The Rise of the Third Reich

Hersman placed a bouquet of flowers in front of a tombstone. The name on the tombstone was Martin Scheidemann. A little unknown figure in the original history. He had not read many books, was less than 50 years old when he died, and was a worker in the Essen coal mine. Because he was injured while working in a coal mine, his right foot was lame, and he was old, so he was not drafted into the army during the World War.

When the revolution began in 1918, he was still an activist in the labor movement. He was almost fired by his boss for inciting coal miners to strike. He was also arrested by the Essen police and imprisoned for several days.

And now, the coal mine boss who once wanted to fire him, the police who once arrested him, the former chairman of the Essen Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies who once led him to engage in the "anti-war movement", and the Ruhr District Coal and Iron Federation There are many company managers and chairman of the board. Now wearing the most solemn mourning clothes, they gathered at the cemetery on the outskirts of Essen, surrounded by woods and various sculptures. Attended the funeral of Mr. Martin Scheidemann.

Because he was shot by the French-Belgian occupation authorities after being sentenced to death for inciting a strike!

Hersman bowed to the tombstone, then turned and looked at the people attending the funeral. Most of them knew that Hersmann had been sent by the General Staff to investigate the Ruhr crisis. Hersman had spoken to most of them before the funeral.

"Gentlemen and ladies," Hessmann said, "you have all seen that I am an officer of the Wehrmacht, a supporter of His Majesty the Emperor, and a count. In the revolution of 1918, people like me were Called a militarist, Mr. Martin Scheidemann is a labor activist who opposes the war.

Before the Ruhr crisis broke out, although Mr. Scheidemann and I did not know each other, we were certainly political enemies. I believe many of you also regard him as an enemy!

If he had been killed before the Ruhr crisis, I believe many of us would have been happy. At least I will not come here to attend his funeral with the most sorrowful and indignant mood to show him the highest respect.

But today we are here, and we pay tribute to him from the bottom of our hearts, because he is our hero, he is the hero of Germany, and he gave his life to defend the Ruhr area of ​​Germany!

I want to say that it was him and more than 200 other Germans who sacrificed their lives for the same goal, who made all of us alive understand the truth: today's Germany, today's Ruhr area, there is no so-called class difference. , we are all the same oppressed Germans! The destiny of all of us is connected with the German motherland!

Yesterday's bourgeoisie and middle class have all lost or will soon lose everything in this hyperinflation imposed on us by the Allied Powers!

The reason why the Allies can bully and plunder us wantonly is because Germany has never had a strong leadership core since November 1918. We are divided and we see each other as enemies. In November 1918, we did not realize the serious consequences of losing a strong Germany. But now, more and more people have awakened. Mr. Martin Scheidemann is one of them, because he devoted himself to his ideals as a member of the German National Socialist Workers Party!

Therefore, I once again call on you to unite and petition President Albert, Congress and the Cabinet under the leadership of Mr. Gustav Krupp! "

The petition Hessman mentioned was actually the beginning of a "peaceful coup"! Because the main content of the petition is two-fold: the first is that President Abbott resigns and the presidential and congressional elections are held immediately; the second is that the indiscriminate issuance of banknotes be immediately stopped and a state of emergency is implemented across the country.

Moreover, it is not just the city of Essen that will launch the petition, including Cologne, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Bremen, Hannover, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dresden, Stuttgart, Königsberg and other major German cities and In the capital Berlin, there are people running petitions. Not only the Army, but also the Fatherland People's Party, the National Party, the Nazi Party, the Democratic Party, and even many branches of the Catholic Center Party all devoted themselves to this "peaceful coup".

…

In the Berlin presidential palace, the mentally and physically exhausted President Albert had long learned about the "peaceful coup" through the channels of the Social Democratic Party. This matter has been planned and implemented for a long time, and at least 60% of the members of Congress are involved in it. If the Social Democrats do not know this, they are truly deaf and blind.

But I know that President Albert and the leaders of the Social Democratic Party in the government, Foreign Minister Herman Miller, Chairman of the Social Democratic Party Wells and others can't think of any way to deal with those who are planning a "coup". .

Because those people did not overthrow the government by mobilizing troops to surround the presidential palace, but used peaceful petitions, protests, marches and parliamentary votes to oust Albert. This is all in line with the Weimar Constitution - this Isn’t this the result that the Social Democratic Party has wanted since its struggle in the 1800s to this day?

"Mr. President, according to Article 48 of the Constitution..." Wells, chairman of the Social Democratic Party, reminded in a low voice.

Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution is a very deceptive thing! Speaking of which, it is also the selfish intention of the Social Democratic Party to use this emergency authorization to deal with Congress - when the Weimar Constitution was formulated, the Social Democratic Party already knew that they might lose the congressional election!

However, Article 48 of the Constitution can only deal with Congress, but cannot deal with people's demonstrations and protests, let alone hyperinflation!

Printing plants across the country are now working hard to print marks! The value of the mark drops several times a day!

Everyone who lives by salary is paid on a daily basis. As soon as everyone gets the money, they will sprint to shops and markets to buy the necessities for life. If you run slowly, you will inevitably suffer financial losses.

Under such circumstances, not only the people are dissatisfied, but even the party workers in the Social Democratic Party headquarters are also dissatisfied! Even if they are allowed to vote, President Abbott will probably step down.

"Mr. President, as far as I know the Army is behind this," Wells said with a frown. "If you are removed from power, Hindenburg or Ludendorff will come to power, and militarism will be revived in Germany."

"It's not the Army, but the Honorary Officer Corps." President Albert said weakly, "Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Hutier (retired general, chairman of the German Officers Union), Tirpitz (retired navy General, Congressman, Chairman of the Fatherland People's Party), Mackensen (retired marshal, Congressman) and Groener were all involved... What can I do with them? Let General Seckter send troops to catch them? is it possible?"

Of course it was impossible, regardless of whether the army listened to the Weimar government or not. Even if you act in accordance with the law, it is legal to try to launch a petition and vote to remove the president. The Weimar Republic is not Soviet Russia...

"We can only dissolve Congress first," Foreign Minister Herman Miller proposed at this time. "Dissolving Congress and holding a new election will buy us up to two months... I believe they will not launch an attack before the election results are known."

“What can we do in these two months?”

"Negotiate with the Allies!" Herman Miller said, "If they don't want a militaristic government to appear again in Germany, they should make concessions."

"What about the conditions?"

"The total compensation was 30 billion gold marks, part of which was paid with international loans, and the Ruhr and Rhine regions returned to normal."

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