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Defenders of Freedom and Democracy - A Democratic German AAR

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The Franco-Soviet Split

The cracks in the Comintern first began to appear just after the German reoccupation of the Rhineland. Stalin forcibly held back Thorez from taking direct action against Germany. Other differences in interests became apparent when the discussion of the colonial empires of Italy and France came up at the International Comintern Conference that same year. Thorez saw this as a direct attack against French prestige and would begin to complain that the Common Economic Policy of the Communist World was geared to greatly favour the Soviet Union. Thorez was also the only leader in the Communist World to gain power through diplomatic means and run a considerably more liberal state than Stalin’s Soviet Union. However France remained largely isolated until at the end of 1936 the Communist Party seized power in Spain. This government put great support behind Thorez following similar political and international policies, making it clear that Germany expansion had to be prevented. Thorez also wished to support some of the Fascist Governments in Eastern Europe, namely Czechoslovakia and Poland, as a counter to Germany. Stalin meanwhile saw took a strongly anti-Fascist position naming them as one of the greatest threats to worldwide Socialism. After Germany unified with Austria in early 1938 the split in the Comintern was now at its apex, Thorez supported by Yugoslavia, Italy and Spain called for immediate action against Germany, if need be military intervention whilst Stalin, the Asian states and Hungary claimed that any Fascist defeat was a Socialist victory. The International Comintern Conference would be held in the summer, in Budapest, ahead of the vital Munich Summit. Stalin hoped he could resolve his differences with Thorez or at least convince him to stand united in the name of the Communist World. The Conference itself provided no real revelation except for the remarkable change in position of the French delegation by the end of the Conference, Stalin had met personally with Thorez in his hotel room during the Conference but what went on behind closed doors was never disclosed, not to the world and not even to other Comintern leader ….
 
The 1938 German Election

The official date for the election was June 22nd, it was also decided that the Austrian people would not vote for representatives until then as many may have extremely short tenures. The main political Parties running for election were: Meissner’s Greater German Democratic Party, The German Labourers (radical Socialists), the German Social Workers Party (more Moderate Socialists), The Imperial Party (formed in retaliation to the Anti-Monarchist Party and expected to do well at the polls), The United Liberals (amalgamation of many Liberal Parties), The Conservative Party (self explanatory) and the Christian Centre Party and the remains of the Anti-Monarchist Party.


piechart.jpg

Key: GGDC= Greater German Democratic Party, AMP= Anti-Monarchist Party, CCP= Christian Centre Party, GSWP= German Social Workers Party


The election would see Meissner’s GGDC gain 52% of the vote and the ability to rule the government effectively unchallenged. The German Social Workers Party and German Labourers Party decided to unite once again in order to retain significant power in the Reichstag but were only able to muster 18% of the vote between them. Another important outcome was the fact that the Monarchy was no longer the dominating issue allow it was still a contentious one as 5% of voters cast their ballots according to their beliefs on the issue either for the Imperial Party of Anti-Monarchist Party. The Imperial Party meanwhile would form another alliance within the Reichstag with the Conservative Party giving the force 10% of all votes.

Now with the home front secured with an impressive electoral victory Meissner turned his attention towards preparations for the vital Munich Summit. Meanwhile back in Germany his political enemies would be forced to retreat, licking their wounds and hoping for brighter days in the future.
 
52%, fairly tight that. Assuming that transfer across directly the majority is going to be slim, a few GGDC members looking to kick up a fuss could cause problems if the government attempts anything too controversial..
 
Thorez is an idiot.

I hope he dies.:p
 
It is more than a 20% increase on the previous result though. And the Liberals are likely to give him support alot of the time. And also at this point most of the radical economic reforms have been made so they should remain pretty secure.

ps my problem with Hitler could be sorted if I figure out how to replace Hitler with another Minister I found (the next Kaiser ...) and if someone could give me direction to some sort of guide on how to do this I would appreciate it. I'm a little afraid I will either mess up the whole game or just the save file :eek:.
 
Been good so far.

Also, wir brauchen einen Kabinet-bild!

(We need a cabinet screen ^^)
 
Lengthy ( I think the Lengthiest!) update coming up :D
 
The Munich Summit

The Munich Summit had only been meant to be an opportunity for Europe’s leaders to sit together and discuss solutions to the problems that now faced the continent. And Meissner was going into the Summit with only one real aim; to keep Germany out of a war. His view on the Summit was drastically changed after a surprise state visit, shortly after the election, from Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov. Molotov had a private meeting with Meissner where he offered a shocking deal to the German Premier. The entire Fascist block would be split between the Soviet Union and Germany. The proposal was as follows: Slovakia was to be annexed by Hungary, the Sudetenland, Bohemia and Moravia would be annexed by Germany, the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would become Soviet whilst Poland would be split down the middle the East going to the Soviets the West to Germany. Meissner was stunned, it promised so much and a deal with the Soviet Union of this magnitude could effectively end the fear of a conflict but Meissner was weary to jump into something so substantial in the current situation. So he requested that the Soviets back Germany in demanding the German majority Sudetenland form Czechoslovakia at the Munich Summit. In return Meissner would have a meeting face to face with Stalin in Moscow some time the following year to discuss these proposals. Molotov happily accepted leaving the following day. This short meeting had changed the entire purpose and focus of the conference and would promise Germany’s place in the Sun.

sudetenland1938.gif

Areas claimed by Germany

It would be foolish for Meissner to completely abandon the British and go it alone so Meissner and his little used Foreign Minister Ludwig Kastl (Meissner preferred performing major diplomatic negotiation himself) travelled to London within a couple of weeks of Molotov’s visit. Meissner requested British backing to his plan to demand the Sudetenland, Chamberlain was won surprisingly easily. He was at first worried that the Comintern would react extremely badly but after Meissner said that the Soviets seemed keen he agreed to give Meissner the full backing required as long as it would maintain Peace. And so Meissner would enter the conference with great confidence of increasing his prestige amongst the Germans yet further by bringing more ethnic Germans out of foreign rule and into one Greater Germany.

On September 22nd representatives from France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, Germany and Poland gathered in Munich. Diplomatic actions began that evening as all the representatives gathered in a large conference room. In an opening speech Meissner emphasised his hopes for peace in Europe, a new treaty to redraw the borders of the continent and his wish to unify his people into one state. He then revealed his plan for the Sudetenland. This infuriated the Polish leadership who accused Meissner of being ‘’a warmongering opportunist of the worst variety’’. The Poles then stormed out of the conference leaving just the four Great Powers. Meissner continued despite this walkout and explained how the handover would work and how to enforce in on the Czech state. He believed that all four nations should guarantee these new borders and give Germany the right to use force to occupy the area. The next topic on discussion was whether the Treaty of Versailles should be made void. The complete demobilisation of forces in Europe once the new borders were enforced was proposed by Neville Chamberlain who claimed this would be the quickest and easiest way to really ease tensions. And finally the issue of Hungarian claims to Slovakia were discussed. Each power would be given a vote and each motion required a majority of votes to be passed. Several days past and the leaders discussed the proposals, ideology, economic policies and various other topics all the time making minor alterations to the proposed border changes. Finally on the 30th of September Stalin, Thorez, Meissner and Chamberlain gathered to vote on each proposal they had the choice to vote for, against or abstain:

The Demobilisation of forces in Europe:

France: Yes
Germany Yes
Soviet Union Yes
Great Britain Yes

Ending the validity of the Treaty of Versailles:

France: abstain
Germany: Yes
Great Britain: Yes
Soviet Union: Yes

Sudetenland to be ceded to Germany:

France: No
Germany: Yes
Great Britain: Yes
Soviet Union: Yes

Slovakia to be ceded to Hungary:

France: abstain
Germany: No
Great Britain: abstain
Soviet Union: Yes

Meissner left the conference jubilant; once again he had brought Germans cut off from their Fatherland back into the fold, and without a drop of blood. The great negotiator made the announcement of the outcome of the Summit to a great crowd in the city and would make his way to the border with the Czechs where he would join military units as the first to enter the new area of Germany. Although Poland promised to back them the Czech government had no desire to fight an unwinnable war and grudgingly withdrew from this wealthy territory. On October 1st Meissner would cross into the Sudetenland to be greeted by crowds of thousands of liberated Sudeten Germans.

untitled13.jpg


Upon his return to London Neville Chamberlain waved the agreement in the air and proclaimed ‘’there shall be peace in our time’’

wimp.jpg



Back in Moscow Stalin and key members of the Politburo celebrated the success of the meeting, they planned the next conference with Germany and they planned their next war …
 
commies are going to backstab you so draw belgium into your sphere of influence and attack france through the whole of belgium and then they will be reeling I mean after all poland is between you and the SU
 
Meh, I say savour peace as long as you can.

Can you tell us, in the next update, what is going on in the following countries?

Germany (duh)
Soviet Union
France
Great Britain
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Yugoslavia
Romania
Poland
Italy
Spain

What the situation is internaly, and their relations with you.
 
I'll try and get an update about my relations with other European nations (and their internal information) sometime today. I probably wont do the Comintern as I talk about them alot and there would be alot of similar section sin there. Here is my plan of the nations to mention:

Soviet Union
Great Britain
Czechoslovakia
Poland
Belgium (show you the interesting situation there)


Hope this list is enough to give you a good idea of th European situation;)
 
Cool mate.

If Belgium goes Communist it could give a good excuse for invading through them.

Anyways, who took over for von Ludendorff?
 
The new Chief of the Army is Werner von Fritsch. However noone has the power that Ludendorff retained whilst alive so really he hasn't been ntirely replaced.
 
Europe – 1939

Soviet Union
Josef Stalin ran the oldest, most powerful and most oppressive regime in the Communist World. By the winter of 1938 he had also established himself as the sole leader of the Comintern having dissuaded Thorez from his challenge. After securing his position in the Comintern Stalin turned his attention to eliminating the Fascist states existing in Central and Eastern Europe, an excellent opportunity to expand the Soviet Union’s borders. Shortly after the Munich Summit Stalin invited Germany to another meeting, this time in Moscow, this time it would be a private affair. Stalin planned to propose a deal; Germany and the Soviet Union would jointly invade Poland and split it between them. The Germans would then give the Soviets a free hand to eliminate the Fascist states existing in the Baltic. Meissner was due to arrive in early May. Stalin was feared that Meissner would shy away from invading the Poles, not wanting to lose his heroic image in Germany so Stalin had instigated a massive NKVD plot in Poland. The massive scale operation would attempt to get the Polish Government to issue anti-German laws. The level of infiltration was incredible, the NKVD had 3 ministers in the Polish Cabinet, the head of the German Liberation Force (a group dedicated to bringing German areas in Poland back under German control) was an NKVD spy, the NKVD also funded a large terrorist program and had such control over the Polish press that they managed to pin it on the German Nationalists. In all around 2000 NKVD spies were active in Poland and the budget for the operation matched that of the current funds in constriction for the Soviet Navy. By March 1939 the program had succeeded in making the Polish Government seize land and assets from Germans as well as banning all German political groups. Meanwhile the Soviet people knew nothing of Stalin’s shrewd diplomacy and nothing of the massive espionage mission in Poland all they noticed was that anti-German propaganda had stopped and anti Polish propaganda had increased.

Poland
The Polish Government had refused to recognise the Munich Agreement and had been willing to go to war over had Czechoslovakia shared this desire, they had not. Since then a terrorist campaign launched by German Nationals had shaken the country and the Polish Government pointed the finger of blame squarely at the German Authorities for funding this campaign of terror. After the Germans refused to accept any blame the Poles took action. All German imports were blocked and the assets of German Nationals were seized, the Poles hoped this would strangle funds for the terrorists and lead to their defeat, as the attacks continued Polish border guards stepped up patrols ten fold hoping to end the smuggling of arms across the border. However even these measures failed to even slow the attacks as they even increased in number and frequency German political parties were banned and the Government looked for even harsher reforms to put pressure on the Germans in Poland. As German President Meissner travelled to Moscow to find a solution to the terrible situation in Poland the Poles were optimistic that Stalin would force Meissner to end the campaign and once more bring stability to the continent.

Czechoslovakia
The loss of the Sudetenland had hit the Czech economy hard and the ever more belligerent attitude of Poland had forced them to turn away from their only real ally. There was now great pressure on Jan Kroly to resign from office and remove the stigma attached to him and his nation for being Fascist. Kroly was forced to fight a long campaign against Communist, Slovak Nationalist and pro Democratic paramilitary groups and keep the failing Czech economy going in the face of mass worker strikes throughout his nation. Many believed it would only be a matter of time before Kroly and his regime were toppled.

Great Britain
After Chamberlain’s heroic return to London and his famous ‘Peace in our time’ speech the British people felt sure that they were saved form another Great War. Chamberlain was now at the peak of his popularity and plans for a formal military alliance with Germany had been put on hold. Although the two nations were now allies in everything but name keeping no formal agreement would keep the Comintern from feeling threatened. Although most were confident of peace one British politician stood out, Winston Churchill warned the British people that ‘’Stalin his naught but an opportunistic, expansionist , brute and the Communist forces in the world will not rest until all Europe is under their tyrannical rule. Let us not be fooled by Stalin’s talk of peace let us instead prepare for the inevitable war that shall be caused by this man’s aggression.’’ Churchill was widely dismissed as a warmonger and was ignored.

Belgium
In the Belgian elections in 1937 the Communists had been narrowly defeated but since then the ruling Party had fragmented after a series of corruption scandals and the Belgian people demanded and chance to elect a Government with their best interests at heart. Fearing a Communist victory the ruling Christian Democrats offered to help fund their fierce rivals the Social Liberals in order to keep the Communists from power. The election was set to be held on November 5th 1
 
Hrmn hrmn hrmn.

Stalin is quite the man.

I wonder what will happen in Czechoslovakia. Honestly, it would be interesting if they went Communist.

Belgium, I think would rather go Fascist them Communist.
 
Ah... the smell of Intrigue is so refreshing in the morning...

Give the Commies hell - There be WAR around the corner!
...
And of course, the Americans will stroll in at some point and relieve you of all your worries :D

Nice AAR Tommy, I'll be following it once I get back from my trip.
 
I admire the way your working the standard HoI events into your new timeline, it's impressive the way you've taken such a different route through (almost) the same points. Good work :)
 
Thanks for the comments, its nice to see some interest in the AAR :)

@ Maj Von Mauser - In this alternate history Communism has been very popular in Western Europe and with the influence on Thorez's Fance right across the border coupled with a greater acceptance of Communism amongst Western peolples I think a popular Communist Party would be realistic.

I'll try to get an update out sometime tomorrow (mabye two depending on how bored I get :p)
 
Due to the success of Union in his reign, I have counted Stalin as one of the most successful politicans all the time. Let's see if he will manage to reach Berlin once again.

PS: Great AAR, but I think you should delete or edit the war events.
 
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