Intermission: Quo vadis, Germania?
While the war continued both in the east and in the west, and as thousands of young Germans died in defense of their homeland so dreadfully threatened by the specter of communism, another conflict was taking place in Germany, less bloody and undeclared, but also full of intrigue, fights and irreconcilable hatreds. Despite Chancellor Vogel´s calls for the need to remain united and to form a great national covenant that prevented a new fragmentation of German society, truth was that the deep fracture within the German society that seemed to disappear during the economic resurgence of the country started to resurge as the war became unfavorable to the Reich. SPD’s decision to disregard requests for early elections was not warmly received by the opposition, who generally stated that the Social Democrats had come to the government in times of peace, and therefore the people should be consulted again now that a war was on. However, the Chancellor did not change his opinion and opted for continuing in office until 1945, when the new elections were to be held.
Current German Government, led by Hans Vogel
However, the recent conflict with both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union had completely changed the German political spectrum. Apparently, the SPD was still the strongest party, and promoted a continuation of the war to avoid a new economic and social disaster like the one caused by the Treaty of Versailles, and while many of the voters were tired of wars and struggles, the fact is that the allies doctrine of "total victory” was not kindly contemplated by the majority of the Germans as a valid alternative to war.
Part of the DNVP was opposed to this policy of continuing the war, considering that the consequences of not negotiating with the Western Allies could be worse than any new treaty imposed by the victors. According to Hugenberg, it was necessary to submit to the Western powers in order to prevent the country being engulfed by the Soviet Union, and he even claimed that the Allies would understand the German view and also end up fighting with Germany to defeat communism. This position was also supported by the most conservative politicians from the Zentrum, who were also concerned about the possible consequences of a Soviet annexation, much more terrible in appearance to any peace treaty the Allies could impose.
However, the leaking of a report known as the "Suggested Post- Surrender Program for Germany" or "Morgenthau’s memorandum" was a major blow to the supporters of this appeasement doctrine, as the American plan did not contemplate any peace agreement, but a total annihilation of the German state. According to the report, Germany would be demilitarized and should pay large war reparations. Such clauses could have been considered as more or less logical in any peace treaty, but the problem existed with the other provisions of the protocol, which established the need to divide Germany into several independent states and to annex or internationalize the Ruhr area and other German industrial zones, turning the country into a nation mostly agrarian and backward. This doctrine was more or less confirmed in the Casablanca Conference, where Roosevelt and Churchill would affirm that the Allies would accept only “an unconditional surrender “of the Axis powers.
Roosevelt and Churchill stated that "We do mean to impose punishment and retribution upon the guilty and barbaric German leaders"
This statement resulted in the end of any hope of a negotiated peace with the Allies, and also a serious blow to the aspirations of the DNVP. While the party quickly condemned such statements and said that they now supported the continuation of the war to “prevent the end of the German identity," much of the electorate started to contemplate the liberal FDP as an alternative to the DNVP. Together with the increasing influence of the right-wing of the Zentrum, the situation turned into both parties occupying the same political ground, while the liberals quickly gained support among the German population. After months of negotiations, the DNVP and the Zentrum, wanting to prevent a political disaster, accepted to merge into a sole organization and formed the Christian Democratic Union, the new conservative alternative to the SPD that aimed at attracting voters from both former parties. To distance themselves from the DNVP policies of a negotiated peace Konrad Adenauer, former right-wing politician of the Zentrum , was elected as party leader in mid- 1943 by a large majority. This merger also entailed that the moderate sector of the Zentrum switched their support to the liberal FDP, who was clearly becoming the third German party with clear potential to act as a balance of power in the German politics. For its part, the BVP did not accept the conditions of the CDU to form a coalition, and continued as a conservative and autonomist alternative in in Bavaria.
The four main democratic forces, respectively led by Vogel, Adenauer, Heuss and Held
More complicated was the situation of the KPD, who dramatically lost support among German society. The mysterious disappearance of Thalmann and Ulbricht sowed important doubts among his former voters, a feeling that was increased by a statement announcing that "the KPD would not contest in any future elections in Germany to discourage the social fascism promoted both by the SPD and the CDU". For many Germans, the KPD had become only a nest of traitors secretly seeking the country to submit to Stalin´s guidelines and Thalmann´s hunger for power.
Interestingly, this view was not entirely false. Months ago, Soviet troops had managed to penetrate into German territory in what apparently looked like a race to Berlin, but inexplicably they turned back and avoided any combat. The reason for this action was "Operation Robin”, organized by Lavrenti Beria to take control of the KPD and ensure the ability to control post-war Germany in case of a Soviet victory. Once in Germany, NKVD units secretly came to meet with prominent leaders of the KPD, affirming them they were in danger of being imprisoned in Germany and offering them asylum in the Soviet Union. While many leaders accepted such offer, Thlamann initially declined for “responsibility towards the nation”, but eventually agreed to travel to Moscow when he was promised to keep the party leadership. However, both Beria and Stalin took notice of the initial refusal by Thalmann, whom they considered as too ambitious and independent.
Lavrenti Beria was behind "Operation Robin"
Once in Moscow, the Kremlin informed the German communists about their intention to unite all leftist forces of the country in the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands in order to unite all anti-capitalist forces in one political group. Thalmann clearly understood that Moscow's intention was simply to puppetize the KPD, and the whole of Germany, to the dictates of Stalin, and expressed a vehement refuse to such proposal. Very different was the attitude of Walter Ulbricht, who accepted without regard the Soviet proposal and offered himself to indoctrinate German prisoners and to turn them into "future communists loyal to the Soviet ideals". Such unreserved attitude greatly surprised the Russian leaders, and despite Beria depicted Ulbricht as "the greatest idiot that I have ever seen", Stalin saw Ulbricht as an alternative to Thalmann, easy to handle and submissive as long as he was handed with some power. A few days later, most of the KPD leaders were "convinced” to form the SED under the new leadership of Walter Ulbricht, while Thalmann was charged for Trotskyism and executed after a quick trial. The Soviet Union already controlled most of German Communists, and few doubted that if the war ended with a Russian victory there would be no hope of a true independent German communist state.
Opening act of the first SED Assembly
But all these facts were only a brief sample of the many changes and challenges that Germany was facing; war was still going on, and while the conflict seemed to favor the Soviets no one doubted that it was a struggle to life or death for the country's survival. As always, the victors would write the story ... and yet there was none.
OOC: My image editing skills are unmatched :laugh: