Der Kampf: The Rise and Fall of the Austrian Führer
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I'd have to agree with @Help. Especially since the Serbs may be blamed by him for being a main cause of thw downfall of Austria-Hungary
DK!Hitler: "Serbs? What's that? We don't have that here. Not anymore."
I wonder how many Serbs will be dead when this all ends, considering how brutal Hitler would be towards them.
Jews and Serbs will most likely be the main targets of this holocaust, with Romanians also being targeted, for their perceived "backstabbing".
@everyone
Hey, y'all, I'm currently working on the next chapter and it is the end of the Great War for A-H. Before I started this story I thought I may only do 5-7 Chapters until I get to Interwar but here we are almost 20 Chapters in and only on 1918. So I'm wrapping up and moving on to Interwar which I feel will be more exciting as at this point all the main PoV characters (Hitler, Lutjens, Fyodor, Kuhr, Horvath and Simon) are mere bystanders. Some will remain bystanders while others will be major players whose decisions affect Europe/the world
Interwar is when we start to see butterflies, some small while others will have significant repercussions down the road. I have some really cool stuff planned that will set up the world for this TL's 1930s and 1940s. Some of the ideas may seem outlandish and ASB but my focus is telling an interesting story over 100% realism though I am aiming for realistic.
Hitler will absolutely despise the Old Guard though there will be exceptions such as Olbrecht and other such officers, but many of the old aristocracy who did not fight in the war directly (like the frontlines) will be seen as incompetent, out-of-touch and archaic. That'll be a sticking point between Hitler and the National Liberal Front, who though be "liberal" (nationalist liberal) will have many former noblemen in it and be pro-monarchy which Hitler sees as a wish to return to failed ways.
Because of how different Germany and A-H performed in this world, this will cause Der Kampf Hitler to be more anti-establishment/anti-aristocracy since A-H leaders were commonly noblemen and they bungled their way through the war. Germany at least had many major successes in the field while A-H has been relegated to a sidekick to Germany and has been far less successfully militarily than its northern German brother.
When Hitler comes to power the military is going to be purged in the same vein as the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair a couple of years after he secures power. Early forced retirements, reassignment etc. Alfred Jansa, who will be Chief of Staff (most likely) by the time Hitler purges the military. Does anyone know was Jansa's predecessor? I am using two lists of officers from the 1930s (http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/bund38.htm and https://www.axishistory.com/list-al...ustrian-generals-at-the-time-of-the-anschluss) but cannot seem to find a clear answer to who the Chief of Staff was pre-1936.
Hitler's view of Jews will be the same as OTL. He views them all as a threat. He won't pick and choose (though I know some Germans OTL were half-Jewish and served loyally to the Nazis, like Maurice and Milch). There will be exceptions I'm sure but his view of them isn't overly different. He views Slavs more favorably than OTL. He doesn't really have issues with Russians as a race but rather that they adopted the "vile Judeo-Bolshevism" which damns them in his eyes ideologically.
Romanians will have... a tough time to say the least when WW2 arrives while the Serbs will be persecuted and oppressed severely. Remember Yugoslavia in TTL is the Poland equivalent, which will have the Serbian Occupation Zone (General-Government analogue) and most of the Holocaust will take place in former Yugoslavia.
As for most of the Axis Powers being Catholic, well that happens to be simply chance. Austria (and its annexed/occupied territories will be heavily Catholic, and will be a feature of Austrofascism. Perhaps this will warn people of the dangers of State and Religion banding together. Many of of Austria's allies, especially in the mid part of the war will be Eastern Orthodox Christian, good example is the Ukrainian National Republic led by (placeholder) Stepan Bandera.
A reason why another chapter hasn't been finished and uploaded just yet is because I've been worldbuilding a Star Wars Universe from within the Der Kampf ATL so things are... quite different. I'll post the title crawl of this alt-Star Wars after the next chapter. Just something that has grabbed my attention and I couldn't shake it off without writing about it.
Great discussions everyone! Love it!
Hey, y'all, I'm currently working on the next chapter and it is the end of the Great War for A-H. Before I started this story I thought I may only do 5-7 Chapters until I get to Interwar but here we are almost 20 Chapters in and only on 1918. So I'm wrapping up and moving on to Interwar which I feel will be more exciting as at this point all the main PoV characters (Hitler, Lutjens, Fyodor, Kuhr, Horvath and Simon) are mere bystanders. Some will remain bystanders while others will be major players whose decisions affect Europe/the world
Interwar is when we start to see butterflies, some small while others will have significant repercussions down the road. I have some really cool stuff planned that will set up the world for this TL's 1930s and 1940s. Some of the ideas may seem outlandish and ASB but my focus is telling an interesting story over 100% realism though I am aiming for realistic.
Hitler will absolutely despise the Old Guard though there will be exceptions such as Olbrecht and other such officers, but many of the old aristocracy who did not fight in the war directly (like the frontlines) will be seen as incompetent, out-of-touch and archaic. That'll be a sticking point between Hitler and the National Liberal Front, who though be "liberal" (nationalist liberal) will have many former noblemen in it and be pro-monarchy which Hitler sees as a wish to return to failed ways.
Because of how different Germany and A-H performed in this world, this will cause Der Kampf Hitler to be more anti-establishment/anti-aristocracy since A-H leaders were commonly noblemen and they bungled their way through the war. Germany at least had many major successes in the field while A-H has been relegated to a sidekick to Germany and has been far less successfully militarily than its northern German brother.
When Hitler comes to power the military is going to be purged in the same vein as the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair a couple of years after he secures power. Early forced retirements, reassignment etc. Alfred Jansa, who will be Chief of Staff (most likely) by the time Hitler purges the military. Does anyone know was Jansa's predecessor? I am using two lists of officers from the 1930s (http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/bund38.htm and https://www.axishistory.com/list-al...ustrian-generals-at-the-time-of-the-anschluss) but cannot seem to find a clear answer to who the Chief of Staff was pre-1936.
Hitler's view of Jews will be the same as OTL. He views them all as a threat. He won't pick and choose (though I know some Germans OTL were half-Jewish and served loyally to the Nazis, like Maurice and Milch). There will be exceptions I'm sure but his view of them isn't overly different. He views Slavs more favorably than OTL. He doesn't really have issues with Russians as a race but rather that they adopted the "vile Judeo-Bolshevism" which damns them in his eyes ideologically.
Romanians will have... a tough time to say the least when WW2 arrives while the Serbs will be persecuted and oppressed severely. Remember Yugoslavia in TTL is the Poland equivalent, which will have the Serbian Occupation Zone (General-Government analogue) and most of the Holocaust will take place in former Yugoslavia.
As for most of the Axis Powers being Catholic, well that happens to be simply chance. Austria (and its annexed/occupied territories will be heavily Catholic, and will be a feature of Austrofascism. Perhaps this will warn people of the dangers of State and Religion banding together. Many of of Austria's allies, especially in the mid part of the war will be Eastern Orthodox Christian, good example is the Ukrainian National Republic led by (placeholder) Stepan Bandera.
A reason why another chapter hasn't been finished and uploaded just yet is because I've been worldbuilding a Star Wars Universe from within the Der Kampf ATL so things are... quite different. I'll post the title crawl of this alt-Star Wars after the next chapter. Just something that has grabbed my attention and I couldn't shake it off without writing about it.
Great discussions everyone! Love it!
There will be a puppet Croatia but the Ustashe will not be prominent like OTL. It will have a saner and more effective government which will stabilize the region a bit more so Austria doesn't have to waste so many troops on garrison duty.
So, something like these guys would be running Croatia:
Croatian Peasant Party - Wikipedia
Take your time! It's about making the ideas and circumstances seem plausible and that it flows well. Least that has been my experience.
And I figured it was by chance, but I imagine it may drawn in the Falangists in some form and fashion. Additionally, this would have global implications and likely massively damage the standing of the Catholic Church, especially outside of Europe. I have some ideas for that. Meanwhile, poor Romania, though I imagine that they will be able to endure.
And now worries and take your time there. Will be interested to see how all of this will develop! Also, I imagine one consequence will be noting how "catholic" style churches (because technically, the Eastern Orthodoxy also considers itself Catholic) fall to fascism. Another potential keyspot would be the Middle East give the Muslim Bosnians.
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
The End Heralds the Beginning
Western Ukraine
Ukrainian People’s Republic
November 1918
The End Heralds the Beginning
Western Ukraine
Ukrainian People’s Republic
November 1918
Adolf Hitler downed another shot of slivovitz, the plum brandy burning his throat on its way to the stomach where it exploded in temporary warmth. It was his fifth such shot of the night… or was it the sixth? Hitler was not a happy man, more so than usual, fuming as more and more terrible news reached brigade headquarters, stoking the simmering coals of anger inside him. Everything was falling apart. After weeks of receiving reports of killing blow after killing blow laid against Austro-Hungary the deathblow had finally come. It was finally happening. After decades of mismanagement and four years in the greatest war the world had seen it was at long last coming to pass.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was collapsing.
Yet it was not by external enemies dismantling it at the negotiations table after a secured victory, but by internal factors seeking national self-determination. Nonsense the lot of it. Poison spread by the American President Woodrow Wilson.
Those people who yearned to be separate from Austria wouldn’t know what to do with independence. They would squander it or leave themselves vulnerable to foreign influence or the malignant Judeo-Bolshevism.
Their cowardice and selfishness had destroyed the Empire, had crippled Austria in its greatest time of need. They were traitors and backstabbers who should be rounded up and shot.
Hungary had been the first to break away following the anti-imperial Aster Revolution. It’s new Prime Minister, Mihály Károlyi, had severed Hapsburg rule over Hungary that had existed for centuries.
It was the first, but not the last, dismemberment of the once-great Empire.
The Czechs and the Slovaks followed next, creating the secessionist Czechoslovakia state. The next day on the 29th of October the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs declared independence. Then came the declaration of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic on November 1st. All that remained of the Empire were German-speaking Danubian and Alpine provinces, the last bastions of loyalty and duty.
There was a sort of cathartic finality to it all, the frail giant of the Balkans gasping its last breaths as it died, but it was a bitter finality. Some treasonously muttered it as an inevitability, which smacked of defeatism to the Landswehr First Sergeant, but it could have all been avoided if the General Staff had not wasted so many years on fruitless campaigns where the veteran and elite military units were wasted away until it became a war of attrition, and though Hitler was an ardent Austrian patriot, a far cry from his youth that still surprised him, he knew Austria could never win a war of attrition against so many enemies. A short victorious war would have solved the Empire’s woes by securing Austrian dominance not only over the Balkans and Russia but also over its multi-ethnic populace, reminding them of Austrian power and prestige and why it was those of German blood who should forever rule Europe. But alas the Great War had not been short nor had it been victorious and now Austro-Hungary was all but dead, dissected by its own people.
He blamed many for how things developed, how the fortunes of the Empire soured. Notably those highborn generals who had not seen the blood and toil that the common soldier experienced in this war, the good men of Austrian German blood who fought for race and nation and not simply to retain privileges or what they demanded was their birthright, were only part of the problem, a lesser of the evils that plagued Austria.
The greater issue, the greater threat, were the insidious sub-humans within the Empire’s ranks. The Serbs had started the war with their cowardly murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and they had proven to be a sharp thorn in the Empire’s underbelly during the crucial years of 1914 and 1915, costing Austro-Hungary thousands of precious manpower who died there that could have been elsewhere.
The Romanians were ill-better, those backstabbers who spat on their word and commitments, switching sides like the opportunistic traitors they were. Hitler’s anger started to go from a simmer to a raging fire. If they were the thorn, then it was the Jews who were the parasite, sapping the strength and triumphant will of the Austrian people while getting rich off the war as the common law-abiding citizens starved and suffered. He could see it now, the Rothschilds counting their money in their banks and mansions, smoking cigars and drinking expensive champagne as Austrian men and women hungered and shivered in the cold streets.
It was outrageous!
“Adi,” came the slurred voice of Olbrecht. Hitler’s vision, which had been red and black with fury, faded to reveal his commanding officer sitting across from him in Olbrecht’s office. Olbrecht eyed him warily, the lieutenant colonel lounging in his chair, his feet on the wooden table. The commander’s boots had mud on them, falling onto the desk but Olbrecht didn’t seem to care.
It was then Hitler noticed his hand on the table, the bottom white and quickly turning red from slamming it down so hard. He blinked in surprise at that. He hadn’t even realized he had done that. Shaking his head, he poured another shot into the glass and downed it in two gulps.
“I know you don’t drink a lot but you’re going to have to pace yourself if you want to walk to your quarters later. Otherwise you'll blackout on the way. The floor is not as comfortable, especially when you wake up in the morning with a pounding headache.” Olbrecht’s words were meant to be helpful and playfully chiding but the humor in them bounced off the armor of Hitler’s fury.
“We were so close,” he muttered, wiping his moustache of some liquor that lingered there. “So close to outlasting our enemies. The Empire would have survived-”
“I doubt it would have survived, Adi," the lieutenant colonel interrupted, "We already had issues before the war. The past four years just merely exacerbated matters.”
“We would have won if not for the traitors, backstabbers and parasites. We would have triumphed over them all!”
“Hmm?” Olbrecht, who was more somber, lifted an eyebrow quizzically. Hitler should have stopped there but the alcohol had gone to his head. And he found himself not caring what he said, not watching what slipped past his loosened lips.
“It is their fault! The damn aristocrats who have done nothing but lift their pinky at us, who never sacrificed like us, who sat comfortably far behind the battlefields in their gilded halls and palaces. While we have starved fighting for our nation they have feasted off its corpse. Executing them would be a kindness, far better than they deserve. You are an exception, Franz, a good man, a dependable patriot. I won’t hold your birth against you. And Romanians and Serbs… they will be dealt with one way or another. But the Jews… the architects of all the suffering the world has suffered, the manipulators that created this war. The Jews and their Communist puppets! The world would be better if they never existed, they are a canker within Mankind. They shall pay, they shall all pay!” he slammed both fists down, head swimming as he did so.
Hitler stopped, belatedly realizing that he wasn’t talking to Lutjens or another sympathetic NCO or trooper but his commanding officer, a member of the aristocracy he had just said should be shot. Gulping, he had even used Olbrecht’s first name, an act of familiarity he had never done before.
Curse the damn alcohol loosening his tongue like that. If he survived, he swore never to drink so much again.
Olbrecht stared icily at him before looking out over the room outside his office. It was quiet, no one was there. After learning of the disastrous conclusion to the Battle of Vittorio Veneto and the subsequent armistice being declared between Austro-Hungary and the Entente, Olbrecht had dismissed his staff. Many were getting drunk in their quarters or in the bars in the nearby city, many of whom would likely visit the brothels afterwards.
“I appreciate that you wouldn’t want me shot,” Olbrecht said. “I don’t disagree with you, Adi, but you need to keep that damn mouth of yours shut. If someone else had heard you and it was reported to anyone a higher rank than myself than it would have been you shot for treason.” Olbrecht leaned over and took Hitler’s glass and bottle away. “No more of that now.”
Hitler leaned back in the chair, face flushed with emotion and drink.
“You can rail against what has happened, Adi, but that doesn’t change the fact that they happened. We lost, the Empire is finished.” Olbrecht sipped his own glass of slivovitz. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens now.”
“Perhaps,” Hitler said. “The war was difficult but I expect the peace to be harder. There’s no telling what kind of retribution the Entente will pursue.” Hitler nodded to himself. “Once we see where the pieces lay then we can assess the situation. The Empire is dead, but… it might be the beginning of something else. Austria will need men like us, men of fortitude and sense of duty to rebuild it.”
“You want to be a deputy? A minister of the Kaiser even?” Judging by Olbrecht's tone, he wasn't serious but it stirred something inside Hitler.
He didn’t know if it was the drunkenness or some ambition he never realized he had, awoken by the defeat laid against Austria, but Hitler didn’t want to be someone’s mouthpiece or lackey. Those were stepping stones to greater power but not what he desired. Austria needed strong men to lead it, men like him. He aspired for more.
Not not more.
All of it.
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Star Wars in the Der Kampf Universe
Star Wars
Star Wars
It is a time of great conflict. The galaxy has been rife with chaos and hardship since the end of the devastating Imperial Civil War. Thousands of worlds devastated and billions dead from that fratricidal war. The SOHLARI EMPIRE, the largest and most powerful star nation in the galaxy, is attempting to rebuild from the Civil War but threats abound, both from within and without. The young PRINCESS MARA JADE is ever wary of assassination and usurpation as she attempts to aid her ailing father in preserving their hold on the Sun Throne.
Meanwhile the JEDI ORDER, the legendary mystic FORCE-wielding guardians of the galaxy, are still recovering from the Civil War that so greatly depleted their numbers. Their premonitions, long used to guide the galaxy towards peace and stability, are clouded by the DARK SIDE of the Force, leaving the Jedi uneasy.
As the frail Empire stumbles towards anarchy, the leader of the GALACTIC CONFEDERATION, the insidious Premier Bael Organa, has readied his forces for a killing blow to decapitate the Empire in the ambition of sitting on its Throne and rule the galaxy with an iron fist. Though his armies and fleets are smaller, Organa has two weapons at his disposal to make the galaxy tremble in fear: the newly built STAR DESTROYER battle-station and the infamous Force-sensitive warrior DARTH VADER who has killed many Jedi over the years.
Yet while assassins roam the Imperial Palace of Had Abbadon and Bael Organa plans his war of conquest on his homeworld of Alderaan, it would be on the Junk World Lotho Minor that a single scavenger would change the fate of the galaxy.
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This is just something I've been tinkering with a side project adjacent to Der Kampf. It won't overtake it, but it allows me to write Star Wars fanfic in a universe very different from canon. If I ever write anything in this Star Wars AU I'll post in the SW Miscellaneous Thread and here as well outside of the Chapter.
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I assume the Sohlari Empire is based on a mix of Britain and Germany while the Confederation is Hitler's Austria IN SPACE?
Oh, boy.
In years to come, Olbrecht is going to look back at this conversation and kick himself.
And so it does. And the world will shudder.
Mainly on the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russian Empire. It is very decentralized, long past its prime, plagued by issues. There's Mega Corps like canon, but instead of a Clone Wars it was a Civil War for the Throne. The Jedi, who predate the Empire, are almost like a neutral bystander who is granted a lot of freedom from Imperial authority. As long as they do not challenge the Throne or even the Great Houses then they are given a lot of autonomy and non-interference. And the Jedi are a spent force, less than a thousand who are not only trying to prevent the impeding Galactic War, but also dealing with dark Side forces, specifically Sith.
And yes the Confederation is the Sozinat equivalent.
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Gott, Vaterland, und Kaiser have failed. May the world know fear as the Iron Reich rises from hell.
Couldn't help myself.
So now that the wars over, we'll get to see the state of postwar Austria and just how Hitler will begin his political career.
Considering the more catholic nature of the Axis ittl, what do you plan to do about the Pope?
