A stab in the dark: The second German civil war

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Prologue: Kolibri and Raubvogel
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    • Squidfam

    Squidfam

    A stab in the dark: The second German civil war
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    I will before anything else make the following clear: I actively despise Nazism, fascism and any other ideology that espouses similar hatred and endorsement or support of these will not be in any way tolerated. With that hopefully established, let's move on.

    Prologue: Kolibri and Raubvogel

    Munich, June 26th, 1934

    A lone man in a Gestapo uniform marches down the silent streets of the city, looking around to assure himself he is not being followed before turning a corner and heading down the Barerstraße. His name is Willi Lehmann and in his hands he is carrying a letter that will change German history. He finally comes to a halt in front of a building emblazoned with the logo of the SA; once more scanning every inch of the street to make sure no one can see him. Sufficiently safe for the moment, he is suddenly hit by a feeling of doubt; this document can very well lead to disaster, most certainly for the party but also for his homeland. He glances down at the letter in his hand and steels himself before pushing it under the door. If the party is willing to kill these people, he could very well be next.
    ______________________________

    Munich, June 30th, 1934

    A small group of cars run across the wide road of the Autobahn in the early morning light. Men clad in leather and steel shift nervously in their seats as their moment of triumph approaches; the party will soon rid themselves of the last obstacles to the realization of German greatness. Speaking of roadblocks, is appears that a tree has fallen across the road. A man seated in a car in the midst of the convoy sighs and checks his watch; he would hate for his plan to be undone by a wayward piece of foliage. No matter, there is still plenty of time. He steps out of the car to issue orders, but his head suddenly explodes into a mess of blood, bone and brain matter. A cacophony of noise ensues as gunfire rakes the cars, with SS men and officers falling left and right as they struggle to fire back. Silence finally descends and armed men in brown uniforms emerge. Ernst Röhm, Stabschef of the Sturmabteilung smiles. The first part of Operation Raubvögel has been a success.
     
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    • LostInNewDelhi

    LostInNewDelhi

    What's the "First" Civil War then-- the disturbances of 1919? Speaking of which, I wonder what the KPD's thinking during all this.
     

    Kelenas

    King Jasper said:
    Dang, how did this happen? How did they get such a large anti-nazi uprising in 1934?
    Click to expand...
    Less anti-nazi uprising, and more of a power struggle within the nazi party (SA, which was the original paramilitary arm of the party, vs the SS, which was originally part of the SA before being separated out and then developing into the party's new paramilitary force).

    At least initially; if the picture at the top is an indicator, it's possible that it might develop into something bigger that contains anti-nazi elements.
     

    Noblesse Oblige

    Of course, that begs the question of what would be defined as anti-nazi elements?

    The Communists were effectively driven underground, and were no longer a credible threat to challenge the Nazis at this point. And I think the same could be said for the democratic parties (SPD & Zentrum among others.)

    Best bet, it's the SA implementing Strasserism and Nazbol policies.
     
    Ch 1: Battle for Berlin
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    Squidfam

    Chapter 1: Battle for Berlin
    Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P049500%2C_Berlin%2C_Aufmarsch_der_SA_in_Spandau.jpg

    Bad Wiessee, June 30th, 1934
    06:00

    Having ambushed Hitler and his followers on the road to Munich, Röhm and his entourage swiftly returned to their impromptu headquarters at Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee. To avoid raising suspicion that they had discovered the plot, most prominent SA officials had not been informed of the plan and many key leaders who were had chosen to attend as well. On his return, Röhm suddenly roused the many lower-ranking SA heads from their slumber and thirty minutes later had them assembled in the courtyard. In a thundering speech, he proclaimed that Hitler had thrown his lot in with the reactionary old guard of the German political establishment and sought to prevent the second revolution that the SA represented by using the SS to purge his opponents.

    Berlin, June 30th, 1934
    07:00

    Having sufficiently convinced his assembled subordinates, Röhm alerted Karl Ernst, chief of the SA in Berlin of the plans success by uttering the code phrase “Raubvogel”. Ernst was one of few high-ranking members chosen not to travel to the meeting in Munich and had for the last two days been planning a takeover of central berlin. Upon receiving the phone call from Röhm, Ernst dispatched his units across the city. Individual companies seized control of radio stations, disrupted phone lines and shut down newspaper buildings whilst Ernst himself led several units to attack the headquarters of the SS on Prinz-Albrecht-Straße. He catches Göring and his subordinates by surprise, arresting them and temporarily relocating them to Spandau prison.

    Berlin, June 30th, 1934
    10:00

    Chaos soon reigns as Berliners wake up and find no newspapers, silent radios and SA men march in the streets. By this time, Röhm has arrived in the capital and most SS members (including Göring) in Spandau have been executed. Whilst President Hindenburg and most of the German Reichstag has been trapped in Berlin and are horrified to discover that Röhm has formally announced the beginning of a “second German revolution” to usher in the abolishment of Jewish capitalism, he managed to alert via telephone prominent members of the German minister of Defense Werner von Blomberg, who in turn informs the de facto chief of staff Wilhelm Adam, the commander of the Berlin military district Joachim von Kortzfleisch and Werner von Fritsch, commander of the Berlin army division.

    Berlin, June 30th, 1934
    12:00

    Firefights erupt as German army units arrive to push the SA out of Berlin under the authority of von Blomberg’s “Emergency Military Government for the Restoration of Order” (also simply referred to as the Wehrstaat) and reports begin arriving from all over the country. Regions of northern Germany appear to support the SA-led revolution, with brownshirts allegedly attacking businesses, seizing property and wantonly killing suspected non-Germans. Similarly, what little news from the south that arrives in the capital indicate that an increasing number of municipalities in the south have come under the “protection” of haphazardly formed catholic militias who in turn are clashing with the SA-stronghold in the outskirts of Munich. Whatever it is that’s going on, it’s no longer a purge, nor even a coup. Germany is in for a long and bloody summer.
     
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    • NHBL

    NHBL

    WOW!
    I didn't realize that they'd bagged Hitler. Shooting Goering, though satisfying, might have been a mistake. He could have been made into a figurehead, and it's a lot easier to make a live puppet dead than to make a dead puppet live.
     

    Johnrankins

    I don't think the SA coup would last very long. Hitler was genuinely popular in Germany in 1934 and was considered by the vast majority of the members of the Nazi Party the legitimate head of it. Röhm just admitted murdering him. I don't think most of the SA not talking the party itself would back him. The smarter move would have been to say Hitler was murdered by Communists and that the SS failed to protect him.
     

    Cryhavoc101

    Johnrankins said:
    I don't think the SA coup would last very long. Hitler was genuinely popular in Germany in 1934 and was considered by the vast majority of the members of the Nazi Party the legitimate head of it. Röhm just admitted murdering him. I don't think most of the SA not talking the party itself would back him. The smarter move would have been to say Hitler was murdered by Communists and that the SS failed to protect him.
    Click to expand...

    Or an SS plot to replace him? Implicate the entire organization?
     
    Ch 2: The only winning move
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    • Squidfam

    Squidfam

    Chapter 2: The only winning move
    Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-16108%2C_Vereidigung_von_Reichswehr-Soldaten_auf_Hitler.jpg

    Wandlitz, June 31st, 1934
    11:04

    Following the violent expulsion of the SA from berlin at the hands of Reichswehr troops, Röhm and the rest of the leadership have temporarily relocated to the small town of Wandlitz not many miles from the capital. As Röhm and his staff are discussing matters of politics and strategy (the current plan is to head to the north, where the more “politically reliable” elements of the SA are based) a young private makes his way through the crowd of SA-militants moving about around the camp and reaches into his jacket.

    “Heil Hitler!”

    Shots ring out.

    Panic erupts as the man in wrestled to the ground, but it is too late. Ernst Röhm is dead and two of his assistants are lightly injured.

    Berlin, June 31st, 1934
    19:36

    Despite the best efforts of the Wehrstaat, Germany is not falling into line as quickly or efficiently as Werner von Blomberg would have liked. Whilst a fair amount of the country has once more come under the control of the central government, the northwest continues to descend into chaos: a new “revolutionary government” has been declared by Otto Strasser and his followers, dividing the SA in the region even further. Hamburg has declared “neutrality” in the conflict, whilst he has received troubling reports of a “Second red army of the Ruhr” via the radio and Prussia has seemingly become a temporary dictatorship under Walther von Brauchitsch. He is still sporadically negotiating with Hess and his “Party government” but so far has made little headway, especially as Von Papen is already officially chancellor. Some good news arrive via phone however: the body of Ernst Röhm has been discovered in a ditch just outside Wandlitz, recently liberated by loyalist forces.

    ______________________________

    Free State of Danzig, July 1st, 1934
    09:01

    The first polish tanks cross the border of the Free State, followed quickly by columns of soldiers on bicycles. In official terms, it’s a temporary security measure to safeguard the neutrality and sovereignty of the Free State as Germany is slowly descending into chaos. Unofficially, it’s an occupation. The people watching the military move past their houses do so with wary eyes. They’re not exactly welcome, but perhaps they are better than the alternative.

    Prague, July 1st, 1934
    12:00

    Inside a packed conference hall in Prague, Walter Ulbricht holds a speech where he denounces the corrupting of the ideas of socialism and communism currently being perpetuated by the SA to rousing applause. Urging members to contact those still in Germany, he reminds them all that they have the might of the Soviet Union behind them. The German worker might be down, but he is not out.
     
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    • NoMommsen

    UnaiB said:
    What happen ITTL to Gregor Strasser?
    Click to expand...
    VERY good question :biggrin:

    But ... I fear he will be subsummarized/intermingeld/mixed-up with Otto Strasser. ... or simply forgotten by the OPs author.

    ... as well as the author - very likely and undoubtly for the storys sake - has rather no idea of the relation between Röhm and Hitler.
    ... and an principle difference between them :
    -Hitler had (some kind of) ideological faith he subordinated everything - in the end even the whole of the german people that didn't 'deserve' him in its inability for 'Endsieg'.
    -Röhm had 'only' male chauvinist dreams (tainted by the 'special branch' of homoerotism often flowering in confined circumstances like militzary organisations, prisons or ... trenches)​

    Röhm would have never had killed his friend Adolf. And even Adolf had to 'hand' this job over to others.


    However, for the sake of the story ... will watch it highly interested :)
     
    Last edited:

    Tannenberg

    I'm interested in seeing what would happen if Rohm wins. I'm really curious of seeing what his Nazbol experiment is going to consist. Stalin is gonna be really confused
     
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