March, 1933 will prove to be a fateful month for Germany. The NSDAP, to the surprise of no one, has begun working to turn the election in their favor, harassing voters and officials alike. In a far more surprising turn of events, however, they fail. The Weimar government is brought to its needs not by Adolf Hitler and his blackshirts, but by the communists. Under the leadership of Ernst Thalmann, the KPD has organized a coup, successfully installing themselves in Berlin, and the German Democratic Republic is born. Revolts have broken out in Bavaria as fanatical Nazis take to the streets, but it is clear that Germany’s future is red.
The new government, in its first official act, abandons the old Weimar flag in favor of a red flag more suitable for the young proletarian dictatorship. What little remains of the German army after Versailles moves south to crush the counterrevolutionaries.
Albert Einstein, previously on “vacation” in the United States, decides to return to his homeland, joining with Heisenberg and Hertz, despite their philosophical difference, to continue research into quantum theory. The KPD orders the initiation of heavy investment in industrial development, as well as investigations into the possibility of new forms of modern warfare- every advantage available must be taken if the capitalists are to be defeated.
On April 23rd, the fighting in Munich finally comes to an end, and with it, the threat of any organized resistance from the Nazi Party. Adolf Hitler, however, is nowhere to be found. With the end of the fighting, Germany turns to its economy, attempting to collect capital- but not, you understand, bourgeois fiat currencies, in order to repair the damage done by the capitalist pig-dogs.
June 10th, the World Cup begins. The German team is not invited, in a show of stunning arrogance.
In August, the KPD government, in protest against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, marches a single brigade into the Rhineland. Minor protests are raised in the League of Nations, but no substantive action is taken by the Entente. The move is followed up with the institution of a national recovery plan, to rebuild the industry lost in the Depression. While opposition to the KPD still remains, this, combined with its success in the Rhineland, seem to have won over many of those at the bottom of the old capitalist order.
German troops begin massing on the Austrian border, fearing intervention by the virulently anti-communist fascists in Austria and Italy. These fears would not prove to be unfounded.
On November 16th, the first Autobahns are unveiled. Tremendously successful, the greater ease of transportation immediately swells German industrial production.
As the new year opens, the first formal budget of the German Democratic Republic opens for negotiation. The left-communists, who, while a minority, are not as persecuted as their fellows in Russia, advocate for a focus on retooling German industry to cutting-edge standards. The Trotskyists support massive investment in the military to spread the People’s Revolution, as the coup in 1933 is now officially known, throughout Europe. Ultimately, however, it is the moderates who win out, and the full force of the German government is brought to bear against the problem of unemployment in public works projects of an enormous scale. Shortly after, unemployment hits 5%. Those who were convinced the revolution would collapse under its own weight seem to have been proven wrong- dissent is under control, the economy is in the first stages of recovery, and the Treaty of Versailles is dead. The communists are here to stay.
With the stunning successes of the make-work programs, the KPD looks outwards. Massive funding is approved for the support of communist partisans in neighboring European countries, in the hopes that the workers of Europe can liberate themselves. The French and British are not happy when their intelligence services inform them, but take no action.
The government begins the process of reorganizing the military-industrial complex, folding together various former private corporations into research “Kombinates”. Their focus? Tanks.
On January 24th, the government of Czechoslovakia is overthrown by communist partisans, and immediately requests an alliance that the GDR is all too happy to provide. The KPD claims credit, but so soon after the beginning of support for foreign rebel groups, it seems unlikely. In keeping with the principles of internationalism, the Czech territories join the greater German state, while the Slovaks remain independent.
On January 27th, the worst fears of capitalist Europe are realized. Stalin has proposed an alliance with the GDR. Much to the shock of everyone, Germany has rejected the offer. It seems that the left opposition has been building power within the German government over the past year, and has seized the moment to launch a coup against the Stalinists. The new government under Ernst Toller has denounced Stalin, and declared the creation of a Fourth International.
Overjoyed by the news, Trotsky has journeyed to the newly declared German Worker’s Republic, and has been offered a position as the commander of the German army.
On February 12th, fighting in Austria, brewing for months now, blossoms into all out civil war between communists and fascists. The Republic, of course, provides aid to these heroic guardians of the working people. To the joy of communists everywhere, the fascist government is deposed only days later as soldiers, German in all but name, pour over the border. Adolf Hitler is found, and in a trial lasting only minutes, sentenced to death. Mussolini, however, is not so happy. In a blatant show of the foul and imperialistic nature of fascism, he declares war before the army has a chance to even begin moving towards the border.
The Italians make some minor gains in the province of Osterreich, but within days, Germany has mobilized an army- Trotsky has once again proved his military brilliance. A force of nearly 100,000 soldiers begins marching south, intent at stopping only once Rome plays host to a republic once again. At the same time, communist partisans achieve another success, this time in Hungary, which quickly joins the International.
The first German victory in the war comes at Innsbruck, where over sixty thousand Italian troops are killed or captured. German soldiers were reportedly heard shouting “Weiter nach Rom!” at the fleeing fascists.
On April 22nd, in response to the limited success of the German army, the entirety of the reserve corps was mobilized, providing German forces with a much needed numerical advantage.A move along the Adriatic coast provided one of the first breakthroughs into Italy proper, with the garrison of Udine utterly crushed.
On June 4th, after thousands of casualties on both sides, the city of Venice fell, and the Italian line shattered. Four days later, Mussolini attempted to sue for peace, offering the entirety of Venetia to the Germans. Mussolini seemingly forgot the coup earlier in the year- the Stalinists might have taken the offer, but the Worker’s Republic was a government of idealists and ideologues. There would be no negotiation with enemies of humanity.
On July 6tth, Rome itself fell. Mussolini attempted to flee south, presumably to set up government in Naples, but in a stroke of luck, was captured by a German patrol just outside the city. With the fascists in custody and the whole of the northern half of the country under military occupation, the war was, for all intents and purposes, over.
The peace negotiations, if they could even be called that, were over quickly. While there were some calling for the annexation of the area surrounding Trieste, ultimately only Italian Africa was seized, so that socialism might be built in these countries by more experienced practitioners. Italy itself retained nominal independence, but was, for all intents and purposes, henceforth subordinate to Germany in all affairs. Inspired by the successes in Italy, communists in Yugoslavia, communist partisans in that country successfully overthrew the monarchy, joining yet another nation to the cause of the International.
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Topic: The Bright Red Future- Communist Germany in Darkest Hour (Read 15441 times)