I did nazi that coming...

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

November 9, 1924

On this date a stateless Austrian national and the Great War veteran because an obscure if interesting footnote in history, as the bulled fired by a Bavarian State policeman cut him down during the last, desperate hours of a failed putsch he conceived to take over Bavaria. Even in death his fate was out overshadowed by the news his much more famous partner, General Erich Ludendorff, suffered a mild injury sustained during the same salvo.


One of Adolf Hitler's last photos
Source (Bundesarchiv, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany)

This marked the end of his somewhat impressive rapid rise from a demobilized soldier to leader of a small, but steadily rising in prominence far-right nationalist party. With the coup's failure, his supporters were either arrested or managed to flee, confronted with even more uncertain future and decisions they now had to face.

[Non-consecutive Two Term Floridian]

So... Germany wins WWII in this scenario? Lol

[Lumine]

Really looking forward to see what happens next!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Meanwhile

As the embattled Weimar Republic was undergoing its' very first direct presidential election, the right's main candidate, Karl Jarres, came in first during ballot, but the divided Weimar coalition had significantly more votes combined. Taking advantage from the electoral law, the runner-up, Social Democrat Otto Braun, the powerful Minister-President of Prussia, begrudgingly withdrew in favor of Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, representing Center Party.

Sensing Jarres' weakness, the right courted national hero, feldmarshall Paul von Hindenburg, trying to persuade him to replace Jarres in the second round. Hindenburg, however, firmly resisted. Aside of his reluctance to seek a political office and strong monarchist views that he didn't want to compromise, and old field marshal was visibly affected by Ludendorff epic failure in Bavaria, that only got him shot and arrested. In the end, he said "no".

In the second round, Marx defeated Jarres and now had to pay his price for the SDP sacrifice by appointing Hermann Muller as his replacement at the Reich chancellery. The republican forces have prevailed not only in the election, but in the battle about the future of Germany's system of government. SDP-Centre-DDP coalition remained firmly in control of the Reichstag, as well, and possibly more important, Prussia, for as the old saying goes "he who controls Prussia controls the Reich". After all, it was Prussian bureaucracy and police force, responsible for three fifths of the entire German state, that put down the infamous Kapp Putch despite the Reichswehr declining to intervene in the defense of the government.


Otto Braun, the guarantor of the Republic:


Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10131, Otto Braun
Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-10131 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)