On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Fhrer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Ktrzyn, in present-day Poland. The name Operation Valkyrieoriginally referring to part of the conspiracyhas become associated with the entire event.The apparent aim of the assassination attempt was to wrest political control of Germany and its armed forces from the Nazi Party (including the SS) and to make peace with the Western Allies as soon as possible. The details of the conspirators' peace initiatives remain unknown, but they would have included unrealistic demands for the confirmation of Germany's extensive annexations of European territory.The plot was the culmination of efforts by several groups in the German resistance to overthrow the Nazi German government. The failure of the assassination attempt and the intended military coup d'tat, or putsch, that was to follow led the Gestapo to arrest more than 7,000 people, 4,980 of whom were executed.

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (German: [klaʊ̯s ʃɛŋk ɡʁaːf fɔn ˈʃtaʊ̯fn̩.bɛʁk] (listen); 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite opposing democracy, and at first agreeing with the Nazi Party's nationalism and aryanism, he joined the German resistance within the Wehrmacht as the war progressed. He felt Hitler was losing the war, and opposed the criminal character of the dictatorship. Along with Henning von Tresckow and Hans Oster, he was one of the central figures of the conspiracy against Hitler within the Wehrmacht. For his involvement in the movement, he was executed by firing squad shortly after Operation Valkyrie.

He held the hereditary titles of "Graf" (count) and "Schenk" (cupbearer). He took part in the attack on Poland, the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Tunisian Campaign during the Second World War.