Crumbling Reich: A Weimar Republic Game (Gameplay Thread)

[GoTfan]

i repeat my call that the people of Germany must be allowed to decide on the return of the monarchy or not and state the commitment of the SPD to a referendum on the matter.

[KaiserDave]

Wikimedia Commons

Office of the Reichpräsident

By the powers invested in me by the German constitution of 1919 and Article 48 of the German constitution, I hereby order the creation of a pact between Reich Government and the Catholic Church in German for the benefit and nourishment of the poor and unfortunate. The Bolshevik agitators upon whom many of the workingmen and employed of Germany do not have their best interests at heart. In the spirit of Pope Pius XI's Quadragesimo anno encyclical, the Reich government will present an alternative to Bolshevik treachery for the poor in cooperation with the Church.

Cordially Signed,

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg

President of the German Reich

[NewYorkExpress]

SA to march on Berlin?

Rumors are flying that Adolf Hitler has ordered the SA, in advance of likely crackdown of armed political wings, to march on Berlin and depose President Hindenburg and Chancellor Von Papen.

While Hitler and SA Commander Ernst Rohm publicly deny such an order exists, the plan, based off Mussolini's march on Rome is to go forward imminently.

[GoTfan]

If Herr Hitler wishes to attempt another Putsch, then he will find the Reichsbanner standing in his way.

[RGM2609]

Hitler response to Hugenberg

Just because you want the monarchy back doesn't mean anyone, both inside and outside of Germany wants it back.

This is not even about the Monarchy. It is about you, a so-called patriot, associating yourself with the Communists! I am sure the entire country realized by now that you are just another Bolshevik in disguise.

[KaiserDave]

Wikimedia Commons

Office of the Reichpräsident

By the powers invested in me by the German constitution of 1919 and Article 28 of the German constitution, and in view of the imminent security threats to the Reich government and to well being of the German people I hereby declare the Reichstag to be temporarily suspended and order it to relocate to a safe location as long as the current crisis persists, with an interest to the safety of its members and the need for swift decision making in government.  

Cordially Signed,

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg

President of the German Reich

[Kingpoleon]

By order of the President and Chancellor, Minister Mahraun has left the country with Klausener to go to Rome to negotiate a Concordat. His deputies will abide by the order of the President and go where the government rests.

[Devout Centrist]

Due to unfavorable circumstances, the leadership of the KPD will be taking a brief recess from their planned schedule in Berlin this week. Ernst Thalmann will continue his national speaking tour, heading to Erfurt, Hamburg, and Kiel this week.

[Dereich]

An Announcement from the Chancellor's Office

IN light of the ongoing rapidly developing situation within the Reich which are causing a threat to the public order and after receiving due approval from the President of the Reich, the Reichswehr is authorized to assist in measures to restore public safety as envisioned by Article 48(2) of the Constitution of 1919, should their deployment become necessary.  This announcement serves as notice to the Reichstag as required by Article 48(3) of the Constitution of 1919.

x Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Reichskanzler

[NewYorkExpress]

Imminent Coup-Hitler

With the assistance of the entire SA, 7,000 members of the SS, and the leadership of the Nazi Party (minus Goering, who has stayed behind to become the designated successor should something happen to Hitler), Hitler launches a putsch against President Hindenburg and Chancellor Von Papen.

His goal is to take over the Reichstag, the Presidential residence, all government buildings in Berlin, and the various states of Germany, and get himself named Fuehrer, which for these purposes means he needs to force the resignations of both President Hindenburg and Chancellor Von Papen.

The Putsch is set for the very next day, from the calling up of the Reichswher.

Hitler will be at the head of the Nazi forces in Berlin, assisting in the takeover of the Reichstag Building, assisted by the NDSAP members of the Reichstag (minus Georing) and portions of the SA. Other sections of the SA (and Rohm) will be assigned to taking over government offices across Berlin and capturing the Presidential residence. The SS will be providing support to the SA, both in Berlin, and elsewhere in Germany, where they are expected to capture the state governments.

Hitler also expects, based on previous sentiments among the the rank-and file of the Reichswehr, to defect to him, as well as a significant portion of the Reichspolizi.

[GoTfan]

The combat leagues of the Reichsbanner are hereby ordered to mobilise in defence of the republic.

[KaiserDave]

Wikimedia Commons

Office of the Reichpräsident

By the powers invested in me by the German constitution of 1919 and Article 48 of the German constitution, and in view of the current putsch being carried out by radical, dangerous, indecent, and detestable elements of the National Socialist party, I hereby declare that any energetic measures that shall be adopted in the defense of the Reich government have the entire backing of the Reich President.


Cordially Signed,

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg

President of the German Reich

Wikimedia Commons

Office of the Staatskommissar

By the powers entrusted in me as Staatskommissar by the government of the Free State I hereby declare that a state of martial law now exists in the Free State of Bavaria in the interests of defending Bavaria and her people from the madmen now launching a coup against the Reich government in Berlin and any general anarchy that may occur. The Reichswehr and forces at the direction of the Free State government will take all possible measures to guarantee the safety, security, and stability of Bavaria. This is including by not limited to curfews, checkpoints, patrols, and temporary suspension of routine civil government procedure. It is the solemn and holy duty of my person to defend Bavaria and her people and I will take all possible measures to do so.

Signed,

His Royal Highness Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine

Staatskommissar of the Free State of Bavaria

[Dereich]

An Announcement from the Chancellor's Office

After consideration of the circumstances around the German Reich. It is the opinion of the President and the Ministry that the Reichswehr as constituted is incapable of effectively responding to the obstacles facing the Reich. As such, the Reichswehr Minister is hereby ordered to organize and execute an expansion of the Reichswehr beyond the current number of active personnel of 100,000 men.

[GoTfan]

An Announcement from the Chancellor's Office

After consideration of the circumstances around the German Reich. It is the opinion of the President and the Ministry that the Reichswehr as constituted is incapable of effectively responding to the obstacles facing the Reich. As such, the Reichswehr Minister is hereby ordered to organize and execute an expansion of the Reichswehr beyond the current number of active personnel of 100,000 men.

This will result in an invasion by the Western allies that we will be unable to fight. The SPD cannot support this.

[Devout Centrist]

Breaking: Thälmann Returns to Berlin!

Courtesy of Ernst Thälmann - Führer seiner Klasse

Brothers and Sisters, I am happy to stand with you at this most sacred hour.

I returned to this great city to stand with the workers of Berlin against Adolf Hitler and his band of armed thugs. I have received word that the SA, under command of the reactionary Ernst Rohm, are marching towards Berlin as we speak. Let me be clear: the KPD will do everything in its power to prevent a Fascist takeover of the Government. The German working class stands united against Nazism, against Fascism, and against capital.

I have deployed our brave comrades in the Rotfront to the streets of Berlin and in streets across Germany. They will stand with their brothers in the Reichsbanner against the Nazi menace. We will do everything in our power to destroy Hitler and his would be fascist revolutionaries.

I encourage every working man and woman across Germany to take to the streets. Every German worker must rise up against fascist oppression! It is your birthright as a German to life, liberty, and security. Do not let these thugs conquer your homeland! Stand in solidarity with your brothers and sisters across German.

At this crucial hour, we renew our vow to the holy and eternal cause of German socialism. The KPD will never abandon you to the evil machinations of the militarists, the fascists, and the capitalists. We stand together against all enemies of the working class. Brothers and sisters, join me in defeating the Nazi Party once and for all!

Solidarity Forever!

[KaiserDave]

THE MARCH ON BERLIN


Wikimedia Commons

The Brown Army

Berlin is a big city. Not just in the great volume of people, but the urban sprawl. The vast exurbs, neighborhoods, and the diverse collection of neighborhoods outside of the central Mitte. It is a city bursting with activity, with life, and the hustle and bustle of the modern day. It is hard to control, there is always something going on. In the winter this remains so, while the cities may remain caked with ice and snow, people go about their business in their coats and hats. In the early January of 1933 however the atmosphere was different. The New Year's celebrations were muted as it seemed the military presence was growing, ominous decrees came down from government, and government offices quietly shuttered. Checkpoints appeared on streets, and armored vehicles creaked through towns, everything knew something was about to go down.

On the evening hours of January the 4th, when the school children of Berlin had gone to sleep, but there was still some activity on the streets a radio broadcast when out on Nazi Party radio across the nation. It was a regularly timed evening broadcast, but instead of hearing the normal rants and raves on the Jewish question, the Bolshevik menace, and the ineptitude of parliamentary government Joseph Goebbels began with a stern, solemn tone.

In the history of every nation, there is a great time of choosing. Where great civilizations and empires take the path to degeneracy and ruin, or purity and immeasurable glory. The Romans, in all their glory faced this path, and Rome burned. The great Oriental, Chinese Empires fell to decadent failure as well. But this will not be the fate of the great German volk. The German nation is unconquerable, the German race is indomitable! But the path to total victory will be paved with the blood of heroes, with those willing to sacrifice everything for their nation and their Führer. The first steps of this road to immeasurable glory begin tomorrow. The Day of Victory is at hand for the German people, and the Day of the Rope is at hand for her enemies.

In the early morning hours of January the fifth, where the night was as dark as ever, Sturmabteilung Brigaden and Standarten took up their rifles, 30 rounds a man, and began a coordinated attack on the city. From _____, a country war room disguised as another party building organized the Second Hitlerite Putsch. Led by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, orders were directed to thousands of armed Brownshirts in the field. Across Germany Nazi storm detachments were moving into position to seize key government buildings, cut telegraph lines, seize radio stations, and join up with each other and what they hoped would be thousands of enthusiastic supporters and Reichswehr defectors. But the epicenter of the coup was in Berlin, the capital and natural heart of the Reich. It was not a Nazi city, but it was crucial to any attempt to seize power.

Brownshirts were also assisted by crack Schutzstaffel brigades, ready to seize key sites while Brownshirts marched and attacked. The number of armored vehicles was limited, but in Weimar Germany picking up on old Freikorp equipment wasn't all that difficult. But the main column of the assault was a marching column of rifle shouldering Brownshirts with Führer Adolf Hitler marching arm and arm with Ernst Röhm, Gregor Strasser, and Rudolf Hess all singing the Horst-Wessel song. As the sun began to peak over the Earth on the 5th day of 1933, the National Socialists began their attack on Berlin.

They attacked from all ends of the city. Minister Seldte had closed the trains but he could not close the city, they moved on foot from across the Spree and Havel rivers. They marched towards Pankow in the north, Köpenick in the east, and Spandau in the west. As they marched they picked up mutinying bands of fascist detachments of Der Stahlhelm. Not interesting in turning arms on what they viewed as their brethren, these steel helmeted brutes tugged swastika armbands on and began to approach the city too. As they entered the outskirts of the city, approaching bridges, crossing points, and other crucial sites they encountered sandbagged machine gun and rifle nests of the Reichswehr, and fighting began.





Wikimedia Commons

The Broad Coalition


It was not as if the National Socialists were unopposed. On the contrary this was hardly the March on Rome. The government, well supplied with knowledge of a nearing coup, and already wary of strikes and violence was ready. Minister Lettow-Vorbeck and Chancellor Franz von Papen had mobilized the entire Reichswehr across the nation, and as much as they wouldn't admit it had withdrawn the government from Berlin, when the Nazis reached the government buildings in the cities they meant to seize they found soldiers stationed ready to shoot. In Bavaria especially martial law had been declared, and despite the strong force of the National Socialists there, they found themselves up against a prepared enemy.

But it was not just the forces of the Reich government the Nazis faced. They had made the mistake of turning every political faction against them. The conservative infighting, the communists and their strike, and the Social Democrats feud with the government all came to a halt to face down a shared enemy. Perhaps they had different motives but they now fought together. The Red Front was mobilized, the Reichsbanner combat divisions, loyal groups of Der Stalhelm, and the Jungdo as well. Every political leader had sent out orders for forces, scrambling for the greatest numerical advantage, but in Berlin altogether they outnumbered the Nazis almost two to one.

It was a massive coalition, dedicated Marxist-Leninists, and hardened reactionaries. While they did gain numerical advantage, there was a haphazard nature to it all. Lettow Vorbeck and his Generals issued orders from the Benderblock, the Reich President and Chancellor could receive reports in Neudeck. but they could not control the Red Front, or the Reichsbanner, or the Jungdo. They couldn't direct angry civilians, or anticipate from where in the city Nazis may organize. Not to mention the sleet, the slush, and the ice in the city making everything more chaotic. At least they know that the fighting could not be that protracted, with the fierce weather conditions and the undisciplined nature of the combatants involved.

The Second Hitlerite putsch was in full swing.

[RGM2609]

Hugenberg praises the Reichswehr expansion

"Yet again, the von Papen Ministry takes the necessary steps to ensure the restored honor of our Fatherland. This is one of the first, but certainly not the last, order to release ourselves from the chains of foreign powers and their murderous Treaty."

[GoTfan]

Wels addresses United Front soldiers in Berlin

"Never before in all of history, has such an alliance of so many disparate people come together to face their common enemy. The right of Stalhelm. The liberals of the Jungdo. the Social Democrats of the Reichsbanner. The Communists of the Red Front. But, never before have we faced an enemy such as this.

Hitler and his Nazis will show us no mercy. We must give them no quarter. They will not stop until they have killed every single one of us. They will terrorise our population. They will drag us into a war we cannot hope to win.

We must stand firm in the face of that terror. We must stand as one in the face of that terror. We must stand united in the face of that terror. Whatever our disagreements, we are as one in the face of the Hitlerist menace.

They will advance until our last city falls. But we will not fall. We will not falter. We will not tire. We will not fail.

We will prevail!

Each of us will be defined by our actions in the coming days! Stand tall! Stand strong! Stand together!"

[NewYorkExpress]

Adolf Hitler addresses the SA and SS outside of Berlin

By the end of this day, we will be the masters of Germany. We have the courage, the strength to take what is ours.

I believe in each and every one of you, that we may triumph and become the rulers of Germany, and then Europe.

[RGM2609]

Hugenberg makes the right-wing case against Hitler

"My fellow Germans,

Today Berlin is under assault by a so-called patriotic force - the Nazi Party and its brutes, the SA. Many of you may have been fooled by Hitler's siren song, but the invadors are no patriots and no rightists.

The invadors call themselves the National Socialist German Workers Party, which sound a bit too communist for my taste. Because that is exactly what it is. Despite rhetorical rants, Hitler and his goons joined the KPD in protesting against the Monarchy. He cut backroom deals and then went back on them, he betrayed the von Papen government and helped the Bolshevik strikers at a crucial point in time. His only ideology has been the pursuit of power, not backed by any belief or principle. This March once again proves that. He puts everything at risk, easily risking a leftist coup in his insane desire of control.

I will not stand for this. We will not stand for this. We won't allow this madman to rule over Germany and turn it into a psychotic dictatorship! The Germany we are fighting for is independent, united, patriotic and prosperous, and today we are marching to Berlin to defend this vision!"

[KaiserDave]

THE MARCH ON BERLIN


Wikimedia Commons

Berlin-Wittenau: 9:14 AM

Gustav Werner leaned as his comrade lit his cigarette. It was a cold morning, the ground was full of grey-white slush and fresh ice. Gustav's breaths turned to thick clouds in the air and the puffs of his cigarette looked as if it might freeze in the air. Private Werner stood, his rifle shouldered in front of the disordered line of sandbags him and his half a dozen comrades had laid down on this quiet Wittenau road. A few houses lined the streets, there were a few trees, and a turned around a bend around ahead. They had been stationed here to protect against a Nazi thrust from the north if that was such a thing. Nobody was quite sure how this would occur? Would it be like the Kapp Putsch? The Beer Hall Putsch? Nobody could be sure. Gustav listened as a few shots rang out in the distance. His fellow soldiers did as well. They felt close.  They heard chatter ahead. A few of the soldiers sitting against the sandbags smoking got up and listened. Boots slapping against the ice and stone.

"Achtung!" shouted the commanding officer of the group, a mere corporal. Around the bend ahead a Brownshirt was waving a swastika banner. Behind him came rung several pink faced brownshirt youngsters carrying carbines. Already they were shooting. Gustav lept down onto the sandbags and tore off his gloves to reach into his bag for bullets unhindered. He pushed a clip into his rifle, cocked it, and tried to look above the sandbag. Shots were now ringing back and forth, as Gustav now tried to contribute to the cacophony. Gustav winced a shot flew by him, and winced again as he heard someone near by hit the ground with a thud. He looked up briefly to see the flag bearer on the ground, his flag left on the ground. There must be two dozen of them Gustav thought. He saw about 10 charging towards them waving their rifles as clubs and a few still firing. He heard a brief sound as someone next to him threw something. Then there was a blast. Blood and bits of iron splattered the snow as the grenade exploded and the fresh faced nearly teenage Nazis ran, already tired of pitched battle.




Berlin-Tempelhof: 10:16 AM

Eberhard Albrecht tightened the strap around his helmet, marked the distinctive SS runes. Him and his detachment of 30 SS had just breached a gap in the Berlin defense area around Buckow. They had terrified a few Reichsbanner bunnies into running after a brief amount of fighting, now they were in sight of the runways at Tempelhof. Securing the airport was vital, it was another way of getting into or out of Berlin. Eberhard again looked at his MP 18 submachine gun, the Reichswehr was not permitted to possess submachine guns, but the SS didn't play by the rules of liberals and foreigners. It would be quite the surprise. That's to say if the Reichswehr was even here. If all was going to plan the nearby Reichswehr would be occupied with SA assaults in Steglitz and Lichtenrade. The SS increased their speed as they approached the empty traffic circle at the front of the airport. With Tempelhof secured, an imaginative path to the Reichstag could be opened. Eberhard and his men would be rewarded handsomely by the Führer. The open lobby of the airport was largely empty, save for a few employees, baggage helpers and receptionists who scattered with a few screams upon seeing the black uniformed killers burst through the door.

Eberhard and his ran through the airport, was it really undefended? Eberhard heard a whistle outside. He ran towards an exit door, seeing a security officer there armed with a truncheon, he killed him with a symphony of bullets. He ran out, to see arranged on the airstrips what must be a few hundred Jungdo, and seeing several dozen soldiers further off running desperately towards the airport. The Reichsbanner must have found a way to communicate the SS assault to nearby units. Eberhard saw as a nearby small plane's motor began to run. He had distracted himself however, and his enemies had begun to shoot at him.




Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg: 11:32 AM


Bullets rang across the intersection as they flew into the air and ripped into the sides of buildings. Metal clashed on metal as the armored vehicle teetering through the center of the intersection emblazoned with a crudely painted swastika on its side was fired upon.

The fighting in Prenzlauer Berg and Heinersdorf had been the fiercest in all of Pankow. Experienced warrior brutes of Der Stahlhelm who had been campaign outside of Berlin had switched sides when the Nazis arrived, and had punched a bloody hole through Pankow, forcing retreats from inexperienced police and soldiers. Supported by Brownshirts they were putting the heart of the city, the Reichstag, the Presidential residence, and government buildings all at risk.

But here in Prenzlauer Berg the fascists would be stopped dead in their tracks. At least that's what Frederick Kröner hoped as he ran, hoping he wouldn't be shot, behind a crudely built furniture barricade. This area was defended only by the Reichsbanner, but Reichswehr reinforcements were coming from Treptow, and an encircling action had been ordered (at least that was the rumor), by General Beck and Lettow-Vorbeck to cut off the fascists here. But they had to buy time. Frederick grabbed a lighter from the man ducking next to him, the man who was now trying to load what looked like a Needle rifle from the Franco-Prussian War. Frederick had no firearm, only a club and a bottle of petrol. He lit the cloth and stuffed it into the bottle, and rose and chucked it at the armored vehicle in the street. The fire clawed up the side of the vehicle, as the top was thrown open as a few men climbed out. Bullets continued to ring out as the fighting persisted.




Berlin-Westend: 12:45 PM


Gregor Strasser ducked slightly as he thought he heard another bullet whiz by. He was puzzled by the Führer's decision to order much of party leadership, including Hess, Röhm, and himself to march into Berlin. It felt like a suicide mission, but the party trusted the Führer. Gregor wasn't so sure, but he couldn't argue with results. The motivated Brownshirts marching in step and operating with the support of commandeered vehicles, had beaten back inexperienced police and barely armed Reichsbanner, and with the support of nearby SS they had made ample gains. Onto the Reichstag was the chant, aside from the refrains of the Horst Wessel song over and over again. But as Gregor walked the occasional shots heard in the air had escalated into a steady rumble of gunfire. He begun to hear more noises ahead. With all the people around him he could see somewhat an equestrian statue ahead, and heard more shooting.

"What's going on?" he asked to a nearby SA officer running by with dust and blood on his face.

"Experienced soldiers, machine guns. It's a mess. They have snipers too!" Strasser could see ahead of him more movement, and nearby Röhm was standing by an armored vehicle with a mounted machine gun that had starting firing. Before he knew it there was shooting everywhere, Gregor had found himself much closer to the fighting than intended. Gregor waved to a couple of Brownshirts that didn't seem occupied in fighting as he backed behind a parked car.

"You four! I need protection, we need to regroup somewhere." The Brownshirt responded.

"Gauleiter Strasser, the Führer is with us here! This is where we must fight!" Gregor winced as more bullets whizzed by, the fighting seemed to be getting closer somehow. Gregor got up and shouted to a couple other armed Brownshirts to regroup. There was more shouting now. Then was even more. Somebody shouted then loudly enough to pierce the noise, and others would soon copy his exclamation.

"The Führer is hit!"




Berlin-Grunewald: 2:36 PM


Shooting rang out in the distance, machine gun fire rolled on in the distant sky, but here in Grunewald there was victory. Der Stahlhelm, Reich Police, soldiers, and Red Front fighters all ran forwards with a victorious cheer as the Brownshirts ran. Gunter Frank, a new recruit to the police force ran on with them. Running by the bodies of SS and SA on the street, and around onto a new street as he ran with many others of the broad anti-Nazi coalition. The damage to Grunewald was not much, barely superficial, but here was were the fascists were running. A Brownshirt march onto Grunewald had forced the police and Jungdo to retreat, an SS infiltration had put them further on the defensive. Then entire squads of police in the area had gone over, slapping on swastika armbands, it must have been 50. But with time they were able to push them back. Reichswehr units from the outside of the city made it to them, the long police line from Schmargendorf to Tiergarten marched into the neighborhood, but it was the morale shock that had won it. A rumor had spread, to the police and then to the SA that Hitler had been shot, then Frank was informed that in Heinersdorf and Prenzlauer Berg the Army and Red Front had surrounded a large contingent of Nazis and forced them to surrender at gunpoint, or be killed.

And here in Grunewald the Nazis were being chased into the river. Frank drew his revolver as he saw a few Brownshirts running with the fear of the lord into a side street, Frank fired a few shots down the alley, seeing one of them fall but kept running. There were more Nazis to catch.




With almost a day of fighting over the conflict is not yet concluded but the National Socialists, despite initial gains have been repelled on all fronts. Adolf Hitler has been shot, and the vast numerical superiority of the anti-Nazi alliance has seemingly won out in the city. Although Reinhard Heydrich has survived to organize SS outside Berlin, Gregor Strasser and Heinrich Himmler are missing, Hermann Göring has seemingly disappeared, and despite Nazi successes such as the seizure of a few industrial towns in the demilitarized Rhineland and in East Prussia, where control Königsberg still remains in question, the March on Berlin has failed to achieve its initial purpose. But the political and military situation has yet to be entirely answered....


If you have any questions on secret information related to your forces please message me. Any questions however are welcomed. The events of the initial March on Berlin are concluded but that's not say that the putsch is entirely over.

[GoTfan]

Wels addresses United Front forces after the fighting in Berlin

"You see how cowardly fascists run, brothers and sisters?!

Today, we have stood up. We have stood as one. We have stood together. And look at what we have accomplished! We have driven the Nazis from our capital! And this is just the beginning! We will break you, you cowards, for you have roused the anger of all Germany!

Tnis is a day for us to recognise that while the man next to us may not share our beliefs, we all share the idea, the vision of a Germany free of fascist influence. The men of Der Stalhelm, who have made their stand for a strong Germany. The Red Front, who made a stand for the workers. The men of the Reichsbanner, who made their stand for democracy. And of course, the men of the police and Reichwehr, who made their stand for their country.

Let us honour our fallen, regardless of their politics, and let us drive these mademn from our country!

Stand Tall! Stand strong! Stand together!"

[Devout Centrist]

Telegram from Ernst Thalmann

As soon as the Reichstag reconvenes, we are calling for a permanent and complete ban on the Nazi Party, the SA, and the SS.

[Dereich]

An Announcement from the Chancellor's Office

By the express approval of the President and under the authority granted by Article 48 of the German Constitution of 1919, Article 118 of the same is in part suspended. The right of newspapers (including but not limited to Der Stürmer and Völkischer Beobachter), publication houses, and broadcast stations associated with the National Socialist German Workers' Party to publish is hereby suspended.

x Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Reichskanzler

By the express approval of the President and under the authority granted by Article 48 of the German Constitution of 1919, Articles 123 and 124 of the same are in part suspended. The National Socialist German Workers' Party is hereby outlawed. The right of assembly is suspended for members of that organization insofar as the assembly is related to the aforementioned National Socialist German Workers' Party.

x Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Reichskanzler

[Lumine]

MINISTRY OF THE REICHSWEHR
Official Announcement

The Minister of the Reichswehr wishes to praise the excellent performance by the soldiers, officers and staff of the Reichswehr in Berlin and across Germany, which has been instrumental in preventing the success of the treasonous National Socialist putsch. He also offers his sincere congratulations to the countless volunteers, police officers and paramilitary groups which fought alongside the Reichswehr, saving the capital from a raving maniac, whom we can confirm as having died of wounds sustained during the fighting at Berlin-Westend.

The actions of Herr Hitler and most of his leading lieutenants are an act of treason against the German state and the German people. In light of their failure to overthrow the government, their inability to defeat the Reichswehr and other loyal forces, and after the death of their would-be dictator, this nefarious plot against Germany stands no chance of success of any sort. On a personal basis, the Minister encourages all rebels still resisting to surrender before they inflict more damage on the nation than they already have, for any further efforts against the government will be dealt harshly.

The German soldier believes in loyalty, obedience and honor. The German soldier believes in Germany and its people. It is for these reasons that the Reichswehr stands in loyalty towards President Hindenburg, Chancellor von Papen, and the German people and state. We welcome and acknowledge Chancellor von Papen's latest decrees and the ban on the traitorous NSDAP, and shall endeavor to pursue the expansion of the Reichswehr as swiftly and efficiently as possible, so that treasonous adventures such as the one pursued by the late Herr Hitler never become possible again.

Signed,

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.