Hello its new chapter time...
Soon the Kaiser appointed Hjalmar Shacht as head of the Imperial Bank. Shacht had served as President of the Reichsbank in the Weimar Republic days and under his guidance it was hoped that the Kaiserreich would see further economic and industrial growth as well as a way to further soften the hated reparations imposed by the Allies.
The following month, the first elections took place in Germany since the end of the Civil War. The KPD had been banned by this point but other Anti-Imperial parties such as the Social Democrats and Nazis were allowed to take part. It mattered very little as neither party performed very well outside of certain small areas, although the Social Democrats remained the most popular party in several states in Northern Germany as well as Saxony. However, the election ended with the Right-Wing DKP becoming the largest party in the Reichstag and not long after the Kaiser appointed Kurt von Schleicher as the new Chancellor.
Meanwhile to the West now that France had a loyal German puppet state on their Eastern border they saw no further need to resume their occupation of the former German territory of Saarbrucken, which was therefore transferred to the control of the German Republic.
In Arabia, the Emirate of Nejd continued their expansionism in the region by declaring war on the Kingdom of Hejaz, the last obstacle to the House of Saud dominating the Arabian Peninsula.
Back in Germany, on the 3rd of September there was a momentous occasion as the former Kaiser, Wilhelm II, returned to Germany having spent the last six years in exile following his abdication in November 1918. He arrived in Potsdam where he was greeted by his son, the current Kaiser, as well as many ministers and Great War veterans. It was a proud day for Germany to see their former Monarch who had been driven from his country by the Weimar traitors return to much fanfare. The former Kaiser announced his intentions to refrain from returning to politics and would retire to the local Cecilienhof Palace which he had ordered built during the Great War and would now serve as his and his families' home.
Around the same time both the Kaiserreich and the so-called German Republic began fortifying their shared border as they had both slowly been doing since the Republic had been officially declared earlier in the year. There was nothing in the Treaty of Versailles that prohibited Imperial Troops from being stationed on the Republic's border. However, there were occasional border skirmishes and the 5th of December saw the biggest one yet and this skirmish saw the death of 6 Imperial troops and 12 Republican Soldiers. For now this incident did not escalate into further violence but this is unlikely to be the last such skirmish along this increasingly militarised border.
Not long after his return to Germany former Kaiser Wilhelm II and his family visited Austria. While officially his visit was just a holiday and not one of statehood he was due to meet with Karl I while in Austria and it was hoped the former Kaiser would promote improved relations between the former allies on his visit. Meanwhile the Austrians ended their occupation of Serbia and restored the old Principality under a prince loyal to the Habsburg state.
In October the German Government approved a new program to reverse the declining birth rate in the Empire. This new program, known as 'Lebensborn' was a long-term project which hoped to see a major boost in the German population by the middle of the 1930's.
In China, the rivalries between the various warlord cliques continued and the increasingly expansionist Japanese were beginning to become more involved in the frequent conflicts. In Late October Japan backed a Coup in Beijing against Cao Kun, the current President of China and leader of the powerful Zhili Clique who were currently fighting the Pro-Japanese Fengtian Clique. The Coup was successful and Cao Kun was removed from power in what would prove to be a vital turning point in the Zhili-Fengtian War and only increased Japanese influence in mainland China.
Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union it seemed that the power struggle that followed the death of Vladimir Lenin had not been concluded as Joseph Stalin, who by now had lost most of his influence in the Communist Party, gathered his remaining loyalists and staged a Coup in December against Nikolai Bukharin. The Coup proved to be a complete failure as Stalin failed to gain the support of the Red Army and would later be arrested along with his followers. The failure of this 'Winter Plot' ended the last serious opposition to the rule of Bukharin.
As 1924 came to an end the internal situation in Germany was continuing to greatly improve. However, the result of the 1924 Elections show that there is still some serious opposition to the restored Kaiserreich within Germany that may need to be dealt with before they become more troublesome. Still it would seem for the most part that 1925 could be an even better year for Germany!
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Author's Note
So this is going to be the last update before christmas as I have some busy days ahead and can't guarantee I'll have the time to put out another chapter until after christmas. This seems like a pretty good place to leave things for the moment anyway.
I'd just like to say thanks to you all for reading up to this point and I've greatly enjoyed all your comments as I continue my journey to becoming a half-decent AAR writer. I look forward to continuing this AAR after christmas is over and seeing where this extremely enjoyable playthrough takes me
For now, enjoy this chapter and Happy insert-reason-for-day-off-work-here to you all!!
Chapter 13 (Jul-Dec 1924)
In Germany little had changed since the end of the war but there were definitely signs of recovery from the dark days of the Weimar Republic. Hopefully this recovery will continue for the foreseeable future.
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Author's Note
So this is going to be the last update before christmas as I have some busy days ahead and can't guarantee I'll have the time to put out another chapter until after christmas. This seems like a pretty good place to leave things for the moment anyway.
I'd just like to say thanks to you all for reading up to this point and I've greatly enjoyed all your comments as I continue my journey to becoming a half-decent AAR writer. I look forward to continuing this AAR after christmas is over and seeing where this extremely enjoyable playthrough takes me
For now, enjoy this chapter and Happy insert-reason-for-day-off-work-here to you all!!