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Kurt Von Schleicher dabbed away silently against the sweat on his bald head, the workspace of the President of the German Republic's office was hopelessly stuffy in the heat of the August morning. This meeting with Hindenburg was pivotal for his plans, and his nerves and anticipation would have been enough to make him uncomfortable even without the climate.

The old man, if he felt the heat, didn't seem to be affected although perhaps his mind was elsewhere. Germany was in crisis after all and Hindenburg was ultimately responsible for dealing with it, even with the increasing doubts over the ageing war hero's lucidity. Von Schleicher wasn't particularly worried about the fact that the German President might be senile, in fact he was relying on it. Soon Hindenburg could have a well deserved rest, with more able patriots in charge and himself at the helm, naturally.

"General, you assured me that Bruning was the man needed to calm things down!"

He had done, and at the same time he had known Bruning would fail. It was not that he didn't have any regard for the man but in the entanglement of autocracy and bureaucracy that Weimar's dysfunctional system had once again become, such people had to be used as stepping stones for others to progress. If all went to plan, Hindenburg would share the same fate.

"That is correct Your Excellency, but I miscalculated how perilous the situation has become." Schleicher spoke plainly but Hindenburg sat in contemplation. He was shaking slightly.

"The communists, the socialists, they are a cancer we have suffered for too long. They created this republic and we have been honour bound to protect it. We have done our best in this task, particularly yourself, in the worst of global economic circumstances. Now they're eroding all of our good work from within. If Bruning had made one pivotal mistake it is that he underestimated their power and their newfound willingness to coordinate with each other. We used to be able to rely on the Marxists to eat each other, but this is no longer the case."

The President eyed him warily, as if seeing through the melodrama before staring into the distance. The two had known each other for too long, and if the General was playing a role he should have been able to spot it. It seemed his exasperation had been genuine enough, for the President was now only interested in what to do next, rather than on the poor recommendations of the past.

"You mean to...pre-empt them?"

"It has gone beyond that, the Marxists are actively working to cripple the Reichstag as a governing body and even the moderate Social Democrats appear happier to go along with it than ever before. The way the Reichstag is constituted aids them in this, whilst the process of good governance is hindered to a fatal degree. As much as we have tried in good faith to work around this, it's now clear we are we are at an impasse."

Von Schleicher composed himself as he looked into the eyes of the deteriorating Field Marshal, and said the words he had been preparing to say for the best part of a decade.

"If you will be honour me with your backing, I feel I have the personal clout and connections to see us through."

Hindenburg blinked slowly with his drooping eyes before shaking his head.

"Now this one's proposing himself as the one to steady the ship" he said to no-one in particular.

"Your excellency, I mean to scuttle the ship."



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It was a few days later when throughout Germany, people huddled to a radio wherever they could to hear the President speak. It was odd to be hearing his voice in the early afternoon, for the German war hero and head of state tended to wait until the evenings to make his decrees to ensure that he had the widest audience possible. To broadcast in the middle of the working day, even in a time of mass unemployment that was only growing worse, seemed to imply that the message was of great urgency. Or perhaps that he wasn't keen on those opposed to what he had to say having time to dwell on his words.



"It is thus, acting in the knowledge that all the necessary steps have been taken and with every other avenue exhausted, that the German republic must be brought to an end for the good of the nation. To emerge from the current crisis as a stronger community, naturally grown in harmony with itself and the world around it, it is essential that we act to rebuild the state that Bismarck founded. The twelve years of the republican experiment are at an end but the German people, whom God has never deserted, will endure, and thrive.

Henceforth, the preparations for the reconstitution of the German Empire will now begin in earnest, the path that I and the Chancellor have undertaken is drastic but it is also necessary. Throught my long life it has been an honour to serve my country to the best of my abilities but though my time as President is almost at an end, I will spend my last days ensuring that the future basis of our society is one of strength and harmony. I can only beg you to think in this sense and, when the hour strikes, also to act."


The news that the time for decisive action had come would not be lost on the German people who now saw the Reichswehr deployed on their streets, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Blackshirts of the Volkisch Bund and the Stahlhelm of the DNVP. For those who had a history of leftist activities it would soon turn out that these deployments were more than mere intimidation tactics but even for many not of that persuasion it seemed that something was going awry even before Hindenburg had stopped speaking.


Nevertheless, and like it or not, the Third Reich had arrived.


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The photomontage is The Executioner and Justice by John Heartfield