Chapter 77
Chapter 77
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: World War II - What Are We Fighting For (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
January 16, 1940
Budapest, the capital of Hungary
While waiting for a reply to the telegram I had sent home, which detailed my meeting with Horthy and my own opinions on the matter, I found myself walking through the streets of Budapest.
Nem, nem, soha!
Graffiti bearing that slogan—a pledge in their language never to forget the grievances of the First World War and never to repeat them—was a common sight on the city's walls.
The sentiment that Hungary had borne the brunt of the suffering, dragged into the conflict merely as part of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy, was pervasive among its people.
As a defeated nation in the last war, they had lost two-thirds of their former territory. Even under the guise of national self-determination, they were forced to cede Transylvania, a region densely populated by Hungarians, to Romania.
It was among the harshest treatments dealt to any of the defeated powers, so the yearning to reclaim their ancient lands and the homes of their kinsmen was surely not limited to the dictator, Miklós Horthy, alone.
As the nation most emotionally akin to interwar Germany, plagued by a profound sense of victimhood and loss, it went without saying that the Hungarian army had been one of the most proactive participants alongside Germany in the Second World War of the original history.
“Ah, welcome. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”
The man who greeted me warmly was the younger Horthy, István Horthy.
For reasons I couldn't quite grasp, he had taken a liking to me and invited me to his home as soon as our first meeting concluded.
“Thank you for having me.”
“The honor is all mine. Haha.”
The younger Horthy, slightly older than me, was beaming, though I wasn't sure what pleased him so.
“I have been very interested in Vice-Chancellor Schacht, who played a pivotal role in ousting the Nazis from Germany. It is a great pleasure to finally meet the man I’ve only read about in foreign dispatches.”
“Is that so? I'm surprised the son of His Highness the Regent would take an interest in me.”
Regardless of Hungary having been an Axis power, Regent Horthy was a conservative authoritarian with anti-fascist leanings. It seemed his son disliked the Nazis as well.
Uncertain of his intentions, I let my gaze wander. It fell upon a framed photograph of him with a young woman.
“Is that your wife?”
“We plan to marry this year. Haha.”
“I see. Congratulations in advance.”
Perhaps thinking of someone dear to him softened his expression, as the younger Horthy smiled at me.
“She is a good person. I hope you meet someone like that too, Vice-Chancellor.”
*I already have.* I simply offered a faint smile.
“You might not have gathered it from yesterday's meeting alone, but my father also holds you in rather high regard. Haha, our conflict is merely one of national interest, so I hope you don't take it too poorly.”
“Well, I am merely serving a temporary role in a transitional war cabinet. I'm hardly in a position to be highly regarded by a nation's supreme leader.”
The younger Horthy's eyes widened at my remark.
“Is that mere humility? Or are you being sincere?”
“Well....”
“You are already a famous man. Extremely famous, in fact. Your title is only Vice-Chancellor because of your youth. Even here in my country, people may not know Germany's ministers or generals, but they know your name and your speeches. Some analysts even posit that you are Germany's de facto leader.”
*I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.*
“And everyone is wondering. They want to know if you and your father, who appeared like a comet to drive out the madmen called Nazis, will become the new power that rules Germany for a long time, backed by nationwide support.”
*The new power that rules for a long time. He could have just said dictator. Is he phrasing it that way because he's a dictator's son?*
“Well, I suppose we'll find out when the elections are held in Germany.”
“Elections? Are you truly planning to hold them? I don't understand. The position of Chancellor is right there, isn't it? Can't you just continue? The Kaiser has already sanctioned it, and I doubt the German people would object if you were to succeed to the position.”
Having said that, the younger Horthy looked at my expression and gave a slight smile.
“Ah, don't misunderstand. I've spent time in America myself. I know very well what this thing called 'democracy' is."
*He lived in America, too... Reminds me of the Crown Prince.*
"But even if you or your father were to continue as Chancellor, your achievements and popularity are too great for the so-called democrats to oust you at once. In fact, if you were to gracefully transfer power and step down, the people would become anxious.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because people fear what they cannot understand. Just think about it. Suppose you hold elections and quietly step down. Do you think you would wield no influence in that situation? You are already well-known in the military, among the people, and even in diplomatic circles.”
The younger Horthy added with a deep smile.
“So, yes. You are a capable and young soldier at the peak of his powers, a diplomat, and a famous politician. For such a man to say he will quietly step down and leave the rest to elections now that the national emergency is over? I wondered what your true intentions were, despite all the talk of reintroducing democracy. But meeting you in person, I'm surprised and, I must admit, impressed that you seem to genuinely mean it.”
He looked me straight in the eye, paused for a moment, and then drove his point home.
“But for that very reason, there will surely be those who see you as a thorn in their side. If I were in your position, I would never relinquish power to return to being an ordinary citizen. Who would believe that you truly have no ambition for power? They will feel insecure unless they can either bring you onto their side or neutralize you completely.”
The younger Horthy, older than me, spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and his words gave me a headache.
*It's not like I rushed into this to become Germany's ruler. How did I end up in this position?*
*Perhaps it's because I charged forward with only one goal in mind: to oust Hitler and return Germany to being a normal country.*
As a modern man suddenly dropped into the interwar period, my immediate goals in this world were the ousting of Hitler and the Nazis, and the end of a dictatorship that could easily drive Germany into another frenzy.
But because I hadn't thought about what came after, the reality of a rapidly changing world began to crash down on me the moment Hitler was finished.
“Vice-Chancellor, you are fascinating in many ways. To be honest, I was impressed that a man like you even exists. But I believe having a fine character and being a fine leader are two separate issues. Gladstone is respected as a great man, but was he truly a great leader for Britain?”
Gladstone, the British Prime Minister known as the 'Grand Old Man.'
He was most famous as a proponent of moral politics, seeking solutions through international opinion and arbitration to avoid conflict, but in the end, he had to resign, unable to overcome the disconnect with the reality of the age of imperialism.
“In times like these, realpolitik is necessary, and a strong leader is needed. I don't understand why you, who are already doing so well, lack ambition for power, but you need to compromise more with reality. What use are trivialities like morality or democracy when Germany needs you?”
I gave a bitter smile.
“Do you think I am a devotee of moral politics?”
“To be frank, yes. That is my father's assessment, and mine as well.”
*Moral politics. First the father, now the son. So that's how they see me.*
But I am the man who, when left with no other choice, would assassinate Ribbentrop even if it meant staining my lover's hands with blood, and who would start a civil war knowing full well that German blood would be shed.
On grounds of principle and morality, I should liberate Czechoslovakia immediately, but I am waiting for the right moment.
With the sensibilities of a modern man, I have faced countless difficult moments and agonized over many decisions, but I have never stopped moving forward.
“No, I am a practitioner of realpolitik. We simply have different perspectives.”
The reason I emphasize diplomacy to the point that I appear moral in their eyes, and the reason I use it to persuade our government to act according to my vision, is simple.
It is because of Germany's situation—the fact that France could attack us at any moment under any pretext if we give them one—and the existence of the United States, a nation with power they cannot even imagine right now.
If we give France a pretext to enter the war, or if we provoke the United States and our lifeline of trade with them is cut off, what good would Hungary or anything else be?
Consider the ruin that befell the Axis powers in the original history, who rose up ignoring diplomacy, claiming they were merely reclaiming their rightful due as unjust victims.
They were forced to regurgitate everything they had reclaimed, or were reduced to an even worse state. The countless sacrifices and the devastated homeland were just bonuses.
“Germany and Hungary were certainly victims of the last war, but they were also perpetrators. The fact that we suffered does not grant us a license to become aggressors ourselves. We ultimately live in the same world as the so-called 'victorious powers,' and to them, a single one of their tears is more precious than all the blood we have shed.”
The actions of the victorious powers, who shifted all the blame for the last war onto Germany, Hungary, and the other Central Powers, were undoubtedly harsh and unjust.
But the nations that began to believe they were guiltless victims and that a war to reclaim their rights was therefore justified—they were the very culprits who started the Second World War.
Is it even possible for one of the main instigators of a world-spanning war to be innocent?
Ancient lands that must be reclaimed as a victim? It would be nice if that claim were recognized. If the people are burning with the desire to get them back, ignoring that is also a problem.
But if we start a war to compensate for the damages we suffered, what about the new damages that will result? What about those? How much blood is an 'acceptable loss' for reclaiming territory?
And what if you lose the war, having shed countless lives and reclaimed nothing? What will you tell the people then?
“'Our intentions were good, and we did our best, but it wasn't enough'? That won't bring back the people who died for nothing, nor will it resurrect a ruined nation.”
István Horthy's expression soured at my words.
“We were perpetrators too? We simply did our best as a member of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy! Are you saying we must endure all the unjust suffering our people have received? This desire to reclaim what we have lost is not just mine or my father's; it is the will of the entire Hungarian nation. A politician must naturally respond to that.”
Of course, their sense of victimhood is understandable, and their cause for reclamation is ample. But Germany thought the same way when it started the Second World War.
Hitler and the Nazis were exceptionally mad, which is why Nazi Germany was treated as an axis of evil, but even if they hadn't been, the outcome would not have been much different.
The members of the Axis powers would have had to take responsibility for the immense bloodshed. Just like in the original history.
“On the contrary, it is precisely because one is a politician that one must not put the cart before the horse. You cannot ignore the people's aspirations? But is it realistic, let alone moral, to start a war just to satisfy those aspirations without seeing reality, only to turn your homeland into a defeated nation once again? What is realpolitik?”
István Horthy fell silent.
The answer I had postponed when the Regent asked, uncertain at the time, now seemed to be emerging.
“His Highness the Regent asked me if it is moral to practice moral politics even as the people's blood is being shed. In turn, I ask you this: is it realpolitik to drive a nation to irrationality simply because there is something to be reclaimed?”
*Can we become a normal country just by avoiding the Holocaust, by refraining from blatant genocide?*
*To gamble with the lives of your people as the stake, heedless of the consequences, just because you have something to reclaim—that is precisely what the Axis powers of the original history were.*
“War? If it's necessary, we must fight it. I am not so foolish as to preach world peace while under attack. But does losing one's composure and clamoring for war and revenge truly honor the blood our people are shedding?”
Of course not. In fact, this very moment, with Germany under attack and bleeding, is a situation that fills me with boundless rage.
I went so far as to start a civil war to oust the Nazis and avoid that goddamned Second World War, yet I despise this current situation, where I've been dragged into a war anyway, as if by some historical inertia.
But who cares about my feelings? If Germany loses control and starts running wild now, it will be a repeat of the Second World War from the original history.
“I do not value morality more than the blood Germany sheds. I am trying to *appear* moral because I want to minimize the blood Germany will shed.”
I want to restrain the Wehrmacht from inflicting excessive damage or committing war crimes against the enemy out of vengeance, but even so, I do not believe that a democratic Germany will become a completely innocent and just nation simply for fighting a legitimate defensive war.
Even if I wished for it, as Claudia said, it is not possible. Even among the modern democracies of the 21st century, how many nations could be called truly 'moral'? Are there any at all?
Among the many generals currently on the front lines, not a few either condoned or abetted the war crimes of Nazi Germany. To end this war, we will have to advance into enemy territory, and the damage the enemy suffers is inevitable.
I have my own moral standards and will suffer when a situation violates them, but I am not an idealist who doesn't know his place.
For me, this process of ousting Hitler and returning Germany to normalcy for the sake of Germany, and Germany alone, is already overwhelming. I have been through countless trials and errors, and I will face more.
Moral politics. Morality is, of course, something to be upheld if possible. In this era on the cusp of the modern age, I believe it will one day become an asset for Germany.
But if I become bound by it and force my own people to suffer losses, then, as Horthy said, it could not be called moral for a nation. An individual's morality and a nation's morality can never perfectly align.
There will be times ahead when I must make choices that conflict with my personal morals, but I can only hope that the Germany we create as a result will be better than the one from the original history.
“I simply made a judgment in the interest of Germany's national good. I am not certain that my choices are unconditionally right, but I have never once thought that I betrayed the blood of the German people.”
I won't go on about destroying Poland and Italy like Hitler, but we will have to exact a price for the German blood shed in their invasion. Whether that price is Danzig, or something else.
But for that very reason, we absolutely must *appear* to be moral. Am I, a man who calculates and acts on such things, a moral person? I think not.
The reason I demand that the people remain vigilant, and that I constantly guard against Germany—and even myself—running rampant, is not because I believe Germany must be moral and just.
It is because I believe that only by doing so can Germany become better than it was in the original history, that it can become a normal country without suffering the ultimate ruin of the Nazis and the Second World War.
I looked at the silently brooding István Horthy and asked.
“What about the Kingdom of Hungary? Do the odds of victory in this war truly seem high enough to wager the blood of the Hungarian people? Or were you perhaps about to place your bet simply because it looked like an opportunity?”
What they truly want is not Slovakia, but Transylvania, the core territory of the Hungarian people.
Yet the fact that they initially intended to join this war suggests a high probability that Poland promised to help them acquire Transylvania in some form.
But now that Poland seems to lack the capacity to do so, they have approached us, talking about Slovakia while really asking for help securing Transylvania.
However, with the Soviet Union's actions in the east being unpredictable, we, who must be mindful of diplomacy, are in no position to provoke Romania.
The possibility that Poland received or purchased equipment and oil from Romania, as they claimed, is high, but I considered the chance that Romania had given Hungary any guarantees to be quite low.
The question, then, is whether Hungary has secured enough military power to pose a threat to us on its own. Hungary's rearmament likely began with the Bled Agreement of 1938.
But even Germany, after four years of rearming in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, was in a sorry state of armament during the invasion of Poland. How could Hungary be any better?
The very idea that we must choose between ceding Slovakia or helping them invade Romania just because our situation is difficult is nonsense, isn't it?
If they were truly confident they could overwhelm us, there would have been no reason to secretly summon me for negotiations behind the back of Poland, a nation they call their brother.
Looking at István Horthy's stiff, hardened face, I deliberately smiled.
“Has this been sufficient for you to learn about me?”