The Rise of the Third Reich

Before the World War, the train only took ten or twelve hours to travel from Pskov to Moscow, a distance of more than 700 kilometers. But in the spring of 1919, Hersman stayed on this 700-kilometer railway for a long time, so long that he became friends with Natalie Lesinskaya.

Unlike the last trip from Pskov to Moscow, this time the train did not go directly, but stopped and started. There were always malfunctions ahead, either the railway or the train.

"There are counter-revolutionary sabotage activities!" Natalie Lesinskaya would say to Hersman indignantly when she encountered such a situation. "Most engineers working on the railway are dissatisfied with the Soviet government and will sabotage it whenever they have the chance."

That's because your trains are always overloaded! Hersman certainly knew the reason why Russian railways always had problems. Before actively promoting the company's engineers to evacuate Russia, he had received a report: the Bolshevik Railway People's Commissariat issued an order requiring railway vehicles to exceed the prescribed limit and carry as much cargo as possible, and they were rarely maintained and repaired.

This is because the war and poor management have caused serious losses and damage to locomotives, wagons and rails. Moreover, Russia's heavy industry also suffered huge losses in the civil war, and it was unable to repair the railways and replenish the losses of railway locomotives. So it can only use poison to quench thirst and use overloading to barely maintain transportation.

This method of using poison to quench thirst is not only found in the railway department, but a common phenomenon. The Bolsheviks took over a collapsed country. After several years of world war, the revolution broke out because the war could not be maintained, and it fell into a more brutal civil war. The way the Bolsheviks won the civil war was to use all means to squeeze out the remaining war potential in the jurisdiction. Even if the consequences of doing so will seriously damage Russia's future productivity.

Because of fear of war, it fell into a more brutal civil war. Because of the desire to liberate productivity, the level of productivity has seriously regressed. This is Russia now!

Among the various methods of "stimulating potential" adopted by the Bolsheviks, the most harmful one is probably the "surplus grain collection system"-farmers must hand in all their harvests other than food rations and grain for free.

Such a policy naturally did not receive support from the peasants, and in order to implement it, a machine gun grain collection team was organized to force the peasants to hand over grain. As a result, the peasants naturally lost their enthusiasm for farming.

When the train stopped due to various accidents, Hersman would get off the train and walk around with Natalie, taking the opportunity to observe the situation in the Russian countryside. He also took a Leica portable camera to take pictures everywhere, sometimes taking a few pictures of Natalie, but most of the time he was taking pictures of abandoned land, dilapidated and deserted villages, or Russian peasants who were starving and begging.

When he arrived in Moscow, he was still taking pictures before waiting for Lenin to meet him. The empty shelves in the store, the citizens queuing up to buy rationed potatoes and black bread, and the factories that were closed at any time were all his targets.

These photos were not intended to be taken back to Germany and published in magazines, but to be given to Comrade Lenin to watch.

"Vladimir Ilyich, this is for you. I don't think you can see these in Pravda."

Lenin should have known that Hersman was photographing the bad side of the Soviet Union, but he did not ask anyone to stop him - Hersman was not a foreign spy who entered the Soviet Union in the name of a reporter. He was a senior German intelligence officer! Although the Bolsheviks did not know that he was a "general" of the Stasi, they still knew that he was the director of the German Military Intelligence Department.

Since such a person was invited as a VIP, why should they be afraid that he would take "not very good-looking" photos?

However, Lenin did not expect Hersman to show these photos to him when he was receiving him in the Kremlin.

The people who attended the meeting, including Kollontai, Krestinsky (he was the People's Commissar of Finance, one of the five newly elected bigwigs) and Rakovsky, were a little embarrassed. But Lenin was not displeased, but took the photos and looked at them carefully one by one.

"The situation is very bad. Although Pravda didn't report this, I still know the difficulties." Lenin's tone sounded heavy, but he quickly added, "But this is a temporary difficulty caused by the war. Once we defeat the White Guards, the situation will get better soon." "Not soon, Vladimir Ilyich," Hersman sat on a large and soft sofa and spoke to Lenin. Lenin was on a sofa next to him. The scene was a bit like the national leaders receiving foreign guests on TV. "You know that Marxism is economics, and you are an expert in this area. The damage suffered by the Russian economy is quite fatal, and it is impossible to recover so quickly. If the war ends tomorrow, by 1929, Russia's industry and agriculture may return to the level of 1913." "Ludwig, I don't think it will take that long. You don't know the power of Bolshevism." Kollontai interrupted, "This can greatly liberate productivity." "Why? Enthusiasm?" Hirschman shrugged, "I think that's idealism! When material conditions cannot keep up, can productivity be improved by relying on spirit? If this kind of thing can succeed, what is the need for our two countries to cooperate?"

Lenin handed the photo to Nikolay Nikolayevich Krestinsky, the People's Commissar for Finance beside him, and the latter also looked at it carefully.

Lenin looked at Hessmann, nodded and said: "Ludwig, you are our friend, and friends should tell the truth. So I agree with you... Although there is a difference in the 10-year period, But it will definitely take us a long time unless..."

"Nothing but!" Hessmann said, "The German revolution will not succeed, let alone the world revolution. In fact, you and I both know very well that the future of the Hungarian revolution is not good. For a long time to come, the Soviet Russia is the only one."

Most likely the only one! Judging from the current situation, it is good to have this one and only.

The highly anticipated German revolution had completely failed - just a few days earlier, the Bavarian Soviet Republic had been suppressed by the Freikorps, effortlessly! This shows that in Germany, the power of the reactionaries is overwhelming, and the German reactionaries are also very smart! The skill is far higher than that of the leaders of the progressive forces...

However, the "one and only" thing cannot be acknowledged now, and the banner of world revolution must still be held high. Otherwise, how can we incite the foreign working class to quarrel with their governments? If they don't make trouble, how can Soviet Russia live in peace?

Hessmann smiled at the silent Lenin and said, "There are some things that you just need to understand in your heart." He paused, "I took these photos and brought them to the Kremlin just to illustrate one point... In the photos The situation is not what a socialist country should have. The current Soviet Russia is only ruled by a socialist party, but it is not socialism. The way of progress is currently war. But after the victory of the civil war, It will be a long-term construction! This is the way for Russia to achieve socialism, and we, Germany, are the only relatively developed countries in the world that are truly willing to help Soviet Russia in its construction. This is the basis for our strategic partnership!”

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