Chapter 9： The determination of the Weimar Republic

Over the years, Germany has been in turmoil almost all the time!

Don’t say anything else, since the Weimar Republic was born in 1919, it has also experienced severe tests again and again.

The republic was just born and was full of crises: the left accused the Social Democratic Party of betraying the interests of workers by preventing the Communist revolution; the right opposed the democratic system and insisted on returning Germany to its former monarchy.

In the eyes of the left, the Weimar government suppressed the workers' uprising and killed famous left-wing leaders such as Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. The Weimar government was a traitor to the revolution.

In the eyes of rightists, the Weimar government forced the emperor to abdicate during the November Revolution and signed a peace treaty with the Allied Powers. It is even more a traitor to the nation!

Subversive activities have been going on. By 1920, the Freedom Corps launched a Kapp coup, occupied Berlin and elected right-wing reporter Wolfgang Kapp as prime minister. The Weimar government retreated to Stuttgart.

In 1921, communist uprisings occurred in both Saxony and Hamburg, which were successfully suppressed.

At the beginning of this year, because the Republican government was unable to pay the war indemnities stipulated by the Versailles Treaty, the French and Belgian armies occupied the Ruhr area, which is Germany’s richest industrial town, and controlled local mines and manufacturing companies.

Due to a series of needs, the German conquest had to print a lot of banknotes, which led to domestic hyperinflation.

How serious is inflation? Just in August this year, the mark fell from 4.2 yuan to one million yuan against the US dollar! In this month, it has fallen to 4.2 trillion yuan!

Economic and political issues in Germany are all entangled together. The prestige of the Weimar government has long been reduced to a minimum!

Hitler’s beer hall coup can be successful, and it must not be analyzed separately, but must be placed in the entire country and even the international background!

And now, with the leader of the party, government and army that controlled Bavaria, Hitler's beer hall coup has evolved into a big threat that could destroy the Weimar Republic!

The Munich uprising just hit the weakness of the Weimar government! Now, with the rapid depreciation of the currency, the anger of the people caused by the French occupation of the Ruhr industrial zone in Germany is about to completely erupt!

When the news reached Berlin, Friedrich Albert, the right-wing leader of the German Social Democratic Party and the first president of the Weimar Republic, immediately called an emergency meeting.

Albert is now more than 50 years old. Since he became president, he has not had a stable day. Germany has always been in turmoil. Now, the problem of the Ruhr Industrial Zone has not been resolved. There has been a rebellion!

"Hitler's conspiracy must not be allowed to succeed. The entire Workers Party is crazy. If they are allowed to come to power, they will bring the entire German nation to the cliff!" Albert said worriedly.

"Yes, we must safeguard our German democracy and legal system. I suggest sending troops immediately to suppress it!"

Gustav Stresemann, the German Chancellor who just took office this year, fully agrees with Albert's judgment at this time.

This group of rebels is not for the benefit of the Republic at all. They continue to promise the citizens that it is impossible to achieve. They are only to seize the power of Germany!

"We can send troops, but what are we going to make up for?" Defense Minister Otto Karl Gesler asked the two.

What is your determination? The news now comes, and the situation is quite not optimistic.

This group of rebels launched Ludendorff as the spiritual leader. At the same time, they also controlled the Bavarian garrison commander Losov and the Bavarian governor Karl, and another leader, Sessel, had died in the riot!

These Bavarian officials are hostages, and a large number of people have been deceived! It is conceivable that when such people flow towards Berlin, they will reach tens of thousands!

If you send troops to counter the rebellion, you must confront these people. If they push out Losov and other hostages, should you take into account the safety of these hostages?

If there is a conflict, should the guns of the army be aimed at the deceived people? Once a serious bloodshed occurs, will the Weimar government lose its prestige throughout the country?

Gesler can send troops, but he has foreseen the possible consequences, he must make it clear.

"Anyone who comes to Berlin is a rebel, and we must unswervingly suppress it! We must not allow the Roman invasion of Italy to happen in our Germany!" Albert said firmly.

Italy, Rome marches! All this was done by the Italian fascist leader Mussolini. He was dissatisfied with the fact that the Fascist party had only 105 seats in the 535 seats in the 1921 Italian parliamentary election and called on 30,000 supporters to enter Rome.

This riot succeeded in appointing Mussolini as Prime Minister by the then King Emmanuel III of Italy. From then on, the fascists in Italy came to power!

Why did Hitler engage in a coup in the beer hall? In fact, he wants to take the Italian road, and Mussolini's success is encouraging him!

It's a pity, UU reading www. He still doesn't know about uukanshu.com, and history cannot be copied.

Just like the October Revolution can bury the Russian tsar but cannot ignite the Chinese land, Mussolini’s success cannot be repeated in Hitler's body!

Because the Weimar government is not a weak Italian king!

As long as they come to Berlin to make trouble, they are the insurgents who are trampling on the legal system of the Republic. To such people, we must not be merciless! Albert is determined.

This is also related to Albert's style. After all, if you want to save Germany, you must use powerful means!

In 1918, Albert ordered the defense forces to suppress the riots in Berlin. At that time, it was almost bloodshed!

The Weimar government will not bow its head in front of the rebels!

"I think it's better to let the Freedom Corps dispatch, and then we will end well," Stresemann said.

Freedom Corps! As a defeated country, Germany withdrew from World War I. According to the Treaty of Versailles, it was severely restricted. Their army number was 100,000 and the navy number was 15,000.

In this way, a large number of soldiers need to retire. After these retired soldiers, many soldiers formed a semi-military organization, the Freedom Corps!

is not official anyway, not within the limits of the Treaty of Versailles. In Germany, there are many such organizations. For example, Hitler's stormtrooper is also a civilian military organization.

The Freedom Corps is also very capable of fighting. For example, in 1919, they suppressed the workers' uprising in Berlin. They killed Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht!

After the incident, Albert gave a special permission and handed it over to the military court for punishment. As a result, the treatment was gone.

This kind of dirty work makes it better for the Freedom Corps to dispatch!