Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The German Civil War - Prelude to the Storm (1)
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September 5, 1939
Frankfurt, the interim capital of the new government in Kassel, 9th Military District, Central Germany.
Despite a shortage of troops, the new government had mobilized forces transferred from Bavaria—originally intended for the Brandenburg front—to welcome Crown Prince Wilhelm with a rather respectable parade.
“Heil Kaiser!”
“Long live the House of Hohenzollern!”
It seemed the royalists had learned a thing or two from the Nazis, for they had hired agitators to praise the imperial family from among the crowd. However, most of Frankfurt's citizens were merely intrigued by the rare spectacle.
Strictly speaking, Germany had officially abolished the monarchy, so Wilhelm was less a crown prince and more a claimant to the throne.
Of course, if I were to say that out loud, the die-hard royalists who already despised me would surely raise hell to have me dismissed immediately.
Crown Prince Wilhelm and his wife, Crown Princess Cecilie, disembarked from the train with seemingly satisfied expressions, waving to the citizens as they approached us.
“Thank you for coming, Your Imperial Highness. It is an honor to receive you.”
Colonel General Ludwig Beck, as the Imperial Regent of the new government, greeted Crown Prince Wilhelm with due courtesy.
In truth, the new government had tried to bring Crown Prince Wilhelm from Oels Castle in Silesia just before the coup, but he had refused.
Instead, he moved to Cecilienhof Palace near Potsdam, where Crown Princess Cecilie was staying, and only came to us after the new government had stabilized and General Lutz's armored divisions had advanced to Potsdam.
“Thank you for the welcome, Regent. The House of Hohenzollern commends your efforts.”
He said that, but in the end, it just meant the Crown Prince had been hedging his bets until the last minute.
I was quite curious what General Beck, who maintained an impeccably polite exterior, was truly thinking.
“It is an honor, Your Highness. We will escort you to the temporary government building.”
“Yes, please do.”
What I knew about Crown Prince Wilhelm was very limited.
He had been exiled after Wilhelm II's abdication. After some time, he returned to Germany, promising the Weimar Republic he would not interfere in politics, but he broke that promise to help Hitler, only to later distance himself from him. Something like that?
It's one thing to know about the famous mustachioed Kaiser, but it was hard to have much interest in a crown prince who never even ascended to the throne.
“What kind of person is Crown Prince Wilhelm?”
So I asked Tresckow, who was approachable enough—or rather, the least awkward person to ask.
The high command, who had promoted me, claiming my rank was too low for a spokesman on broadcasts, had also promoted Tresckow and Lieutenant Colonel Oster to Colonel.
The generals were not promoted to avoid potential friction with the Wehrmacht forces still loyal to the Nazis, but in effect, all the key figures of the coup had been moved up at least one rank.
Tresckow, perhaps because he couldn't smoke in front of the Crown Prince, was fidgeting with an unlit cigarette as he answered.
“This must be your first time meeting him. Well, he's not a bad sort. He served with distinction in the last war and was active in both military and political affairs. He supported the Nazis before Hitler showed his true colors. Then again, most of the Wehrmacht did back then.”
Tresckow looked bitter as he spoke. Most of the military figures now involved with the new government, including himself, had once supported Hitler, who had advocated for a strong Germany, renounced the Treaty of Versailles, and initiated rearmament.
I was in no position to judge. Dietrich Schacht had volunteered for the Condor Legion and gone to Spain, all to pledge loyalty to the Führer and advance his military career.
“During the Weimar period, His Highness cooperated with the Nazis, believing Hitler would restore the monarchy. But during the Night of the Long Knives, Hitler murdered the Prince's close friend, General Schleicher, along with other royalists. After that, His Highness grew disillusioned and has lived quietly ever since.”
“I see.”
So he couldn't let go of his hope for a restored monarchy and ended up being used and then discarded by Hitler.
Things would get very tiresome if the Crown Prince was still desperately hoping for the restoration of an absolute monarchy. I hoped that having been burned by Hitler once, he had learned a bit of realism.
“By the way, Colonel. Don't you think you should cut back on the smoking?”
Tresckow, still fidgeting with his cigarette, let out a dry laugh at my words.
“What? Haha. Just a little while ago, you were a mere captain, and now that you're a field officer, you think you can talk to me like an equal?”
“Of course not. I'm just concerned because you're the one who brought me into the new government. It's bad for your health.”
Awareness of the harms of smoking in this era was nothing like it is in modern times, but he was such a chain-smoker. Tresckow looked at me with an amused, incredulous smile, then leaned in and spoke softly.
“Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself.”
“Sir?”
“You're well aware that Dr. Goerdeler dislikes you, but recently he's also grown wary of the broadcasts you and your people are making.”
Hmm, so it's come to that. We haven't been overt about it, but our broadcasts, while representing the new government, never once mention the restoration of the empire or the revival of an absolute monarchy.
On the contrary, we've been amplifying the voice of the democratic faction. Our goal is to subtly influence the public and the high command, like a gentle rain soaking into clothing.
“The Foreign Office and the Abwehr hold you in high regard, and your frequent contact with the British has given them a relatively favorable view of the democrats. But there are many others in the new government besides them.”
“Understood, Colonel. I'll be careful. Thank you for the advice.”
Tresckow gave a short laugh, clapped me on the shoulder, and put his cigarette away.
If General Model was my mentor in the military, then Colonel Tresckow was my mentor in the new government. For him to warn me so directly, the far-right royalists must be getting serious.
I'll have to be careful.
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September 8, 1939
Northern France. Paris, the capital of France, the ‘City of Light’.
Édouard Daladier, Prime Minister of the French Third Republic, was meeting with the British Foreign Secretary, Viscount Halifax.
“Their civil war is unlike any we've seen before. It's quite different from the recent conflict in Spain.”
Daladier nodded in agreement with Halifax's assessment.
“A civil war where ideologically different factions unite under the banner of resisting a dictator, focusing on a war of public opinion rather than military conflict... I never expected to see such a thing in Germany, a country that has yet to firmly establish democracy.”
When the new German government first contacted Britain, the British held little hope for them.
Hitler's domestic support was incredibly high, and the resistance, led by military figures, didn't seem much better than Hitler himself.
When the civil war broke out, Britain and France had hoped the factions would shed as much blood as possible, weakening Germany's national power. When the new government's ambitious offensive on Berlin was thwarted, they expected it to be swiftly crushed.
However, even after their initial offensive was blocked, they managed to avoid military confrontations as much as possible and succeeded in securing the upper hand within Germany through a sophisticated war of public opinion that surprised even the democratic nations.
As it became apparent that the new government would not collapse so easily in the near future, and might even win the civil war, Britain and France began to feel the need to seriously discuss how to respond.
“What is Britain's position?”
Despite his thick neck and build, which had earned him the nickname ‘the Bull of Vaucluse,’ Daladier could not hide the characteristic fatigue of a politician at the end of his term.
“We intend to observe the situation a little longer for now. At present, we cannot determine whether this new government is a faction seeking to wage another war after an anachronistic restoration of the monarchy, or a potential partner with whom we can negotiate.”
Daladier frowned at Halifax's reply.
Britain had always put France in a difficult position regarding Germany by taking an ambiguous stance, acting as neither a direct party nor a mere third party.
Throughout August, as the Munich Agreement was violated and the Danzig crisis intensified, France had been forced to anxiously and repeatedly ask Britain if it would truly join the war.
“What if we were to support the new government as the legitimate government of Germany and provide them with equipment, on the condition that they agree to uphold the Treaty of Versailles, which Hitler so brazenly tore up?”
Halifax shook his head at Daladier's words.
“They haven't even secured Germany yet. Realistically, they are not in a position to discuss upholding the Treaty of Versailles, are they?”
“Perhaps negotiations would be possible on the condition that they uphold it after securing Germany.”
Daladier was desperate. The French Third Republic was in a state of extreme turmoil.
Unlike Germany, which had recovered relatively quickly from the Great Depression thanks to Hjalmar Schacht's abilities and the Nazi Party's unorthodox methods, France's economy was still reeling. It was further shaken by the 1936 general strike of the Confédération Générale du Travail and the subsequent Matignon Agreements, which conceded to their demands.
Because of this, Georges Bonnet, the former Minister of Finance and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, argued that rearmament would further destabilize the French economy, and insisted on avoiding war at all costs throughout the interwar period, even if it meant unconditional concessions.
Bonnet was Daladier's political rival within the Radical Party. Daladier had appointed him Foreign Minister, thinking it was better to have him in his cabinet than plotting behind his back and threatening the government, but Bonnet had instead pressured Daladier at every turn, forcing his own views upon him.
Even after Hitler violated the Munich Agreement, Bonnet insisted that Germany was running rampant not because of ideologies like Lebensraum or racism, but due to economic problems, and he even tried to pursue economic cooperation with them.
This yielded no results, however, as Germany's economic situation was too catastrophic to be solved by mere economic cooperation, and the Nazis, even more insane than Bonnet had anticipated, completely ignored him.
There was a reason France had been dragged along by Germany and Britain throughout the interwar period.
“My Lord Viscount, have we not been in the same boat all this time?”
France, which had hastily begun rearming after the Munich Agreement, was now suffering from even more severe internal conflicts than when it had been preparing for war with Germany, all because of the German civil war.
The anti-war faction, led by Foreign Minister Bonnet and the leftists, pressured Daladier daily to halt rearmament immediately and reduce the army's size once more.
However, any halt to rearmament was met with fierce opposition from the French military, which had tasted a rearmament as welcome as rain in a drought, and from the far-right within France.
The proud French people condemned Daladier and the Radical Party for creating a ‘time of shame,’ during which their Grande Armée, the strongest in Europe, had to helplessly watch Germany's expansion. Seizing this opportunity, the far-right French Social Party was gaining overwhelming support.
At this rate, it was clear that the Radical Party would lose the French general election in April 1940. For Daladier and his party, securing a promise from the new German government to uphold the Treaty of Versailles was a clear opportunity to redeem themselves and show that their policies had finally borne fruit.
Continue rearmament just enough to appease the military and conservatives, support the new German government with weapons to help them oust the dictator in the spirit of the French Revolution, and then collect reparations from them to restore the economy.
Wasn't this a narrative that could satisfy both the pride and the practical needs of the French people?
“If this continues, the Conservative Party (the current ruling party in Britain) may have to work with that far-right Social Party instead of us.”
To Daladier, the French Social Party led by François de La Rocque seemed similar to Hitler in almost every way.
They stirred up the public with slogans like, ‘The French race is the synthesis of greatness, and it forms a whole,’ or ‘France must reclaim its greatness.’
Furthermore, they were the ones who had run a group of political thugs called the ‘Croix-de-Feu,’ which resembled the Nazi Sturmabteilung.
They now feigned a moderate stance and pretended to compromise with Parliament, but they still led their reorganized paramilitary organization under the name ‘Mobile Propaganda Teams.’
Daladier worried they would turn into another Nazi party after taking power.
“Hmm... For now, I will convey this to Prime Minister Chamberlain.”
Halifax gave no firm commitment. While the predicament of Daladier and the Radical Party was unfortunate, Britain had no obligation to worry about a change of government in France.
Britain's general election was in November, five months earlier than France's. And while the Conservative Party's position had been shaken, it wasn't so weak that they would lose power to the opposition.
Moreover, even though both had begun rearming, 'British-style rearmament' did not involve mobilizing a large land army like France, but rather preparing adequate armaments and funds to ‘support’ its allies.
No one was going to break through the seas ruled by the Royal Navy to invade the British mainland. It was customary—and far less burdensome than France's approach—to provide funds to allies struggling with military expenditures during a war, while also ensuring a reasonable ‘profit’ for Britain.
There was no need to create unnecessary variables by demanding adherence to the Treaty of Versailles, especially without knowing how those Germans would react.
Besides, there was no guarantee that going out of their way to hand the Radical Party a victory would ensure they kept power. Wouldn't it be better to cooperate with whoever definitively won power in France?
François de La Rocque's 'France First' ideology was a matter of some concern in British political circles, but after starting as a far-right figure and establishing himself, he had begun advocating for national reconciliation and social justice, presenting a more moderate image.
Surely, it was impossible for two warmongers like Hitler to emerge in the same era, wasn't it?
Viscount Halifax thought this to himself as he gave a noncommittal reply to Daladier, who was pleading with him to consider his request favorably.