Crumbling Reich: A Weimar Republic Game (Gameplay Thread)

[KaiserDave]

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CRUMBLING REICH: A Weimar Republic Game

The "Hunger Chancellor" Heinrich Brüning is despised, his austerity measures are hated and the state of the economy continues to worsen. Communists, nationalists, monarchists, and Nazis brawl in the streets as more and more Germans are left in despair, so many looking for a new path. Reich President and hero of the Great War Paul von Hindenburg is in his 80s, while sticking to a conservative, reactionary path. Germany faces both the global depression and the shadow of crippling war reparations. Everything is asking, will the Weimar Republic collapse and will the monarchy risen again, like a phoenix? Will the workers seize all power and establish a Soviet state? Will the Nazis take power, and remake Germany in their image? Or will the democracy find new support, and emerge from the crisis stronger than ever? Only time will tell.


Greetings, and welcome to Crumbling Reich, a roleplay of the chaotic Weimar Republic, set in the elections of 1932 and onwards. There will be a Federal Election, and a Presidential Election in 1932.  The RP will start during the election season in early 1932; the Presidential Election being held in March, followed by a potential run-off in April, followed by a Federal Election in June. Election results will be calculated through a mixture of roleplay quality, historical precedent, and a touch of randomness. The success of player actions will be determined by post quality, historical precedent, and randomness, as well as partly my own decision making. What you do is up to you. You can command street fights between brownshirts and red front fighters in the backroads of Berlin, you can propose legislation in the Reichstag, you can try and organize coups and all manner of political intrigue. Election campaigning will be critical, party leaders will need to declare platforms, organize candidacies, and make speeches. But truly the leaders of this roleplay are the players, and it's really all up to you what you want to do. There will be routine events on news developments in Germany, updates on dice rolls, and specific events and dilemmas for individual characters. In Germany's time of crisis, it's destiny lies up to you!

Things to remember!

• I am here to help! Whether you have an out of game concern, an in game concern, a question on what you can do or questions on the views, actions, and attitudes of NPCs, post it or message me. I am here for anything you need.
• Stay realistic, the Zentrum Party is not going to ally with the Communists, nor the Communists with the Nazis. Your character can do what they like, but things that are historically nonsensical will not be allowed. But I trust ya'll
• Don't declare the outcome of events or actions, if you command a Reichswehr Battalion to put down a group of Brownshirts, feel free to say how and with what, but I will say what happens.
• Right of Response: If you're attacking or doing something directed at another player, let them respond before doing another action in that direction again
• Try and uphold a decent standard of structure and grammar. Effort is always rewarded.
• All posts should be in English but a sprinkling of German phrases is a great way to spruce up a post
• NPCs will be managed by myself (unless someone takes them) but they can always be interacted with
• The world is your oyster, go for it!

Rules (restated from Signup Thread)

1. The OP (Me) will settle in game disputes that may appear

2. No Powergaming, Metagaming, etc. Do not determine other character actions without asking them, unless its something small like dialogue choices (as long as you're consult the other player with what the outcome of your discussions is). Don't state the result of your actions, that will be determined by me, dice, and whatever else is needed.

3. Be polite please , rudeness ain't needed. Be considerate and kind towards your fellow players and blog posters.

4. Be reasonable and stick to decent historical accuracy and realism.

5. If you commit to playing a major character or lead a major party, make sure you know you can stay active

6. There is zero tolerance for out of character advocacy of violent ideology, Nazism, or genocide. And this should be obvious, but this blog's rules are to be listened to.

7. If you have any suggestions, please provide!

8. Have fun!

[KaiserDave]

Key Reich Information



Dereich

Reich President: Paul von Hindenburg
Reich Chancellor: Heinrich Brüning



Communist Party of Germany - 77 seats

Leader: Ernst Thälmann (Devout Centrist)

Members: Willy Leow (PSOL), Walter Hirzgebau (Laki)

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany - 1 seat

Members: Karl Borromäus Frank (Ishan)

Social Democratic Party of Germany - 142 seats

Leader: Otto Wels (GoTfan)

Members: Kurt Schumacher (Representative Elcaspar)

German Centre Party - 68 seats

Members: Franz von Papen [Independent] (JacksonHitchcock)

German State Party - 20 seats

Members: Artur Mahraun (Kingpoleon)

German People's Party - 30 seats

German-Hanoverian Party - 5 seats

Bavarian People's Party - 19 seats

National Rural League - 9 seats
People's Justice Party - 4 seats

German National People's Party - 93 seats

Leader: Alfred Hugenberg (RGM)

Members:  Carl Schmitt  (Brother Jonathan) [Independent, but ideologically aligned]

German National Socialist Workers Party - 107 seats

Leader: Adolf Hitler (NYE)

Political Map

Blue - Strong Conservative

Light Blue - Leans Conservative

Red - Strong Leftist

Pink - Leans Leftist

Gold - Strong Reactionary

Yellow - Leans Reactionary

Green - Swing between Reactionary and Conservative

Orange - Swing between Reactionary and Leftist

Purple - Swing between Leftist and Conservative

[KaiserDave]

The Reich


Wikimedia Commons

6 Million Jobless: No End in Sight

The calculations of the Reich Labor Ministry have revealed that approximately 6 million Germans are out of work. The global economic depression has continued to worsen, with unemployment growing in most sectors. The unemployed, including veterans have become common sights on the streets begging for food and scrounging for welfare checks. Slums have developed in major cities as the newly impoverished gather, where there is spread of misery, pestilence, and crime. The Reich Chancellor Brüning continues to commit to a conservative economic policy, with the reduction of wages and salaries and tight credit being key to his plan for economic recovery. However the Reichstag has rejected many of these measures and the Chancellor has been forced to implement them through the President. Brüning remains unpopular, despite being appointed for his economic acumen by President Hindenburg, the economy continues to tread water. Extreme parties such as the National Socialist and Communists believe the only with a revolution, political or otherwise can Germany liberate itself from the depression, while the parties in favor of the Republic remain committed to a different economic solution. Many believe the along with the coming Presidential election, a federal election will become inevitable with the weak support of the Brüning led government.

[RGM2609]

Hugenberg gives rambling speech at DNVP Party Conference

As 1932 begins, Alfred Hugenberg has called for a DNVP Party Conference to outline the strategy of the party for the next year, which he deems to be crucial for the future of the country. His speech will then be published throughout the Republic. Here is what he had to say.

- Good evening to everyone and welcome to the DNVP Party Conference. Today I would like to outline a few of our objectives for the year, which is crucial in our fight to liberate Germany from the chains of Republicanism, communism, slavery to foreign countries, disturbances to the natural order and the Jew elites. The so-called Weimar Republic is falling. It is led by the filth of the society, such as Jews, Communists and other abnormal beings. It has allowed us to go into slavery to the British, the French and the Americans. This monstrosity of a government made us into little more than a colony. They come here, in our country, and literally stop us from building an army, take our lands, separating our fellow Germans from their motherland, take our resources and force us into extreme poverty. To them I say - How dare you? We are not your colony, and you will soon feel that! Germany will rise again from its ashes! Because Germans are strong and determined people, much stronger than you, filthy invaders! And we will reunite all Germans in their motherland, Germany! Sooner or later the Greater Germany will not be just a dream anymore, I promise you. Soon, the greatest country on the Earth will take its rightful place again. And we will put our interests over those of the filthy French, once again.

Now, we also need to put God first again. The puppet government has allowed Atheists, Catholics and other heretics to flourish. This stupid policy must be ended and the DNVP will make it its priority to give God and its rightful Protestant Church the place in our society that they deserve. We will also end the toleration of sodomy. This disgusting sin is allowed to flourish on our streets, as if here was Sodoma. This is not Sodoma, and we will throw all who do this abnormal, disgusting act into jail for a long time. We are going to clean up Berlin and other major cities of the sodomy and the work of the Devil. We will preserve the traditional society, as God commanded us to, and make the society respect those traditions. The traditional family, the core of Germany, has been undermined by the usurpers. And we will make it our priority to restore normality, and that means a God-fearing society with no toleration for sodomy, abortions, state atheism, communism and hatred of Germany. We will teach every young men to love and respect his country, and if needed, to fight for it.

The Usurpers from Weimar have also been so incompetent and so submissive to the French and British that now millions of people are starving. Because of the so-called elites of the nation, our country is hurting. And its wounds are deep. Even our veterans, our veterans who we should reward beyond their dreams, are being thrown into misery. The slums will rise up against the anti-national usurpers, and the DNVP will be there, ready to lead the charge of the forgotten masses, their rebellion against the filth of the society who is leading the Weimar Republic. And we will restore prosperity by making Germany for Germans again, and make sure that our money go to the needing poor instead of the French and their reparations. We will end the idiotic policy of the criminal Bruning that makes Germans suffer and starve to death while the French, British, Greek, Yugoslavians, Russians and who knows what other countries put food on their table by using German wealth. Germany can and will get prosperous once it uses all of its wealth to feed its own citizens, and that is what the DNVP will do.

We will also end the Republican failure. It is very clear that when the filth of the society is allowed to rise to its highest level, it ends in a disaster for both the country and its people. We will consult the German people, and if they agree, we will immediately call for Kaiser Wilhelm the Second to come back to Germany and lead us into a new age of prosperity, just like he has done during the Empire. The Monarchy is the only viable way after the failed experiment of Weimar, and in order to truly restore the greatness of Germany, we need to be led by an honorable, blessed by God Kaiser instead of Jews and Communists.

Speaking of them, there are a few obstacles ahead of our path to end the usurpers and their reign. The Jews, the puppeteers of the Weimar Republic, will surely conspire against us in order to keep their power. And the red plague, the Communist threat is more powerful than ever. They want us to drop all of our basic values - family, Christianity, Church, patriotism, compassion, dignity - in favor of  creating a Worker Republic, in reality a Russian puppet. By the way, have you heard of plans to invade Russia by some parties? As if what we need is to feed millions of Jews and Communists Slavs instead of feeding ourselves! Unbelievable! Anyway, given that these forces are decided to keep Germany in misery, I call for the Der Stahlhelm to strike first at them, both Jews and Communists. I also call for all willing men to join Der Stahlhelm as soon as possible, and help us with ending the Weimar disaster. I also think disunity is a big problem. Which is why I will personally open negotiations with all healthy, patriotic forces to create an alliance. Thank you.

[Devout Centrist]

Courtesy of Creative Commons

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

1932 Unity Congress of Antifaschistische Aktion

Ernst Thälmann:

“Comrades, members of the Roter Frontkämpferbund, members of the KJVD, to all workers of the German Nation.

I stand before you today to inaugurate the first Unity Congress of the newly formed Antifaschistische Aktion League. These brave representatives of the German working class have gathered here today to express their undying commitment to anti-fascism and to International socialism. These men and women come from every region of our Nation. From the drydocks of Stettin to the foundries of Essen, from the foothills of Oberbayern to the streets of Berlin, these emissaries of the working class dedicate themselves to the opposition and annihilation of the Fascist menace within Deutschland.

In the past few years, the ancient scourges of militarism, imperialism, and fascism have formed an unholy alliance within our Nation and around the world. Their aim is nothing less than the total subjugation of the International Working Class and the revival of destructive, imperialist warfare. Enabled by their Capitalist handlers, these forces have united to form the so-called National Socialist Party.

They call themselves ‘socialists’ and ‘allies of Germans everywhere.’ They mask their true horror with empty words and gestures. These men disgrace socialism with their bloodthirsty imperialism. Given the opportunity, they would send your children to the fiery cauldron of International warfare and conquest. They are nothing more than modern barbarians.

They claim to be representatives of the German worker. They are no such thing. Their Party maintains close relationships with the Capitalist robber barons of the Ruhr and Rhine. Krupp, Daimler, and Thyssen are their puppeteers, manipulating and coordinating every word, action, and speech made by Mr. Hitler.

It is our sacred duty to educate the working class of Germany. We must prevent the Imperialist Fascists of the NSDAP from leading these men to their deaths. We are the only bulwark against International Fascism that threatens Germany. These men and women will stand on the frontline in the coming struggle!

Comrades, our Nation is crying out in hunger! The failed leadership of Chancellor Brüning continues to plague Deustchland. Under his inauspicious rule, millions of our brothers and sisters starve in the streets and reduce themselves to begging for food or whoring their bodies out to the Capitalist class. Meanwhile, the Chancellor’s backers, the Industrialists, rob the workers of their labor and maintain their palatial estates without a hint of hardship.

We must put an end to the unjust and murderous austerity enacted by Chancellor Brüning! The KPD will put an end to the Hunger Chancellor and to his anti-worker austerity. Our Party also stands for full employment of the working class, whereby all German workers may enjoy the full fruits of their labor, free from the oppression of the vampiric Capitalist class.

We condemn the Social Democrats, for their tacit and cowardly support of the Hunger Chancellor. Their refusal to act against austerity is a reflection of their failure to advocate for the working class. Mr. Wels tells us that he is a representative of the German working man and a true trade unionist. But his actions betray his true motivations. By refusing to stand up to Brüning, he has shown his support for the Capitalists and the Industrialists over the working class.

Today, we dedicate ourselves to the renewal of the German Nation and solidarity between all working men and women in Deutschland. We stand in support of all our brothers and sisters around the world in their struggle against imperialism and capitalism. In our capacity as representatives of the German worker, we pledge to end the corrupt, capitalist system of oppression that has reduced the Fatherland to destitution and economic ruination! Workers of Deutschland, workers of the world, Unite!"

[RGM2609]

DNVP proposes to Reichstag its economic plan

The DNVP has proposed today its plan to fight the Great Depression. Here is what it includes -

1. The immediate repeal of all austerity measures taken by Chancellor Bruning

2. The expansion of the social welfare programs

3. Introduce tarriffs on imports

4. Develop a program to rebuild the military and concentrate most resources into it, as military investments are the best chance of Germany gaining steam both economically and on the world stage

5. The Liberty Law, this law would renounce all reparations and make it a criminal offense for any German official to cooperate in their collection. It would also renounce the German acknowledgement of "war guilt" and the occupation of German territory which were also terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

The DNVP will promote its plan during the electoral campaign in the year as well.

[Elcaspar]

Kurt Schumacher

Schumacher speaks to the state of unemployment in Germany on the floor of the Reichstag:

"Is it any wonder that we have 6 millions Germans out of a job with the Chancellor of Hunger and Austerity leading our nation's economic course? It should now be clear that his polices of reduced wages and tight credit has done nothing ameliorate the condition of either the country or it's citizens, it has only led us to slums, misery, pestilence, crime and more unemployment despite the supposed economic acumen of the Chancellor. And not to mention the mistreatment of our veterans, who are either left begging on the streets or left scrounging with but a meager welfare check to name."

"And as both a committed member of the SPD and a war veteran these sights really make my blood boil, especially with an alternative in front of us. We can provide economic relief to our citizens, we can both intervene in and stimulate the economy, we can create society that makes sure that every German citizen can live in dignity, and we can provide welfare to those who fall trough the cracks. These things are not impossible goals, if we put our collective effort and will towards this goal we will be able to create a Germany free of depression, of hunger, of misery and pestilence.

"But it's not with Chancellor Brüning we will achieve these goals. It's not with this Chancellor of Austerity and Hunger, it's not with this Chancellor aligned with the interests of bankers and industrialists. Neither is it with monarchist DNVP, the reactionary NSDAP or the Moscow lapdogs in the KDP that these things will be acheived. It's only with a Chancellor from the SPD that Germany will be free of depression, of hunger, of misery and pestilence, and follow in the steps of the Heidelberg Program. "

"Which is why this body need to declare a motion of no confidence in this government run by decree. We need a government that has the backing of the people, not just the backing of Hindenburg. "

[PSOL]

The Roter Frontkämpferbund, in light of the fact that the central government is doing nothing to support the millions suffering under this capitalist system, will begin to mobilize support to the Proletariat of Germany. We will begin by offering on-site soup kitchens and aide to those most vulnerable in the offices of the KPD. Food and medicine gathered through fundraising will be rationed while education on what must be done to finally end the system that bounds them in chains and robs them of the fruit of their labor.

We also must state that we condemn the Social Fascists for their tricks and lies to the proletariat, collaborating with the bourgeois politicians who have no allegiance to uplift the living standards of the proletariat, only the bourgeois both in the financial markets of dealing with their remnants of land when they were once gentry. The Roter Frontkämpferbund, along with the Communist Party, is committed to the utmost opposition against Fascists and their collaborators.

[RGM2609]

The offers of the DNVP to the minor conservative parties

In an effort to create a clear alternative to the NSDAP on the right wing and far right spectrum, DNVP has tried to convince as many parties as possible to join its alliance. Here are its offers to the parties -

German Peoples Party - 8 eligible seats on the Alliance list
Christian Social Peoples Party - 4 eligible seats on the Alliance list
Reich Party of the German Middle Class - 3 eligible seats on the Alliance list
German Farmers Party - 3 eligible seats on the Alliance list and a greater emphasize on rural issues
Agricultural League - same as above
German Country People - 2 eligible seats on the Alliance list and a greater emphasize on issues concerning the middle class
German Hanoverian Party - 1 eligible seat on the Alliance list
Peoples Justice Party - same as GCP

Der Stalhelm gathers up its forces in Breslau, ready to launch an attack

After the urge from the DNVP Leadership to attack Jews and Communities, Der Stalhelm chose to strike in Breslau, where it believes the Jewish community is the most vulnerable. It took several days to mobilize its troops, as near by units were joined by soldiers from the most distant corners of the country, however, once it deemed it had enough men, it attacked at night. Alfred Hugenberg asked them in a letter to avenge both the supposed rebellion of Jews during WW1 which caused Germany to lose the war and the Kaiser to abdicate, as well as them supposedly causing the Great Depression and becoming rich while Germans starve off in slums.

[Kingpoleon]

Speech of Artur Mahraun
Berlin, printed and distributed throughout the country

My fellow Germans! I weep with all of you. Our country is diplomatically isolated! We are economically weak, with seemingly little prospect for recovery. Blood runs in the streets of our once great country. Over the coming days, I promise you that I will answer these crises head on, with firm policies to regain our grandeur! To restore German greatness and to bring in unprecedented prosperity! With your help, my fellow Germans, we will recover.

But today, I am not releasing my plans for the German economy. Not plans for our national unity. Not plans for diplomacy that will restore our place in the world. Those are coming, I promise you. But today, I must ask a favor of all good Germans. I need your help, and this is not a small favor. It will require you to summon up all your courage and show the world the strength of the German People. Listen, I beg you.

Even now, orders have gone out to my party’s youth wing and to my scouting organizations of young men (and even a few women!) across the country. They are to begin patrolling the streets immediately, and to work with the German police, as well as the federal, regional, and city governments. We will guarantee the safety of every decent person in this country against mobs of radical militants.

I urge all good Germans who hear my voice to do this and to encourage everyone they know to do likewise. Sign up for our youth organization. Work with the police and my new policy of a Zivilwache, as well as civilian police and auxiliary police. I promise you, we can beat these thugs and lowlifes who dare to perpetrate violence on our streets.

Make no mistake: together, we can defeat these militants. Divided, our great nation will fall to them. I am the only candidate running with a serious plan and serious means to halt these attacks that we all despair of when we daily read of them.

[Devout Centrist]

Statement on the violence in Breslau

Comrades, reports from the City of Breslau indicate that the reactionary rabble known as 'Der Stalhelm'  have launched an unprovoked and dastardly attack on our brothers and sisters within the city. This deliberate assault on German workers is a blatant act of fascist terror. It's no surprise that Mr. Hugenberg, himself a capitalist, is hellbent on destroying the spirit of the working man. Mr. Hugenberg and his band of barbarians have declared themselves enemies of Deutschland and enemies of the German working class.

I urge all working men and women to arm themselves. The KPD encourages all members to practice appropriate self defense in the face of reactionary terror. In our capacity as protectors of the German working class, we solemnly promise to defend every German worker from the reactionary death squads roaming in our streets. The men of the RFB stand ready to keep peace in our communities and to prevent violent incursions from the fascist menace.

In Solidarity,

Ernst Thälmann

[RGM2609]

Alfred Hugenberg visits Kaiser Wilhelm the Second

Today, Alfred Hugenberg went to the Netherlands to meet Kaiser Wilhelm the Second, the former and, if DNVP gets its way, next Emperor of Germany. There were no statements made during Hugenberg's visit, however photographs were published. According to Hugenberg's publications the leader of the DNVP went there to ask for the Kaiser's advice in these troubled times and to promise him that soon he will reign over his Empire once again as the Weimar usurpers will be overthrown.

[KaiserDave]

Note to party leaders: PM me or post the vote you are instructing your Reichstag members to vote

Major Reichstag Vote: Confidence Vote on Reich Chancellor Brüning

Result: Nein!





Dereich




Communist Party of Germany - 77 seats

Vote: Nein!

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany - 1 seat

Vote: ?

Social Democratic Party of Germany - 142 seats

Vote: Nein!

German Centre Party - 68 seats

Vote: Ja!

German State Party - 20 seats

Vote: ?

German People's Party - 30 seats

Vote: Ja!
German-Hanoverian Party - 5 seats

Vote: Ja!

Bavarian People's Party - 19 seats

Vote: Ja!

National Rural League - 9 seats

Vote: Nein!

People's Justice Party - 4 seats

Vote: ?

German National People's Party - 93 seats

Vote: Nein!


German National Socialist Workers Party - 107 seats

Vote: Nein!

[Brother Jonathan]

Our Present Crisis, and The Need for Ausnahmezustand

A brief essay by Prof. Carl Schmitt, published in Kreuzzeitung

The great challenge of our time manifests in myriad ways; at the heart is a political dysfunction from which emanates the economic and social upheavals that have marked our nation and many others in these times. Economic malaise and social discord are both the inevitable consequences of a system of government that fails to allow for decisive action, and that creates diffuse centers of power, flowing from tedious and shifting wells of “popular legitimacy”, rather than a central source of authority that acts as the moment requires.

Our current political crisis is reflected by the fall of yet another Ministry. Such occurrences are all too common, especially here in Germany but also in every nation which has been on a similar path. When the opinion of the majority is the only source of legitimacy, there must be a clear majority to authorize and successfully execute needed actions. When, as in our current situation, no majority what so ever can even be found, the natural consequence is that we find our government unable to act as is needed to address issues that we can all plainly see. The Marxists, the Social Democrats, the Liberal, the National Socialists, the Nationalists, the Communists all regard the present mass of the unemployed to be a great crisis, but no one among them can manufacture the “legitimacy” required to take the decisive action needed to reveres out seemingly terminal decline.

Such it is that, for all the declarations in favor of government by “the people”, extolling the virtues of democracy in one form or another (be it Liberal or Marxists) we live for all intents and purposes in a state that is moribund and prostrate, governed by no one. Such is the natural outcome in a state that refuses to recognize that the very principles upon which liberal democracy is based upon are fundamentally false; discussion does not yield consensus or action based on public will, it simply shifts out of public view the real centers of power, and creates compromises that satisfy no one and perpetuate the crises that eroded the principles of discussion on which democracy was in the first place predicated.

Even the most stalwart defender of democracy, then, must recognize that in our current state Germany is not truly democratic. The defender of democracy, however, is unwilling to see that such an outcome was inevitable. Democracy requires equality, which requires homogeneity; but democracy establishes itself as a defender of heterogeneity, and in doing so seals its own dysfunction and decline. So it is that, at its heart, democracy is unable to ever truly succeeded. In the wake of the inevitable failure of the homogeneous idea, obstructed as it is by the democratic heterogeneous ideal, politics in the democracies regress into parodies of their own extremes. Democracy, further, does not give meaning or mission to man, and in doing so debases the true origin of the state. The democratic project is bound up in the destruction of the very sources that could give it meaning. It’s abhorrence of homogeneity, and in turn then its failure to create national unity, imperil all who are subjected to what proponents describe as rule by the people. We are all prisoners of out own listlessness, brought on by the natural atrophy of democratic systems.

A solution to our present crisis, however, is readily at hand. President Hindenburg may now take into his hands the fate of the nation, and use the powers granted to him by our current Constitution to declare a state of exception. In so doing, he may secure for us the living a more peaceful existent, taking the actions needed to lessen the great economic crisis we face, and for generations of the future he can use this power to forge a new state, a vital state, based not on platitudinous contradictions but on clear headed necessity.

I must also implore all the parties of right to join in this endeavor, in urging our President to use the power vested in him to suspend once and for all the parliamentary system that has sapped our state and nation in these trying times. Tempting though it may be to split hairs over the particularities of what is to come, all of us known that our current situation is untenable, and the dismissal of yet another Chancellor serves as yet further evidence of the corrosive effects of parliamentary democracy. Our institutions must be rebuilt and reconstituted now, to preserve our nation and to address the grave problems that face it. The decisive leadership of a dictatorial President Hindenburg, acting in a state of exemption, is the perhaps the greatest hope we now have of saving both the German state and nation.   

[KaiserDave]

The Reich


Wikimedia Commons

1932: Year of Chaos?

The Reich has been shaken hard in the first month of the year 1932. It has started with the shocking events in Breslau in Silesia. Elements of Der Stalhelm openly attacked Jews in their communities in the city. At least a dozen Jews were killed or heavily injured by the armed vigilantes. The violence was only put to an end by the actions of the local police and chapter of Artur Mahraun's Jungdo chapter. The violence was abhorred by a many, but local reactionaries and national socialists openly praised the attacks. They has also been continued clashes in the cities between varying political paramilitaries, as politics gets more violent as elections approach.

In Berlin there is political upheaval. The Social Democrats finally abandoned Reich Chancellor Heinrich Brüning in a dramatic Reichstag scene where Social Democrat Kurt Schumacher denounced him as a Chancellor of "hunger and austerity." Without the Social Democrats the Chancellor was hopeless, and his government was voted down by a vast majority. The Chancellor has not yet submitted his resignation, but it is believed that he will before the end of the month. It is believed he is seeking a last minute solution to avoid so called "negative majority" of communists and national socialists that seems so possible. But already his resignation is demanded by both the left wing, and the reactionary Junker class, who have described him as an "agro-bolshevik." Time till tell who the next Chancellor will be.

Wikimedia Commons

Industrialist, press magnate, and DNVP Chairman Alfred Hugenberg was submitted a list of questions which he responded to below*

Q. Why do you believe that Germany lost the Great War?

A. Well, obviously, the German Army made mistakes during the Great War. Every Army makes mistakes, and we were, unfortunately, no exception. We were also outnumbered and confronted with a cruel enemy willing to do anything to bring death to Germany. However, we could still have won the Great War if not for the agitators at home. The Jews instigated rebellions, communists rose up with help from Russia, the Weimar usurpers forced the Kaiser to abdicate so that they could take power. All of these forces broke Germany from within, and they existed a long time before 1918, make no mistake. They worked in the shadows against us for the first years, and in the fourth year they revealed their ugly faces. Without their intervention, I am absolutely sure that the might of the German army and the strength of the German people would have emerged victorious over their enemies, just like they did in so many instances, and one of the priorities of the DNVP will be to deliver justice to those who betrayed us during the Great War and caused us to go through this period of misery and humiliation.

Q. Do you believe there is a plot to undermine the nationhood of the fatherland?

A. Yes, I believe there are plots against Germany within our country. And everything which has happened in the last 15 years shows us clearly that there is such a conspiracy. And its center is in the Reichstag. The usurpers and criminals of 1918 have now renamed themselves as politicians. In any other country, they would be in jail. Here, they are in the Reichstag, ordering the population around. The filth of the country is leading us. And I believe many countries are involved in these plots. The French and the British want to transform us into a colony or a puppet state at best, and use our people and resources to feed themselves. The Jews and many of the so-called Weimar democrats are involved. The Communists Slavs want to take over our country and use it as the starting point of a war against the capitalist West. So, all of these foreign countries want to subjugate us and we can only fight them back from a position of strength, which is what the DNVP will do.

Q. How will you and your party get Germany out of its current economic woes?

A. Well, first of all we will end the insane policies of the Hunger Chancellor. He is literally letting people die in the slums, even veterans, so that he can pay reparations to the French. All of his austerity policies will be over as soon as the DNVP takes power, and the German government will turn to its own citizens again. We will expand social welfare to end the horrific slums and we will invest in the military, our best chance to grow the economy given that it is an opportunity not currently in use. We will pay for it by cancelling all payments to the French, British and their allies. Once we are in power, Germany is not paying a dime to them. We will also put tariffs on imports to protect our industry from foreign products. Germany will fight for Germany again with us.

Q. How do you view the communists in Germany?

A. Well, first of all we fully expect a revolution from the Communists. Which is why our priority will be to outlaw their party. If they want Communism so bad, they should go to Russia, starve to death there. We will also immediately arrest all Communists involved in anti-national acts during the Empire and the Republic, including their militias. Once the Communist threat is swiftly neutralized, we will proceed with strengthening the government instead of the joke we have now, and we will make sure that the filth of the nation never gets to rule over us again. If we do this, we will be able to become the economic powerhouse of Europe and take back the lands that are ours by right and in which our fellow Germans live.

Q. How do you view partnership with the NSDAP in the Harzburg front?

A. Well, I still believe that the right should be united against the anti national forces, and I am still working to create such an union. However, the NSDAP was not interested in such an union and wants to gain power on its own. I respect their decision and I will not try to form alliances with it, however when our goals coincide, I am open for limited collaborations. Our priority is to convince the German people that the DNVP platform is the right one for the issues we are facing, and that is to bring back the Kaiser and the traditions that we have held for hundreds of years before the Communists and Weimar usurpers took them away. We will also tell the people that invading Russia makes no sense, for instead of gaining the so-called Lebensraum we will get millions of Communist Slavs to feed and depleted resources due to Communist incompetent management. That is what the DNVP will do.



Upcoming Events

Presidential Election First Round: 13 March
Presidential Election Second Round (if necessary): 10 April

*PM me if you want an interview

[Devout Centrist]

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

After the Hunger Chancellor: Rebuilding The German Working Class

Comrades! Brothers and Sisters! I bring with me good news. Just moments ago, the Reichstag formally passed a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Brüning, a man whose government has ruined the German economy and has brutalized the German worker. His reign of economic sabotage is at an end. The collective parties of the Reichstag have finally tossed the tyrant off his golden throne. This is a remarkable victory for every German man and woman.

I must temper my praise with measured condemnation for those who have waited until this moment to turn on the Hunger Chancellor. We cannot forget that the Social Democrats doggedly refused to call a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Brüning, even as the horrific effects of his capitalist robbery were made plain to see. Regardless, I extend my sincere gratitude to Herr Kurt Schumacher for his gallant stand against the Hunger Chancellor. We hope to have his support and the support of men like him in the coming struggle.

Unfortunately, we still have much work to do. Ousting Herr Brüning was merely the first step on the path towards national revival. To truly progress on the road to socialism, we must enact a series of vital economic policies that will shake the very foundation of the capitalist system itself. We can no longer tolerate the gross incompetence and rapacity of the industrialists. We must point Germany firmly in the direction of socialism. This move will enable the working class to assert its political power and gradually erode the pernicious class divide in Deutschland.  

In order to hasten this transition, the KPD is proud to unveil a new economic plan. One that will empower the working class of Germany and revitalize the industrial sector, which has heretofore been pilfered by the capitalists and foreign imperialist powers. These policies will enable a speedy transition to socialism, one that will be marked by the emergence of a truly German proletariat.

--Guarantee Employment to All Adult Germans. National statisticians have recently announced that over 6 million German men are currently out of work. These men are reduced to mere beggars, forced to scrounge from refuse bins and line up at soup kitchens across our country. These men are the root of our current political crisis. Without honest work, a man feels no dignity. His sense of worth is destroyed. He is a lonely itinerant, a victim of a capitalist system that profits from his own destruction. He demeans himself, trying to find any meaning in his misery. These men are the favorite targets of the fascist industrialists. Their lies about national humiliation and Judeo-Bolshevism hasten his own demise.

Comrades, we must attack the problem of unemployment directly: by providing every German worker with meaningful and fair work! A KPD government will act quickly to end unemployment in Germany, by building a formal administration to assign fair labor to every working man and woman. This new labor will invigorate the sliding economy, raising the price of labor and putting the squeeze on the capitalist class.

--Nationalize the Commanding Heights of the Economy. Currently, private interests control much of the German economy. Their rent seeking and vampiric nature means that the rightful product of labor is directed towards foreign shareholders rather than the German worker. The KPD proposes a programme of nationalization. The great sectors of energy production, defense, shipbuilding, and automobile manufacturing should be brought under the immediate control of the workers! This measure will ensure that every worker will receive the full value of their labor. In turn, workers will be lifted out of destitution and a new sense of dignity will be enjoyed by the German working class.

--Stabilize the Agricultural Sector. Comrades, we must not forget that the German farmer is also a member of the international proletariat. Their labor is devalued in much the same way as the industrial proletariat. We must not undermine their contribution to the German working class. Currently, German farmers suffer from the ever present ‘profit motive’, a capitalist invention that forces the farmer to sell their goods in the domestic market at a low price. These goods are bought by the capitalists and then sold at higher prices to the urban working class. This diabolical system creates division within the working class and furthers the divide between our cities and the countryside.

The KPD will institute measures to regulate the price of agricultural goods. This policy will allow farmers to sell surplus harvests at a higher price, enabling them to contribute more food to the German nation. We also support more investments into our moribund agricultural sector, which requires more modernization in order to boost productivity. Finally, we support the importation of other foodstuffs from the international proletariat. These measures will allow German farmers to partner with their international counterparts and form stronger relationships among the international proletariat.

Comrades, these measures are just our first steps on the road to German socialism. Nevertheless, we must embrace these policies wholeheartedly if we are to transform the capitalist system into a truly fair and equal economic structure. With the destructive profit motive removed from society, we can begin the process of ending division between the classes. Workers of Germany, we have nothing to lose but our chains!

[RGM2609]

Hugenberg sends letter thanking Die Stalhelm for the Bressau attacks

In a rambling letter, Alfred Hugenberg thanked Die Stalhelm for its actions in Bressau, calling them the first step towards justice. He promised to reward all officers and soldiers who performed their duties admirably, however he urged them to return anything they have stolen to the DNVP so it can sell the objects and buy food for those in the slums with the money. He also emphasized that this is only the beginning of the fight and Die Stalhelm needs to be prepared to fight against the internal enemies of Germany at all times, for it is truly the force protecting the nation in these dire times.

Hugenberg on new Chancellor - I trust the President to make a good choice, but we will be vigilant

In his first public reaction since the end of the Bruning Government, Hugenberg celebrated the fall of the Hunger Chancellor, saying that it was a long overdue thing, and he hopes that the new Cabinet will not let people to starve in the streets because they need to pay the French and British. He expressed his fullest confidence in the judgement of President Hindenburg and in his ability to pick the best candidate possible for the job, and said that he hopes for the Chancellor to be a Monarchist, patriot and staunch anticommunist. Despite all of this, he promised for the DNVP to be extremely vigilant, and it will not hesitate in putting forward a motion of no confidence if the policies of the new government are hurtful to Germany. He also reacted to the recent essay of Carl Schmitt, by saying he agrees that the parliamentary system is broken and led to the filth of the country being  in charge of it, which is exactly why he wants to end the Weimar failed experiment and bring back the Kaiser.

[GoTfan]

A Speech from Otto Wels

Needless to say, the attacks undertaken by the terrorists in Breslau show flagrant disregard for German citizens. The men of this Stahlhelm are not freedom fighters as they claim, but are nothing more than terrorists, and ought to be treated as such. They should be arrested and brought to trial immediately for these vile acts.

Yet, we now have the leader of a major party who openly condones terrorist acts! Who condones the murder of innocents! A man who describes such attacks a a step towards justice! And if that were not enough, he then asks these terrorists to give what they have stolen to his party!

These are not the actions of a member of this chamber, they are barely the actions of a human being! I am introducing a motion to formally censure and condemn Alfred Hugenberg for his support of domestic terrorism, and call on all supporters of our Republic to support it!

[KaiserDave]

Presidential Election and Character Dilemmas



Wikimedia Commons


The March Presidential elections are imminent, and being that the President is the most powerful figure in the Reich under the constitution, the consequences are immense. President Hindenburg is still considering whether he will run, and there is a great deal of instability all around, especially with the violence in the streets between various paramilitaries. Chancellor Bruning has agreed to resign after the Presidential elections to preserve stability in the Reich, but he seems likely to take up leadership of the Zentrum after the elections. Adolf Hitler has already declared his candidacy, having just been naturalized as a German citizen. He already has a legion of fanatical supporters behind him. But the result of the elections remains in question. There are many questions indeed for the individuals who will determine the fate of Germany.

Comrade Thälmann, you ran for President in 1925, and received 6.4% of the vote. Your supporters expect you to run again, and given that the KPD has enjoyed a surge in support since then, it seems the wise choice. But the question is, will you run?

Comrade Leow, inspired on by rhetoric of social fascism, the Red Front has fought violently in the streets with the men of the SPD's Iron Front at an increasing pace. However given the recent outbreaks of violence against Jews, should the Red Front not emphasize the reactionary Stalhelm and Nazi Brownshirts?

Comrade Hirzgebau, you are known for your stalwart opposition to the "traitors" of the SPD, what will you do to reduce their powers in politics?

Comrade Frank, as the only Reichstag representative for the Socialist Workers' Party, will you continue to do so or join the KPD or SPD?

Herr Wels, given the coming Presidential elections, everyone wants to know who the leader of the Reichstag's largest party will support. Will it be Hindenburg, will it be yourself, or perhaps a different candidate?

Herr Schumacher, your no confidence vote against the despised Brüning has gained your a lot of supporters, in fact the ADGB, one of the largest German trade unions has invited you to speak to them, will you speak?

Herr Mahraun, your star has risen considerably in the past few months alone and the German State Party looks strong, but the question is whether you will find allies on the monarchist right or pivot to the Republican center and whether you are going to run for President yourself or back Hindenburg?

Herr von Papen, you seem among the likeliest candidates to succeed Brüning as Chancellor, but the question is whether you can gain support in the Reichstag, and what you will do to this end?

Herr Schmitt, your essay was well received by the entirety of the German far right, and on the right who increasingly believe that the Weimar experiment has failed. You have received an offer from Herr Hitler to take up a position in the Nazi propaganda division. You could take it, or preserve your independence of action and see what else occurs.

Herr Hugenberg, the Reich President, through General von Schleicher has told you that he will only seek reelection if he has your support, and the support of the Stalhelm. Will you provide the President the support he wants, or open the door for 1932 to be even more unstable?

Of course, anyone who wishes to run for President, support Hindenburg, or back anyone else can of course post to do so. You can post whatever you like within the rules. Campaigning is welcomed and encouraged and will help the candidates.

[KaiserDave]

Note to party leaders: PM me or post the vote you are instructing your Reichstag members to vote

Major Reichstag Vote: Censuring Alfred Hugenberg

Result: Nein!





Dereich




Communist Party of Germany - 77 seats

Vote: Ja!

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany - 1 seat

Vote: Ja!

Social Democratic Party of Germany - 142 seats

Vote: Ja!

German Centre Party - 68 seats

Vote: Nein!

German State Party - 20 seats

Vote: ?

German People's Party - 30 seats

Vote: ?

German-Hanoverian Party - 5 seats

Vote: ?

Bavarian People's Party - 19 seats

Vote: Nein!

National Rural League - 9 seats

Vote: Nein!

People's Justice Party - 4 seats

Vote: ?

German National People's Party - 93 seats

Vote: Nein!


German National Socialist Workers Party - 107 seats

Vote: Nein!

[Continential]

Karl Frank

Karl Frank will campaign for the Socialist Workers Party of Germany by having a alternative between Communism and Social Democracy in the left, Democratic Socialism, and will campaign with trade unions against the National Socialist Party, calling the party, "Dangerous Menace" and will make a plan to have workers elect some their own to the board of directors of companies, fund programs like the American New Deal which would help Germans, end the austerity going on, and to nationalize companies in many sectors, and to expand trade unions.

Karl Frank will run for President.

[RGM2609]

DNVP and Die Stalhelm endorse Paul von Hindenburg for reelection

After a meeting with all leaders of the DNVP and Die Stalhelm, Arthur Hugenberg reportedly persuaded them to endorse Paul von Hindenburg. In a statement published by the organizations in the newspapers, Hindenburg is praised for his role in the Great War, his integrity and his healthy political beliefs, and the DNVP leadership says that they are convinced that after another term of a Hindenburg Presidency Germany will be reborn and free. They assured the President of their fullest support and confidence.

[NewYorkExpress]

Adolf Hitler

With Adolf Hitler's entry into the Presidential race, it became imperative for him and the NDSAP to introduce their platform for the Presidency.

At a speech in Nuremberg, Hitler unveiled the first planks of his platform.

• Repudiate the Versailles Treaty
• Increase the size of the army to 500,000 men, and introduce conscription

• Add twenty-four battleships, fourteen aircraft carriers, and one hundred seventy five submarines to the German Navy
• Revive the German Air Force, with five hundred planes

• Annex Austria, the Saarland, Alsace-Lorraine and Poland, preferably by diplomacy, but by force if necessary.
• Establish a system of international alliances around the world to assist in the fight against Bolshevism. Special support should be given to Italy.

• Nationalize all war-making industries
• Spend heavily on public works to bring Germany out of the Great Depression.

Hitler also made a foray into foreign politics in his speech. Noting that Germany was not the only country holding an important election in 1932, as endorsed Herbert Hoover in the upcoming United States Presidential election, calling him "the only person who can keep America from falling into Bolshevism".While Hitler's viewpoints about various other ethnic groups are known to anyone who has read Mein Kampf, Hitler has largely made it a point so far to avoid mentioning his plans for such ethnic groups, only stating that "there is a time and a place for that discussion and this is not it."

[/list]
[/list]

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Hitler repeated his offer of a propaganda position in a Nazi Government to Carl Schmitt, and also offered Herman Goering, a loyal member of the NDASP and former World War One flying ace, the position of the commander of a revived German Air Force.

Finally, Hitler instructed his Reichstag members to introduce a resolution calling on President von Hidenburg to retire.

[Brother Jonathan]

Prof. Schmitt Gives Public Lecture in Berlin

Prof. Carl Schmitt gave a public lecture in Berlin, speaking to an audience of right-wing academics on the issues the nation faces.

We must, therefore, be open to the declaration that the experiment is failed; the patient has only grown more ill by this course of treatment. A sensible doctor would change the prescription, and so a sensible government must exercise the state of exception to rectify our national crisis.

Prof. Schmitt also addressed growing speculation that he would enter politics.

I am truly flattered by Herr Hitler's proposition, and I shall make no secret that he and I have much by way of common ground, but I am afraid I would not make much of a propagandist. I am a Professor, and though it does seem at times the two overlap in the mind of the Marxist, I must assure you the one is not entwined with the other to any great extent. I would, however, be willing, indeed honored, to serve any government in whatever capacity it might have me, provided that government is committed to taking the steps that so desperately need to be taken to save Germany from destruction.

Prof. Schmitt declined to make an endorsement in the upcoming Presidential election "at this time" but did discuss briefly what he felt the next President of the Reich should do

As I have noted before, and will note again here, the President must invoke the Ausnahmezustand as soon as possible. We have within our reach a mechanism that can save Germany from the crises enveloping her, and we must not hesitate to use the powers of the state to save Germany from the folly of that same state in the past. The rule of law has degraded into the rule of no one, and this must be remedied by the President as soon as possible. Dissolving rebellious state governments and taking decisive, uniform action to address our nation's many issues will truly be the test of the next President and our next Chancellor.

He also paused to briefly express hope that the Weimar System could be saved by direct action by the President

Revolution is not required now. What is needed is a President who will act within the bounds of our Constitution to save Germany. The power is their. We need not have barricades and battalions of paramilitaries in the street to save the nation. We have the tools, and I urge President Hindenburg to exercise his just power to save the nation and the constitution. These are dark times, but we have at our disposal the tools to save ourselves. I make no secret of the issues I take with our current constitution, but I recognize also that it provides a means by which we can preserve order, and it must be the first duty of the President to exercise his powers to return order to Germany. We can have liberty and rights, but not at the expense of public order, with a mass of unemployed and restless Germans.

[NewYorkExpress]

Adolf Hitler

Speaking briefly in Munich, Hitler expressed disappointment in Professor Schmitt's decision to decline the propaganda position. Instead, Hitler has offered the Propaganda position to a fellow member of the NSDAP, Joseph Goebbels.

In a speech in Frankfurt, Hitler indicated that should he be elected President, his first choice for Chancellor would be Alfred Hugenberg.

The NDSAP will have 750 members of the SA on the streets of Berlin, targeting communists.