Chapter 21
First set - The Failure of a Revolution
One of the first acts of Prinz Louis-Ferdinand as soon as he was crowned was, along with those survivors of the old Kaiserreich days, to meet in Postdam's Garrison Church (1) in a ceremony that formally will inagurate his kingdom. The place and date chosen were symbolic. The site was a hallowed one to the kings and army of Prussia, the place where his ancestor, Frederick the Great, was interred. And the timing -21 March, 1945-, was the anniverary of Bismarck's inaguration of the first Reichstag in 1871. All the top military brass along with all of the members of the Hohenzollern family as well of the remaining Royal Houses atended at the event, which had his most dramatic moment when the new Kaiser descended to the vault of the church to pay his respects at the tomb of the old king.
It is said that thus, going back to the glorious Prussian tradition that began with "old Fritz", the fate of Germany's destiny was sealed with the "
marriage of the symbols of old greatness and the new strenght".
Das Königliche Monument, the resting place of
Friedrich Wilhelm I and Friedrich II
Second set - The Failure of a Republic
Thus, in his first act as Präsident der Bundesrepublik, Prinz Friedrich, had used the scenario of the Postdam's Garrison Church not just to evoke nationalistics sentiment and to associate his government with the past glory of his ancestors and of Germany, but also to prepare his own way to restore the role of the Crown and to make of Germany, again, an Reich with a Kaiser. It was a coup de théâtre, indeed, and one wonderfully done. And if the timing for the Postdam ceremony was selected with an aim, the same goes for the next annoucement, which was issued on 16 March, 2008, when Friedrich, now Kaiser of Germany, said to his nations that Germany had broken his old-time pact with European Union and had signed a new alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom. Not by chance, this day was the day before the traditional commemoration of those who had fallen in the Great War of 1914. Although this moment was still far in the future, it proves how careful was Friederich with the threatical effects of any of his actions. As rock star David Bowie said of him, "h
e was no politican, he was a great media artist. How he worked his audience!" Even those who disliked him, had to recognised that his "
Politik des Bluffs und Theatercoups" was "
sehr interessantes Theater" and quite effective, indeed.
Third set - The Brown Bolshevik.
Thus, having Remer used the Postdam's day to secure his position further, second to none but the Kaiser, and knowing that, being Wilhelm the supreme Warlord, it was the Kaiser who had the eternal loyalty of the army, the new Chancellor began to court the German armed forces and to modernize them, while covering Germany's rearmament with several annoucements and diplomatic surprises that usually sprung on Saturdays, cathching other governments and opposotion off guard and drawing double press coverage, first in the weekend press and then again in the regular Monday newspapers.
It would be, however, in his beginning where we can find the seeds of his final demise. To celebrate his tenous victory, Remer decided to organize a great event, far away from Berlin to avoid that the Kaiser may steal the glory that Remer wanted for himself. So, he selected a place away to link it to his person, so he choose Nüremberg, the last "
Reichstadt" of Germany, according to him.
This event was a huge marathon, aimed to thrill Germany, to enrapture her as to slave her to him, and to begin the path to give the new Reichsklanzer a God-like status. However, it failed. It was not due to the lack of effort and matherial used, but of imagination on his part. The gathering should have lasted for seven days, and it included the attendance of almost hundred thousands Germans and foreigners comming from all corners of the Reich and Europe. Alàs, it was a too big display of power with too little imagination. The first day, with the arrival of Remer by air, as though a god from heavens, it began with a crude march of his followers through the city, which started as soon as Remer as stepped out of the plane. It was just the vision of masses of robot-like men, with stoned faces, carrying flags that nobody understood and singing songs that nobody knew.
On the second day, another march followed by an assembly at the Luitpold Hall, a too boring and repetitive ceremony that caused as much as boredom as funny smiles due to the absurdity of the representation, which looked like a Catholic mass with the religious hymns replaced by the
Badenweiler March and the
Nibelung March. Then the speeches. Well, the speech, as Remer talked and talked for almost three hours, unasailable by weakness. Alàs, his audience wasn't as resistent as he was.
Had been the speech shorter or had it apelled at some unconscious feeling of the audience it may have been different. However, it was just a repetition of what has been already said, an eccletic conglomeration of ideas and ways of thinking taken here and there, so conservative in their true nature that only the emergency of the moment may them look as radical. Theye placed ritual in place of belief, of loyalty rather than conviction, blind faith rather than reasoned understanding. While other politicas tend to offer his followers a vision of better times, Remer just offered struggle, danger and death. The summary of the speech "
Better to end with horror than a horror without end", as a French journalist said, not quite impressed by the rally, summarized what most of the unlucky members of the audience felt about the "speech without end".
The following day were a repetition of the marches of the first day, this time by units of the armed forces -there was a very amusing picture of a bored feldmarschall von Fritsch looking at his watch during this event-, which had reluctantly taken part of the event- plus the followers of Remer, along with more speeches and more of everything. As a British journalist summed up, "a lot of speeches, a lot of noise, a lot of boredom, a lot of nothing."
The failure was clear to all, thus the rally was closed on its fourth day. Remer, conscious that his appeal for the heart of the German nation had failed and knowing that his time in power may be shorter than expected, decided to use it as best as he could. He would had not lasted so long as he finally did, had not been for an unexpected help in the form of Adolf Hitler, who had to choose an untimely moment to test the forces of the new government and his own strenght.
An official car brought Duckie straight to the building of the Department of Administrative Affairs (DAA) just he had finished the oath ceremony. He was met, to his surprise, on the front steps by his Private Secretary, Bernard von Schwarzerwäldchen. Duckie inmediately liked him, and thought him a likeable enough chap, but for his mania about to call him "Minister" and not "Duckie", despite how hard our good old new minister tried to persuade von Schwarzerwäldchen.
This could be saw when he went to the drinks cupboard and offered a drink to the Minister.
-A drink, herr Minister?
-Duckie, please.
-Mmmh -Bernard said after looking carefully in the cupboard-. I think we have run out of that...
-No, I mean, call me Duckie.
-If it's all the same to you, I'd rather call you herr Minister, herr Minister.
It goes without saying that, for a second, Duckie chuckled at that, which brought him memopries of Major Major and Catch-22.
-Then, does that mean that I'd to call you Private Secretary, Private Secretary?
This could have gone on and on and on, but for the timely of the Permament Secretary of the DAA, Humbert Freiherr von Funck.
After exchanging some pleasentries which left Duckie unsure about whether Bernhard or von Funck were patronising him or not, the new Minister annouced them the goals that his department was to achieve:
-You'll have to forgive me if I am too blunt, but that's the way I am. Frankly, we all known that one of the plagues of the modern democracy is bureaucracy. We need to get rid of most of the useless part of it. We are going to streamline this creaking old machine! There are fat too many useless people just sitting behind desks! -Duckie, aware of he had just said, rose from his chair, behind his desk. - We have to get rid of poeple who just make work that is already being done!
-To redeploy them you mean? -said von Funck. - I guess you mean that, or you want to put them out of work. The Unions wouldn't like that, herr Minister...
-Of course I want to reduce overmanning, but... well..., erm...
-Yes, herr Minister?
Then the moment came to check the activities of the Minister for the next days. Cabinet commites, official dinners, official speeches, and, of course, Duckie's own wedding. Among all that activities, where he would find time to implement his government policies, and, then the boxes with the work to fill on his few free time.
By that moment Duckie began to wonder where the Funck he had run into...
Bernard von Schwarzerwäldchen and Humbert Freiherr von Funck.
In my opinion, they look too British. Are they spies, perhaps?
Should we shoot them? Time will tell...(2)
(1) It goes without saying, of course, that, in this set and in the following one, there was no British air raid on the night of April 14/15, 1945 over Potsdam, so no firebombs hit the church.
(2) Yes, I am I plus my circumstances plus my influences.