Interim 2: the German Empire
Excerpts from: The Compact Guide to the Modern World
By Henry B. Mackey – New York, 1935
The Weltkrieg
Much has been written about the causes of the Great War, or Weltkrieg as it is known in Germany. It is not my intention to give yet another account of the war in this volume. It will suffice to say that after the fall of Russia to revolution in 1917, German victory looked certain.The transfer of many divisions from the east to the west gave Germany a huge advantage in manpower, now outnumbering the British and French troops. The 1918 offensive wasn’t as succesfull as the Germans had hoped, but it pushed the French back towards their capital and forced the British to withdraw troops from Syria and the Veneto to reinforce the battered BEF. The weakening of the lines in the Veneto invited disaster when the Italians where unable to resist the Austro-German spring offensive of 1919. Venice fell soon afterwards, the Italian retreat turned into a rout. A subsequent invasion of Greece, bypassing the strong allied positions at Salonica, reduced the Entente further in strenght. Finally, in october 1919, the French lines where broken by general Von Hutier. France, now in the throws of revolution, surrendered to Germany. The war lingered on until 1921, with both sides only combatting one another on sea. In 1921 a status-quo ‘Peace with Honour’ was signed with the remaining members of the Entente: Great-Britain, Japan and Portugal. After the pacification of the Eastern border a number of puppetstates where set up in the territory seceded by the Russian Empire. German princes where appointed as kings for these new states.
Wilhelm II von Hohenzollern, German Emperor and King of Prussia.
I have very little to add to this. The causes and consequences of the Great War are known to all. However, I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Germany didn’t abandon their unrestricted submarine warfare after the tragic sinking of the Lusitania. Would Britain have been defeated earlier, being starved into submission. Or would the Yanks have followed up on their threats of war? - MS
Von Tirpitz and Germany’s place under the sun.
From 1916 on, Germany had become a de facto dictatorship under Marshall Von Hindenburg and the infamous Quartermaster-General Ludendorff. All resources of the German state where under their control, reducing Emperor William II and chancellor Georg Michaelis as figureheads without any true power. After 1920 Germany intervened in the Russian civil war on the side of the White generals, restoring order on their Eastern flank after the battle of Tsaritsyn was won by general Wilhelm Groener. However the Hindenburg/Ludendorff dictatorship remained deeply unpopular. The regime ended in 1924, when Grand Admiral Von Tirpitz and his popular nationalist DVP-party forced Ludendorff to step down as chief of the army after his failure to react to the British revolution, ending his dictatorship. Afterwards the Emperor named Grand Admiral von Tirpitz as the new chancellor.
Nowadays Von Tirpitz gets all the credit for removing Ludendorff from office. However, such a move would have been impossible without at least the tacit support of both the popular Marshall Hindenburg and the Kaiser. The fact that Hindenburg was retained in Tirpitz cabinet seems to suggest a deal between Tirpitz and Hindenburg. – MS
The Tirpitz-era is caracterized by three major events: the seizure of much of the former British Empire, the eshtablishment of Mittelafrika and the Germanintervention in China. Von Tirpitz didn’t waste any time in office. His first actions in office was to order the Imperial navy to sieze as much of Britains strategic colonial holdings before Germany’s enemies where able to get hold of them. In a grand coördinated effort Malta, Suez, Britains African holdings, Yemen, Ceylon and Singapore fell into German hands. However, the aquisation of the many British African colonies (as well as the acquisition of both the Belgian and French Congo earlier) put an enormous strain on the Colonial Office. To keep the territories managable a semi-independent government, modelled on British India, was set up, with General von Lettow-Vorbeck becoming the first Statthalter of Mittelafrika.
The 1926 intervention in China was another highlight of the Tirpitz-administration. It started when the monarchist Xu Shichang managed to become prime-minister in China, and asked for German aid in restoring order in China. Tirpitz, not willing to wait for Japan to make a move first, send a sizable expeditionary force under General Von Seeckt. Von Seeckt and his able subordinates Von Runstedt and Von Bock managed to subdue most opposition against Xu in the Eastern part of China. After the capture of Peking in november Xu proclaimed the restauration of the Qing Empire. However, German aid came with a prize. The southern part of the newly restored Empire would come under the economic suzerainty of Germany, with the Algemeine Ostasien GmbH coördinating all German activeties in the area, basically making southern China another German colony.
Von Tirpitz remained chancellor until his death in 1930.
The German chancellors since the end of the Great War (from left to right): Georg Michaelis (1917-1924), Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1924-1930), Fieldmarshall Oskar von Hutier (1930-1934) and Franz von Papen (1934-present).
The Von Hutier and Von Papen administrations
After Von Tirpitz death, Emperor William II appointed Marshall Oskar von Hutier as his successor. Reknowned as the hero of Paris and the ‘father of victory’ Hutier was a popular choice. However, Hutier had little experience with politics, and chose to let his ministers rule in his stead. In particular Foreign minister Franz von Papen took advantage of this situation.
Said Von Papen became chancellor after Hutiers death in 1934, but he hasn’t been able to make his mark on the government yet.
Von Papen is a widely impopular man in Germany, but is very able in the games of politics. However I have my doubts if Von Papen can remain his position when a serious crisis would face Germany. – MS
The German political system.
Politically Germany is divided between four kingdoms (Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Würtemberg), seven Grand Duchies (Luxemburg being the latest addition), five Duchies, sever principalities, three hanseatic cities and the Imperial territories of Elsass-Lothringen and Wallonien-Lüttich. Each of these has its own government, but are bound by all laws made by the national government. Deputies for the Reichtag are elected by a direct vote. After an election the Emperor will ask a possible chancellor to form a government. This means that even while Germany knows free and fair elections, in the end it is the Emperor who decides who becomes chancellor. This means the current Emperor still has a great deal of power behind the screens, able to dismiss chancellors at his own discretion. Since the end of the Great War, the Emperor has used this prerogative sparingly, only dismissing Michaelis to put Von Tirpitz in his stead.
Ständischer Verbund: the ständischer Verbund is not a political party, but instead an informal coöperation between several conservative and nationalist parties and individuals aimed at keepig the left and the extreme right out of the government. The current chancellor Von Papen was responsible for its eshtablishment after the DVP was losing its popularity after the death of Von Tirpitz, and his own Zentrum was not willing to join the government. Von Papen is by far the most powerful man within the alliance, but DVP-leader Hugenberg and political general Von Schleicher are expected to challenge Von Papen for the chancellorship at some point.
Zentrum: Zentrum, or Centre, is a moderate Catholic party, especially popular in the Catholic south of the country. Zentrum usually supported the government in the Reichstag, but is very critical of the former Zentrum leader Von Papen’s policies. In order to have a shot at governing Zentrum has been negotiating with the small liberal parties FVP and NLP, led by Walther von Rathenau and Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck resp. Currently, Zentrum is led by Heinrich Brüning.
SPD: the social democrats have always had to face the allegation of them being syndicalists in disguise and have been heavily surpressed during the Tirpitz-years. After the death of the Grand Admiral, the new chancellor revoked most of the limitations imposed on the party. Not out of love for the leftwingers, but to give the labourers of Germany a less dangerous alternative to the syndicalists. Currently the SPD is trying to shake off its image of being a danger to Germany and hopefully install its leader Otto Wels as the first social democratic chancellor.
GDVP: the GDVP is a nationalist, pan-German party that hopes to unite all German-speaking lands under the German Empire. They also hope to purge Germany from all ‘undesirables’, a term they use for all leftwingers, non-Germans and 'depraved liberals’ in the process. They are lead by former officer Ernst Röhm.
The next general elections are coming up and I expext Von Papen to be the main victim of them. His rule is impopular and rumours of corruption are only surpressed by Hugenbergs almost total control of the press. Yet I still expect a victory for either the Ständischer Verbund or perhaps Zentrum and its liberal allies. The SPD is very popular, but I don’t expect the Kaiser to appoint a leftwing chancellor. About the GDVP, let us just pray those chaps never seize power.
Another upcoming problem is the state of the German economy. A good friend of mine at the Bank of England has told me the German economy is floating on a bubble about to burst. Investments in China, Mittelafrika and Eastern Europe aren’t as lucrative as they looked at first, while the German national debt is ever growing. I have no love lost for the German Empire, but currently they are the only thing standing between the Commune and syndicalist domination of Europe. - MS
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I hope to have a regular update somewhere next week. It will deal either with Karel digging around for clues in Borneo or Elsa in the Union of Britain.