Was Rudolph Hess a moderating influence on Hitler?

Role of Hess remains mysterious and controversial in mainstream history

When you read official and accepted historiography about Hess, you will find many discrepancies. Was he just a powerless figurehead ? Or was he third powerful man in the Reich (second in line of succession to Hitler) ? Did he acted alone when he went to Britain ? What was he hoping to accomplish ? Let's try to examine some of this things.

First of all, it is well known fact that Soviets wanted his head, i.e. demanded death penalty for him in Nuremberg Trials, and latter opposed any clemency and early release. Why was that ? Hess went to Britain more then a month before Operation Barbarossa commenced, so he could not have direct command responsibility. Note that in latter years (after Stalin's death) Soviets were not so harsh in persecuting even those officials and generals who directly participated in the war in the east (for example Wilhelm Mohnke, Johann Rattenhuber, Sigfrid Henrici etc ...). According to official Soviet historiography, Hess knew about Barbarossa and went to Britain to negotiate peace in order to allow Germany free hand in the East. Both accounts are disputed, yet even if we take them as true, Soviets would not have any reason to silence him - his testimony would damage reputation of British, not Soviets. There are various theories floating around that Hess actually knew about secret negotiations between Germany and Soviet Union about closer cooperation against British, that would embarrass Soviets post-war. Yet, so far there is no proof for this.

Also, official history denies that Hitler knew about Hess's flight in advance. Apparently, Hitler went into a rage, and days latter started punishing those associated with Hess, denouncing and removing his image in public etc ... But timing is important here. Already on May 12, 1941 British confirmed that they have Hess in custody, implicitly showing that there would not be any secret negotiations. Therefore, Hitler's rage could have been just a damage control to contain embarrassment caused by failed diplomatic mission.

Finally, there is a question of British involvement. Official historiography claims that Hess went to Britain without invitation, without even getting a reply from his supposed host, Duke of Hamilton. This sounds rather naive, especially considering the fact that Hess prepared his mission for months. Official historiography does confirm that Hess's letter to Hamilton was intercepted by MI5. Is it possible that MI5 did trick Hess, by sending him fake reply from Hamilton, or perhaps someone on even higher level (Churchill himself ) ? But such actions would probably have to be approved by higher echelons of British government, something that could look suspicious and embarrassing after the war. After all, it would be difficult to judge was correspondence with Hess genuine or just a ruse. However, leaving aside all of this speculations, we do know that British intelligence had contacts with Admiral Canaris, head of Abwehr, especially in late 1940 / early 1941 with certain lull in ground operations. Apparently, Canaris, who was strongly anti-Communist but didn't want to fight British, did have some rapport with head of MI6 Stewart Menzies. It is quite possible that some of these Anglo-German links were actually quite strong, and perhaps extended to Hess, enough to persuade him to attempt his flight.

Anyway, to the main question . Did Hess's departure strengthened hardliners in Third Reich government ? If we prescribe to official history, Hess was essentially man with too much time on his hands and no real power once WW2 started. His influence on Hitler was minimal, and course for total war was already set in. His misadventure in Britain only strengthened the notion that British should not be trusted, and that Germany must seek position of power before any negotiations could commence. But if we entertain the notion that Hess didn't act alone, his departure and failure could be one of the turning points of the war. If we assume that Hess was in fact leader of the dovish faction in Third Reich hierarchy, leading the effort to limit and eventually end the war (with or without new conflict against Soviet Union) , then his capture would certainly radicalize ruling circles in Berlin. For example, since no peace with Britain could be achieved (and possibility of victory was slim do to the failure of aerial offensive and British naval superiority) , only way for Germany to get necessary oil and other raw materials was war against Soviet Union. Jewish question could not be solved with resettlement in Palestine or Madagascar, therefore only solution was extermination (final solution first mentioned in July 1941) etc ... We do have some circumstantial evidence that disappearance of Hess effected hardening of German leadership, but it is not enough to distinguish between cause and coincidence. More historical research would be needed, but since these are still highly politically loaded questions, this would probably have to wait for another, more opportune time.