August 2, 1934, Posensi Prussia, Neudyk.
Ludwig von Heinsberg Hersmann and his wife Chloe had left Berlin two days earlier and arrived at the Schleicher family's knights' estate in Neudyk with their old friends, Admiral Schleicher and his wife.
They were here to bid farewell to the President of the German Empire, Paul von Hindenburg.
President Hindenburg's estate in Neudyk is near the Schleicher estate, where Hindenburg has been waiting for death since 1934.
A generation of strongmen, the patron saint of the German Empire, is about to complete 87 years of long life.
Although in the last years of his life, he was in an extremely poor state of health and intelligence.
But his presence was the greatest stabilizing factor for the German Empire.
It's hard to imagine this for someone who hasn't experienced strongman politics.
But Hersmann, as a figure in the inner circle of Germany's highest power, is very clear about this, and in this time and space, although President Hindenburg is not the only person who can restrain Adolf Hitler, he is undoubtedly a thick iron chain tied to Hitler's neck.
In particular, in the past three years, Germany has been developing in an orderly manner under Hitler's new political theory.
The economy recovered, the military power rose rapidly, and the international environment for Germany was greatly improved by the signing of the Locarno Convention of the East.
Under these circumstances, almost all of them were very satisfied with Hitler's rule, and Hitler's authority was rising rapidly.
Not long ago, in June, Hitler again demanded that President Hindenburg dissolve the parliament and call for a general election.
The Nazi Party and the People's Party of the Fatherland won more than 80 parliamentary seats in this election.
After the parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party and the People's Party of the Fatherland forced the Transitional Justice Ordinance in Parliament, and on the basis of this regulation, the Social Democratic Party was outlawed on 1 July 1934.
At the same time, the Reichstag controlled by the Nazi Party and the People's Party of the Fatherland also changed the constitution to drastically reduce the autonomy of the Free States and effectively abolished the Free State of Prussia.
The parliament and government of the Free State of Prussia merged with the parliament and government of the German Empire, and the Chancellor of Germany also served as Chancellor of the Prussian State.
As a result, the degree of unity within the German Empire was greatly enhanced.
However, the enactment of transitional justice regulations to crack down on the Social Democrats and the amendment of the constitution to integrate the German Empire also opened the eyes of many to the possibility of a Nazi dictatorship.
Among them were Vice President Rudendorff, Defense Minister Schleicher, President of the Baltic Republic Goerz, Chairman of the Fatherland People's Party Seckert and President of the Union of German Officers, Oskar von Huttier, and Field Marshal Augusta von Markensen, who was not a few years younger than Hindenburg but still in good mind and body.
These men are now sitting in the drawing room of the Schleicher estate with Hersmann, waiting for the final farewell to the old president at the Hindenburg estate, and talking about the coming post-Hindenburg era.
All of them made no secret of their fears, and at the same time they were satisfied with the success of the Nazi rule.
"If we had a Nazi Party in 1917, we wouldn't have lost the World War" Old Marshal Mackensen touched his two handfuls of nonsense, which had turned completely white, and said: "If there had been a Hitler Chancellor at that time, the Social Democrats and the Spartacists would not have done much harm." ” The old man's thoughts should be very representative, and Hersman, who is sitting in the corner with a coffee cup, is more aware of public opinion.
There are many people who think this way, and the absence of a ruling party that can unite the lower ranks and suppress the anti-war forces is indeed a reason why Germany lost the First World War.
"But Hitler was not a good commander-in-chief," said Ludendorff, who was about to succeed to the presidency, worriedly, "and his vision of the big picture was entirely ethnic, and the good and the inferior, the Aryan, the Slavic, the Jewish, and such things as the good and the inferior would normally be talked about, but if they were turned into strategies to guide the war, then we would be in big trouble." ” Ludendorff knew Hitler better than the average person, and they had more contact with him, he was the acting vice president, and Hitler was the chancellor.
The two met often and discussed strategic issues, so he was very dismissive of Hitler's strategic vision.
Actually, Hitler was okay.
Hersmann's view was somewhat different from that of Ludendorff, because he knew that Hitler was not the worst commander in World War II, that Churchill who won the war but lost the Reich, that Mussolini who helped all day long, and that the Japanese military leaders who recklessly provoked the Pacific War were all worse than Hitler.
However, US President Roosevelt had more vision than Hitler, and Roosevelt had more money in his hands.
In fact, Churchill and Stalin also had a lot of money, and their countries could afford more mistakes.
But Germany can't, and a single strategic mistake can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Hitler, on the other hand, made a rather fatal strategic mistake: he used a racial perspective to guide the war, so that he always had unrealistic illusions about Britain, excessive hatred of Jews, and a kind of strength to fight the Russians to the end.
"He's a good chancellor," said Seckert, who had been chancellor for a while, shaking his head, "but he's not a commander-in-chief and that's not as good as Bismarck." ” The Baltic General Golz was not familiar with Hitler, and after listening to everyone's comments, the general president set his eyes on Hersmann and Schleicher, "Kurt, Ludwig, what do you think of him as a commander who can lead Germany to victory?"
"Obviously not," Schleicher said, with his hands outstretched, "if we were to face a real war in the coming years, it would be only the best professional soldiers, not politicians who knew little about war, who could assume the responsibility of commanding the war."
This is also our Prussian tradition" "Is it a military dictatorship?"
asked Goltz, muttering, "will this really work?"
He was a "quasi-dictator" in the Polo, but he did not think that the Polo system could be applied to Germany.
The Baltic Republic was a small state surrounded by strong enemies, and it was relatively easy to unite.
Germany is a "big country" with a population of 66 million.
In addition, the Baltic people were mainly Russians, who were more accustomed to being dictatorship, while the people of Germany itself had a tradition of democracy.
"Military dictatorship is not a no," Hersman shook his head and picked up the topic.
"In that case, Germany will definitely fall into internal strife and will no longer be able to deal with the outside world."
"What to do then" As soon as Goltz's question came out, all the old people turned their attention to Hersmann and Schleicher.
Hersman's eyes also looked around, taking in the expressions of a room full of veterans, and although each of them used a faceless face to hide their inner thoughts, Hersman knew very well what they wanted most "We should restore the German monarchy," Hersmann took a deep breath, as if with a great deal of determination, "at least now we should be tempting." ” The people in the living room were silent.
They were all royalists, and the restoration of the German monarchy was of course their goal, but it was not easy to do, not only because of the international reaction, but also because of the difficulty in controlling public opinion in Germany.
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"How to tempt," Ludendorff asked with interest.
After Hindenburg's death, he could succeed him as president under the constitution.
But his presidency ended in 1937, and whoever was elected to Hitler's current prestige was likely to be elected.
If both the president and the chancellor were Nazis, Hitler's power could have lost checks Therefore, restoring the imperial system during the remainder of Ludendorff's term and appointing a constitutional monarch as commander-in-chief of the armed forces was the most appropriate option.
"The will can be tested with the will of the old president."
Hersmann had already had a solution, "we could draw up a will for the old president, in which he would propose the restoration of the Hohenzollern dynasty in Germany." ” Those present were relieved to hear Hersman's suggestion.
This is indeed a good way to push a dead man out of Hindenburg to be the first bird.
Even if the German people and the British and French powers were not happy, there was nothing they could do to take a dead man, and it would be difficult to whip the corpse "Then Ludwig, will Hitler support this will?"
Ludendorff asked uncertainly.
Hitler's attitude towards the restoration of the imperial system was very ambiguous, and he did not have the label of royalist on his head like Juncker like Hersmann.
However, on many occasions he expressed his support for the Hohenzollern dynasty.
Moreover, Hitler had a very close relationship with Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was a friend of Goering the Fat and had a little relationship with the Hohenzollern dynasty, and his godfather was a court doctor, so he was able to know the crown prince, and it was Goering who introduced him to Hitler.
The crown prince himself is said to have joined the Nazi Party But Hitler never relented on the question of restoration, and his Nazi Party was now the largest party in parliament, with more than half of its seats.
If Hitler supported it, amending the constitution and restoring the imperial system would be a piece of cake.
Hersman thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "It's hard to say, at least he won't openly oppose it." ” It is not daring to openly oppose it, and the current Hitler is not the historical Hitler after the conquest of France in 1940.
With the Junkers firmly in control of the army and spies, confiscating their SA and SS troops, it is very irrational to clash with Juncker on the issue of royalism, but strong support is not necessarily.
At this moment, an antique telephone in the living room suddenly rang, Schleicher picked up the microphone, and Oscar von Hindenburg's voice came from the other side: "The president has died" t1706231537: