Chapter V: The road to Wirtschaftswunder (III)
Much had happened in the past months, and Chancellor Wels wondered if he would be finally able to achieve the so desired social peace in Germany. The first good news came from the Minister of Interior Stegerwald, who informed him that the investment efforts in the Police Forces began to prove worthy, leading to a reduction of the urbanl protests and generating a greater sense of security among the citizens.
The efforts were not in vain
Moreover, the Minister of Economy and Armaments Joseph Wirth announced that the initial projections were being fulfilled, and so the second phase of the reforms planned by the government could be started. Abandoning the painful and erroneous doctrine of Austerity, the Chancellor decided to implement social democratic methods by stimulating the economy, intervening indirectly in the market through state loans to both individual entrepreneurs as well as large corporations. In less than a month, most of the funds were properly allocated, and to the astonishment of the international press, the German economy began to grow again.
The SPD always believed in stimulating the economy
But those were not the only good news, since in early June the showed a dramatic decrease in the level of unemployment, which had fallen to only 5% and continued to decline every day. The Government had succeeded apparently in what they craved: to leave the path ready for every German to live honestly and prosperously with the fruits of their labor.
Finally, unemployment has significantly decreased
Soon, Otto Gessler communicated that Albert Einstein had finished his recent investigations, and the Government decided to secure additional funds to the intelligence services for the implementation of "Project Enigma", according to which which large sections of the Army would receive an encription machine to increase security in communications and be able to surprise the enemy.
Internationally, the U.S. continued to enact the New Deal measures designed by President Roosevelt, and although they did not achieve the same success as the measures adopted in Germany, some economic recovery began to be glimpsed in the American market. The news, however, would not be as good from the Soviet Union, since according to various sources it was suffering from an historical famine that already costed the lives of millions.
But as it happened before, the focus of the world news would be again in Germany. Despite the esplendid economic job carried out by the Government, the country would not be free to grow and prosper as long as the unjust provisions of the Versailles Treaty were active; Chancellor Wels, after meeting with Foreign Minister Wirth and the High Command, gave green light to "Plan Otto". Under this plan, a small and selective military service was established in Germany, and various Army detachments would enter the Rhineland region, currently demilitarized under the Treaty of Versailles. While it was a strong and risky gamble, it was deemed necessary to show that Germany was ready to end the unfair treaty, while a major diplomatic offensive would try to gain the favor of other European countries.
German troops re-entering Rhineland
When the first reports of this event began to arrive to the allies, the response was immediate, and the first statements of condemnation were issued. However, most Central European countries, also affected by the Great War peace treaties, showed their support to this action, and the silence of both the U.S. and the Sovier Union weakened the protests. But there would be a rather obvious exception: the French Government, without consulting their British allies, threatened Germany with a declaration of war in case the Army did not withdraw from the Rhine immediately. However, German intelligence reported that it was only a bluff, and the world held its breath while the German Government standed firm in its decision.
A few days later, the French government announced that they were breaking all trade agreements with Germany and issued a statement condemning the incident, but made no further reference to a possible war. In the eyes of the world, Germany managed to recover some of its legitimate territory in a peaceful way, while the French showed weakness and lacked any coordination with their allies.
The French cower before us!
This exceptional event was what was the country was needing to be fully united, and various political and social leaders publicly congratulated the Chancellor; even Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Party leader, said they were witnessing "the rebirth of a nation." Before a jubilant Parliament, Wels announced a major program of state industrialization coordinated with private investments: the Wirtschaftswunder had arrived...
New industries will be created
Ill be reading this! 
