The Rise of the Third Reich

Ludwig von Herschmann walked into his office in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. His aide Paulus had already placed two newspapers, the Volksobservatore and the Berliner Zeitung, side by side on his desk. superior.

Hessmann glanced at the Berliner Zeitung, the largest circulation newspaper in Berlin, and found that this newspaper, known for its moderateness and neutrality, had unprecedentedly used eight columns of italicized headlines:

132 billion gold marks in compensation;

Germany was completely bankrupt;

The paper mark is about to depreciate significantly, and people’s savings will be wiped out;

The People's Party and the Democratic Party announced their withdrawal from the coalition government, Fehrenbach's cabinet became a minority cabinet, and the prime minister asked the president to order the dissolution of parliament and call for an election.

Compared with the relatively elegant roar of the Berliner Zeitung, the front page of the Volksobserver directly used the title "Currency War" and published an editorial drafted by Hersmann and revised by Rosenberg. Directly refer to the final compensation figure determined by the Allied Reparations Commission as a war that attempts to destroy Germany's economic foundation! The editorial concluded by strongly calling on every German to try their best to collect gold and silver coins and not to deposit them in banks to avoid being requisitioned by the government to pay compensation to the Allied Powers.

Hersman placed his handbag on the desk, and then asked Paulus, who followed him in, "Captain, how many newspapers mentioned today that the mark will be significantly devalued?"

"Almost all the newspapers mentioned it!" Paulus replied. “Among them, the Bolshevik Party’s Red Flag newspaper, like the People’s Observer, on its front page called on the working class to go to the bank to run on gold and silver coins.”

The Nazis and the Bolsheviks actually had a common point of view! But it's very regrettable. Their point of view is very correct. From now on, Mark will become a kite with broken strings, falling down one after another.

"Is anyone going to run?" Hersman asked.

"Yes." Paulus replied, "There are long queues in front of every bank in Berlin, but I'm afraid they have no chance to exchange gold and silver coins from the bank."

Hirschman sighed. "Restrictions announced?"

"Yes, the Reichsbank meeting lasted until the early hours of the morning, and finally the decision was made to temporarily impose gold, silver and foreign exchange controls."

"Humph, well-informed and knowledgeable people have already replaced Mark!"

Hirschman himself was certainly a "well-informed" person. His and Chloe's savings had long been converted into gold coins and deposited in the Baltic Republic. The mark cash held by the Economic Promotion Corporation, Riga Bank and Ludwig-Kloe Company has long been converted into various hard currencies and stored in the Baltic or Switzerland.

In addition to Juncker officers like Hessmann, most of Germany's monopoly capitalists have also been prepared for a long time - the expectation that the Mark will become useless paper was nothing new to them a year ago.

In addition, many Jewish businessmen in Germany also exchanged the mark notes in their hands or bought something as much as possible after January 28 this year (the day the reparations figures required by the Allied Powers were announced) - although many people were doing this Yes, but these Jewish businessmen are undoubtedly the most hated by the Germans...

Driven by the joint efforts of these people, the mark has depreciated a lot in the past few months, and domestic prices in Germany have also continued to rise. The only people who are still holding Mark banknotes are probably the German middle class, petty bourgeoisie and proletariat - but these people will become brothers of the same class in a short time.

Because when a loaf of bread is worth tens of thousands, millions or hundreds of millions, where is the middle class and small assets in Germany?

At this moment, the phone on Hersman's desk suddenly rang. Paulus walked over and picked up the receiver: "This is the Intelligence Department... Oh, colonel, hello... The lieutenant colonel has arrived... Okay, I'll tell you right away."

He hung up the phone and said to Hersmann: "It's Colonel Schleicher. The president has approved the dissolution of Congress!"

This is expected, because the Constitution originally stipulates that the prime minister can propose and the president should approve-unless it is a state of emergency authorization in accordance with Article 48 of the Constitution.

"The colonel wants you to go to the political office immediately." Paulus then asked, "Lieutenant colonel, do you want to go out now?"

"Go out, now!" Hessmann nodded. Although he and Schleicher were both the chiefs of the General Staff and shoulder to shoulder, the latter was the big brother in the military and should still be respected. He picked up his bag again, and after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped again. "By the way, has the briefing on the Hungarian war been sent?"

"Sent."

"Take it with you. I'll watch it in the car," Hessman said.

During this period, in addition to the "currency war", there was the Hungarian War. Soviet Russia and Poland signed the Riga Peace Treaty in March 1921, ending the war. Then the Polish army, under the command of the French, invaded Hungary! The dispatch of the Polish army immediately changed the balance on the battlefield.

Unlike the French, the Poles are now addicted to fighting, and they are alone in defeating the enemy! The Soviet Union and Russia were on their knees, but little Hungary didn't pay attention.

Moreover, the Poles were ruthless when suppressing the Bolsheviks, killing many people in right-bank Ukraine and Lithuania. They are not like the French who will be restrained by the Bolsheviks at home...

So, all the news coming from Hungary during this period is bad news!

Once the Hungarian Bolshevik Party fails, Germany's situation, at least from the map, will be even worse. The French are likely to force Germany to cut the army to 100,000, and may also ask Germany to disband the General Staff. Under these circumstances, no army officer could trust President Albert and his Social Democrats.

…

"Ludwig, how long can the Hungarians support it?" In the smoky office of the Political Department of the General Staff, Hessmann heard the voice of General Sekter as soon as he entered the door.

"Admiral, are you referring to the fall of Budapest?" Hersman handed the briefcase to his adjutant, and then gave a military salute to General Sekter. He saw Sekter nodded, and then said: "The Poles will be able to control most of Slovakia within the year, and they will attack Budapest next spring. If nothing happens, Budapest will change hands before the end of next year." He paused and added, "This is the judgment of Major General Fokbel and my father, but small-scale guerrilla warfare can be maintained for a long time."

"This is meaningless!" Sekter sighed, "Unless we get support... But this is impossible! It seems that we must consider the possibility of maintaining the size of the army secretly."

What this means is that Hindenburg or Ludendorff must be brought to power in 1923.

"Although we have two chances, I hope we can win this time and not delay it until the next time!" General Sekter said in a tone that seemed to be giving an order to the troops. "The election of members of Congress will be held this year. It will be held between June 25 and 26, and the new parliament will start on July 1. I hope that by then, the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party will have less than 138 seats!”

Hessman said: "Your Majesty General, please rest assured that even if we lack a few seats, the Intelligence Office has ways to make some Social Democratic congressmen defect at critical moments!"

"Okay!" General Seeckt nodded and said, "Ludwig, after today's meeting, you will immediately accompany General Ludendorff to Munich to discuss the election with the Workers' Party!"

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