The Rise of the Third Reich

August 2, 1934, Posen - Neudijk, West Prussia.

Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann and his wife Chloe left Berlin two days ago and arrived at the Schleicher family in Neude with their old friends General Schleicher and his wife. Knight's Manor in Gram. They came here to bid farewell to the President of the German Empire, Paul von Hindenburg. President Hindenburg's estate in Neudeck is located near Schleicher Manor. Since 1934, Hindenburg has been waiting for death in the estate in Neudeck.

A strong man of a generation, the patron saint of the German Empire, is about to complete his 87-year long life. Although in the last years of his life his health and intelligence were in an extremely poor state. But his existence was the greatest stabilizing factor for the German Empire.

For those who have not experienced strongman politics, it is difficult to imagine this. But Hessmann, as a figure in the inner circle of Germany's highest power, is very clear about this - in this time and space, although President Hindenburg is not the only person who can restrict Adolf Hitler, he is undoubtedly tied to Hitler's neck. A thick iron chain.

Especially in the past three years, Germany has been developing in an orderly manner under Hitler's new political governance. The economy has fully recovered, military power has risen rapidly, and Germany's international environment has also been greatly improved due to the signing of the "Oriental Locarno Convention".

Under this circumstance, almost everyone was very satisfied with Hitler's rule, and Hitler's authority was rising rapidly. Not long ago, in June, Hitler once again asked President Hindenburg to dissolve parliament and hold an election. The Nazi Party and the Fatherland People's Party captured more than 80% of the parliamentary seats in this election.

After the parliamentary election, the Nazi Party and the Fatherland People's Party forcibly passed the "Transformational Justice Ordinance" in the parliament, and based on this "Ordinance", they announced the ban on the Social Democratic Party on July 1, 1934.

At the same time, the Reich Parliament controlled by the Nazi Party and the Fatherland People's Party also passed amendments to the constitution, significantly reducing the autonomy of each free state, and actually abolished the Prussian Free State. The parliament and government of the Prussian Free State merged with the parliament and government of the German Empire, and the German Chancellor also served as Chancellor of the Prussian State. The degree of unity within the German Empire has therefore been greatly improved.

However, the formulation of the "Transformational Justice Ordinance" to attack the Social Democratic Party and the amendment of the constitution to integrate the German Empire also made many people see the possibility of the emergence of the Nazi Party's dictatorship. Among them were Vice President Ludendorff, Defense Minister Schleicher, President of the Baltic Republic Goltz, Chairman of the Fatherland People's Party Seekert and Chairman of the German Military Officers Union Oscar von Hutier, as well as the Hindenburg was only a few years younger, but Marshal Augusta von Mackensen was still mentally and physically healthy.

These people are now sitting with Hersman in the living room of Schleicher Manor, waiting to go to Hindenburg's manor to say goodbye to the old president for the last time, while discussing the coming post-Hindenburg era. All made no secret of their worries, and at the same time they were satisfied with the success of the Nazi Party's rule.

"If we had had a Nazi Party in 1917, we wouldn't have lost the World War!"

The old Marshal Mackensen touched his mustache, which had completely turned white, and said: "If there had been a Prime Minister Hitler at that time, the Social Democrats and the Spartacists would not have been able to do anything bad."

The old man’s ideas should be quite representative! Hersman, sitting in the corner with a coffee cup, understands public opinion better. There are many people who think this way. The lack of a ruling party that can unite the grassroots and suppress anti-war forces is indeed one of the reasons why Germany lost the First World War.

"But Hitler is not a qualified commander," Ludendorff, who will succeed the president, said very worriedly. "His overall view is completely based on race, excellent, inferior, Aryan, Slavic, Jewish … It’s okay to talk about this kind of thing in normal times, but if it turns into a strategy to guide the war, then we will be in big trouble.”

Ludendorff knew Hitler better than the average person. They had more contact with him. He was the vice president who assumed the powers of the president, and Hitler was the prime minister. The two met often and discussed strategic issues, so he was very disdainful of Hitler's strategic overall view.

Hitler was actually okay. Hessmann’s view is somewhat different from Ludendorff’s, because he knows that Hitler was not the worst commander in World War II. Churchill who won the war but lost the empire, and Mussolini who was not helping all the time, There are also Japanese authoritarian military leaders who recklessly provoked the Pacific War. They are all worse than Hitler.

But US President Roosevelt had more vision than Hitler, and Roosevelt also had more money. In fact, Churchill and Stalin also had a lot of capital, and their countries could afford more mistakes. But Germany cannot. A strategic mistake will lead to catastrophic consequences.

And Hitler just made a very fatal strategic mistake - he used racial concepts to guide the war! So much so that he always has unrealistic illusions about Britain, an excessive hatred for the Jews, and a desire to fight to the death with the Russians.

"He is an excellent prime minister," Seckter, who had also been prime minister for a while, shook his head and said, "but he is not a commander-in-chief... In this regard, he is not as good as His Excellency Bismarck."

Baltic General Goltz was not familiar with Hitler. After listening to everyone's comments, the general president turned his attention to Hersmann and Schleicher, "Kurt, Ludwig, you What do you think? Is he a commander who can lead Germany to victory?"

"Obviously not," Schleicher said, spreading his hands. "If we are going to face a real war in the next few years, then only the best professional soldiers can assume the responsibility of commanding, not those who know a little bit about war. Politicians. This is also our Prussian tradition!”

"Military dictatorship?" Goltz asked thoughtfully, "Is this really possible?"

He was a "quasi-dictator" in the Baltics, but he did not think that the Baltic tactics could be applied to Germany. The Baltic Republic is a small state surrounded by powerful enemies, so it is relatively easy to unite. Germany is a "big country" with a population of 66 million. In addition, the majority of the Baltic people are the original Russians, who are more accustomed to dictatorship, while the people in Germany have always had a democratic tradition.

"Military dictatorship will not work," Hersman shook his head and took over the topic. "In that case, Germany will definitely fall into internal strife and will no longer be able to deal with the outside world."

"What should we do?"

As soon as Goltz's question came out, all the old people turned their attention to Hessmann and Schleicher.

Hessman also looked around, taking in the expressions of the veterans and handsome men in the room. Although each of them used an expressionless face to hide their inner thoughts, Hessman still knew very well. What do they want most?

"We should restore the German monarchy!" Hessmann took a deep breath, as if he had made a lot of determination, "At least we should try it out now."

Everyone in the living room was silent. They are all royalists, and restoring the German monarchy is of course their goal, but this is not easy to accomplish - not only is the international response difficult to say, but it is also difficult to control public opinion in Germany.

"How to test?" Ludendorff asked with interest. After Hindenburg's death, he could constitutionally succeed as president. But his term as president ended in 1937. Who would be elected then? With Hitler's current prestige, it is very likely that he would be elected if he ran for president.

If both the president and the prime minister were Nazis, Hitler's power might be out of control!

Therefore, it is the most appropriate choice to restore the monarchy during Ludendorff's remaining term and let a constitutional monarch serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

"You can use the old president's will to test the will." Hersman had already figured out a way. "We can draft a will for the old president and propose in the will the restoration of the Hohenzollern dynasty's status in Germany."

Everyone present was relieved when they heard Hessman's suggestion. This is indeed a good idea! Push Hindenburg, a dead man, to stand out. Even if the German people and the British and French powers were not willing to do so, there was nothing they could do with a dead person. Is it possible to flog the corpse?

"So... Ludwig, will Hitler support this will?" Ludendorff asked uncertainly.

Hitler's attitude towards restoring the imperial system was very ambiguous. Unlike Junckers like Hersmann, he had the label of a royalist on his head. However, he showed his support for the Hohenzollern dynasty on many occasions. Moreover, Hitler had a very close relationship with Crown Prince Wilhelm. The latter was a friend of the fat Goering (Goering had some relationship with the Hohenzollern dynasty. His godfather was a court doctor, so he got to know the crown prince). It was Goering who introduced him to him. Recommended to Hitler. It is said that the Crown Prince himself joined the Nazi Party!

But Hitler has never relented on the issue of restoration. His Nazi Party is now the largest party in parliament, with more than half of the seats. If Hitler supported it, it would be a piece of cake to amend the constitution and restore the monarchy.

Hessmann thought for a while, shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. He...at least won't object publicly."

We dare not openly oppose it. The Hitler of today is not the Hitler who conquered France in 1940 in history. With the Juncker group firmly controlling the army and secret agents, and confiscating his stormtroopers and SS, it would be very irrational to conflict with Juncker on the issue of royalism, but strong support would not necessarily be the case.

At this moment, an antique telephone in the living room suddenly rang. Schleicher picked up the receiver, and Oscar von Hindenburg's voice came from the other side: "The president has passed away!"