In the autumn of 1943, Goerdeler first met Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg. The two men took an immediate dislike to each other. Goerdeler wrote that Stauffenberg "revealed himself as a cranky, obstinate fellow who wanted to play politics. I had many a row with him, but greatly esteemed him. He wanted to steer a dubious political course with the left-leaning Socialists and Communists, and gave me a bad time with his overwhelming egoism". Goerdeler who had been the unofficial leader of the German opposition since 1937, resented the efforts of Stauffenberg, who he regarded as a dangerous "romantic socialist", to take over the conspiracy. Stauffenberg for his part, saw Goerdeler as the leader of "the revolution of the greybeards". Stauffenberg saw Goerdeler as an out-of-touch reactionary, a man living in the past, whose plans to restore the monarchy were simply not relevant to the modern world. Moreover, Stauffenberg was an "Easterner" who favoured making contacts with the underground KPD, and wished for a post-Nazi Germany to ally herself with the Soviet Union; Goerdeler by contrast was a "Westerner", and thus a resolute anti-Communist and wanted a post-Nazi Germany to align herself with the Western powers.