The Triumph, Part 2
In modern warfare, it begins as a fight solely between soldiers. But as time passes, the war expands to the civilian sphere.
During the Vietnam War, the US military was a complete mess in many ways, but they actually fought remarkably well despite all the absurd obstacles thrown their way. After all, they won the vast majority of their engagements. Truly the army of the final boss, one might say.
But what ultimately dealt the decisive blow to the US military was anti-war public opinion. The moment the public decides they no longer want to squander money on war, whether it is a democracy, an autocracy, or even a fascist state, the government simply cannot hold out.
“...The war still isn't over?”
“They said I'd see my lover by Christmas!”
“What is the state that it can just drag my son away?!”
Every able-bodied man had vanished from the streets, and those who did return were disabled if they were lucky, and corpses if they were not.
“Mom, I want sausages! Sausages!”
“...I'm sorry, dear. It's potatoes for lunch again today.”
“Waaaaah!”
Fortunately, thanks to the massive influx of agricultural produce from the Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative and the giant fertilizer business made possible by ammonia, starvation was relatively rare in Austria.
But war was war. Much of the ammonia was diverted to chemical production instead of fertilizer, and the canned goods pouring out of the factories were prioritized for the front lines.
Basic luxury factories, such as those making toys and clothing, had all been converted to produce war materiel.
Shtal was well aware of this turbulent public sentiment.
How on earth did they endure the First World War in my original timeline? People are already sick and tired of this after just a year and a half...
With the populace growing weary of the conflict after only eighteen months, Shtal had to periodically manufacture events. Last time, it was the arrest of Führer Apis.
Führer Apis's childhood, Führer Apis's youth, Führer Apis's college days...
“What... is this?”
“The execution of Führer Apis is currently showing to packed houses in the theaters of Vienna's 16th District. Representative Shtal, if you would care to...”
“That bastard Stalin! Why the hell did he record a snuff film like this?”
The theaters were even showing the process of Führer Apis being roasted like a rotisserie chicken. The twentieth century was truly a remarkable era.
“Mom! I want to go watch Führer Apis die too!”
“Hoho, shall we? They say they're giving away the movie tickets for free.”
It was a bizarre sight: children holding hands warmly with their parents to go watch a "failed" execution by the electric chair.
Though Shtal's modern sensibilities could not comprehend it, Führer Apis's war crimes trial nonetheless served as a joyful event that helped people find meaning in the war while simultaneously forgetting its grim reality.
Some might ask what the point of such waste is when the soldiers urgently need bullets. They know nothing. Even if the war drags on and we are reduced to eating nothing but turnips, we can never neglect public relations and marketing.
The war had now shifted into a war of attrition. Whoever held out the longest would win! Therefore, the state had an obligation to constantly provide "content" so that the people would not grow weary of the war.
Shtal's first move upon returning to Vienna was the triumph.
Crushing Serbia was one thing, but liberating Poland and advancing deep into the heartland of the Russian Black Army was perhaps the greatest victory of the past century.
“Just a little more strength! The citizens of Vienna will shower you with immense cheers!”
“The subjects of the Empire have their eyes on you alone.”
From Slovakia to Poland, and all the way to Belarus—having traversed such vast distances in a short span of time, the Coalition soldiers were bound to be exhausted. Yet, what had to be done had to be done. They could not let such a golden opportunity slip away in a lackluster fashion.
Naturally, Shtal was the busiest of all.
“Let's set the schedule for... about ten days. We can't just end the parade with a simple military march, can we? Secure some factories. We need to hand out souvenirs or something. Oh, and even if it's rushed, make sure to shoot a movie. The event will probably take place in about two weeks... How do you shoot a movie in two weeks? The quality doesn't matter! Just splice some scenes together, please.”
A triumph lasting a whopping ten days. It might seem like an extravagance in the midst of war, but Shtal was planning the triumph to be an event rivaling the Olympics. Packed to the brim with all kinds of festivities, it had to fill their chests with pride for at least the next year and a half! They only had to suffer through this once. And whenever they ran out of content, they could just remind the people of the "heart-swelling" events held during the triumph.
And so, on the first day, the citizens of Vienna, who had been completely starved of entertainment, poured out into the streets in droves. Even the factories were scheduled to operate at a relaxed pace during the triumph.
“But... the factories...”
“Aren't there stockpiles left?!”
“The ammunition shortage on the Italian front is critical.”
“Contact America! I don't care if we have to pour money down the drain, secure them somehow!”
Shtal was one thing, but the administrative staff stationed in Vienna were going through absolute hell. A massive parade in the middle of a war. In peacetime, taking ten days off wouldn't be an issue, but in war, even a single day of factory shutdown would cause immediate disruptions.
“Gather all the committees! Put them on security duty.”
“...But they aren't security guards.”
“Then what else can we do? Just put them in uniforms and stand them up looking sharp; no one will dare try anything foolish. Is the factory schedule ready?”
“A-Aaargh! If we schedule it like this, the military uniform factory will blow up; if we do it like this, the canning factory will blow up; and if we do it like this, the gunpowder factory will blow up!”
“Make it work somehow! Just make it work!”
The parade was also a total war! Just as Germany drew up railway timetables for the Schlieffen Plan, they had to consider production schedules, rest times, and every other factor to ensure there was no disruption to supply.
Shtal and the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) had always strived to reorganize the Austria-Hungary Empire into a sort of planned economy. However, due to efficiency issues, it had only been implemented restrictively in specific sectors like the Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative. Ultimately, they had failed to fully integrate the private economy into the state economy.
And yet, a true wartime mobilization economy was about to be perfected—through a parade!
“See? It works, doesn't it?”
“*Pant, gasp...*”
“How on earth did we pull this off?”
Naturally, it was not the work of the bureaucrats alone. Starting with the cooperatives and street committees established across the country based on the Stahl-Ferdinand Model, civic groups, bureaucrats, businesses, labor, intellectuals, and the military—every stratum of the nation had united under the single goal of the "triumph," negotiating and dividing the labor among themselves.
Naturally, the scholars residing in Vienna, the city of freedom, were astonished by the economic system that had been realized in just a few weeks.
“W-What on earth has been happening in Vienna?!”
“How is this even possible?”
“Though it may be temporary... the true nature of the hitherto ambiguous Stahlism is finally coming to light!”
Until now, economics under Stahlism had been explained as a so-called worker-governed community. It seemed to pursue an ideal of equal production relations centered around cooperatives. Just look at the Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative. Had they not created equal factories where every producer held one vote, without any capitalists?
Yet, to describe it simply as a cooperative or a worker-governed community left many ambiguous points. For one, it recognized the existence of capitalists. While it elevated the power of the workers, it never disregarded the existing power of the capitalists.
“Indeed. This was the unsolved mystery of Stahlism.”
“Shtal increased the power of the workers... but he didn't try to strip the capitalists of their power either.”
“He has Archduke Franz Ferdinand as his patron, flatters the Kaiser... and is even the son-in-law of a capitalist!”
By now, the study of Stahlism had reached a certain level of maturity. Everyone knew that while it might have been influenced by "communism," it was certainly not communism itself. It was, in essence, a "Third Way." After all, what kind of communism aligned itself with a feudal class system and an absolute monarchy?!
Stahlism was surprisingly indifferent to "class abolition" and "equality." And with this parade, the scholars finally seemed to grasp its essence.
“Every class functions pluralistically under the banner of the state.”
“Should we call it negotiation and coordination?”
“It breaks away from the dichotomy of capitalist-worker, noble-commoner, and monarch-subject.”
A system where each class possesses equal authority and coordinates within the framework of the state. That was Stahlism! A form of governance, so to speak. Of course, if Shtal heard this, his reaction would be, What on earth are they talking about?! or I did that?! But isn't that precisely what intellectuals do?
The work of an intellectual is almost identical to that of a critic. It is like solving a literature question on a college entrance exam. The author writes something without a single thought, and the intellectual's role is to imbue it with profound meaning.
In any case, while the field managers diligently prepared the parade under the banner of "Stahlism," Shtal entered the Heldentor, the Heroes' Gate leading to Heroes' Square.
Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp.
An army so orderly that it was hard to believe they had traversed a straight-line distance of a thousand kilometers marched along the streets and across the square.
It was not just infantry marching in lockstep. Aircraft decorated the sky with dazzling maneuvers like an air show, and combat tractors that finally looked like actual "weapons" filled the roads.
Though the soldiers marching down the streets had every reason to be excited, they maintained strict military discipline as if to prove they were battle-hardened veterans.
“Waaaaah!”
“Long live the Imperial Army!”
“Long live the Revolutionary Guard!”
An overwhelming roar of cheers rained down upon the troops. Since at least the first day of the triumph had been declared a public holiday, the citizens of Vienna had turned out in full force, waving flags.
Just as the march of the soldiers was beginning to grow monotonous, the true protagonists of the triumph made their appearances one after another. Though Stalin was likely sweating blood over land reforms elsewhere, General Mackensen and General Hutier also attended the triumph as commanders of the allied forces. Walter Model, Erich von Manstein, and Heinz Guderian—the greenhorns handpicked by Shtal—had also performed exceptionally in this war, earning the immense honor of marching alongside Shtal himself.
“Who on earth are they?”
“No idea. Must be someone important.”
Though the crowd's reaction was lukewarm, simply passing through such a procession as one of its main figures was an honor so great it could make one wet themselves.
“Bwahaha! Long live the Stahlism revolution!”
“...Should I just naturalize as an Austrian?”
Faced with such unimaginable, first-class treatment, the hearts of the three officers were already leaning heavily toward Austria.
Shtal chuckled softly as he watched the bewildered officers.
Was it during the Slovenia meet? When we first planned the mass games and didn't know what to do with the crowd's roaring cheers.
He recalled the time when the three of them—Adolf Hitler, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and Shtal—had vaguely realized they would do absolutely anything to hear those cheers again.
Now, it was Hitler's turn.
“Waaaaah!”
“Heil Hitler!”
“Hitler for Hungarian Führer!”
Shtal flinched slightly at a word that absolutely should not have been uttered, but Hitler, completely thrilled, rode past the procession regardless.
There had been a similar parade when Shtal accepted the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on behalf of Chairman Karl Wittgenstein. Back then, Shtal had been riding in an eyesore of a scrap-metal combat tractor. This time, however, he rode a horse with magnificent dignity, leading the procession with poise.
“Shtal! Shtal! Shtal!”
“Waaaaah!”
The citizens of Vienna remembered when Shtal first created Penicillin. There was no one who had not heard the rumors of the "Mold Monster." They remembered when he had personally entered the slums of the 16th District—which now bore almost no trace of its former squalor—to treat syphilis patients. They remembered when he first took the stage with Viktor Adler to deliver a speech for the Social Democratic Workers' Party. They remembered when he developed ammonia and orchestrated the explosive demonstration. The citizens remembered it all vividly.
Vienna had changed so much that the city of those days was unrecognizable. Yet, the citizens still remembered the young chemist and chanted his old moniker.
“St. Shtal!”
“Saint Shtal!”
Shtal had already become the patron saint of Austria. After all, Shtal and the Coalition forces were the Crusaders fighting against the evils of the national revolution.