Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Interwar Period - Anschluss (1)
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Between December and January, Colonel Walter Model returned to Berlin.
He was such a busy man that after a single greeting, I hardly saw him at all.
The tide of the Spanish Civil War had turned completely in favor of the Nationalists.
The Republicans had lost the entire northern front, and with the Nationalists pressing their advantage all the way to Valencia, the Republican capital was reportedly moved to Barcelona.
In the meantime, Lieutenant Colonel von Richthofen had been promoted to Colonel. He sent a long letter praising the impressive performance of the early model of the famous Junkers Ju-87 ‘Stuka’ dive bomber, calling it the most suitable aircraft for the dive-bombing tactics we had discussed.
I had been secretly worried about Clemens, but when his letter arrived with less than a tenth of it about his unit and the rest filled with boasts about Rafaela, I decided to stop.
That damn friend of mine.
-
February 4, 1938
Army General Staff Headquarters, Ministry of War, Berlin, Northern Germany
“This is absurd! That bastard Hitler is determined to swallow the military whole!”
Gerd von Rundstedt, the most senior General of the Infantry in the German military, slammed his fist on the desk and roared.
“The High Command of the Wehrmacht?! Reviving something that was abolished over a decade ago, only to seat that incompetent fool, Keitel. It’s nothing more than installing a puppet so he can treat us like his personal lackeys!”
“Exactly, Chief of the General Staff. We cannot simply stand by and let this happen! The Minister of War’s wife a prostitute and the Army’s Commander-in-Chief a homosexual?! What slander could be more disgraceful! This incident is clearly a fabrication!”
Erwin von Witzleben passionately agreed with von Rundstedt. Facing the two Generals of the Infantry, the German Army’s Chief of the General Staff, Ludwig Beck, pressed a hand to his forehead as if nursing a headache.
Werner von Blomberg, a Field Marshal of the German Army and the Minister of War, had resigned after Hitler, enraged by secret police reports that Blomberg’s new wife was a prostitute, threatened to publicize the matter if he did not divorce her.
Immediately after, the Army’s Commander-in-Chief, Werner von Fritsch, was pressured into resigning under the disgraceful accusation of being a homosexual.
In an instant, the two heads of the German Army were ousted. When the Nazis then announced they would revive the Wehrmacht High Command to oversee the army, navy, and air force and directly control the military, the armed forces were thrown into chaos.
“...Hmph. What are your thoughts?”
Beck asked the opinion of a subordinate he cherished, a man he had privately chosen as the next Chief of the General Staff.
“...With all due respect, Chief of the General Staff. Field Marshal von Blomberg could have either clearly proven the allegations false or divorced his wife to protect his honor. Yet, he refused and resigned himself. Therefore, this cannot be dismissed as mere slander…”
“What are you saying, Major General von Manstein! Are you suggesting we simply stand by and watch?!”
The man advising Beck, Major General Erich von Manstein, flinched at von Rundstedt’s outburst and fell silent.
But was it not the truth? Had he just given up that one wife, it might have ended with his position only slightly shaken. It was Blomberg himself who had caused this mess by refusing the divorce.
A portion of the military, men who placed extreme importance on honor and had grown accustomed to the patriarchal society that had become even more dominant under Nazi rule, thought this way.
Manstein’s true intentions, of course, were another matter entirely.
His abilities were undeniably outstanding, but as a consummate opportunist and ambitious man, he wanted to avoid any situation that would hinder his career by getting entangled in another’s affairs.
The position of the next Army Chief of the General Staff would fall into his lap if he just stayed quiet, so why take the risk of antagonizing the regime?
However, contrary to Manstein’s wishes, Beck, after careful deliberation, finally spoke.
“If we demand an investigation to uncover the truth, how many men would join us?”
“Quite a few, if we count those who feel this incident is an injustice.”
At von Witzleben’s confident reply, Beck hesitated for a moment, and Manstein quickly interjected.
“But, Chief of the General Staff, the military is fundamentally politically neutral…”
“And is Hitler not interfering with that very military!”
Manstein, attempting one last time to dissuade them, backed down again at von Rundstedt’s retort. In the end, Beck nodded.
“Very well. We shall demand a formal inquiry. No matter how I look at it, this incident is too suspicious.”
Shortly thereafter, the leadership of the Army General Staff, led by Chief of the General Staff Ludwig Beck, General of the Infantry Gerd von Rundstedt, and General of the Infantry Erwin von Witzleben, officially demanded an investigation into the Blomberg-Fritsch affair.
It was a perfectly sensible request for an investigation into a suspicious affair.
The problem was that the Nazis, who would be receiving the request, were anything but sensible.
-
February 13, 1938
The outskirts of Berlin, Northern Germany
[All Friction with Austria Resolved! Another Diplomatic Victory for Our Great Führer!]
On a quiet Sunday, I was savoring a rare moment of leisure, sitting in a sparsely populated café on the city outskirts and reading an incredibly provocative newspaper headline.
The High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) had been established, and Wilhelm Keitel, known within the military as little more than a good-natured desk jockey, was appointed as its chief.
Of course, he held no real power. He was merely a figurehead, a puppet for relaying Hitler’s orders to the Wehrmacht.
The demand for a reinvestigation into the Blomberg-Fritsch affair, made by army veterans like von Rundstedt and Chief of the General Staff Beck, had been soundly ignored by the Nazi regime, only to be completely buried by today’s headlines.
Yesterday, February 12, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg had succumbed to Hitler’s pressure and agreed to appoint Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a leader of the Austrian Nazi Party, as Minister of the Interior.
Hitler and Germany had attempted to take Austria back in 1934 but had failed, tasting bitter defeat due to opposition from Mussolini, who considered Austria part of his own fascist sphere of influence.
Mussolini had only warmed to Hitler after 1935, when he invaded Ethiopia and found himself internationally isolated and fiercely condemned by his former allies, Britain and France. Hitler was the only one who supported him.
It hadn’t even been that long ago, surprisingly.
Now, with clear proof that Austria—from which they once had to retreat due to Mussolini’s opposition—was firmly within Germany’s sphere of influence, all of Germany was once again singing the Führer’s praises.
“Here you are.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I took the coffee from Claudia, glanced at the newspaper headline, and spoke.
“The *Frankfurter Zeitung* has become quite the pro-government paper, hasn’t it?”
“Oh, hardly. This came directly from the Ministry of Propaganda. If you don’t want to be shut down, you have to print these things.”
“I see.”
So that’s it. The work of Dr. Goebbels, I presume?
Then again, blinding the public with stories like this was his specialty.
I had grown quite close to Claudia and the staff at the *Frankfurter Zeitung* over time.
When I’d asked them to publish a rather precarious editorial as a test, they had been so concerned for my safety that they’d suggested revisions. It reached a point where I had to apologize for testing them in the first place.
“So? Does our promising Captain have any information for me?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask, Miss Jung. It’s the weekend. Don’t you ever take a day off?”
“I’m often told I’m a workaholic.”
Claudia replied casually as she sipped her coffee. She was a reporter for the political and military desk.
I had wondered why a female reporter who seemed so far removed from military circles had been assigned to me, but her answer had been a masterpiece.
‘The more important the politician or soldier, the looser their lips become around a pretty woman.’
I thought for a moment before speaking.
“Well, the allegations against the military leadership will likely be swept under the rug. But they won’t simply let the matter go for those who demanded the reinvestigation.”
“Hmm. Forgive me for asking, as the recipient of this tip, but what is the source of your information?”
I simply smiled in response to Claudia’s question.
“Another state secret. To be honest, I’m quite curious. You accurately predicted the request for a reinvestigation, right down to the officers involved. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see if you’re right again?”
“I suppose so. It’s not as if you can write an article about any of this, so I find your continued curiosity the more peculiar thing here.”
“It’s a personal interest. Knowing things in advance can be helpful in one way or another. And… just as you tested me, Captain, I’d like to verify the extent of your own intelligence network.”
“From a mere captain?”
“An Army General Staff candidate who also happens to be the son of a former minister and a giant of the financial world. Besides, as you know, it’s not easy to find an officer who is friendly toward a liberal-leaning newspaper like ours.”
The German Wehrmacht officially professed political neutrality, but in reality, most of its high-ranking officers of aristocratic descent were anti-democratic royalists, a tradition inherited from the German Empire.
The younger soldiers from commoner backgrounds, on the other hand, were often ardent supporters of Hitler and the Nazis, who were in the process of tearing up the Treaty of Versailles and rearming the nation.
Just as she said, an officer friendly to the liberal press would be a rare find indeed.
In any case, I welcomed her interest.
I needed to demonstrate my value and build trust in advance if I hoped to receive their help—however risky—when it truly mattered.
“...Hmm. There will be unrest in Austria soon.”
“What?”
Claudia looked slightly dumbfounded. She glanced at the newspaper headline spread across the table—the one proclaiming all friction with Austria had been resolved—then looked back at me.
That blatant ‘you’re-talking-nonsense’ look in her eyes stung a little.
Her reaction was understandable, though. At this point in time, even Hitler believed the Austrian problem was solved.
Hitler had initially demanded an invasion of Austria, but when faced with strong opposition from the military (which, in turn, led to the Blomberg-Fritsch affair), he had settled for pressuring Austria into appointing Nazi officials to its government, content to make it a firm German ally.
The result was yesterday’s appointment of Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Minister of the Interior. However, the Nazi party members within Austria would interpret this event differently and begin to run rampant.
They would start acting out, believing unification with Germany was imminent. A panicked Austria would then try to suppress them by calling for a referendum on the union, which would in turn incur Hitler’s wrath and trigger the Austrian annexation—the Anschluss.
“Well… official diplomacy and back-channel dealings are two different things.”
“...Forgive me for asking, but do you happen to have connections within the Nazi Party or the SS?”
As she asked, her eyes turned wary. Perhaps she was imagining a grim twist: *I thought you were on our side, but it turns out you’re Gestapo.*
“Frankly, if I were with the Gestapo, I think you’d be the first person I’d put out of a job.”
“So you wouldn’t send me to a camp.”
“Well, you haven’t given me sufficient cause. Not yet, anyway.”
As we exchanged idle banter, the tension seemed to ease, and Claudia’s expression softened.
“So, why are you giving me this rather incredible information?”
“...Well, whether you believe it is your choice. But I trust the people at the *Frankfurter Zeitung*, and I intend to be of use to you in the future. So, let’s just say this is my way of asking you to look after me.”
“I may not look it, but I’ve been a reporter for several years, and I still can’t get a read on you, Captain. I don’t quite know how to handle you.”
“I get that a lot.”
Claudia chewed on the end of her pencil for a moment before speaking, as if tossing the words out casually.
“...Fine. I’ll bite. If you’re right, our paper will have the scoop before anyone else.”
“I hope it works out for you.”
“It had better.”
“Haha.”
I put on a relaxed air for her, but in truth, I was growing increasingly anxious.
The Anschluss was imminent, yet my father, Hjalmar Schacht, showed no sign of acting.
I couldn't tell if his trust in me was still lacking, or if the von Kleist group's activities had yet to gain momentum because Ludwig Beck hadn't resigned. The uncertainty was frustrating.
The time when I would be swept away by the tide of history was fast approaching, yet there was so little I could do right now.
In truth, I knew.
I knew how absurd it was to think that knowing a little about the future could stop the Second World War—a cataclysm born from the clashing interests of great powers, Germany’s sense of victimhood, and sheer madness.
But if I simply sat back and let myself be swept away by the coming era, only a tide of steel and a sea of blood awaited.
And so, I had no choice but to struggle.
If I didn’t, what value was there in being alive, in breathing the air of this era?
I could only hope my actions would truly mean something.