【 Chapter 20 – Interwar Period – Anschluss (1) 】
Between December and January, Colonel Walter Model returned to Berlin.
He was such a busy person that I hardly had a chance to meet him after greeting him once.
The tide of the Spanish Civil War had completely shifted in favor of the Nationalists. The Republican forces suffered a complete defeat in the northern regions, and due to pressure from the Nationalists, the Republicans were forced to relocate their capital from Valencia to Barcelona.
In the meantime, Lieutenant Colonel Richthofen was promoted to Colonel, and he sent a long praise of the impressive achievements of the early model of the famous Stuka dive bomber Ju-87 and how it was the most suitable aircraft for the dive bombing that we had discussed.
I was worried about Clement, but after reading the letter, which was mostly about Rafaella and only 1/10 about the battalion, I decided to stop worrying.
That damn fellow.
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February 4, 1938
Army Staff Headquarters of the Ministry of War, Berlin, Northern Germany
“This is ridiculous! Hitler is determined to swallow the military!”
Gerd von Rundstedt, the German military’s chief, slammed his desk and screamed.
“The Supreme Military Command? It was abolished over ten years ago and now they want to revive it just to seat that incompetent fool Keitel. It’s like putting a scarecrow in charge and treating us like his own pond!”
“That’s right, General. We cannot just sit idly by and let this happen! The Defense Minister’s wife is a prostitute and the Army Commander is a homosexual?! Have you ever heard of such shameful insults? This incident is clearly fabricated!”
Amidst Rundstedt’s outburst and his agreement, Ervin von Witzleben was venting his frustration. The German Army Chief of Staff, Ludwig Beck, placed his hand on his forehead as if he had a headache, with the two generals standing in front of him.
Former Marshal of the Army and Defense Minister, Werner von Blomberg, was threatened by the secret police to divorce his wife, who was reported to be a prostitute, and resigned after being threatened by Hitler to make the matter public if he did not divorce her.
Soon after that, the German Army Commander, Werner von Fritsch, was forced to resign under the shameful accusation of being a homosexual. In a moment, the two leaders of the German Army were ousted, and the Nazis resurrected the Supreme Command of the National Defense Forces, which oversaw the three branches of the military, to control the military directly, causing confusion among the military leaders.
“….Uh, what do you think?”
Beck asked for the opinion of his subordinate, whom he had secretly nominated as the next Chief of Staff and valued greatly.
“….with all due respect, it may not be appropriate to say, General. General von Blomberg could have clearly stated that the suspicion was unfounded or could have divorced to protect his honor, but he chose to resign. So, this cannot be simply dismissed as a conspiracy…”
“What are you talking about! General von Manstein! Are you suggesting we just leave it like this?!”
The man who was advising Beck, Major General Erich von Manstein, closed his mouth briefly at Rundstedt’s outburst.
However, isn’t it true? If he had just given up his wife, he could have stopped at the point where his position was a little shaken. But it was Blomberg himself who refused to divorce and made this scandal worse.
Some in the military, who had become accustomed to the patriarchal society that placed extreme emphasis on honor and became more dominant under Nazi rule, thought that way.
Of course, Manstein’s true intentions were somewhat different, though.
He was undoubtedly a capable man, but he was also highly opportunistic and ambitious. As such, he wanted to avoid getting involved in other people’s affairs if it would hinder his own career.
Why take the risk of creating a confrontation with the government when he could have simply waited for the position of the next Army Chief of Staff to come to him naturally?
However, contrary to Manstein’s expectation, Beck, who had been pondering, opened his mouth.
“But how many would be willing to join if we demand an investigation to uncover the truth?”
“There are quite a few who feel unjustly treated in this matter.”
Upon hearing Witzleben’s confident words, Beck hesitated for a moment and then Manstein interjected quickly.
“But, General Beck, the military is fundamentally politically neutral…”
“But isn’t Hitler interfering with that neutrality in the military?”
In the end, Manstein, who was trying to calm things down, backed off at the outcry of Rundstedt, and finally, Beck nodded his head.
“Alright, let’s demand an investigation to uncover the truth. This incident is just too ambiguous no matter how you think about it.”
Shortly after, the leadership of the Army General Staff officially demanded an investigation into the Blomberg–Fritsch incident, led by Chief of Staff Ludwig Beck, Infantry General Gerd von Rundstedt, and Infantry General Erwin von Witzleben.
It was a common-sense request for an investigation into an ambiguous incident.
However, the problem was that the Nazis, who accepted it were not a group that followed common sense.
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February 13, 1938
Suburbs, Berlin, Northern Germany
[All Frictions With Austria Resolved!
Another Diplomatic Victory Achieved by the Great Führer!]
On a leisurely Sunday, I was enjoying some free time sitting in a cafe in the suburbs with few people around, reading a highly provocative headline in the newspaper.
The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces (OKW) was established, and Wilhelm Keitel, who was known as just a nice desk officer within the military, was appointed as the Head of the OKW.
Of course, he has no real power. He is just a puppet to convey Hitler’s orders to the Wehrmacht as the Head of the Armed Forces High Command.
The reinvestigation demanded by the army elders, Rundstedt and Beck, regarding the Blomberg–Fritsch affair was completely ignored by the Nazi regime and buried under today’s news.
Yesterday, on February 12th, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg succumbed to Hitler’s pressure and agreed to appoint Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the leader of the Austrian Nazi Party, as the Minister of the Interior.
Hitler and Germany also tried to assert dominance over Austria in 1934, but they failed and suffered a defeat due to the resistance from Mussolini, who viewed Austria as his own fascist sphere of influence.
Mussolini’s friendliness toward Hitler changed when he was fiercely criticized by his former allies, Britain and France, after he invaded Ethiopia in 1935 and became internationally isolated. It was only after that time that Hitler supported Mussolini.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t that long ago.
The fact that Austria, which had to retreat due to Mussolini’s restraint, has been definitively incorporated into the German sphere of influence was evidence to the whole of Germany once again singing praises of the greatness of the Führer.
“Here you go.”
“Ah, thank you.”
After receiving the coffee from Claudia, I opened my mouth while briefly glancing at the headline in the newspaper.
“So, even Frankfurter Zeitung has become quite a pro-government newspaper?”
“Oh, please. This is directly sent by the Ministry of Propaganda, so if you don’t want to shut down, you have to accept those things.”
“I see.”
Right. Dr. Goebbels, that man’s work?
Yes, it’s his expertise to distract the public’s attention with such things.
It seems that I have become quite close with Claudia and the staff at Frankfurter Zeitung. When I asked them to publish a somewhat precarious editorial as an experiment, they were even concerned about my well-being and suggested some modifications, which made me feel like I should apologize for testing them.
“So, do you have any information that you can share, Captain?”
“I’ve been curious about something, Miss Jung. Don’t you take weekends off?”
“I hear a lot of talk about workaholics.”
Claudia replied casually while sipping her coffee. She was a journalist affiliated with the political/military department.
I had wondered why a journalist who seemed distant from the military faction was assigned to me, but her response was a masterpiece.
‘High-ranking politicians and military officials tend to become more talkative around pretty women.’
I paused for a moment, then spoke.
“Hmm, I don’t think the suspicions of the military officials will just be covered up and forgotten. But I won’t simply overlook their demands for a reinvestigation.”
“Well—excuse me for asking as someone who receives tips, but where did you get that information from?”
I simply smiled in response to Claudia’s question.
“Another secret. Honestly, I’m curious myself. You were able to accurately predict that there would be a request for a reinvestigation and even the military officials who made the request, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see again this time?”
“That’s right. It’s not even something we could use as an article anyways, but it’s quite fascinating that you’re still so curious, as the journalist here.”
“I’m personally interested. If I know in advance, it could be helpful in some way—Well, just like how you tested me, sir, I also want to verify how much information you have, as a Captain”
“To a Captain like me?”
“I mean, you’re the son of a former minister who was a candidate for Army General Staff, and a giant in the business world. Plus, as you know, it’s not easy to find military officers who are favorable to our liberal-oriented newspaper.”
Although Wehrmacht generally professes political neutrality, but in reality, most high-ranking officers from aristocratic backgrounds are personnel of the monarchist faction with anti-democratic tendencies inherited from the tradition of the German Empire.
On the other hand, many young and non-noble soldiers enthusiastically supported Hitler and the Nazi Party, who were violating the Treaty of Versailles and pursuing rearmament.
As Claudia mentioned, there are probably very few military officers who are sympathetic to a free and democratic press. Regardless, I welcome this kind of interest from my side.
It’s important to appeal to values and build trust ahead of time so that when it really matters, you can even receive risky help.
“….Well, there will be a conflict in Austria soon.”
“Yes?”
Claudia looked a little surprised and glanced briefly at the headline of the newspaper I had spread out on the table, which stated that all friction with Austria had been resolved. Then she looked back at me with a skeptical expression, as if she thought I was talking nonsense. It hurt a little to be looked at so blatantly like that….
That’s not an unreasonable reaction. At this point, Hitler really believed that the issue with Austria has been resolved.
At first, Hitler demanded the annexation of Austria, but faced strong resistance from the military leaders (resulting in the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair), so he settled for putting pressure on the Austrian government to appoint Nazi officials and turn it into a definite pro-German country.
The result was yesterday’s appointment of Arthur Seyss-Inquart as the Interior Minister. However, the Nazi party members inside Austria would interpret this differently and started running amok on their own. They will start acting like they will be unified with Germany immediately and begin to cause chaos.
In response, panicked Austria would try to curb them by holding a national referendum against unification with Germany, which would anger Hitler and lead to the Anschluss, or the annexation of Austria.
“Well… Official diplomacy and covert operations are separate things, you know.”
“…Excuse me, but do you have any connections to the Nazi party or the SS?”
As Claudia asked the question, her eyes changed to a quite guarded look. Did she imagine a brutal twist like: I thought he was on our side, but he was actually a Gestapo (Nazi secret police)?
“I honestly think that if I were Gestapo, I would have made you unemployed right away.”
“Well, at least you wouldn’t have taken me to a concentration camp.”
“Well, no, there aren’t enough of those to go around yet.”
As we exchanged pointless jokes, the tension between us eased and Claudia’s expression softened.
“So, what is the reason for giving me such unbelievable information?”
“….Well, whether you believe it or not is up to you, but I trust the journalists of Frankfurt Zeitung and will continue to be helpful in the future. So, please take care of me, that’s all.”
“Even though I’ve been a journalist for a few years, but I don’t have a clue about you, Captain. I don’t know how to deal with you.”
“I hear that a lot.”
Claudia gnawed on the end of her pencil before tossing it aside and said,
“…Alright. Let’s pretend to believe it just this once. If it turns out to be true, our newspaper will be the first to break the scoop.”
“I hope it brings about good results.”
“Isn’t that what we’re hoping for?”
“Haha.”
I may have put her at ease, but in reality, I was becoming more and more anxious.
Despite the fact that Anschluss is imminent, my father, Hjalmar Schacht, shows no particular signs of concern.
I was getting frustrated because I couldn’t tell if it was because there was still a lack of trust in me, or because the resignation of Ludwig Beck had not yet occurred, and the activities of the von Kleist group were not yet active.
Even though we were approaching the wave of history, there was very little I could do right now.
I know the truth.
Despite knowing a little about the future, the goal of preventing the overlapping madness of Germany’s victim mentality and the understanding of the great powers, leading to the devastating Second World War, seemed absurd.
However, that doesn’t mean I can sit idly by and be swept away by the coming era, with only waves of steel and blood waiting for me.
So I have no choice but to struggle.
If I don’t, what value is there in living and breathing in this era?
I truly hope that my actions will have meaning.
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【 Interwar Period – Anschluss (1) 】- End
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