Unsere Platz in die Sonne- A Story of the German nation at War

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Unser Platz an der Sonne- A Story of the German Nation at War

Yeah, yeah, I know, another German AAR, but I hope this one seems a bit different to everyone. This Grand Campaign is being played at Normal/Normal with ver. 1.00/.01

Prologue

1 August 1934- Neudeck, East Prussia.

The room was quiet except for the sound of breathing of the elderly man in his bed. As the door opened, the elderly man looked toward the doorway to see a man dressed in an immaculate Reichsmarine uniform, cap in hand. He squinted his eyes to discern the figure, and asked,

"Wilhelm, is that you?"

The man in the doorway answered softly, "No Paul, it is me, Adolf. I have come to see how you were doing, as your Doctor wired me to tell you were not feeling your best."

The old man sat up in bed, and gave a snort. "I am doing fine, just feeling old as usual. I must admit that I do not have much more life left in me, and when I die, the Vaterland will be in need of a new president. I think you should run for the office, as you have shown to be quite capable in the office of Chancellor."

"I am flattered..." Adolf said as he sat down in the chair next to the bed, "...but the office of president is not a place for me, unfortunately. The Chancellor of Germany should answer to no one but the Kaiser. And I am not the Kaiser, as you just found out..."

"Yes." Paul von Hindenburg answered, "But would the young Wilhelm consider taking the office?"

"I would rather his father take his place as the Kaiser of the Germans once again, but I think London and Paris would not agree to it at this time. However, I think it would be something to consider. Perhaps one day they will have a... change of heart."

Adolf smiled after he finished the sentence, which received a smile in kind from Hindenburg.

"Yes, what sweet irony it would be. The old Entente begging for mercy at the foot of Wilhelm's throne. That has always been our dream since the nightmare of Versailles. I will not live to see it, but I know that you will do your earnest to achieve it."

"Indeed, have I not promised it all along? The return of Germany to her Platz in die Sonne?" Adolf replied. "But you mustn’t worry, you need your rest. I shall leave you now."

With a pat on the shoulder of the old president, the chancellor left the room to return to Berlin. Hindenburg did not last the evening and died in the early hours of 2 August. Within two weeks, Chancellor Adolf Hitler forced legislation through the Reichstag abolishing the office of president, and giving "temporary executive powers" to the Chancellor and enabling Hitler's Deutschlandkonservativpartei (German Conservative Party, or DKP) to have "sole advising privileges" in matters with the Chancellor. Ministers in London and Paris were perplexed, but felt no concern for what Neville Chamberlain called "...a streamlining of the German Bureaucracy." A decade later, the opinion had considerably changed.

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Adolf Hitler took the office of Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, capping the DKP's rise from the anarchy of Weimar politics to control of the nation. Calling for the eventual restoration of Germany's dominance in Continental Europe and the return of the monarchy, the DKP's right-of-centre stance gained it little notoriety save its pro-monarchy stance, but it was the leadership of the charismatic former U-Boat captain that brought the DKP to power and changed the face of Europe for decades to come.

Adolf Hitler, born in 1889 near Linz Austria-Hungary, was the son of a minor customs worker who died when Adolf was 14. For the remainder of his teenage years, he devoted his time with his mother, and listening to the Germanic nationalist speeches of Leopold Pötsch, a noted proponent of pan-Germanism. After his mother died in 1907, Hitler attempted to make a life in art, but after failing to enter the Vienna school of art, Hitler wandered through Austria squandering his inheritance.

At the age of 21, Hitler traveled to Bavaria to find a job, but while in Munich, Hitler met a recruiting officer from the German Navy. Instantly captivated by the recruiter’s pitch of the German Navy being the tool to ensure Germany’s destiny as a world power, Hitler immediately enlisted, and in the ensuing entrance exams, Hitler scored incredibly high in the comprehensive exams, despite Hitler never finishing high school. These scores enabled Hitler to enroll at the German Naval School in Kiel as a midshipman, and in May of 1914, Hitler graduated 20th in his class, obtaining a commission in the German Navy, and obtaining the rank of Oberfähnrich zur See. Like most new officers, Hitler received orders to join ships that were a part of the Hochseeflotte, or High Seas Fleet, the main body of the German Navy. Hitler became a gunnery officer on the Battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz, the flagship of 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron commander Reinhard Scheer.

SMS Seydlitz

Hitler served on the Seydlitz, participating in the famous raids at Yarmouth and Hartlepool, where Seydlitz assisted in the shelling of these coastal towns. Hitler obtained notoriety at Hartlepool when Seydlitz was his by coastal gunfire, and Hitler aided in the rescue of three men injured on deck. Because of his heroism under fire, Hitler received a promotion and the Iron Cross. Naval competence, rare in someone like the young Leutnant zur See caught the eye of Adm. Scheer. After the battle of Dogger Bank, Hitler joined Scheer’s staff as a young assistant. Because of this unique position, Hitler quickly learned the theories set forth by Scheer, the author of policies such as merchant raiders, and the theory of unrestricted submarine warfare, and became one of Scheer’s most ardent disciples.

Admiral Reinhard Scheer

When Scheer was promoted to commander of the Hochseeflotte (High Seas Fleet), Scheer brought Hitler along, now an Oberleutnant zur See, to be on his staff. Hitler performed the job magnificently, and as a result was on the bridge of the Seydlitz at the Battle of Jutland. At Jutland, Hitler’s job was to personally report to Scheer the effects of the gunfire and the general situation of the battle. Though a menial task for an Oberleutnant, Scheer’s purpose was to groom his young protégé for command. When HMS Queen Mary blew up, it was Hitler who screamed “Mein Gott! a battlecruiser just blew up!” Unfortunately for Hitler and the Seydlitz, through the course of the battle was pounded by shellfire and torpedoes, receiving over 20 hits, including a torpedo, yet survived. After the battle, Hitler wrote in his journal,

It is only by Divine Providence that we were not all killed. It is truly Admiral Tirpitz to thank when he said that the first thing a warship should do is float, and do that one thing best. The old ship shall be in Kiel for quite some time, but I am not sure we shall return to it. I overheard Reinhard say how despite sinking so many British ships, our gambit had failed, and the fate of the Empire lies in her Unterseebooten. If that is the case, I do believe that I shall do my part to assist in helping assure our fate in the war…

SMS Seydlitz after the Battle of Jutland

Approximately a month after Jutland, Hitler requested transfer from Scheer’s staff to a U-Boat. Scheer complied and Hitler reported at Kiel 3 weeks later as the Executive officer of the U-boat U 66. From there, Hitler began his rise to national fame as one of the Kaiser’s Pirates…

U 135, similar to U 66

 

[FDiscordant]

An Interesting alternative history.

Good Start

 

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Hi there,

just a quick comment: It should read "Unser Platz an der Sonne".

Cheers,

Catch22

 

[Zuckergußgebäck]

Wasn´t there some other high-ranking nazi that served on the seydlitz?

(Yers, I know that the naxis does not exist here, but...)

 

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Unfortunately a slew of events has posponed thy writing of my AAR, though I'm continuing to play, as I'm in 1942 right now. Perhaps over the next few days I can get up to 1936, but no promises (Like anyone cares yet anyway!)

 

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Looking forward to the update, FlyingCanOpener, I´ve been watching this and liked the "Hitler in the navy" story very much

 

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Fascinating to say the least.

 

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Prologue Chapter 2: The Kaiser’s Pirate

The young Hitler reported to U 66 on 15 August 1916 to Oberleutenant sur Zee Thorwald von Bothmer in Wilhelmshaven. Though they were of equal rank, Hitler was von Bothmer’s inferior because of his seniority at his rank, though von Bothmer never brought it up. Von Bothmer was a quieter version of Hitler, and both got along very well. Whilst on patrol in the North Sea on 30 August 1916, Hitler was in the conning tower when he spotted RMS Amberdown, a merchant ship sailing toward Hull. Before the Amberdown could signal to shore, U 66 fired her deck gun across the bow, and order the crew to abandon ship. The crew politely agreed and the Amberdown was sunk within sight of the English coastline. Within an hour, three British destroyers were at the site, but U 66 was long gone from the area, sailing back to her base.

Over the next ten months, U 66 continued her patrols in the North Sea, sinking 10 ships for a total of approximately 20,000 tons. On 16 June 1917, von Bothmer was transferred to U 97 and Hitler was promoted to commander of U 66. For the remaining 17 months, Hitler commanded the ship and during that time U 66 racked up an impressive score of 31 ships sunk for over 175,000 tons. The main position for his boat was off the western coast of Ireland, where U 66 sank 14 ships. However, Hitler’s sinking of the American merchant ship Pride of Vicksburg in the Irish Sea near Blackpool brought him and his crew into the imagination of people on both sides of the war.

Photo of Hitler near Wilhelmshaven when U 66 was in port. (I'll improve on the image later.)

On 15 May 1918, Hitler and U 66 entered the Irish Sea with a daring mission from Admiralty. Though the Royal Navy patrolled the Irish Sea, merchantmen inside the Irish Sea often sailed alone. With this information, U 66 was ordered to patrol the Irish Sea, and sink as many ships as possible. With the Kaiserliche Marine stepping up U-Boat operations in a last ditch effort to stem the inevitable tide of American men and arms to the Western Front, unrestricted submarine warfare was the modus operandi. After a week with several close calls with fishing boats, Hitler spotted the American merchantman Pride of Vicksburg at approximately 0947 on 25 May, and maneuvered to attack whilst submerged. At 951, after computing a firing solution, three torpedoes were fired at the Pride of Vickburg, ripping into her four minutes later. Though she was crippled, Hitler decided to finish her off, blowing U 66’s tanks, and engaged his deck guns against her, making sure to avoid survivors.

By this time, three fishing boats charged in to attack U 66. but were all dispatched by the deck gun. After sailing by the life rafts to give food and water to the survivors, and take the ensign as a war prize, Hitler immediately submerged and raced for the North Sea. The entirety of Allied ships in the area searched for the rogue U-Boat, but Hitler slipped through their grasp, once even close enough to engage an American destroyer, but Hitler did not want to sacrifice his ship for the chance of sinking a destroyer. Once in the North Sea, U 66 sailed back to Wilhelmshaven, sending the following message ahead of her:

Attention Admiralty:

Have engaged enemy merchantmen in Irish Sea near Lat 52° 48’ 18” N Long 5° 17’ 42” W. Sank American-flagged merchant ship Pride of Vicksburg with three torpedoes and 8 rounds from deck gun. In process of engaging above ship, engaged and sank three fishing vessels who fired upon us. Did not see any survivors form fishing boats, but gave food and water to merchantmen in exchange for ensign as war prize. ETA 39 hours.

-Ober. S. Zee. Adolf Hitler

Hitler’s painting of the sinking of the Pride of Vicksburg, painted in around 1924. (Ignore the Painting's signature. It was Hitler's. Honest! )

Upon his return, Hitler was given a heroes welcome, and taken to Berlin to meet the Kaiser, who bestowed the pour la merité upon Hitler and promoted him to Kapitänleutnant. The American press was outraged at the sinking of one of its ships in what was considered a “safe area,” though the New Orleans Times-Picayune, where the Pride of Vicksburg was homeported, congratulated the plucky U-Boat for her daring and gentlemanly conduct despite the orders of unrestricted warfare. The British press was more virulent in its condemnation of Hitler, calling his a “despicable Hun-fox running the chicken coop amuck” (Times of London) and “A murderous Fox that shall find himself at the mercies of the Royal Navy soon enough.” (Manchester Guardian) What is also strange is the lack of condemnation of the Royal Navy, for there were no warships within 60km of the Pride of Vicksburg, making her such an easy target. Regardless, after the Pride of Vicksburg incident, U 66 sank eight more vessels before the armistice bringing the ship’s total to 43 ships sunk with an approximate tonnage of 218,747 tons, placing it 5th in total for the war. On 11 November, U 66 sat in dock at Wilhelmshaven, and Hitler was in Berlin in a meeting with commanders as to how to deal with the mutinies. Hitler volunteered his boat to join with other commanders in a mission to Kiel and Rostock to sink the mutinous ships in port and shoot the survivors, but cooler heads prevailed, and the mission never occurred.

The Allied restrictions as a result of the Versailles Peace Treaty were devastating, as the once-mighty German Navy was reduced to a coastal defence force, though Hitler did retain his commission, and received a final gift from his mentor Adm. Scheer, a promotion to the rank of Korvettenkapitän and command of the destroyer T111. One can almost say that Hitler’s quick rise in wartime was that of the hand of Fate, but there are no doubts to that in his political career.

In 1926, Hitler transferred to the reserve component of the Reichsmarine to work on his memoirs of his wartime service, entitled Ein klein Krieg an der See (A Little War in the Sea), where Hitler blamed the loss in the War on several factors (1) The recaltriance of Admiralty to allow the Hochseeflotte to engage the British in the North Sea, (2) The lack of support of U-Boat operations until 1917, where by that time convoys stemmed the potential power of U-Boats, and (3) The activities of Communist sympathizers in the surface fleet in 1918. The book was a bestseller, and in 1928 he won a Reichstag seat under the banner of the DKP, which was at this time a collection of disgruntled military officers looking to restore Germany to the glory she was entitled. As stated above, the DKP was unique in its call for the restoration of Wilhelm to the German throne, but was also unique in that it was a strange manifestation of the Prussian military ethos. Usually disinterested to democratic proceedings, the DKP provided an arena where officers could ally themselves with other officers with the same beliefs, and campaign on these common issues. By 1930, the DKP had the majority of seats in the Reichstag, and virtually took control of the entire government when the neutral Paul von Hindenburg joined the DKP. With him in control of the presidency, and the overwhelming mandate given in the election of Hitler to the Chancellery, Germany was poised to unshackle herself from the Versailles restrictions. The Allies, seeing all of this, did nothing to stop it, they themselves seeking to disarm through conferences. By the time of Hitler’s ascension to power, the Allies trusted Hitler because of his commitment to diplomatic means to end restrictions on Germany. This trust, as seen with Japan in the Far East, proved to be misplaced, with fatal consequences for Western Europe.

 

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Prologue Chapter 3: The DKP- Beginnings

History has shown in the past two tendencies for people in democracies in times of crisis. Either they will band together regardless of creed for the good of the country or band together with like minded citizens in order to take power for themselves. In Weimar Germany, the latter took place as a myriad of political parties sought to take control of the Reichstag and force their ideas on the weak nation. In the chaos Communist Soviets and Conservative Freikorps battled in the streets despite the attempt of the government to maintain order. The government and Freikorps prevailed, and Germany settled into the burden of Versailles reparations.

The newly formed Reichswehr, reduced to a mere 100,000 men, sought to not only protect the nation from outside aggression, but also from internal forces. The shadow General Staff, replacing the now-illegal formal General Staff sought to deal with these issues, but also the place of the Prussian military ethos in the new Germany. A small group of like-minded individuals began meeting in Berlin in 1920 to discuss this, and in doing so became the core of the DKP, and was known as the preußisch Funf, or the Prussian Five. These men were mostly middle rank officers, with the notable exception of the hero of East Africa, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. They were:

Fedor von Bock

Walther von Brauchitsch

Günther von Kluge

Wilhelm von Leeb

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck

Their ideas for postwar Germany were as follows:

(1) Germany must be restored to her former position as the dominant power in Central Europe. At this time there was a power vacuum because of the demilitarization of Germany, and Communists were doing their utmost in Central and Eastern Europe to bring these new nations under the Red Banner. A powerful Germany would be a bulwark against Communism and help prevent the Revolution from coming to Western Europe
(2) The Kaiser must be restored to his throne. At this time, Wilhelm was in exile in the Netherlands protected by his cousin Wilhelmina. Though the Prussian Five enthusiastically endorsed the return of the Kaiser, Germany would not be ruled as before, as seen in the next point.
(3) The Prussian Five agreed (with varying degrees of regret) that militarism had failed. Germany would remain a pariah if she returned to militarism. However, a mixture of Conservative morals (more) and liberal political ideas (less) would placate the wary European powers. Even with the restoration of the monarchy, the new Imperial Germany would be based on Great Britain’s system, though giving the Chancellor more power than the prime minister.
(4) The military would need to become the best in Europe, even though it could not be the largest, which would start another arms race. However, the nation would be prepared for a war against a foe from the West (France) through the building of a defencive wall along the common border. In addition, the Reichswehr would become a hybrid volunteer/conscription force with professional NCOs and Officers with conscription lower ranks. That way in time of war, reservists would fill slots led by experienced professionals, reducing the debilitating effects of a rapidly formed army.
(5) Finally, though this point was never published, it became the cornerstone of the DKP’s platform. The fact was that the Entente humiliated Germany after the Germans agreed to the Americans’ conciliatory armistice offer. Once Germany had set herself in position, She would attack and conquer the Entente as retribution. Unlike the Entente, the victorious German Empire would not humiliate the defeated nations any further. The need to raise them back up to prevent Communist infiltration was considered too great to allow Germany to laugh over her foes. Von Leebed likened it to “…knocking out a foe with a single punch, throwing water on him to wake him up, then bring him to the store to buy him a new suit and to the doctor to tend to his black eye.” From there, the issue would be settled and the nations could move on to defeat Communism and make the world a stable place like the pre-1914 world, though without the spectre of war, if at all possible.

Rumor of the idea to form a political party caught the attention of most of the officer corps, and many current and former officers flocked to join the unnamed party. Old-school officers like Gerd von Rundstedt said that officers should remain apolitical, but the argument that remaining apolitical would mean the end of the Prussian Officer Corps. This argument won the day and the party was formed on 22 October 1920 even as Freikorps fired on Communist insurgents. The name Deutschlandkonservativpartei, or “German Conservative party” was chosen to keep the military or even monarchal ideas of the party out of the debate. Soon men like Erwin Rommel, Erich von Manstein, Heinz Guderien, Erich Raeder, and most importantly Adm. Scheer, who wooed Adolf Hitler, living in Berlin after the Munich Soviet’s failed coup earlier in 1920 into the party.

In the elections in 1922, the DKP gained 12 seats across the nation, including Lettow-Vorbeck. In the often wild debates, the DKP remained composed and fought tenaciously for conservative legislation. The main opponent of the DKP became not the Social Democrats, but a small party known as the National Socialists, or Nazis under the leadership of former Quartermaster-General Erich Ludendorff. The Nazis promoted the idea of the Dolchstoß or “Stab in the Back,” which blamed Germany’s defeat on Communists, left-wing politicians, and the Jews. Though this sounded vaguely like the DKP’s blame on the Entente, the difference was that the DKP begrudgingly accepted defeat, but was most upset with the Entente’s treatment of Germany, fatally wounding her and leaving her vulnerable to Communist influences. The DKP considered the Nazis an “idiotic poor-man’s poor impression of the DKP,” and treated it as such. The Nazis made their move with the failed Beer Hall Putsch led by Ludendorff and Rudolf Hess in Munich. The DKP delighted in seeing their main conservative opponents thrown in jail, even for a short time. Unfortunately for Hitler, Adm. Scheer was murdered in his home in 1922 by an intruder. At the state funeral, Hitler cried during his speech and promised to honour his mentor's memory by "assuming the wheel of the state, leading it to her destiny."

Erich Ludendorff

In 1924, the final two pieces necessary for dominance came into the possession of the DKP when former Prime Minister of Prussia Max von Baden and Ludendorff’s former chief of Staff Paul von Hindenburg joined the DKP. With the ticket of Hindenburg as President and von Baden for Chancellor, the DKP swept the Nazis away along with most of the other right wing parties, placing it second to the Social Democrats, where it remained for the remainder of the 1920s. Both sides worked together for the most part, but the Great Depression made the message of Germany’s return to glory more palatable, and the DKP gained control of the Reichstag in 1931. Also notable was the replacement of von Baden with Adolf Hitler, who as the DKP’s speaker in the Reichstag proved to be a wily politician and a capable leader. By Hindenburg’s death in 1934, the DKP controlled an astounding 83% of the Reichstag’s seats, all through the message of the honoured officers of the army leading the nation not as militarists, but as civilians dedicated to returning Germany to her glory.

Paul von Hindenburg

Max von Baden