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Robert Oaks basked in the Virginia sun and tried not to contemplate what the future had in store for him. Though he wished he could sit and relax under a familiar sky for longer he was already in motion, his train carrying him from Norfolk to Washington D.C.



To be back home in his native Virginia should have been a welcome relief but his arrival in his home state was marked with orders to come to the nation’s capital as quickly as possible. Part of him wondered if he was being called over for a debriefing of sorts in the aftermath of the civil war but given he had spent much of that time complaining about being in the dark that seemed unlikely. The only reason he could think of made him dread his impending visit to the State, War, and Navy building. He feared the story of his encounter with General Von Schleicher had made it back to Washington somehow. He had gone to great lengths not to mention the incident to anyone, claiming he had been calm and neutral throughout the meeting, but he now wondered if someone within the Reichstag had spread the story of an American diplomat dressing down the then-current Chancellor? He had remembered how many individuals in the Reichstag had seemed keen to see him, could one of them have been listening in? Could Schleicher, with everything else on his mind, really have decided to make a complaint about him of all people? It was hard to know what might go on in a desperate man’s mind and although Robert was worried about losing his job he at least wasn’t being tried for treason like the former Chancellor.

Germany seemed to be free of his ilk momentarily and stability had asserted itself once more, also momentarily. Robert felt he had been in Germany for enough time to realise nothing stayed the same for very long. He had gone to Berlin when hyperinflation had made the German currency worthless and the country’s most important industrial region was under foreign occupation. It was a worse crisis than even their defeat in the war and he had been sure things couldn’t even have ever gotten worse than that but then, after five years of relative peace and prosperity, economic disaster had struck again, this time followed by civil war. It had ended with democracy seemingly safe and a government more stable than those who preceded it. But he was wary that this might be temporary as well. The United Front talked a good game but so had Schleicher before them and many others previously. Said government was also too left-wing for American interests to be truly at ease.

Robert had been glad to return home even with his career facing an uncertain future, but it was only upon arrival in Norfolk that he realised the extent to which this depression was global. He had of course heard about things being bad at home but Norfolk was a port city and unlike Hamburg it hadn’t recently been the scene of a major battle. He would have presumed the ports would be doing a little better than elsewhere in the country but in some ways it seemed more desperate than the port he had departed from; the people of Hamburg had been busy at work establishing solutions to the damage of the battle to make sure their port could be made usable again as quickly as possible, even whilst longer term reconstruction was being carried out around it. Many of the people had been weary, their faces bearing heavy expressions at the events they had witnessed but there had been a spirit of defiance, even optimism, as he had had quoted to him several times what President Zeigner had said about the production and export targets for the end of the year and what they would mean for the standard of living. It didn't seem to matter whether it was a cab driver, a fellow passenger or even the waiter bringing him his last beer for what might be a while. They were confident and they didn’t seem to care about admitting it.

The mood in Norfolk was jarringly different. Though the city had initially weathered the depression fairly well thanks to its relevance as a strategic port that didn't last. Unemployment was now rising rapidly and the lack of federal welfare provision had left the state budget unable to cope. The result was the same contempt for the federal government that was becoming widespread across the nation. Whilst Robert had been waiting at the train station he had seen a man on a soapbox declaring that President Hoover was doing nothing whilst people starved before he began to speak eagerly about the coming workers revolution that had already succeeded in Germany and Russia. For a moment Robert had wondered if he was still in Germany but no-one else seemed to blink. That site, it seemed, had now became common on American streets too, alongside men waiting for hours outside dockyards to see if they could get a day's work, whilst others waited for soup kitchens to open in streets filled with litter. The trash cans were scraped clean.

Travelling from Norfolk to Washington he could admire the beauty of the Virginian countryside but arriving in the capital it had become clear things were even worse here. The giant white buildings and monuments still provided a certain grandeur to the city but that only provided a greater contrast to the squalor in the streets and the tent cities in the parks. Upon leaving Union Station he had to avoid people begging on the streets whilst waiting for a cab. He had lit a German cigarette whilst in the queue and when he was finally at the front he had had a man in a smart but worn suit ask him if he could have the rest of it.

The cab ride to the State, War, and Navy Building was speedy, it seemed there were less cars on the road than there had been the last time he was in Washington. The cab driver spoke briefly about the state of the city but seemed to be holding his own thoughts back, wary of the fact he was likely to be driving a government employee around who might not give him a tip if he went too far in his criticisms. Robert thought about putting the man at ease by pointing out that if he was so important he wouldn’t have to take a cab but settled on giving the man a dollar and refusing to take any change before stepping out to the elaborate headquarters that made up the offices of his employers.

His journey to the offices of the Secretary of State brought the anxieties of the state of the nation back to his own precarious employment situation. When he had first thought that might be being sent back to be fired he had taken some comfort in the fact that if the worst came to the worse he could always go back to work at Bluefield college but was that really going to be an option when other seemingly respectable men were asking for half-smoked cigarettes on the street? He didn’t exactly have many friends stateside having been in Germany for so long and his small family had few connections outside of the Tidewater community. Would he end up having to go back to Germany to get a job?

The thought made him shudder as he arrived outside the office of the Secretary of State himself, Henry Stimson. Less than two years ago Stimson had been the one to break the news to him that the stock market had crashed he had sounded sorrowful back then and now Robert feared he would see another, angrier side to the man. Instead Stimson greeted him with his more natural cheerfulness that suited his youthful vigour.

“Oaks! It’s a pleasure to see you again!” The Secretary boomed in his deep but somewhat formal voice.

“The pleasure’s all mine Mr Secretary, it’s good to have a chance to come home at last.”
Robert’s reply was somewhat awkward, he still wasn’t sure why he was here.

“Well I wanted to thank you for all your insights into the German situation over these years, both to myself and my predecessors and thought it would be best to do it personally than over that radiophone contraption. I realise the last year was a time for great stress in Germany and it must have felt at times like you and the rest of the Ambassador’s staff were being left in the lurch.”

“Not at all Mr Secretary, our marines were by far the scariest sight I saw throughout the entire business.” Robert’s current bravado belied his experiences of anxiety every time a collection of Blackshirt thugs had marched past the embassy but he didn’t want to put a dampener on the fact that Stimson seemed genuinely happy to see him.

“Well at any rate I thought you might be able to spend some time over here with us in regards to this business of economic union between Austria and Germany. The President is trying to see if there’s a way of getting a final reparations settlement attached to it as well. It would be good to have your insights on that.”

“I did play a minor role in what became the Dawes Plan Mr Secretary so I might be of some assistance there.”

“Well then your advice should be valuable. After that I’m sure you’re ready for some days of vacation then-”

Robert’s eyes lit up at the mention of a proper holiday before the door opened behind him revealing a man of similar age to Robert with dark, curly hair and a tanned face that didn’t seem to match his New York accent.

“Sorry to interrupt sir but your secretary said to just come right in.”

“Not at all Mr Griffin, that’s what I asked her to say, have a seat”

The man took a seat next to Robert and nodded to him.

“Mr Griffin let me introduce you to Professor Robert Oaks, he’s been one of our top men in Berlin for some years now. Professor Oaks this is Benjamin Griffin who has been carrying out some excellent work for the State Department in Shanghai.”

“Call me Ben. I’m sure you have some stories.” Ben said, shaking Robert's hand.

“Likewise!” Robert replied trying to keep a smile on his face.


Shanghai?


“We were hoping to post you over in Nanking for a spell. Things may be somewhat more stable over there than they have been in Germany from what they tell me but perhaps not by a lot. Although to be honest I don’t understand half of it.” Stimson shrugged.

“No-one does Mr Secretary but we do our best .” Ben replied.

“Well at any rate you’ve always had a knack for getting a handle on developing situations and we’re hoping you could do the same for us in Nanking. Mr Griffin is needed in Shanghai but I’m sure he can get you up to date before then.”

“Of course Mr Secretary. I must admit I don’t know much about China myself but then again I didn’t know much about Germany before I went over there either.” Stimson seemed happy with that.

“We do need you here to help with this business around the World Court. The Austrians and Germans are going ahead with their economic union it seems but we need to make sure they’re keeping to the spirit of the court’s decision. All the same, we can hopefully have you over there by September.”


“It’s not a quiet life but it’s a quieter one than Berlin at any rate,” Ben added. He and Stimson began to laugh and Robert, filled with relief, laughed a bit harder than he probably should have.



“I’m sure it is!”



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The painting is Death on the Ridge Road by Grant Wood