Wilhelm for Emperor - DD KaisAAReich Germany

[Michaeru]

Originally Posted by Völkischer Beobachter - 16. 08. 1935

An civilian explained to us what happened:
"I was taking a nap when these shots woke me up. It sounded like artillery. I ran out of my house, seeing a single plane flying very low over the city, black clouds popping up behind it. One shot hit, the plane fell into a gas station down the road and blew the whole thing up.

Junkers-52 flying over Germany. One of these was Hitler's private plane.

On the following day, the Reichspresseamt unveiled the truth about the crash.

Originally Posted by Reichspresseamt - 17. 08. 1935

Our leader, Adolf Hitler, is dead. He was shot down while travelling in his plane to a inauguration of a Luftwaffe training camp in Munich. Marshal Göring and Dr. Goebbels have been with him. The plane was hit by friendly fire, the pilot lost control and it crashed into a gas station. The gas tanks have sprung a leak and a spark, probably from the broken engine blow them up. All occupants are dead. Any questions?

Hitler's death left a power vacuum behind. Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, took over the office of Führer and Reichskanzler for a brief period, but when SS men began rounding up the population of the small village Hitler's plane crashed in, people openly revolted against Nazi rule. Wehrmacht units deserted and Germany seemed to be on the brink of anarchy and civil war between the public and the SS. In November, the remaining members of the last democratic Reichstag from 1932 wrote a letter to the exiled Emperor Wilhelm II, calling him to return to Germany. He agreed, elections were held and on the 1st of January 1936, Wilhelm II. was elected Emperor of Germany by the new Reichstag.

##### NOTES #####
Game version: 1.2, normal/normal.
The only mods I use are self-written events.
This is my first AAR.
I don't guarantee historical accurancy. There won't be any Nazi UFO's killing Wilhelm, though.

[Atruejedi]

I'll be watching this one.

[Earth's Savior]

This looks good. I'll be watching this.

[Alexus]

Me too.

[AOK. 11]

Count me in as well. Sounds great so far.

[Karl Martell]

Hehe, Wilhelm lets himself be elected by a democratic parliament? The man must have become soft in his old age.

[CSL_GG]

Originally Posted by Karl Martell

Hehe, Wilhelm lets himself be elected by a democratic parliament? The man must have become soft in his old age.

I think he would have put up with that little insult to regain his throne.

[Rensslaer]

Interesting setup!

After researching a fair amount, I've become quite fascinated by this man... Looking forward to seeing what you do with old Willy!

Rensslaer

[Veldmaarschalk]

Saw a documentary a few weeks ago about Wilhelm, he was a rather tragic figure.

He was brought up in a world were everything had to be perfect, but because he was handicapped he wasn't perfect, he was neglected by his parents and his private teacher forced him each day to lay his crippled hand in the dead reamains of bunny, believing that the blood would heal his hand.

[Mettermrck]

Nice premise, Michaeru. I wonder if Wilhelm will be content to quietly enjoy his remaining years atop Germany. But that would be a dull game, so I anticipate war!

[Corbett]

I don't suppose a long time in the Netherlands would have put him off his desire for a place in the sun! And part of that place in the sun would no doubt reclaiming 'Elsaß-Lothringen' for the Germans... (and Upper Silesia... and some border counties with Belgium... and Northern Schleswig... and all that Polish stuff... and the colonies... &c &c)

Perhaps you could mod it to, instead of an Anschluss with Austria, you get your Polish provinces back or something? :P

So I see Hitler is dead in your AAR - he won't be missed.

[Vann the Red]

Never a bad way to start an AAR. Can't wait to see what dear Kaiser Willi does.

Vann

[Michaeru]

The new German government under Wilhelm II. faced a major problem. Die-hard Nazis threatened him with armed resistance and even a counter-coup. Wilhelm knew his throne was safe but the Nazis could hamper any war effort. To appease them, the Rhineland was re-occupied in January. Furthermore, Wilhelm announced that Germany would reclaim her former colonies in Africa and Asia. And as all of Gemanys former colonies were now owned either by Britain or her Dominions, conflict was sure to come. To top that, the occupation of Elsass-Lothringen by France and East Silesia and Prussia by Poland was referred to as illegal and to be avenged sooner or later. And then, the age old question of greater or smaller Germany was to be reconsidered. The Habsburg Emperors had always denied giving up the Austrian half of the Empire, even for the greater good of Germany. With the split-up of Austria-Hungary at the end of the Great War, new possibilities presented themselves. Austria could align herself with Germany to regain her old lands. Hungary could give up claims on Austria to regain the rest of the former Habsburg empire.

Germany's claims.*

Hungary and her claims.

Benito Mussolinis attitude on this subject could be crucial. He wouldn't be too fond to give up Trento and claims on Croatia in case of an new Austrian empire. But he wouldn't be too fond to give up Austrian independence, again, his claims on Croatia and the prospect of being the only major power in Europe expect Germany. But he and his army weren't considered a force to be reckoned with.

Germany's new government.

However, to regain their lost lands, both Hungary and Germany needed to rearm their countrys. Wilhelm wanted naval projects like a carrier strike force and the neccessary transport capability for an possible invasion of the British isles to be top priority. However, as fighting England would mean fighting France, people like Heinz Guderian advised the Emperor to concentrate on a tank force of at least 18 divisions and enough infantry and air cover for them to provide a swift and safe advance. First, the already started projects heavy cruiser KMS Graf Spee and a new destroyer flotilla were to be completed, transports constructed to get an army corps out of isolated Königsberg and then Germany would concentrate on land forces. The left-over industrial capacity was used to equip Luftflotte I and II with better bombers. On the seas again, Germany would build carriers sooner or later. The Emperor already ordered his naval strategists to abandon the strategy the Nazis pursued to deal with England with; destroying the Empire's merchant marine to starve the islands. This plan, focussing heavily on the use of U-Boats, chosen mainly to spare Germany's modest resources was scrapped now. The planned construction of KMS Bismarck or even larger battleships clearly brought the very Plan-Z into ridicule and demonstrated the megalomania of Hitler.

Research priorities

###NOTES###
*Excuse the lines.

The man must have become soft in his old age.

I think that I once heard he hoped Hitler would restore the Empire and put him back on the throne.