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The German defeat in the First World War left Germany in a state of absolute chaos. After the collapse of their armies in 1918 Germany had to sign the Treaty of Versailles in which part of their national territories were snatched: Alsace and Lorraine, snatched to France in the genesis of the German Empire, and the Danzig corridor at the hands of the young and reborn Polish state. His main nemesis in the Great War, France, demanded considerable economic rewards due to the damages caused in its territory. The old imperial government was replaced by a weak and unstable republic: the Weimar Republic. However, not all Germans were willing to accept a transition to liberalism. Inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917, the German Communists of the Spartacist League attempted an armed uprising on January 4, 1919 but were crushed by the opposition of nationalist paramilitary groups. Trying to take advantage of the weakness of the Weimar government, the right-wing nationalists Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz tried to carry out a coup that failed miserably. And if that were not enough, France began to take a more aggressive stance on the payment of war reparations by occupying the Ruhr industrial region.
Hyperinflation, crime, political violence between the left and the right. The young republic tried everything possible to overcome these adversities. It seemed that German democracy could get a chance of survival by going through a golden age of economic recovery and political stability in the so-called Golden Years of the Republic between 1923 and 1929. However, the Great Depression passed. The German economy collapsed again and thousands of German workers ended up unemployed. An air of desolation and anguish crossed Germany. A feeling of resentment and betrayal nested in the hearts of German citizens. The nation that seemed destined for glory suffered hunger and humiliation. A man managed to capitalize on the discontent of the German people: Adolf Hitler.
According to his speech, Germany had not lost the war due to the exhaustion of its armies or lack of resources, but was treacherously stabbed in the back by internal enemies who sought the ruin of Germany. After a failed coup attempt in Munich in 1923, Hitler began to work on other ways to come to power. Capitalizing on the dissatisfaction of middle class citizens and through the alliance with powerful industrial groups, his party, the NSDAP, gradually began to seize the seats of the Reichstag. Hitler sought the creation of an authoritarian regime that opposes the weak liberal democracy and the heretic communism, with a racial doctrine that glorifies the Germanic race in contrast to other "undesirable" etnic groups. In January 1933, the opportunity to come to power was within reach: the weak conservative government of President Hindenburg seemed willing to let the Nazis be part of the government. This was Hitler's opportunity not only to make Germany obtain supremacy in Europe by repaying the impersonal humiliations in the Treaty of Versailles, but to expand its Lebesbraum beyond the limits of the Oder and even the Dnieper: to the remote Urals. A new era for Germany and the world begins...
Germany on January of 1933
Welcome to my first AAR on the Edge of Darkness mod. This AAR will have a narrative historical perspective for the most part. My English is not that good so I will try my best to make cohesive sentences. I will try to upload regularly. Criticism is very well received.
The Serpent's Egg (January 1933) "The Führer always had a lot of esteem for Hindenburg for his attempts to get Germany out of the abyss. We even applied some of his policies in the early months of the National Socialist State. It was too late to save his own political career but it was not too late to save Germany. That's when we went into action" - Statthalter Albert Speer in a letter to German economists, 1956
On January 2nd of 1933, German economy wasn't on his best shape. In the resources department, the country had to face a considerable deficit in both money and energy but the situation was considerable better in relation to iron reserves thanks to iron trade with Sweden. The reserves of oil were enough thanks to the convertion of energy. With respect to military production, Germany was building three heavy cruisers and one light cruiser with the Deustchsland already about to be completed. The treaty of Versailles had limited Germany's military expansion on land, sea and air, but the armored heavy cruisers of the Deutschland class were not under such limitations despite French opposition. The armies based in East Prussia were to be supplied by convoys to Konigsberg due to the loss of the territory connecting East Prussia with the rest of Germany
The German army was a shadow of what it once was. Limited to only 100,000 men by the Treaty of Versallles, it was reduced to only 11 divisions divided into 9 armies (7 of Infantry, 3 of Cavalry and 1 High Command). More than 115,000 in total. The position of Chief of the Army was occupied by Werner Von Fristch and the post of Chief of Staff was under the command of Ludwig Beck.
The aerial branch of the armed forces only had 1 division of fighters, 1 of obsolete interceptors under the jurisdiction of the National Socialist Hermann Goering.
Finally, the Navy under the command of Erich Reader only had 3 battleships, 6 light cruisers, 8 transport divisions and 23 destroyers divided into 6 divisions with 23 vessels in total.
Regarding the international situation, the Far East was far from being quiet. China went through the political period of the Nanjing Decade under the command of General Chiang Kai Shek and began an attempt at modernization through the promotion of education and industry. Chiang Kai Shek believed that modernization would allow China to prepare for the inevitable confrontation with other hostile foreign powers, the main one being the Empire of Japan. Japan was also not immune to geopolitical changes. Surrounded by hostile powers, Japanese democracy seemed to weaken progressively in the face of Japanese nationalist militarism that called for military expansion in Asia. In addition, its puppet government of Manchuria also carried out a process of internal pacification
When dealing with German history, there is usually no talk of the measures that the old President Hindenburg tried to apply with the aim of revitalizing the German economy in early 1933. The traditional German post-III Reich historiography always presented Hitler as responsible for the German economic recovery. However, Hindenburg and industry minister Alfred Hugenberg, supporter of the NSDAP, had already tried to change the economic situation through certain measures.
Hindenburg's cabinet on January of 1933
In the first place, Hindenburg tried to fill the empty coffers of Germany with a considerable loan destined to boost the industry and the technology. This measure caused great controversy within the government of Hindenburg and in the circles of German economists because Germany already owed a large amount of money in war reparations and American loans. The money came mostly from several British and American industrialists and bankers, including Henry Ford (it would not be the last time the Germans collaborated with him). With this measure, Hindenburg sought to repeat the success of Gustav Stresemann and the Dawes Plan to put an end to the German economic recession.
One of the biggest problems for a possible economic recovery was the enormous internal dissension within Germany. Sabotage of factories, strikes, unemployment and the political demonstrations of the extreme left and right were proof of this discontent in the population. In order to remedy this situation, Hindenburg changed the economic orientation of production. The production of the naval units was stopped indefinitely and the production of supplies for the army was regulated to star investing on the production of consumer goods. Added to several fixations of prices of first necessity, this measure was oriented to be able to calm the enormous wave of discontent that crossed the Republic of Weimar. In addition, it also sought to remedy the budget deficit to pay the recent loan. These new economic policies were within an international context that augured state intervention in the economy, following the ideas of the economist John Keynes, as a method of economic recovery. The US government of Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be one of the first to put these ideas into practice.
Results of HIndenburg's reorientation of the economy on January of 1933
The money obtained from the loan also sought to finance new technological projects. Instead of concentrating on long-term projects whose completion was not assured, several short-term projects were investigated to give Germany the technological advantage over its opponents. Even in the darkest times of the Weimar Republic, Germany still had scientists and researchers of the highest quality. The new technological focus had four main focuses: to develop novelties aimed at improving the aeronautical branch, the creation of new antibiotics to lower mortality levels, the improvement of armored vehicles and the improvement of the decryption system for future espionage operations.
Several modifications were also made in the military field, with several officials sipping purges from the Armed Forces accused of communist sympathies or simple incompetence. This measure was aimed at increasing morale and discipline within the Army
The ghost of fascism and communism was still going through the Far East. Chiang Kai Shek initiated a Fourth Campaign against the Chinese communist state of Mao Zedong. His rival within the Kuomintang, Wang Jingwei began to flirt with fascism as a method to stop communism. Japan saw in the instability of China an opportunity for territorial expansion not only against the European colonies in Asia. As a result, at the Conference of the Five Ministers on January 5 1933, the decision that would affect the Japanese Empire in a considerable way was made: the Nashinron or expansion to the south
The unfolding of the situation in China was not alien to the German government. German interests in China go back to the Empire and its maritime colony in Qingdao. The establishment of ties with the Kuomitang government had already been attempted in the 1920s with the sending of military adviser Max Bauer to China. On January 19, 1933 an agreement was reached with the Chinese government for the exchange of rare materials for support for the development of the industry and military equipment and training. The Hindenburg government sought not only to stop the expansion of communism in Asia and to boost the economy through the production of weapons, but also to try new military tactics of Hans Von Seekt military strategist based on mobility and qualitative rather than quantitative superiority . These tactics would become the backbone of the future Wehrmacht. The policy of trade relations between Germany and China was being driven by the subsequent Hitler government, lasting at least another four years. While Hitler continued to promote the Sino-German ties in a substantial way, it has been mistakenly associated as the origin of them.
On the other side of the Pacific, the United States of America observed with great concern the situation in the Far East. Intelligence reports that showed the Japanese government's intention to expand across the Pacific confirmed US suspicions. Based on this, the US government declared the independence of the Filipinas on January 21, 1933. The creation of an independent government in the Philippines would allow the islands to have their own army to defend against a possible Japanese attack and consolidate the position of the US government as the "Arsenal of Democracies" in the Pacific
The political measures of Hindenburg to revitalize the German economy did not go unnoticed by the French government. Therefore, they decided to give a greater boost to the process of French economic recovery after the Great Depression. However, with the arrival of the Nazi regime, France would never be able to achieve the same level of industrialization that the German Reich possessed. This was considered one of the main factors that contributed to its inability to stop the German armies in 1940, but the considerable number of French divisions deployed for the defense of France that matched the Wehrmacht in number questioned this hypothesis.
The technological projects of Hindenburg seemed to have paid off ... but not in the way that was expected. The military technicians had advanced in the investigation of the transport of military messages through the training of carrier pigeons. The discovery was filtered through the German press and a journalist from a German period mentioned in an article that Hindenburg "spent the money of the German people on flying rats". NSDAP thugs made sure the story did not remember his name but they could not avoid Hindenburg's association with the pigeons. The most famous of them was a political cartoon of a French magazine that showed Hindenburg looking after pigeons while a group of poor people asked for food that was accompanied with the inscription "President Hindenburg is working on his super-secret weapon to take down France ... other issues can wait"
The years of Hitler's political campaign and the NSDAP seemed to have paid off. Despite his defeat in the presidential elections of April 1932 against Hindenburg, Hitler managed to obtain a considerable 35 percent of the votes. The government would fail to get the parliamentary majority in the elections of July and November. Conservative sectors led by Franz Von Papen with the support of the Minister of Economy and National Socialist parliamentarian Alfred Hughenberg conspired to achieve the fall of Chancellor Schleicher and the installation of Hitler as chancellor. Von Papen's personal ties with President Hindenburg ended up prevailing and after several weeks of negotiations with the NSDAP, on January 30, 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Papen believed he was capable of controlling Hitler. Subsequent events would show how wrong he was
The legacy of the Hindenburg government would prove to be very bittersweet. Their moderate position against the National Socialists and their inability to stabilize both the economy and the political situation in Germany are accompanied by their economic and military reforms of their last years of their management that would allow to advance to a process of economic recovery. The question of why these reforms were put into practice in 1933 and not immediately after the Great Depression is one of the great questions in the history of the interwar period. Hindenburg bet on these reforms because of the need to gain political credibility against the National Socialists? Can one really speak of a history of state interventionism at the same time that the Roosevelt government was doing it with its New Deal? These would be the questions that the historiography of the 90s would be made in the context of the installation of the Second American Republic and the end of the German "Oberherrschaft". The rise of Germany from ruined nation to superpower would be a matter of interest for the following generations of historians ...
The Fire Rises (February 1933)
"From this position, I will make sure that no other Dutch communist will burn again any other German building. The Dutch will be indoctrinated on the virtues of National Socialism - Reichskomissar of the Netherlands Arthur Seyss-Inquart, 1953
"That fat idiot knows only two things well: eat and inject morphin on himself. He will make Germany burn as he did with the Reichstag" - Heinrich Himmler, Joachim Pieper's Memories 1970
Hitler's cabinet after being elected Chancellor
One of Hitler's first steps as Chancellor was to continue the policy of economic restoration initiated by Hindenburg. The old economic recipes of liberal bourgeois capitalism were put aside in a definitive way to give way to the interventionism of the State in the market. Half of the loan money obtained in the government of Hindenburg was destined to this end. The result of this investment was the creation of numerous jobs and the reactivation of several fundamental industries for Germany, especially the production of arms and ammunition. This allowed to temporarily alleviate the discontent of the German people. But there was still much to be done to lift Germany from ruin ...
From the beginning, Hitler made clear his intention to create an autocratic regime opposed to communism and to the democratization that allows the military rearmament of Germany to repay the humiliations of Versailles but to colonize and Germanize the vital spaces of the East. This was commented on a dinner with military officers in the house of the Commander in Chief of the High Command of Berlin. General Kurt Von Hammerstein Equord on February 3, 1933. Due to his opposition to National Socialism, Hammerstein-Equord advanced within the Wehrmacht by remaining stuck in merely defensive roles. After the Reichstag fire, he was replaced by Marshal Werner Von Blomberg. Later, he would be assigned command of the defense of the Siegfried line. After the fall of France, he was assigned command of the German Army in the Netherlands, a position he held until his death in 1943.
Meanwhile, General Sadao Araki gained influence in Japanese politics upon reaching the post of Ministry of War. Being within the right-wing nationalist circles of Japan, also part of the Japanese faction of the Imperial Way. However, instead of a march to the South against China, it supported a Hokushinron or March to the North against the Soviet Union. Therefore, he was involved in several plots to gain control of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. Later, it would be one of the main supporters of declaring war on the Soviet Union after the success of Operation Barbarossa
On February 10, 1933, Hitler gave one of his most famous speeches at Sportpalast. Unfolding all his charisma and oratory skills, Hitler denounces communism and international financial powers as the culprits of the problems of Germany in the last 10 years and calls on the German Volk to support him in his project of economic reconstruction.
Despite the fact that a large number of German citizens seemed attracted by Hitler's speech, there were those who still defended democracy at all costs. The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold was formed by members of all political ideologies with the aim of defending the Weimar Republic from left and right extremism. Despite facing the attempts of the communist and nationalist parties to overthrow the republic, they were banned by the Hitler government in March 1933. The remains of their members went into exile in the United States until the German invasion, although some of them attempted to ally themselves with Slavic militias during the Great Eastern Uprising (Großer Ostaufstand) in a last attempt to overthrow Nazism.
Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe makes changes in the layout of its aircraft. The division of Dornier Do 17 light bombers belonging to the air transport service "Blitzstrecken", were separated from the jurisdiction of the Luft Hansa to form the 1 Flieger Division, under the command of Generaloberst Alfred Keller based in Breslau. This change would be the beginning of the formation of aerial bombers used in all the operations of the Second Weltkrieg
The surplus of the German finances due to the stabilization of the economy, allowed the reinvestment in investigation of new scientific projects: one of the main obsessions of Hitler always was the one to demonstrate the scientific and technical superiority of Germany over other nations.
The key to the success of National Socialism was in the economic and political support it could have. For this reason, Hitler met with several German industrialists on February 20, 1933. The objective was to gain financial support to finance the electoral campaigns and pass laws in the Reichstag. In this meeting, Hitler presented himself as the protector of private property against the Marxist threat. T
Following the development of the Luftwaffe, a new type of seaplanes was developed at the end of February 1933 with which to equip the ships of the Kriegsmarine. His research was promoted during the first months of Hitler's Chancellorship because it was fast and little costly
On February 27, 1933, the building of the Reichstag burned down. The accused of the fire was the Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe, who was tried and executed ten months later. Hermann Goering awarded the incident to a "communist plot". As a result of the incident, the anticommunist tendencies of the German government became enraged by the persecution and arrest of thousands of communist militants.
However, this is only the official version that the National Germanic State continues to maintain until today. Some modern theories of the current of the new left of Chicago and even of the more moderate Kennedyism, assure that the incident was used to be able to justify the repression and the authoritarianism. This theory emphasizes that Van Der Lubbe was a simple mental deranged and that it was an isolated incident. Other more radical theories coming from the North American syndicalism or the English neo-Bolshevism go even further to assure that it was a false flag resulting from a conspiracy planned by Hermann Goering with the aim of winning the favor of Hitler by discovering a supposed "communist conspiracy", accusing to the Chicago current of being functional to the official version One of the evidences used in favor of this theory, is a dialogue during Hitler's birthday in 1943 in which Goering apparently confessed his role in the Reichstag fire, but the only one proof in this regard are the memoirs of Joachim Peiper where he mentions how Himmler intended to use this alleged confession against Goering during the power struggles after the death of Hitler. The Americanist national current of the Silver Legion accused those who elaborated these theories of "anti-American" and "Judaizers", assuring that it was an operation with the endorsement of Stalin and the Soviet Union. The huge amount of different positions on this incident would be one of the many conflicts arising from the historical review after the formation of the Second American Republic, but this is not by far the most controversial
"We told ourselves: "It is now or never". It was never, and I think it was better that way" - Ernst Torgler, last chairman of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), 1955 "The arrest of many of our comrades after the Reichstag's Fire was a heavy blow to us. Nobody had the moral to try a last resistance against the Nazi tyranny, seizing power by force. Rosa would have been so ashamed of us" - Wilheim Pieck, 1952. The Last Stand of The Demoracy: The Downfall of the German Republic Eric Hobsbawn, 1975
As a result of the Reichstag fire, security measures were put in place. The industrial center of Frankfurt am Main was secured by the Gruppenkomando 2, confirmed by the 3rd Division of Cavalry under SS-Obergruppenführer Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, arriving on March 3. The divisions of cavalry would be the main base to form motorized divisions according to the new doctrines of rapid movements
On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt has his inauguration as the 32nd president of the United States of America. At that time, the United States dared its worst economic crisis with a quarter of its workforce unemployed and two million people homeless. To fix the fragile economic situation, alleviate the discontent of the population and get the United States back to its former splendor, would require a radical change in the economy.
On March 5, 1933, Germany's parliamentary elections were held. Although the NSDAP achieved a significant increase in voters, which reached 43.9 percent of the vote. However, there was not enough votes to be able to form a government, so he was forced to form a coalition with the conservatives. Even so, it was possible to increase the number of parliamentarians from 196 to 288 with which it was possible to carry out all kinds of bills, including the Enabling Act.
The unstable mountainous structure of Japonjugaría against him on numerous occasions. On March 6, 1933, an earthquake occurred on the coast of Sanriku in the Tōhoku region of Honshū, Japan with a magnitude of 8.4
In order to reactivate the German economy and to compensate the injustices of Versailles, it was necessary to promote the armament industry. This would allow the reactivation of German industries and the employment of a large quantity of unemployed labor. For this, Hitler and together with the Minister of Industry Alfred Hugenberg, instead of precipitating massive state funding aimed at a larger interventionist economic model decided to promote the production of arms and ammunition
On March 11, 1933, The Joint State Political Directorate was dissolved to make way for the fearsome internal intelligence and secret police agency of the Soviet Union: the NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) The reorganization of the internal bureaucracy of the Union The Soviet that gave rise to the NKVD is usually associated with Hitler's arrival of power and the need to be able to get rid of possible "fascist reactionaries". But what undoubtedly had more weight in this decision was the reports of intelligence arrived from Japan by the spy Richard Sorge: it was quite apparent that the Japanese were training new amphibious landing forces due to the vulnerability of Japanese intelligence. Stalin wanted to avoid at all costs this kind of problems in the Soviet State so one of the prorities of the year 1933 was to reorganize the areas related to internal affairs. It would last until 1946, until Lavrenti Beria would replace it with the MVD
The remains of the Weimar Republic were beginning to disappear. The German-red-gold German republican flag was replaced by the flag of the NSDAP with the Esvastica on March 12, 1933. This flag lasted for almost 50 years until the restoration of the old German Imperial flag.
The final blow to democracy in Weimar, which would converge to Germany in a dictatorship proper, would be the Enabling Act. The victory of the NSDAP in the parliamentary elections of the previous week and negotiations with the catholic and center parties, would allow to sanction the law March 13, 1933. The only ones who voted against the Law were the Social Democrats. It gave Hitler and his cabinet the ability to make laws without the participation of the Reichstag, including laws that deviate from the Constitution of the Weimar Republic. From that moment, the Enabling Act would be renewed every four years until 1985
That same day, Germany abandons the League of Nations. Hitler considered that the presence of Germany in the League only slowed the development and rearmament of Germany. As a result, relations with the member countries of the League cooled down
Some people still hoped to save the republic. The leader of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), Otto Wels, gave a speech the next day in the Reichstag in defense of the Weimar Republic opposing the Enabling Act and denouncing the Hitler government. After the Sudeten Crisis in 1938, Wels was forced into exile in Prague, and then in Paris where he died the following year
On March 16, 1933, the United States Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act with the objective of stabilizing the banking system still fragile by the Great Depression. By means of this law, all banks of manifest insolvency were definitively closed, allowing operations only to banks that proved to be sufficiently solvent to sustain themselves
On March 17, 1933, the economist Hjalmar Schacht was reappointed as President of the Reichsbank. Originally from the German Democratic Party, Schacht moved to the NSDAP and convinced the German industrialists to support Hitler's appointment as chancellor in 1932. He would play a fundamental role in the reconstruction of the German economy and military rearmament.
That same day, the Fourth Encirclement Campaign ends in China with relatively minor Nationalist advances in Jiujang and Ji'an. The anarchy that reigned in China would be nothing compared to the catastrophe that would affect the nation four years later.
The fate of the old battleship Hessen was decided when it was discarded and sold on March 18, 1933. Hitler was not interested in maintaining an obsolete battleship of the turn of the century to confront the Navy Roya: it would be easily defeated by the new and modern English battleships . By continuing to believe in the possibility of a decisive battle against Great Britain at sea, he decided that the best course of action would be to build new battleships that can be measured with the Royal Navy. However, this plan would receive many modifications in the future
Mussolini did not stay behind in the naval career by creating the Decima Flottiglia Mas which consisted of a special command of frogmen destined to destroy enemy ships. During the Second Weltkrieg, they stood out for making several raids to the Allied ports, even attacking the port of New York.
The first attempts of the government of Hitler to promote scientific research yield their first fruits ... through improvements in the breeding of carrier pigeons. The old President Hindenburg was furious at what he considered a "waste of public funds", but above all he was furious at the possibility that German public opinion would associate him with pigeons again. No journalistic article or news referring to this fact is registered, which is evidence of the strict control that the National Socialist government had of the press. Even so, this image of the once powerful general who tried to conquer the country would be popularized in France and Britain where he was nicknamed "General Pidgeonburg" with several references to his supposed fetish for pigeons due to his senility. A French political cartoon shows Hindenburg with the body of a pigeon and Hitler with the body of a raptor bird. While Hitler devours the remains of the Weimar Republic (represented by a rabbit), Hindenburg devours the crumbs of bread found on the road with an inscription that says "Not exactly the dove of peace"..
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While Germany followed the inevitable path of authoritarianism, the United States ended the Prohibition that prohibited the consumption and distribution of alcohol. On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an amendment to the Volstead Act, known as the Cullen–Harrison Act, allowing the manufacture and sale of 3.2% beer
On March 20, 1933, the Japanese defeated the last Chinese partisans in Jilin Province, incorporating the province into their puppet state of Manchukuo
After finishing the investigation of the decryption devices, the investigation of new class of amphibious transports was started. Germany was really behind in the development of naval units, so maritime technology would be one of its main priorities in the interwar period.
With the arrival of the new millennium, new questions were asked when reviewing the American past. Was there any way to avoid the fall of the United States? Even if Roosevelt managed to successfully recover the US economy in the 1930s, that was not enough to end the Third Reich. However, Germany had achieved a much more spectacular success by moving from a practically ruined nation to a superpower in less than 12 years. The atomic bombing of Operation Ragnarok and the subsequent invasion prove it. There are many variables on the question of whether the Allies could have won the war and avoided German world domination - was there a way to stop Hitler before he took power? One of the most famous alternatives within the Germanic and even neo-Bolshevik circles was the possibility of a communist revolution.
The German communist politician Ernst Thälmann had proposed the possibility of a collaboration between the SPD and the KPD to overthrow Hilter, a proposal that had even been considered after the Reichstag Fire. It was also popularized in German official historiography, a supposed plan to enter the Reichstag and assassinate Hitler using commandos trained in the Soviet Union. However, by that time, the KPD was very weakened by the arrest of many of its members and the relationship between the communists and the social democrats was never very good. In addition, there was no means or even the moral to attempt a coup d'état. The former President of the KPD, who would later collaborate with the Nazis and even work in the reeducation of former Soviet communists, Ernst Torgler seems to confirm this argument: "We could never have won, the NSDAP surpassed us in resources and in support. The workers simply abandoned us. The best we could do was adapt to the new system to save our lives, I wish Thalmann would have understood that "(Der Aufstieg: the rise of Germany, 2005, Joachim Fest, P. 345) Even so, Torgler is seen inside of the neo-Bolshevik circles as a traitor against his own people in the style of Quisling, Wang Jinwei or Mosley. "The testimony of Wilheim Pieck seems to confirm what Torgler said:" If I had known that the Soviets would lose the war, I would have taken with Thalmannthe the charge of the party and would have tried a coup d'état even if it meant our end. "(The Last Stand of The Democracy: The Downfall of the German Republic, Eric Hobsbawn, 1975, P 256). To consider what might have happened, it seems that you have to change the field completely ...
The genre of the so-called "alternative history" was popularized in the early 90's The pioneer of this genre was the British-Canadian writer Robert Harris with his book Motherland in 1994. The premise of this book is based on Van Der Lubbe instead of burning the Reichstag, it puts a bomb on Hitler's speech in the Sportalast by killing him and Goebbels as a result. Without its leader, the NSDAP collapses and the communists fill the void of power by winning the parliamentary elections of March 1933, transforming Germany into a socialist republic. After suppressing a rebellion of the National Socialists in Bavaria, the Communists allied themselves with the Soviets and quickly expanded the revolution throughout Europe as far as Romania, Bulgaria, Holland and Sweden. In the Second Weltkrieg, the Germans conquer France, Hungary and Italy very easily and the Soviets invade the Middle East and India. The Japanese go to war with the United States losing disastrously and being their territories in China preemptively invaded by the Soviets. Eventually, the United States enters the war and atomically bombs Moscow and Berlin but by that time they had conquered the United Kingdom. The war ends in an armistice that leaves communists in control of all of Europe and much of Asia.
However, the plot of the book itself is centered on a police story that involves a conflict between a more democratic Germany open to the West and a hardline Soviet Union. The Stasi detective, Xavier March, will try to reveal a Soviet plot to attack the Germans and impose a more loyal puppet regime. The novel, although revolutionary, has been criticized for being unrealistic in several aspects and attacked by critics of both political extremes. Even so, nobody takes away his influence in popular culture by daring to imagine a future different from the one lived in that moment.
"The coordination (Gleichschaltung) is not yet finished, we are not even in the middle. When the power of the National Socialist state is total up to the Urals area, it will be." - Adolf Hitler. 1946 "I am sorry to have to inform the High Priest (Mestr Gothi) that I am not interested in his idea. Those particularly problematic Catholics were neutralized and we would not be happy with our allies in the Mediterranean and South America. In addition, its influence has been reduced significantly so it will not be necessary." - Stahaltter Albert Speer on the request of the Asastru Church to prohibit Christianity, 1960
Considered by the government of Hitler as a threat to the German State for its alleged influence on finance and international politics. the Jews began to be boycotted in the work areas; from commercial businesses to professional activities.
Although naval technology was not yet essential to defeat the Royal Navy, the renewal of the obsolete technology of light aircraft carriers and escort allowed aeronautical research teams to gain experience for a future considerable expansion of the Navy.
On April 3, 1933, a reorganization of the German Army was carried out. The HQ Truppenamt division (Troop Office) and the 3 Infantry Division were assigned to the I Armee-Korps under General Fleck. The cavalry divisions were organized within the II Armee Korps commanded by Generaloberst Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnage
On April 8, 1933, the Gleichstaltung began: the consolidation process of the national socialist regime through the control of all aspects of society. The first law of the Gleichstaltung dissolved the diets of the Landers, through the use of the Enabling Act, with the exception of the Prussian parliament that was already controlled by the NSDAP. The second law of the Gleichstaltung created the figure of a Reichsstatthalter, as officials had to act as local presidents in each state (with the excess of Prussia, administered by Hitler himself.) Gesetz gegen die Neubildung von Parteien ("Law against the creation of parties politicians ") (July 14, 1933) banned the creation of new political parties, leaving the NSDAP as the only legal party.Finally, the Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reiches (" Law on the reconstruction of the Reich "), dissolved the Lander completely giving the central government full control over federal jurisdictions
Following the example of Germany, Japan leaves the League of Nations on April 8, 1933 to unleash its expansionist desires
Following its policy of state intervention, the Roosevelt government requested a considerable loan in order to finance the New Deal that would eventually allow the economic recovery of the United States.
On April 13, 1933, the First Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was created as Hitler's own personal guard under the command of SS Obergruppenführer Josef "Sepp" Dietrich. Initially the size of a regiment, Hitler demanded that it be enlarged to the size of a division. It would stand out in several fronts of the Second Weltkrieg including Poland, France, Russia and England.
The Party School was established as the CPC Central Committee's Marx School of Communism in Ruijin, Jiangxi on April 14, 1933. It folded when the Red Army left on the Long March and was revived again once the CPC leadership had arrived and settled in Shaanxi, northwest China, in the winter of 1936. It was then renamed the Central Party School. The School was suspended and destroyed after the fall of Communist China and the death of Mao Zedong
The Type 93 was a 61 cm (24 in)-diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. developed on 1933. It is commonly referred to as "Lange Lanze" or Long Lance by most modern naval historians. It was used by the IJN in most of the campaigns of the Pacific War.
Conceived already during the days of the Weimar Republic, the Autobahn consisted of a complex and ambitious network of highways, the National Socialist government of Adolf Hitler returned to this ambitious project with enthusiasm, and for this mission Fritz Todt was appointed as the inspector general of the construction of roads. On April 21, 1933, construction began with the employment of a large amount of unemployed labor, improving the roads of Freiburg, Frankfurt am Main, Bayreuth and Frankfurt of the Oder. These roads would be fundamental for the mobility of military forces during the Second Weltkrieg. However, its complete expansion would only be completed in the postwar period.
in April 1933, Canada ceased redeeming Dominion notes in gold, and thus effectively ended its adherence to the gold standard. The United States would follow through this measure
In April 1933, Tukhachevsky was named Marshal of the Soviet Union. Tujachesvsiki was a convinced supporter of modern combat techniques, based on the use of tanks and aircraft along with a rapid deployment of infantry at decisive points and created a theory of operations in depth, where deep attack formations were combined in order to destroy the enemy's logistic support. His ideas were only briefly applied in the Red Army during the campaigns against Japan in 1939 and during the 1942 Soviet counter-offensives because he was a victim of the Stalinist purges.
The Maginot Line was a complete system of fortifications, built by France along its border with Germany and Italy, after the end of the First World War. Its name comes from its promoter, the French Defense Minister André Maginot, who died in 1932 before seeing his project finished. General De Gaulle was one of the main opponents of the defensive strategy crystallized by the Maginot Line, supporting a strategy based on the professionalization of the Army, the mechanization of the infantry and the investment in armaments and aircraft. However, several officers of the French Army, including Phillipe Petain, opposed the ideas of de Gaulle accusing him of being a warmonger for promoting a war with Germany. During his trial in 1946, de Gaulle would accuse the French generals of condemning France to "serve Germany" for promoting a strategy that condemned France to immobility.
On May 15, 1933, an important book burning was carried out. This action planned and carried out by the associations of German students in which students, professors and members of the Nazi party put to the fire of public form books considered "opposed to the German spirit". while at the same time, a persecution of those opposing writers began, This caused a great impact in France, Great Britain and the United States: the image of the bonfire of burnt books caused great impact in the public opinion of the West.
Germany was completely behind in terms of naval aircraft, so it was intended to promote the creation of new types of naval aircraft that can be used in aircraft carriers through the investigation of Heinkel He 51 aircraft. However, they were thought at first as a simple complement of the larger naval units. The change of orientation of the naval strategy would come later.
In May 1933, the Soviet Union launched the Second Five-Year Plan (1933-1937), which focused on improving the living conditions of the population and emphasized self-sufficiency, especially heavy industry, which is fundamental for war production. However, heavy industry was promoted in detriment of the production of consumer goods, which affected the level and quality of life of the population. Even so, the production of iron and steel multiplied by four and that of coal by three and a half what allowed to consolidate the position of the Soviet Union as a military power.
Once the amphibian transport research was finished, the technological research was oriented to investigate destroyers of the Class 1934.
On May 26, 1933, the Danzig NSDAP of Albert Forster won the parliamentary elections of the Free City of Danzig increasing German influence in the region
That same day, the Government of Iran concluded a contract with the British company Anglo - Iranian Oil Company, Ltd., granting it an oil concession for sixty years. However, the contract would be annulled by the subsequent pro-German government in the region and the nationalization of the Iranian oil wells
The Securities Act of 1933 was established on May 27 as a result of the stock market crash of 1929 and as part of President Roosevelt's interventionist policy. The legislation had two main goals: to ensure more transparency in financial statements so investors can make informed decisions about investments; and to establish laws against misrepresentation and fraudulent activities in the securities markets.
There were two different positions with respect to the German military expansion in the first months of the National Socialist State. A more aggressive position, defended by Himmler and Goering, implied implementing a mandatory service for three years in order to quickly expand the German army and be able to access a huge amount of labor to expand the industry. The other position, defended by Goebbels, Speer and Beck, implied a gradual expansion of the army with the objective of not increasing the discontent in the population and not causing alarm in the Western powers. Hitler opted for the second option, authorizing selective conscription on June 2, 1933.
The Reichskonkordat is a concordat signed on June 2, 1933, still in force, between Nazi Germany and the Holy See, which establishes conditions of religious freedom for the Catholic Church. It was signed by German President Paul von Hindenburg - through Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen - and Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (future Pius XII), on behalf of Pope Pius X
The period begun in 1933 known as the Gleichschaltung shows several defining aspects of the Nacionasocialist regime. One of them is the relationship with the Catholic Church. The Protestant Church was never a problem in Germany before and after the war, since it adhered to the ideals of German nationalism. After the publication of the encyclical Mit brennender Sorge (with ardent concern) by Pope Pius XI in March 1937, in which he condemned the idolatry of the state and the race of the Nazi regime, Hitler ordered Reinhard Heydrich to seize and destroy all the copies of the Reichskonkordat and the relations between Nazi Germany and the Vatican became muddied. Although they did not face persecution at the level of Judaism, the National Socialist regime did several campaigns of depression against the Catholic Church and appropriated various Catholic properties. After the war, the influence of the Catholic Church in Germany was gradually reduced. Although Hitler intended to annul the Reichkonkordat he never did. In his own words, he preferred to hit them "where it hurts most". Thus the Asatru religion was consolidated as a German official cult.
Based on the cult of the Nordic gods, this religion became the favorite religion of the Nacionasocialist regime. It attracted millions of German citizens emboldened after victory in the war for the superiority of the Germanic race and Judeo-Christian values began to lose strength, being associated with "inferior races" like the Poles. Hitler's intention in promoting the religion of the Nordic gods was clearly to weaken Christianity without having to initiate a persecution that could cause internal dissent, especially in the Catholic population. The first High Priest (Mestr Gothi) was Alfred Rosemberg. Pius XII condemned the Asatru as savage and primitive idolatry through the encyclical Fide Confirmat on June 2, 1949, but never excommunicated Hitler himself. Moreover, the encyclical itself called on the German government to "reconsider its questionable actions" and "not to alienate the Germans from the flock." Relations with Protestantism became colder despite the fact that Hitler had no intention of antagonizing him. Even so, the religion of Luther benefited from the decline of Catholicism expanding at the expense of this. Ludwig Müller, leader of the German Evangelical Church, stated in 1947 that Christian values should not apply to members of inferior races, but should apply only to members of the Aryan race. In relation to the emergence of the Asatru, Muller wrote in a letter to a German pastor: "We won a new enemy but we are destroying the old one, Germany will sooner or later forget the new religion as the child who quickly bores of a new toy " Protestantism would continue to be relevant after the Second Weltkrieg, constantly competing with the Asatru for the favor of the Nazi government. But Catholicism continued to expire a decandence. The percentage of Catholics was reduced from 40% in 1939 to only 23% in 1954. With the exception of certain episodes of violence and vandalism to the Churches, the followers of the Asatru were content to weaken the Christian structures gradually discrediting the Christian doctrine and again. Catholicism and its strict moral code simply ceased to be attractive to a large number of Germans, being gradually replaced by the National Socialist neo-paganism. Pius XII himself acknowledges it in a letter to the Cardinal of Munich: "The German people have abandoned their course, they have abandoned our faith for that disgusting and barbaric idolatry. But our revenge will come when we are all judged on the Throne of God and those Germans who have not fallen into that disgusting cult, they can save their souls" After the death of Hitler, Albert Speer converted the Asatru into the official religion of the German state but refused to outlaw Christianity. In a way, there was an implicit and unwritten agreement between the Vatican and Nacionasocialism during the post-war years and the Oberherrschaft: little cared the Nacionasocialism if the Vatican condemned their religion, as long as they did not condemn National Socialism itself. In addition, the Asatru religion never had too great an impact outside the Reich itself. However, Christianity would experience a rise in the number of faithful after the fall of National Socialism.
Rebirth of the German Industry (June-July1933)
"If it was difficult for them to defeat some bandits in the mountains, I think they would not have any chance against the Wehrmacht" - Frank Halder on the Red Army's capacity, 1940
"The new plan must be more ambitious than the previous one: the Reich will surpass America in everything, including the industrial potential" - Adolf Hitler on the Second Fünfjähriger industrieller Expansionsplan, 1946
On June 5, 1933, the Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Gömbös visited Berlin as part of his foreign policy to make an alliance with Germany. It was hoped that Germany could benefit Hungary in its territorial disputes with Romania.
Like all military members of the Imperial Road Faction (Kodoha), War Minister Sadao Araki believed in the supremacy of Japanese soldiers, imbued with "spiritual power", the Yamato spirit, and rejected liberal principles. He also defended violence to overthrow the established order, unlike Toseiha (Control Faction), the other ultranationalist and militarist faction of the Army, although somewhat more moderate. At a June 1933 press conference, Araki outlined these concepts in addition to promoting Seishin Kyoiku (Spiritual Training) for the Army.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was a federal law of the United States, approved by the United States Congress on June 20, 1933, which was part of the New Deal program, fostered by the Roosevelt government to restore the agricultural boom of the country during the Great Depression. It was an attempt to reduce the country's production of certain basic necessities, in order to raise prices.
The relations between the government of Hitler and the Austrian Republic were always stormy. The National Socialist regime always promoted internal turmoil and terrorism within Austria to overthrow the government of Cancilller Engelbert Dollfuss. After a terrorist attack on Krems, the Austrian National Socialist Party was banned on June 19, 1933.
The Bulgarian government raided thousands of Macedonian communist and separatist militants on June 24, 1933.
On July 1, 1933, the Soviets intervened in the Xinjang region of China in favor of the warlord Sheng Shicai against Uighur separatists from the Islamic Republic of East Turkestan. This conflict would become a complicated issue for the Soviet state
The arms company Máuser-Werke GmbH was assigned research on new tactics and equipment for the marine infantry. At the same time, the Kriegsmarine investigates the most modern model of light aircraft carriers. Reader planned to plan a gradual expansion of the Kriegsmarine, concentrating first on the creation of lighter naval units and then concentrating on the creation of battleships.
The German transatlantic SS Bremen would again win the decoration offered to the transatlantic ship that made the crossing across the Atlantic Ocean in the shortest time: the Blue Riband. Thanks to favorable sea conditions, on June 15, 1933, on the Faro Ambrose-Cherbourg ship segment with 4 days, 16 hours and 15 minutes and 28.5 n average speed, recovering its title from the Italian liner SS Rex. March 12, 1942, while in the dock, he suffered a deliberate fire by an anti-Nazi militant and it would not be repaired until 1946. It would be renamed as a museum ship in 1956
The Mefo bonds, which owe their name to the Metallurgischen Forschungsgesellschaft (Metallurgical Research Corporation), were a method of financing in the form of bills of exchange used by the German Reich during the interwar period. They were designed by the president of the Reichsbank Hjalmar Schacht and began issuing on July 2, 1933 with an initial capital of one million Reichsmarks. With them it was possible to finance the increase in public spending without needing to request bank loans. These bonds were used mainly to cover the indebtedness carried out by Hindenburg to reactivate the economy and the one carried out by Hitler to finance its rearmament program]; although they also served to create jobs and finance technological research
The next military expansion plan involved the need for a large amount of supplies to keep the new recruits. That is why Hitler ordered the temporary reorientation of the production of consumer goods to military supplies. Commenting on this, Hitler commented in a letter to Goebbels: "The German people have endured worse sufferings, since we are taking them out of the abyss, we deserve a little of their collaboration"
The Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State, better known as the London Convention, was an agreement between the colonial powers to protect wildlife in Africa. The signatories of the convention of July 3, 1933 were Belgium, Egypt, France, Italy, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the Union of South Africa and the United Kingdom and its dependencies. Spain would unite in 1935 and Germany in 1947 (the Mosley government would maintain the agreement despite not having colonies in Africa). Portugal would be the last colonial power to join the agreement in 1950
Following his policy of weakening the opposition, the Hitler government dissolved the Catholic parties on July 5, 1933
That same day, the government of Saudi Arabia granted a concession to Standard Oil of California, preferring it to an offer from Iraq Petroleum Co. The concession allowed SoCal to explore Saudi Arabia in search of oil, assigning it one of its subsidiaries called California-Arabian Standard Oil Corporation (CASOC). The Saudi government canceled the agreement after receiving a better offer from the German oil company Wintershall in 1952
Following his plans for progressive military rearmament, Hitler authorizes military conscription for a year after gathering enough military supplies for the new recruits. However, the functionality of this expansion was not to expand the armed forces but to have sufficient manpower to work in the industry. Both von Neurath and von Papen argued that a rapid expansion of the German armed forces would lead to possible intervention by the League of Nations. During the first months of the National Socialist government, the German recruitment system in its beginnings included as an alternative to full military service, an intensive labor service for the State in the construction of industries and infrastructures. Choosing this service ensured the reduction of a certain amount of time of military service determined by their superiors according to their services offered to the State. The system was known as Freiwilliges Regime der öffentlichen Arbeit (Voluntary Regime of Public Work) or FROA and functioned within the National Socialist logic of a progressive militarization of society. It was canceled after the plesbicito of the Saar in 1935
On July 6, 1933, Hitler authorized the expansion of the industry through the so-called Five-Year Industrial Expansion Plan (Fünfjähriger Industrieller Expansionsplan). This plan proposed by Hjalmar Schacht (inspired ironically in the Soviet industrial plans) consisted in the expansion of the industrial regions of Brandenburg, the Rhineland and Silesia by the creation of 75 industrial complexes in 15 different German cities. It also included the expansion of the Breslau motorways. Likewise, the production of the naval units was reactivated.
German industry needed all kinds of materials to produce weapons and transports. For this, a substitution (Ersatz) of materials obtained abroad by materials produced in Germany was made using a large amount of energy resources. It was hoped in this way to reach economic self-sufficiency.
The London Economic Conference was a meeting attended by representatives of sixty-six nations and lasted from June 12 to July 27, 1933. It was held at the Geological Museum in London, whose objectives were to combat global depression, reactivate international trade and stabilize international currencies. However, the president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a radio message to London on July 12 condemning the conference for trying to stabilize the currency, and indirectly declared that the United States would not participate in international negotiations with the other countries. The head of the German delegation, Economics Minister, Alfred Hugenberg, had planned to comment on the policy of German living space (Lebesbraum) but preferred to deal with discretion
The Soviet intervention in East Turkestan did not get off to a good start. The division destined to take the Uighur capital of Kashgar suffered a considerable setback when it was defeated by the Uighur cavalry in Frunze on July 18, 1933. The Uyghurs thought that they could unleash a rebellion of the Muslim ethnic groups in the Soviet Central Asian republics.
Sino-German cooperation was consolidated through a series of trade agreements that provide Germany with the raw materials necessary for the manufacture of weapons. Meanwhile, Hans Von Seekt helped to restructure the Chinese army through a centralized network in the form of a pyramid in addition to proposing the crafting of a small, mobile and well-equipped force. Some of these lessons would be used in the Second Sino-Japanese War
Trade exchanges between China and Germany, 1933
Richard Sorge was a Soviet spy of German origin, known to have worked for Soviet military intelligence through his espionage activities in Japan. He arrived in the country in July 1933, coming into contact with the spy network that already operated in the country. He tried unsuccessfully to warn Stalin of Operation Barbarossa in 1941. However, he could warn Stalin of Japan's lack of interest in entering the war against Russia, which allowed the transfer of divisions from Siberia. The Japanese arrested him in September 1941 and he was executed in November 1944.
One of the priorities of Admiral Reader was to be able to overcome Great Britain in concepts of naval invasions. Taking into account the trauma within the British Armed Forces due to the failure of Gallipoli, Reader thought that it would be possible to overtake the British in this area by training specialized units in naval landings. The Second Weltkrieg would demonstrate that even lacking vision in various aspects of naval warfare, Reader's decision to prioritize this field was successful.
Often, it has been theorized that the German decision to invade the Soviet Union can be traced back to 1933. While it seemed insignificant both on a military scale and in relevance to international politics, the failure of the Red Army at the Battle of Frunze (today's Bishkek) had long-term resonant consequences. After the battle, Stalin wrote to Beria of his intention to "purge those archaic and undesirable elements of the Red Army, whose incompetence could compromise the Soviet Union at a time of military crisis" which would shape the great purges of 1937. Inside of Central Asia, would be used by several Turkmen nationalist groups as a symbol of Muslim heroism against Soviet oppression. Several Turkmen regimes of the Axis had as their motto "Bishkek will be free again". Dominate the enraged Turkmen was one of the great challenges of Beria after the bitter peace, coming to appeal to artifcial famines as those made in Ukraine. But the most lasting effects would be seen within the strategic direction of the Wehrmacht.
In the heat of the conflict, there were several proposals within the German government to recognize the Republic of East Turkestan as a nation should it emerge victorious from the conflict. However, Von Papen and Beck assured that this would not be possible due to the bad strategic position that the Uighur rebels possessed and that it was a matter of time before the Red Army could send reinforcements to the area (which eventually happened). Even so, the defeat at Frunze demonstrated several faults within the military structure of the Red Army, especially poor preparation of the soldiers and their inability to compete competently in the mountains. Hitler made it clear in a letter to Ludwig Beck: "The lack of capacity to prepare a military intervention adequately from the beginning was what condemned the Red Army to defeat in the mountains of Asia.The Wehrmacht must never make these mistakes or Germany will fall again. " Some more radical National Socialists saw this not only as a weakness of the Soviet state, but as a weakness of the Slavic race itself. Himmler commented in a meeting with SS officers in 1935 "If the Slavs can not defeat other inferior races, they have no chance against ours, we should kill them first" Some reports of the Wehrmacht of the 1930s, including before the Winter War, they were already considering the possibility of exploiting the weaknesses of the Soviet army for a future invasion before ending with the Western Allies. But the inexorable position of Hitler prevailed to compensate first the injustices of Versailles and then to end the Soviet colossus. After Operation Charlemagne and the destruction of the Soviet Union, the Germans recognized the autonomy of the Uighur ethnic group by creating the Third Republic of Eastern Turkestan in 1961. Ironically, it would be in the same Bishkek where the Uyghurs would defeat the Kyrgyz in 1987 by a territorial dispute that ended in his benefit after the German arbitration. The defeat would bring down the neo-Bolshevik Kyrgyz government of Askar Akayev
Big Problem in Little China (August - November 1933)
"The Chinese were never made to be together. We could invade tomorrow and no Chinese would defend their compatriots"- Hideki Tojo, 1936
"Do not underestimate the value of Czech tanks. It was fortunate that we didnhave to face them on the battlefield" - Heinz Guderian in a letter to Ludwig Beck, 1939
The Indian Civil Disobedience movement led by Gandhi made all sorts of peaceful protests to demand their right to self-government and independence during the 20s and 30s. However, the entry of the British Raj into the war without consulting the Indian population and the German invasion of India in 1943 (Operation Elfenbein) would question the use of nonviolence as a way to achieve the liberation of India and the balance of power would pass from the Indian National Congress to the Azad Hind of Subhas Chandra Bose
R-1 (also known as GRID-R1) was the name of a Soviet missile created based on the German V2 missile. Although the definitive designs were approved in 1948 and the production started in 1951 with the approval of Beria, the tests of the previous prototypes go back to 1933. Produced in the base of Novorossiisk and with the economic support of the United States. they produced around 125 missiles used to stop the German advance in Siberia and were even used to attack German cities as a last resort. Since most were destroyed by the line of German anti-aircraft guns of the Volga (the Utgard line), the only structure of consideration they could destroy was a small school in the German colony of Neue Leizpig in the Volga killing 17 children. It was used as propaganda by the Nazi government to promote the ultimate destruction of communism.
The Soviets finally managed to dominate the Uyghurs, making their way into the Uighur capital of Kashgar on August 14, 1933 and ending with the First Republic of East Turkestan. Turkish Muslim leader Muhammad Amin Bughra would go into exile in Turkey, where he would later collaborate with Germany by recruiting Turkmen units
On September 9, 1933, German intelligence reported the infiltration of Polish spies and the disappearance of antiaircraft artillery plans. Although the designs were already obsolete at the time of being stolen by the Poles, it was a rather humiliating and unpleasant experience for the head of the Abwehr, Wilheim Canaris, who had to face the complaints of Hitler. This vulnerability will be characteristic throughout the Second Weltkrieg
The coup d'état in Cuba on September 10, 1933, better known as the Revolt of the Sergeants, was an armed conflict led by a rebel faction commanded by General Fulgencio Batista with the intention of deposing the provisional president Ramón Grau San Martín. Grau would be restored as president after the fall of the United States.
The German government needed to avoid the flight of capital to obtain enough money to finance military rearmament, so a policy of reserving money was applied instead of using it to buy raw materials from other countries.
The heavy cruiser Deutschland was also launched on September 19 and assigned to the Kampfgruppe II, commanded by Rear Admiral Ludwig von Schröder
Winifred Wagner was the widow of Siegfried Wagner, son of the German composer Richard Wagner, and personal friend of Adolf Hitler. Named an illustrious citizen of Bayreuth in 1933 as a result of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Wagner, she was regent of the Bayreuth Festival between 1933 and 1980. The economic promotion of the National Socialist regime of the festival makes it a cultural symbol of Nazism. The adhesion and admiration of Winifred towards Adolf Hitler was well known, not only supporting Hitler in prison after the failure of the Putsch in Munich (even sending the paper with which he wrote Mein Kampf) but also being one of the first adherents to the Asatru Church
On September 25, 1933, the Soviet government announced that the Uighur rebellion was finally appeased. Their territories were distributed and handed over to the warlord of Xinjiang, Sheng Shicai
The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially called the "Act of September 24, 1933, was a United States law enacted as part of the New Deal, created to fight the Great Depression during the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its purpose was to regulate the activity of US industries to stimulate economic recovery and establish a national program of public works.The Republican opposition accused the NIRA of promoting monopolies, oligopolies and business cartels under the pretext of "cooperation" between companies The US Supreme Court declared the NIRA unconstitutional on May 27, 1935.
The Nationalist goverment of China demanded the territory of Xinjiang to be handed to China on September 29, 1933. The Soviets didn't bother to answer. The perrspective of a war against the Soviet Union made the Chinese Goverment back off on their territorial demands
On October 3, 1933, the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of Italy signed a non-aggression pact. This pact was based on their mutual economic interests in the Balkans and the distrust that both nations had with Germany and its interests. The agreement was in effect until June 8, 1941, the start of Operation Barbarossa. That same day, the King of Yugoslavia, Alexander I, made a visit to the Bulgarian government in Sofia being received by the Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikola Mushanov
The Kriegsmarine was dedicated to the investigation of the heavy cruisers Hipper class. These warships designed to operate at long range and equipped with a high speed would operate throughout the Second Weltkrieg as convoy hunters.
Great Britain applied economic measures of state intervention with the aim of being able to carry out a military rearmament in order to counteract the fascist threat
Following the Good Neighbor policy, President Franklin D Roosevelt met with Panamanian President Harmondo Arias on October 17, 1933 where he committed to protect Panamanian interests on the canal, repatriate Panamanian immigrants to reduce the growing Panamanian unemployment and limit American rights in the channel to maintenance tasks. The purpose of this agreement was to mitigate the nationalist tendencies of the Panamanian government to ensure the strategic position of the United States in the Canal
On October 19, 1933, the prestigious 19th Route Army of Chinese General Cai Tingkai who was destined for the Fifth Encirclement Campaign against the Jiangxi-Fujian Soviet of Mao Zedong rebelled against Chiang Kai Shek for disagreements on political-social issues, establishing the Fujian People's Government. However, they did not obtain support either from the Chinese people who feared another civil war or from the Chinese Communists due to the opposition of the Bolsheviks (the group of Chinese intellectuals who ran the Chinese Communist Party) so their defeat at the hands of the Kuommitang was inevitable.
The Japanese war tubas were used as acoustic locators during the First and Second Weltkrieg. The lack of radar always limited the range of action of Japanese aircraft and are considered a symbol of the backwardness that presented the Japanese armed forces. Some of these devices would still be in use during the Japanese Civil War
The LT vz. 38 was a light tank designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia in 1937. The Czechoslovak government sought to develop tanks that can be measured with German armored units in the case of a German invasion. However, due to the German occupation of the Czech Republic these tanks were never in use ... at least on the Czech side. The LT vz. 38 (renamed Panzer 38 (t)) would be produced by the Germans and used mainly in the Polish and Norwegian campaigns. Its production ceased in June 1942, having produced more than 1,400 units. Several units were sold to other allies of the Axis such as Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Egypt and even Sweden, where ironically they would be used to resist the German invasion. Also, the Aufklärungspanzer 38 (t) would be created as a recognition vehicle based on the chaquis of this tank and due to its serious quality used in the German Scandinavia until the 70s.
The Bersaglieri are an infantry corps of the Italian Army, created by General Alessandro La Marmora in 1836 to serve in the Piedmontese Army, which later became the Italian Royal Army. They stood out in the First Weltkrieg, the War of Abyssinia and the Spanish Civil War. The entry into war of Italy on May 15, 1940, led the Bersaglieri to the south coast of France. After they were sent to Greece, northern France and Yugoslavia, these troops represented, more or less the only troops that were, in whole or in part, motorized, therefore they were used as vanguard and were the first to enter contact with the enemy. However, it was in the theater of African and Middle Eastern operations that the Bersaglieri fought with more success since the terrain was conducive to the use of mobile infantry. From 1943, the control of the occupied territories in Yugoslavia, Africa and Russia, involved the combat, in numerous occasions, against the partisans. Subsequently, they were used in all kinds of special operations and pacification as the elmination of guerrilla foci in the United States of the New American Continental Army and the Combined Trade Unions of America, the Libyan Rebellion of 1972 and the Invasion of French Algeria in 1985 (Operation Scipio)
On October 29, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt ruled the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. This was a New Deal agency created to generate electrical power and control the flooding of the Tennessee River in a region that encompasses seven states of the United States. The company was dissolved in the 1950s after the German occupation, but was forced to operate under the collaborative regime.
The history of China in the modern era would be traversed by all kinds of conflcitos. One of the victim areas of the ruling anarchy in China was the ancient province of XInjiang. After the Treaty of Moscow, the Sinkiang government of warlord Sheng Shicai had to face a civil war when a rival communist faction commanded by Ehmetjan Qasim and Abdulkerim Abbas attempted to seize power. However, Beria preferred favoring the Sheng Shicai faction since he distrusted the rebels's ties with Mao's communists and saw them as a countermeasure against Soviet interests in Xinjiang. Some theories indicate that Abbas planned to reintegrate China by separating from Soviet influence, joining the United Chinese Front against the Japanese and developing a more progressive and less authoritarian alternative communist model. However, a third faction commanded by the nationalists Masud Sabri and Elihan Tore attempted to create an independent Pan-Turkmen state of both the Soviets and Chinese, receiving even support from the Germans through Afghanistan and the Muslim rebels in Pakistan. While both the Turkmen faction and the Marxist faction fought with the Soviets as a common enemy, they never managed to implement a popular front policy. At the Battle of Turpan in November 1944, an expeditionary corps under Marshal Zhukov defeated the Turkoman rebels commanded by Ospan Batyr ending with the Second Republic of Eastern Turkestan. However, at the time of having to deal with the revolutionaries of Abbas, famines, guerrilla attacks and lack of supplies had weakened the already precarious situation of the Red Army. After years of guerrilla struggle against the Soviet armies, Abbas was finally eliminated in a commando attack in 1947 and the rest of his supporters undertook a long march towards China.
After Operation Charlemagne, the Germans conquered the Xinjiang region and declared the Third Republic of East Turkestan. The region remained calm under the one-party dictatorship of Isa Alptekin for more than 30 years, with the exception of the physical annihilation of Chinese ethnic groups, and pan-Turkish tendencies were considerably reduced. With the revival of Chinese Marxism through the founding of the Guangxi Commune of Neo-Bolshevik inspiration by Deng Xaoping in the context of the Great Asian Civil War (also known as the Japanese Civil War), Mao Zedong's younger brother, Mao Zemin, was sent to Xinjiang to raise an army by which to promote dissent to weaken the status of the Uighurs and cut the arrival of German supplies for the fascist movement of the Blue Shirts. Zemin achieved several successes annihilating several transports of German supplies and seizing even the most modern versions of the Leopard and even inspired a famous photograph of Mao Yuanxin (better known as the Lesser Mao) entering Hong Kong uploaded to a Leopard with the thumb up that it would become a symbol of antifascist resistance. However, it could not achieve the support of the Uighur masses and would be defeated and annihilated in the Second Battle of Turpan by a Turkmen coalition in 1978. After assuming power after the death of Deng Xaoping, the Lesser Mao decided to bomb with napalm the Uighur capital of Urumqui as retribution for the death of his father causing more than 20,000 deaths. A pan-Turkish terrorist would try to kill him as revenge as a nitroglycerin bomb but only managed to blow two fingers off his left hand. After the end of the War in 1985, the feelings of Turkmen irretrust would be reborn, winning territorial disputes with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, creating a huge gap between the Pan-Turkmen and the Uighur isolationist nationalists. The death of Alptekin in 1995, would give rise to the assumption of Anwar Yusuf Turani who had to defend his country against the expansionist intentions of his rival rival Kazakhstan for the control of Central Asia. By 2008, successive conflicts over control of Xinjiang seemed to come to an end when the Turkish Gray Wolves along with the Kazakh armies defeated Turani in the Sixth Battle of Urumqi. But when the new fascist government of the faction of Heavenly Salvation (天上 的 救恩) commanded by Chen Xiangwei attempted to invade Xinjiang in 2016, they would again face opposition from both the Grand Emirate of the Turkmen People and the numerous guerrilla movements of the Uighur nationalists, the reborn neobolchevists and even several objectivist libertarian communes formed by locals and foreign mercenaries. The misery brought by the victory of National Socialism seemed to extend even to the remotest corners of the planet, but the case of Xinjiang is not even the worst of these catastrophic and apocalyptic scenarios that occured in different parts of the world. In the case of Tibet...
"If we can dominate the mountains and rivers to get here, I think we can stop a handful of barbarian fascists. Come and attack us if you dare!" - Mao Zedong, 1944
"- Our only opportunities for survival are in allying ourselves with the Western powers, Comrade Beria. Western reactionaries conspired with us in the past but now they are our only hope - I would have agreed with that in other circumstances. But now we are completely isolated from the world. So we are alone as we were in the beginning" - Vyacheslav Molotov discussing with Lavrenti Beria about the possibility of joining the United Nations, 1949
On November 2, the German physicist Walter Heisenberg received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his theories in the field of quantum mechanics. It would play a fundamental role in the creation of the German atomic bomb.
On November 13, 1933, a Chamber of Culture of the Reich (formed by the Chambers of Film, Music, Theater, Press, Literature, Fine Arts and Radio of the Reich) was created to monitor and regulate all facets of the German culture. The national socialist aesthetic emphasized the propagandist value of art and glorified rural life, the "Aryan race" and the heroism of war. Likewise, this ideology promoted racial artistic manifestos or that exalted German nationalism in various artistic fields such as music, literature and cinema; at the same time that it denounced other forms of so-called "degenerate art" such as abstract painting
On November 16, 1933, the French government inaugurated a railway connecting its colonies in Morocco and Tunisia. It was hoped that this railway would help improve the infrastructure of French North Africa
The Fireside Chats were a series of radio addresses addressed to the population made by President Franklin D Roosevelt during the 1930s. Believing that a policy of closeness with the electorate would favor his administration, Roosevelt made several communications talking about topics of interest national as the economy and foreign policy. Its name comes from the sayings of Roosevelt press secretary Stephen Early, who wanted people to imagine the president speaking to them in their own home. With the setbacks of the Second Weltkrieg, Roosevelt would seek to highlight more the American advances in the Pacific front leaving aside the catastrophic situation of the European front. They would last until June 1944, when Roosevelt's health began to get worse.
Likewise, US foreign policy sought to strengthen its ties with its other foreign countries, breaking with its traditional isolationist policy. On November 19, 1933, the US government officially recognized the status of the Soviet Union as a sovereign and independent nation. This would be the beginning of the close relationship between both countries that would only end after Operation Charlemagne
To combat the Communist armies. KMT armies adopted a policy of encirclement and annihilation of the Red armies. Outnumbered, Mao responded with guerrilla tactics influenced by the works of ancient military strategists like Sun Tzu. Chiang Kai-shek faced many setbacks agains the Communist armies and retreated to deal with the further Japanese incursions into China. As a result of the KMT's change of focus to the defence of China against Japanese expansionism, the Red Army was able to expand its area of control, eventually encompassing a population of 3 million. Mao proceeded with his land reform program. In November 1931 he announced the start of a "land verification project" which was expanded in November 1933. He also orchestrated education programs and implemented measures to increase female political participation. This weakened the already weakened situation of the Kuommitang with many revolts in the Jiangshi's region.
On November 30, 1933, the Soviet Union officially joined the League of Nations on the initiative of France and 30 other countries. Following the events of the Winter War, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League on December 14, 1939 for its actions "against the Finnish State"
The United Kingdom would make multiple attempts to increase discontent within the German State. Several campaigns of internal discrediting supported by opponents of the National Socialist regime were carried out in order to weaken the tight control of the society that the German government possessed. Naturally, relations between the United Kingdom and Germany worsened as a result
The Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shiek appeared on the cover of the December 11, 1933 issue of Time magazine. It would be one of the first impressions that the American public opinion would have about the conflict in China.
The German weapons factory Mauser-Werke conducted research for the specialization of infantry units for the performance of amphibious operations at the end of 1933. Also, the Kriegsmarine began the investigation of new models of armor and naval artillery to produce new battleships that can be measured with the most modern units of the Royal Navy. These new battleships would be labeled with the name of Scharnhorst Class
The Long March was the 12,500-kilometer journey in 370 days through the interior of China that was followed by the Chinese Red Army troops, the armed forces of the Communist Party of China (CPC), between 1933 and 1934. The hardness of the journey that would cause the death of at least a third of the troops that left Jiangxi, would make this one of the most significant and decisive episodes in the history of communism. It would later be claimed by the Neo-Bolshevists as a Chinese national landmark.
The march would begin on December 25, 1933. A Chinese communist division along with the remains of the 19th Route Army would try to stop the advance of the Nationalist Army in Nanchang to make time, failing in the attempt. The 19th Route Army surrendered and Cai Tingkai had to go into exile, returning years later to fight the Japanese. However, his sacrifice was not in vain: strategic errors within the nationalist troops as a result of bad communications and Chiang Kai Shek's impatience to quickly annihilate the Communists, would allow Mao Zedong's troops to flee to Yannan almost without opposition.
The improvement of the production processes was fundamental to be able to promote the armament and technological production. With this objective, the Krupp steel company investigated new methods to increase industrial efficiency through better machinery and new forms of welding and rationalization of production. However, the time it would take to perform these improvements would be considerable
After his disastrous performance during the Long March that caused considerable casualties at the hands of the Muslim warlords and an unsuccessful attempt to weaken the power of his rival within the party, Mao Zedong, Zhang Guotao would be displaced from the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and replaced by Mao Zedong himself. After his defection to the Kuommitang, he would go into exile in the Soviet Union and die in the atomic bombing of Ulyanovsk
On December 28, 1933, Romanian Prime Minister Ion Gheorghe Duca was assassinated by a supporter of the Romanian fascist movement the Iron Guard
One of the most important challenges that the Hitler's government had to face was the payment of the loans to British and American investors. While Hitler himself wished not to pay "a single frame" to the creditors, both Hjalmar Schacht and Hindenburg stressed the importance of earning the confidence of foreign investors until the German economic situation stabilized. Reluctantly, Hitler agreed to the use of the Reichsbank reserves in order to pay the unpaid loans. However, the economy had to be reoriented temporarily to guarantee the solvency of German capital temporarily halting the ambitious industrial expansion plan...
German economy at the end of 1933
After a month of grueling march and fighting against the Nationalist force, Mao Zedong's army arrives in Shanxi in January 1934. Despite the casualties in the clashes to go through the Shanxi Nationalist blockade and thirst and disease , Mao Zedong managed to keep most of his army and reach Shanxi in less than a month. The key to this triumph can be found in the lack of reaction of the Nationalist army and its excessive focus on annihilating the rebellious armies of Jiangxi. In this way, Mao Zedong consolidated his leadership of the Chinese Communist Party until his death in 1944. Ironically, the troops that Mao Zedong was able to rescue would be used in his alliance with Chiang Kai Shiek after the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. However, their successors would not be so fortunate at the time of repeating this feat
The Stavisky Case, happened in January of 1934, is the name given to a French political crisis happened as a result of the death in mysterious circumstances of Alexandre Stavisky, a known swindler of Russian origin closely related to the leading political class. This scandal symbolizes the crisis of the unstable regime of the Third French Republic that led to the fall of the Government of Camille Chautemps and the unleashing of anti-parliamentary disturbances by the extreme right of February 6, 1934
The 12 of January of 1934, due to the economic crisis that affected the British colony, the British government finished with the self-government of the Domain of Newfoundland to replace it by a direct colonial administration from the metropolis through a Commission of Government
The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was the main anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Northeast China organized by locals and the Manchuria branches of the Communist Party of China (CPC) after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The Japanese conducted several military campaigns to neutralize the partisans of Manchuria
Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was a German mechanical and aerospace engineer. His research on the rockets would not only allow the development of the German missiles V-1 and V-2 (and subsequently the creation of intercontinental atomic missiles) but also the development of the space program that would allow the development of space stations and lunar bases
The Prague Manifesto was a document published in January 1934 by the German Social Democrats in exile where they called to fight against the despotism of the National Socialist regime.
Junkers aircraft company conducted the investigation of Junkers Ju 123 close airplanes. These were used in the campaigns of Poland, Norway, France, North Africa and even in the invasion of Russia
The Long March would be a milestone in the history of Chinese communism but it would not be the only time that an event with similar characteristics would happen in China itself. After the fall of communist strongholds in Shaanxi due to the German-Japanese offensive and the death of Mao Zedong in 1944, the remaining troops commanded by the new Chinese Communist Party leader Zhou Enlai began a long retreat through the Gobi desert to Mongolia controlled by the Soviets. Against Mao's wishes, Zhou Enlai thought that waging a guerrilla war with his weakened army against the veteran German anti-partisan units would be suicidal, so he decided that the best course of action would be to meet with the Soviets to reorganize a new action plan for the Comintern. In this way, Enlai thought that a moment of weakness in the Empire of Japan could be seized to form a new commune in Inner Mongolia. The so-called Second Long March traveled 950 kilometers and lasted 5 long months through the harshest conditions of the most remote places in the world. The attacks of the Japanese and German anti-partisan units, the thirst as a result of the arid and hot climate, the terrible cold during the nights and even epidemics of cholera and typhoid, made this march much harder than the one undertaken by Mao ten years before. Finally, they would be able to reunite with the Mongolian armies in the city of Dalanzadgada with only a quarter of the original army of 130,000 men. Zhou Enlai would be forced to ally himself with the remaining members of the pro-Soviet faction of the "28 Bolsheviks" with whom a government in exile would form along with the remnants of the communist leadership, even accepting some of the Kuommitang exiles . The situation was quite desperate with thousands of Chinese refugees crossing the Mongolian border and the Mongolian army being unable to house and contain the wave of refugees. The remaining units of the Chinese Communist army would be encapsulated within the so-called Chinese National Liberation Army. These units would fight in different skirmishes with the armies of the state of Mengjiang on the Mongolian border between 1945 and 1950. With the completion of Operation Charlemagne, these units would try to slow down the German advance towards Ulan Bator.
After the definitive fall of the Soviet Union, the remains of the Chinese Liberation Army would attempt the Third Long March. Unlike the last march, the last Chinese Communist leader Wang Ming would decide that because he considered that the original plan of Zhou Enlai, the only thing left to do was to disperse his army in the interior of China with the aim of forming different guerrilla foci. . The 25,000 Chinese survivors advanced more than 2,000 kilometers suffering the same conditions as their predecessors. More than 90% of the Chinese Communist army were lost along the way and a trace was lost: only 3000 men were able to reach the surroundings of Chongging and organize an organized fighting force. Wang Ming considered that it was not worth taking the city and decided to organize a rural guerrilla. He died in Ashan in 1963 for a badly healed wound fighting Chinese collaborators, taking over his small army of communist veterans from his right hand, Deng Xiaoping. The history of Chinese communism would probably have ended, buried in history along with Soviet communism by layers of fascism. However, Xiaoping was close to the Siberian writer Alexander Vladimir Bogdanov who had several ideas of renewal of communism to return to the ideals of the revolutionaries of October ...
"The advance of human industrialization, rather than improving the lives of workers, condemns them to a life of misery and monotony. The more advanced the society, the worse the oppression. That is why the only way to guarantee the equality and happiness of the human race is not forward: it is backwards" - Jean Paul Bellerose,Histoire de la mécanisation et de ses victimes (History of mechanization and its victims), 1936
"Make sure none of those bastards knows about this. The Dutch are hiding in our boots" - Hermann Goering before the Rottendam's Bombing. 1940
On February 4, 1934, Benito Mussolini met with the leaders of the Italian industrial corporations to discuss his new plan for economic expansion that would reduce unemployment and stabilize the weak Italian economy. It involved a huge financing of public works and arms production
On February 6, 1934, riots of considerable magnitude took place when right-wing groups gathered at the Place de la Concorde to protest against the radical government of Camille Chautemps. As a result, 16 people were killed and more than 2000 people were injured. The incident would end Chautemps's Goverment, being replaced by Edouard Daladier, and radicalize the far right groups by bringing them closer to the right parliamentary politics and strengthen ties between the French communist and socialist sectors under the supposed threat of an attempted fascist coup. The French State would turn the incident into a national day in 1954 and a commemorative plaque was placed in the Plaza in homage to the victims
On February 12, 1934, the British Raj signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Yemen
On February 17, 1934, the laboratory of Werner Von Braun at the University of Berlin would suffer a huge explosion. While von Braun was arguing with his colleagues and therefore outside his laboratory, several of his rockets and models were destroyed, considerably delaying his investigation. The investigation of the German police could find the whereabouts of the person in charge: a 32-year-old German nationalized French postman named Eugene Descoteaux. When his residence was raided, his body was found and remains of burned papers in the chimney. The autopsy determined that it was a suicide, the result of a poisoning with a cyanide capsule. The Abwehr was able to determine through planes of explosives found in the house of Descoteaux that it was a French spy whose objective was to destroy the project of German rockets and to assassinate Von Braun. A furious Hitler ordered not only that Von Braun have an armed escort, but also that the financing of the project be doubled. The fact was made public and the German press accused the French government of conspiring against Germany. Naturally, Daladier's government would deny any involvement in the act but the damage was already caused and relations between France and Germany would worsen.
On February 18, 1934, the Gestapo arrested the communist militant Walter Uhlmann under the thorns of "subversive activities against the integrity of the German State." Uhlmann was the head of a resistance group that distributed pamphlets in which the workers were called to resist the German government. In other circumstances, he would have been saved but Uhlmann ended up being the first victim of the reorganization of German intelligence after the Berlin's Laboratory Incident. Despite a heated diatribe against fascism during the trial, Uhlmann and the other twelve leaders of the group were sentenced to death.
On February 20, 1934, the government of President Roosevelt created the Public Works Administration with the objective of promoting the execution of public works projects that would reduce the unemployment rate. Part of its policy of the New Deal, contracts were awarded to private firms for the construction of large infrastructure works such as bridges, dams, roads and dams
The policy of economic reconstruction and industrial expansion promoted by the German government pays off when the Reich's Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda announces that unemployment has fallen below 5 percent, thanks to the huge number of jobs generated by the construction of factories and infrastructures and the increasing production of armaments
That same day, the body of the French magistrate Albert Prince was found mutilated near the train tracks of Dijon. A knife was found at the crime scene despite the fact that the body had no knife wounds, while the autopsy determined that there were toxic substances in his body. However, the crime remained unresolved. Years later, it was theorized that the death of the magistrate could be related to his role in the Stravisky Affair investigation. The crime was popularized by the 1975 novel "The Four Knives" by Emanuelle Pelletier. The novel established the death of the judge as part of a series of four other murders of people intimately related to the investigation of Stravisky's suicide, a matter that the protagonist, detective Jean de Liseux, suspects is trying to cover up a conspiracy. At first, the story indicates the involvement of senior officials of socialist orientation, but there are also clues to the involvement of entrepreneurs with fascist sympathies. However, it turns out that Detective Liseux was not only covering up the conspiracy and giving false leads all this time, but he was working for a coalition formed by both ultra-left groups and ultra-right groups (being heavily implicated that his support came from both of the Soviet Union as of Germany), whose objective was to weaken the foundations of the French State and accelerate the inevitable confrontation between fascism and communism to seize France. His assistant, Boulanger, confronts him at the Dijon station and accuses him of wanting to surrender France to "foreign powers". In one of the most celebrated twists in the history of literature, it turns out that Liseux was a fervent sympathizer of French democracy whose objective was that the final confrontation between both political extremes would allow democracy to resurface stronger from the resulting Civil War. After a long struggle, Boulangier pushes Liseux to the tracks of the train and is later promoted, starring in several books with moderate success. Pelletier was a follower of the New French Social Party political movement that was oriented towards an anti-German conservative nationalist Catholic populism. he presented as an alternative to fascism: his political bias in his work towards this current is evident. Although Pelletier was imprisoned by the fascist government for three years, his book would be a complete success, resulting in an adaptation for the cinema in 1997
As a result of the economic improvement, the German government authorized the beginning of the reconstruction of the armed forces through the formation of 7 infantry divisions with a brigade of engineers and artillery each. After the attack against Von Braun, it was believed that a conflict against France could be a possibility, which encouraged military expansion. Also, the construction of 15 Type II submarines was authorized to attack French maritime traffic
On February 25, 1934, the Chinese government launched the "New Life Movement" initiative as part of its policy to promote a moral and cultural reform that would allow the centralization of China under a single political ideology. Based on Neo-Confucian principles, the initiative seeks to control the ways of life of the population by promoting artistic and athletic initiatives, hygiene and good behavior and limiting the use of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and own consumption of goods. materials. Although the initiative was applied with maximum rigidity, it turned out to be a failure due to its inconsistent ideology and in general to be unattractive to the Chinese population.
The modernization process of the Kriegsmarine begins with the introduction of seaplanes. The first vessel to be modernized is the light cruiser Leizpig
The Berlin Motor Show was an automotive exhibition originated in 1897. Following the National Socialist's takeover, Hitler demonstrated a particular interest in demonstrating the superiority of German automotive engineering and industry. The 1934 edition was massively promoted by the German government, becoming a major mass event with more than 600,000 visitors. It was inaugurated by Adolf Hitler himself in a speech in which he promised to create a car for the German masses. This promise would crystallize in the following years with the announcement of the Volkswagen.
Czechoslovakia was in a very delicate geopolitical situation: it was surrounded by enemy nations, especially Germany. With the aim of being able to stop the German expansionism and to counter the German influence on the Sudetenland, Czechoslovak intelligence promoted the dissension within the Reich by contacting all sorts of opponents of the National Socialist government. It was sought that this could weaken to the government of Hitler, having a moderate success
Socialist Realism was an artistic current whose purpose was the transmission of socialist values through art. For this, the exaltation of the agricultural / industrial worker was sought. It was a reaction against the predominant styles before the revolution in the Capitalist West, such as abstract art. It was the artistic tendency officially imposed during much of the history of the Soviet Union, particularly during the government of Joseph Stalin. Unfortunately, after the destruction of Moscow and the Museum of the Soviet People in the atomic bombing of Omsk, many artistic works of this period were lost, leaving many of them in the hands of wealthy German collectors. However, this current experienced a revival in the decade of the 1980s through the Bolshevik Neorealism, which combined the element of exaltation of the working masses with nationalist exaltation.
The battlecruisers of the Scharnhorst class (later renamed Hessen), were the first naval units to overcome the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. The strength of this project was based on the shield (350 mm in the main belt and 95 mm on the deck) and stability, as in the old cruisers of the Imperial Navy. However, their greatest strength was in speed (31 knots) due to their high performance turbines that did not reach their maximum potential due to the lack of diesel engines. The size of their main armament was 28 cm.
The Toledo Auto-lite strike, also known as the First Battle of Toledo, was one of the largest strikes in US history and lasted from April 14 to June 3, 1934. The main reason behind the strike was get the recognition of the labor union by the leadership of the company Electric Auto-Lite of Toledo, Ohio and the increase. After incidents between the piqueteros and the local police, there was a confrontation of five days between more than 10,000 workers and the Ohio National Guard that ended with two dead and more than 200 injured. After the mediation of the Roosevelt government, through Charles Phelps Taft II, the strike ended when an agreement was reached accepting the recognition of the Toledo auto workers union, the reinstatement of the dismissed workers and a increase of 5 percent. The strike would mark a milestone in the US syndicalist struggle and would be one of the flags of the American Syndicalist movement. Many posters and badges remembering the incident could be seen in the strike of July 1978 against the policies of "Americanization" of the government of Matthias Koehl in the so-called Second Battle of Toledo, which ended with more than 120 workers killed and being a great catalyst for the Week of Fury. A third battle would take place in Toledo in 2006 during the Third American Civil War between the workers militias of the Combined Syndicates of America against the troops of the Second United States of America
The term Black Sunday is used to describe a considerable dust storm that occurred on April 15, 1935 in the United States. Caused by the erosion of soils due to overgrazing, the storm affected many of the Great Plains states causing several deaths and forcing several thousand people to relocate. It was the third worst dust storm in the history of the United States, after the Dust Bowl and the great radioactive dust storm of 1965 (Nuclear Bowl)
Dutch intelligence once again proves the vulnerability of German intelligence when they infiltrate military offices and steal plans for military maneuvers. Not very pleasant would be their surprise when they learned that they were obsolete plans of the First World War without strategic or military value. Canaris was not aware of this fact however, so he ordered an immediate infiltration within the Netherlands to find and steal plans related to his advances in underwater technology. The attempt is a complete failure since the Dutch were already aware of this fact thanks to the British MI6.
The Socialist and Communist workers' organizations tried all kinds of resources to resist the National Socialist advance. From the distribution of anti-government leaflets to worker and neighborhood councils. However, his inability to form a common front and the failure of his strategy to debase the German military industry determined his failure. By 1945, most of these union councils had disappeared
On April 23, 1934, a protest by sugar and fruit workers on the island of Guadeloupe turned into a generalized rebellion. The incompetence of the French administration, the mistreatment of the indigenous and Afro-descendant population and the acute economic crisis had put the population of the island in an untenable situation. However, the real catalyst for the conflict was when 23 sugar workers were killed by British soldiers. Due to its military limitations, France could not deploy considerable units in the region, so British troops guarded the island as "friendly troops". As a result of what they considered a huge violation of the island's sovereignty, troops of French origin (most of them of African origin) along with local militias attacked the British troops by surprise and took the governor of the island hostage , Altphonse Choteau. The rebellion was led by the socialist politician born in Guadeloupe Hégésippe Légitimus. Legitimus criticized Daladier's administration on numerous occasions for the dire conditions that beset his homeland, so he was forced to support the revolt hoping that an agreement could be reached. As a result, the French government not only declare him a "traitorto the Republic" but also expelled all representatives of Guadeloupe from the National Assembly arguing "reasons of national security". The politician of Guadeloupe, Gratien Candace, who spoke in favor of Legitimus and the rebels, was arrested under the charge of conspiracy. The accusations by the historians of the French State that Legitimus was a Soviet agent can be convincing since evidence of Soviet weaponry was found among the Guadeloupean militias. However, his contacts with the Soviet Union come more from his despair over the lack of military capacity to resist than from his Soviet sympathies.
Most of the French public opinion, especially the right-wing groups, took the side of the government: the bad situation of the island did not justify military lamentation against the legitimate government of the Republic. Fearing that the revolt will spread throughout the Caribbean, the French government decided that it was imperative to crush it as quickly as possible. The biggest drawback of the French government to stop the revolt was that it lacked the military capacity to repress it. No military unit was available in the Caribbean and it would be months before reinforcements could be brought from the metropolis. Finally, the British government decided to increase support for France by deploying its own military units in the Caribbean. Most of the resistance was in the commune of Baie-Mahault on the island of Basse-Terre where most of the 38,000 rebels had entrenched themselves. However, the leader of the British expedition Major-General Archibard Wavell, decided it was essential to first establish a bridgehead in the commune of Anse-Bertrand, in Grande-Terre. Despite the knowledge of the terrain that the Guadeloupeans possessed, they were not rivals for the Royal Marines. With more than 120 casualties, the British took the commune causing more than 1400 casualties to the Guadeloupeans. However, despite the announcement by the French government that the situation in Guadeloupe was under control thanks to the French army, at least three quarters of the island were still under the control of the rebels. Worse still, Legitimus considered that the metropolis was no longer interested in negotiating, so he took the most radical step possible: he declared the creation of the Republic of Guadeloupe. But what nobody expected is that an Afro-descendant socialist intellectual is a direct witness of the combat and how that would influence his vision of the modern capitalist world: Jean Paul Bellerose
Little is known of the life of the father of Sucreism, also known as "the Marx of the Caribbean." It is known that he was born in 1900 and that before beginning his writings, he was a sugar worker of African origin with affinities for Literature and with socialist sympathies. The rebellion of Guadeloupe would take him by surprise and he would immediately join the local militias to defend the island. The experience of his participation in the battle of Anse-Bertrand, would mark him forever. The vision of his companions killed by the British machine guns and the horrible conditions that had forced them to rebel, are mentioned by Bellerose himself as what inspired him to write his political-social theories. But those were not the only experiences mentioned by him as inspiration. After the defeat of Anse-Bertrand, Bellerose was promoted to officer (the rebel army desperately needed officers) and was assigned to the capture of La Désirade, still in the hands of loyal French soldiers. The small island was defended only by 63 French soldiers, reason why they were defeated easily. Although Bellerose offered an honorable surrender to the last soldiers entrenched in the lighthouse, they shouted that they would be loyal to France until the last moment and took their own lives. Bellerose mentions in his writings that this experience taught him how futile patriotism was and how he inspired his anti-nationalist ideas. The ideas of Bellerose would not seem very radical until now but the conclusions that he would draw would be.
In his famous book of 1936, "History of Mechanization and its victims," Bellerose assures that the factor that drives human inequality is technological advance: the more a society advances, the more inequality grows. The dependence of human societies on technology had alienated them and established an unequal hierarchy. The introduction of the machines had intensified this trend, separating workers from the means of production. Worse yet, the creation of a hierarchy had fueled rivalry against other societies through artificial concepts such as borders or nations. Inspired by Rosseau's ideas, Bellerose assured that a return to a natural life based exclusively on livestock and agriculture with a collective mode of government would be the key to guaranteeing human happiness. Man would not be trapped under the implacable domain of technology and would find the peace he seeks in coexistence with nature. However, Bellerose was a gradualist: resistance using military means was a necessary evil that should be used until the security of the communal society is assured. The name of this body of ideas was known as "Sucreism" of the French "sucre" which means sugar. Bellerose claimed that the sugar cane was a metaphor for man: cut and ground to be transformed into something artificial.
After the death of Legitimus in 1944, Bellerose and his followers assumed power in Guadeloupe, introducing models of collective councils and beginning the process of dismantling the great urban centers. The seed was already planted: the Commune of Guadeloupe had not only inspired its Caribbean neighbors, but also inspired its counterparts in Iowa, Senegal, South China and even the Sucreist influence in the Bolivian Allyuista movement is undeniable. What would follow, would be a long war of attrition of the Federación Sucreista del Caribe (Sucreist Federation of the Caribbean) against the French army that would continue to this day. Since they lack any administrative center, the French could not completely dismantle the Federation. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, naturally Bellerose had to face all kinds of challenges that put his objectives at risk, such as the cleavage of his disciple De Lorenz and the Nomades of Barbados, the rebellion of the Caribbean anti-Sucreists, but above all, the invasion of the Cuban Neo-Bolchevists. Obviously, none of these facts can be understood without first addressing how Bellerose won the confidence of the inhabitants of the Caribbean, how he came to power and above all how he carried out his ideas to practice. Bellerose met Legitimus ...
