 July plot (section)

==== Opposition to Hitler and to Nazi policies ====
While the primary goal of the plotters was to remove Hitler from power, they did so for various reasons. The majority of the group behind the 20 July plot were conservative nationalists—idealists, but not necessarily of a democratic stripe.<ref>Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture, "The heroes of West German accounts at this time were the men involved in the largely conservative, nationalist resistance of the July Plot of 1944. It was not until much later that a new generation of left-liberal historians pointed out how little many involved in the July Plot actually sympathized with or understood democratic ideas. John Sandford. 2013.</ref><ref>''Faith and Democracy: Political Transformations at the German Protestant Kirchentag'', 1949–1969 Benjamin Carl Pearson 2007 
Similarly, one could argue that the conservative, nationalist resistance circles that grew up during the war years, whose activity culminated in the July 1944 Officers Plot</ref> Martin Borschat portrays their motivations as a matter of aristocratic resentment, writing that the plot was mainly carried out by conservative elites who were initially integrated by the Nazi government but during the war lost their influence and were concerned about regaining it.{{sfn|Evans|2015|p=198}} However, at least in Stauffenberg's case, the conviction that Nazi Germany's atrocities against civilians and prisoners of war were a dishonour to the nation and its military was likely a major motivating factor.{{sfn|Evans|2009b}} Historian Judith Michel assesses the circle around the 20 July Group as a diverse and heterogeneous group that included liberal democrats, conservatives, social democrats, authoritarian aristocrats, and even communists.  The common goal was to overthrow Hitler's regime and bring the war to a swift end.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kas.de/de/web/geschichte-der-cdu/kalender/kalender-detail/-/content/attentat-auf-adolf-hitler|title=Der 20. Juli 1944 – Attentat auf Adolf Hitler|date=26 June 2014|access-date=22 July 2021|archive-date=20 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720095613/https://www.kas.de/de/web/geschichte-der-cdu/kalender/kalender-detail/-/content/attentat-auf-adolf-hitler|url-status=live}}</ref> There is evidence of the plot encompassing a broad spectrum of plotters which included Communists that April, before the attempted coup, Stauffenberg agreed to cooperate with the Operational Leadership of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany) remaining in Germany. Contacts were established through the Social Democrats Adolf Reichwein and Julius Leber.<ref>Hans Coppi Jr.; 'Der vergessene Widerstand der Arbeiter: Gewerkschafter, Kommunisten, Sozialdemokraten, Trotzkisten, Anarchisten und Zwangsarbeiter'; pp. 154–157</ref>