I have a very bad feeling for future Germany. If the German Workers Republic doesn't win the ITTL Second World War, i doubt that the victorious allied nations are going to restore a democratic Germany, especially with the presence of a german prince/monarch with anticommunist credential and the backing of fascist Italy.
"Our Struggle": What If Hitler Had Been a Communist?
- Thread starter The Red
- Start date
Nice point of view, that of the Crown Prince! Pleasantly balanced, between some lucid self-recrimination and certain entitled arrogance. "I may have made mistakes, but mainly it's the fault of others."
I've got the feeling that Mussolini will see his patience sorely tested, with the enthusiastic and constant suggestions of his number one fanboy. "Can't I ship him to America or something?"
And it seems that, even without the advantages of an omniscient narrator, some of the characters are already realizing that there may have been some kind of forgery in the supposed connection of the SDP to the Communists (thank you Gerda). That kind of knowledge could make even bigger cracks in the United Front...
I've got the feeling that Mussolini will see his patience sorely tested, with the enthusiastic and constant suggestions of his number one fanboy. "Can't I ship him to America or something?"
And it seems that, even without the advantages of an omniscient narrator, some of the characters are already realizing that there may have been some kind of forgery in the supposed connection of the SDP to the Communists (thank you Gerda). That kind of knowledge could make even bigger cracks in the United Front...
Thanks! Yeah I think he's doubling down a bit on the German Ideology here purely because in the short term he's having to take a step back from it. Of course there is always the chance that this is actually a bigger opportunity than Munzenberg is trying to frame it as.
Very interesting analysis from both of your here. I had the mirror scene in my head as more representing Gerda's shift from a cautiously optimistic left-communist to more of a...German Ideologue but your interpretations work quite well on their own. Whether that's Gerda's change representing Germany as a whole or such changes representing something which has to be put up with momentarily but can eventually be washed away.
lol.
I think Gerda's letter was used, more than it was actually believed.
Chapter LXXXIX
The central square of the Workers' City has become a stage in the theatre of the revolution.
The first beats of the Marseillaise.
Not only the music is imbued with the character of a citation.
~ Transcription of Metropolis, Enno Patalas
The first beats of the Marseillaise.
Not only the music is imbued with the character of a citation.
~ Transcription of Metropolis, Enno Patalas
On December 14th, 1930 the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke M 18 airliner landed safely outside of Milan. For its royal passenger it cemented a return to exile. After years of conspiracy and subterfuge he had ultimately swapped the Netherlands for Italy. Lamentable as the actions of the Crown Prince might have been, his decision to flee rather than fight to the death in Berlin effectively brought the German Civil War to an end.
The Blackshirt forces which had been summoned to Berlin for his own desperate coup attempt had already begun to filter out of the city at the appearance of a significant Reichswehr force to oppose them. Those who stayed were mainly kept in order by Generalmajor Otto Weager who officially ended the battle for the city by surrendering to the man now technically his superior once more, General Hans von Seeckt.
There remained pockets of Blackshirts who opted to continue the struggle despite the news their Kaiser had fled. Whether driven by desperation or fanaticism they would continue to cause havoc for a fortnight, most notably in the Prussian concession of Hesse around Hohenzollern castle where the Blackshirts who had been unable to reach Berlin due to being cut off by the United Front had made a last stand.
By the time the German people welcomed in the new year of 1931, with relief in most quarters, the remaining Blackshirt bands had become less of an issue to the maintenance of the truce between the United Front and Noske’s so-called transitional authority than the continuing low level skirmishes between People’s Guard and Reicshwehr forces. However the effective dissolution of the Blackshirts and the Stahlhelm meant that the time had come for the Reichswehr to confine itself to barracks under the supposedly watchful eye of the League of Nations.
Soldiers of the so-called Black Reichswehr, their widespread existence now confirmed, were a particularly uncomfortable issue to be dealt with. The alarm of the international community that Germany had built up such a large army under their noses provoked calls from within France for the military to once again occupy the Rhineland but this was eventually dismissed out of feat of jeopardising international disarmament talks, not to mention destabilise the already volatile situation within Germany. In lieu of a better option, the Black Reichswehr was disarmed and sent home.
This left the United Front and Bavaria. The former had their right to remain at arms but on the condition of inactivity and thus had to endure the majority of League of Nations attention for the remaining period of the truce. The force of half a million men dwindled to a quarter of that by the time of the February elections, both through a willingness to show good faith and impatience with sitting at checkpoints without word from families, alongside the belief that the worst was over.
In the case of Bavaria the Crown Prince eventually relented to a temporary acknowledgement of continued partnership within Germany. Although he insisted the fight for Bavarian freedom would be taken to the ballot as he had always wanted the fact that most of those forces loyal to him where paramilitaries formerly belonging to the Reichswehr who needed to be returned to barracks forced his hand. Like Noske and Von Seeckt however, he proceeded with the determination to carry on his fight on the electoral battleground.
The German people were left shaken. The Civil War had been more protracted than the revolution of 1918 and even more violent. Tens of thousands had died in the battles between the People’s Guard and Reichswehr, an unknown number had suffered from the various measures undertaken to try to snuff out the lightning revolt that had coursed through North-West Germany and Saxony from spreading throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands had been displaced, returning to find homes reduced to rubble or packed with refugees who had suffered from such circumstances. Hunger was dangerously close to overwhelming charitable and state provisions, much as it had done in 1918. Expectation that the rentenmark would soon be as worthless as its predecessor led many to return to the old systems of barter they had developed during the occupation of the Ruhr.
And yet in the midst of this trauma there was not necessarily a lack of determination to resolve the conflict in the elections the truce provided for. There were those who continued to genuinely believe in the ideals the republic had been founded upon and, whether or not they were best represented in the United Front, had proven themselves in this trial by fire. They were sometimes joined and sometimes opposed by those who felt the work of the 1918 revolution had never been properly completed and that now was the opportunity to make good on those ideals. There were conversely those who felt that for all of their controversial means, the Volkisch Bund had exposed a Communist conspiracy within the very nature of the republic and that the Third Reich remained a future prospect ready to be gained.
For causes abandoned or concealed the Weimar Republic went on, momentarily safe, into the unprecedented state and national elections to determine its future.
They would be the last the republic ever held.
~ Kriegsphilosophie: Totalitarismus und Demokratie in der Deutschen Arbeiterrepublik, Annett Gerhardt
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Controversial though he was, the Chancellorship of Gustav Noske was necessarily reactive to the events building up to the elections with which he had secured an end to the Civil War.
One could easily have made the case that the far more immediate problems following the destruction of the conflict should have been more pressing and many did indeed attempt to broach a further delay but Noske had assured the legitimacy of his government on the guarantee of its short lifespan and even he directed much of his efforts during those weeks in power to organising the means with which he would undercut the United Front rather than devoting himself to national salvation. Then again, both these concepts might have been one and the same in his mind. Not to mention the mind of Hans von Seeckt
It was to this end Noske announced the formation of his new German Socialist Party in early February with the elections scheduled nearer the end of the month. Following on from his failure to tear the Social Democrats away from an electoral alliance with the Communists he opted to form a movement based on support for his transitional authority and to take on individuals from the right of the party wary of the continued necessity of the United Front following the defeat of the Third Reich. These centre-left and centrist elements formed an alliance with the centre-right German People’s Party in the so-called ‘Fatherland Front’. patriotic alternative to the ideological partiality of the United Front, the Fatherland Front was Noske’s proposed means of reconciliation and reconstruction.
The Centre Party ruled out joining the Fatherland Front but agreed to a working arrangement. Wilhelm Marx, former Chancellor and Presidential candidate, agreed to run for the Presidency again with the support of all three parties. Marx had lost a tight race against Hindenburg in 1925, a defeat many blamed on the Communists for refusing to allow a two-way race between the two. Many envisioned that had Marx been President the Civil War would never have happened and as such he was the perfect candidate to now ‘correct’ those mistakes.
The mistakes refused to be silent however. Out of the ashes of the German National People’s Party and the Volkisch Bund came the German Volkisch Freedom Party, an amalgamation of the more respectable, less incarcerated elements of both parties now vying to carve out their own place in the decisions over Germany’s future. They wore suits rather than uniforms and their new leader Carl Goerdeler, the former mayor of Leipzig, emphasised freedom and righteousness over older concepts of ‘truth’ and ‘strength’. Goerdeler had the profile of a national politician without the culpability of his former contemporaries in the DNVP, his city having been a battleground for most of the civil war he had largely sat out the conflict.
In an attempt to emphasise their continuity with better elements of Germany’s past, Goerdeler asked Hindenburg to stand once again for the Presidency with their backing. Hindenburg refused, citing his age and bad experiences with Von Schleicher souring him on any potential he had left for securing Germany’s future. Their attempts to convince August von Mackensen, another former Field Marshal from the First World War, to run were met with similar rejections on the basis of age and the way Hindenburg had been treated. Erich Ludendorff’s humiliating result as the Volkisch Bund candidate in the previous
Presidential election had left little appetite for another run on either side.
Goerdeler contemplated running himself but ultimately embarked on a different strategy. Hermann Rauschning, a reactionary scholar largely unknown outside of the intellectual circles belonging to the so-called Conservative Revolution, had written large parts of the party programme and now effectively stood in for the Crown Prince Wilhelm as Presidential candidate. Fearing prosecution if he returned to Germany the Crown Prince could not stand himself, nor did he even officially endorse Rauschning but in party propaganda the royal’s name and face were featured far more heavily than the actual candidate, leaving no mystery as to the party’s monarchist intentions.
The United Front also struggled over their choice of a Presidential candidate. Otto Braun, the Minister-President of Prussia prior to the Civil War and a previous candidate in the first round of the 1925 election was originally put forward but was countered by the Communists who insisted upon Adolf Hitler being the candidate. The Communists considered Braun too much of an establishment figure, having been close with Noske despite remaining loyal to the United Front. Hitler, who had only officially become a German citizen the previous year after the United Front had taken control of Hamburg and given him honorary citizenship of the city, was written off as too divisive by the Social Democrats.
Compromise candidates were sought after, most notably Paul Levi who was allegedly dismissed over fears his Jewish background would become a factor in the campaign. Finally it was agreed that Erich Zeigner, the charismatic former Minister-President of Saxony who had been ahead of his time in exposing the Black Reichswehr and trying to build a united left in Saxony in the early twenties only to run afoul of an authoritarian Chancellor in the form of Gustav Stresemann. Zeigner was not a stranger to controversy but he was well liked by both Communist and Social Democratic figures and his dynamism in campaigns was considered an asset in the crucial race for the Presidency.
The only other major party to put forward a Presidential candidate was the Bavarian People’s Party, now overtly in favour of Bavarian independence. Crown Prince Rupprecht of the House of Wittelsbach campaigned exclusively in Bavaria stating that he did not wish to be President of Germany but to prove that he was the leader Bavaria wanted as a prelude for negotiations with Berlin over independence.
With at least three elections occurring in each part of Germany the electorate were bombarded with a vast number of issues, most of which ultimately grouped themselves in regards to conduct immediately before, during, and after the Civil War. The Fatherland Front emphasised their resistance to fascism and communism and the sacrifices they made in ensuring democracy survived and promised a future Germany in which prosperity and recovery would be guaranteed by the involvement of all democratic forces in a new government. The campaign was handled in a somewhat careful and sedate manner, similar to Marx’s presidential campaign and his personality. Zeigner threw himself into touring the areas of Germany controlled by the People’s Guard, travelling by rail and by plane with a speed that often outpaced his League of Nations observers. It was in regards to this he stated perhaps the most famous quote of the election:
“Comrades, the eyes of the world are upon us and I don’t give a shit!”
Zeigner’s campaign followed the message of the United Front as a whole, that the promises of 1918 must now be fully fulfilled if German democracy was to be truly safe in the future and if the workers of Germany were to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Radical proposals of national reconstruction promised a return to work on an unprecedented scale and standard of living previously unknown to most Germans. The German Volkisch Freedom Party also promised to eliminate unemployment although were somewhat more focused on a “German revival” of applied thinking and traditional values that would finally undo the liberal and Marxist forces that were the cause of all Germany’s shame over the previous twelve years. These themes were eerily familiar but they had an audience and beyond that Rauschning was a surprisingly captivating speaker, even when he joked of the absurdity of a committed monarchist becoming President. By the end of the campaign his name was being featured alongside that of the Prussian Crown Prince in party propaganda.
The election results at the state level were a mixed bag for all sides. The Volkisch Freedom party had tied up much of the right-wing vote but Noske’s Fatherland Front had absorbed the majority of the moderate voters throughout the country. The United Front dominated in areas that the People’s Guard had controlled at the end of the Civil War but often not by enough to ensure clear majorities. A similar story would develop at the Reichstag level.
The Communists and Social Democrats both saw gains in their vote share and in seats, their combined seats bringing them close to a majority in the Reichstag. This could be seen as representing the leftwards shift in the German people from their experiences in the civil war although the increase in vote share was not that significant compared to what the depression had already wrought. Nonetheless the situation left the United Front almost capable of having the votes to put forward their program. At least if they were able to form a government.
The question of which parties would be given the opportunity to do so would rely on the outcome of the Presidential election. Although Marx and Zeigner had been confident of a majority of the votes in the first round, removing the need for a second, both men found themselves effectively tied with Zeigner only enjoying a narrow plurality of the vote. Rauschning had exceeded expectations and enough people inside and even outside of Bavaria had voted for Crown Prince Rupprecht to further muddy the waters.
The second round of the Presidential election was scheduled to be held at the end of March. Noske had hoped that Marx would win with ease and now began to panic, the narrow victory Zeigner had won in the first round would be enough to ensure victory in the second, where the winner merely had to get the most votes. Entreaties were made to both Rauschning and Rupprecht to stand down in favour of Marx to avoid splitting the anti-Zeigner vote. Rauschning was initially keen to go on before Goerdeler agreed in exchange for consideration in regards to the legislative priorities of the new government. This was non-binding but for Goerdeler it felt like a victory to be built upon. Rauschning released a short statement endorsing Marx before moving to the free city of Danzig with his heightened profile to investigate political opportunities there. The Crown Prince was not so malleable however and demanded concrete assurances in regards to a referendum on Bavarian independence following a Marx victory. Marx and Noske dithered and the Crown Prince ran once more.
Zeigner threw himself into the second round campaign with a renewed energy backing him up from both the SPD and KPD leaderships and Marx now uncertain of victory tried to match him. The rhetoric turned ugly with Marx alleging that the United Front had deliberately burned down Hamburg amidst the Civil War, thus proving that they were unfit to govern and relentlessly brought up Zeigner’s disputed conviction over bribery in the twenties. Zeigner alleged that Rauschning stepping down in favour of Marx was proof that his opponent’s campaign was being run from beyond the Alps. At the same time Adolf Hitler became increasingly prevalent alongside Zeigner in the campaign and the anti-capitalist rhetoric was stepped up by the two in what were sometimes described as “organised shouting events.” Hitler seemed to become more radical whenever he was on stage with Zeigner, only for the candidate to then use a line apparently given to him by director and Communist propagandist Fritz Lang:
‘Who lubricates the machine joints with their own blood?’
And have the crowd angrily affirm that it was themselves. When Zeigner was officially reproached for this by League of Nations inspectors Lang took the blame, claiming it was from a first draft of one of his films that Zeigner had acquired a copy of. It was, however, a testimony to the nature of German democracy declining into accusation and bloodlust to the baying cheers of the hungry, unemployed, crowds.
The result of the second round was seen by many to be Weimar’s salvation nonetheless. And despite the tenure with which Marx and Zeigner had conducted themselves the eventual winner can perhaps be seen as doing his best only to be overcome by circumstances that they can be partially blamed for aiding and abetting.
~ Shaun Williams, Weimar's Rise and Fall
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The poster is 5 Fingers Has the Hand! With 5 You Seize The Enemy! by John Heartfield.
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goals
Also funny that the Catholic party is getting screwed over by the independence bid of the largest Catholic region in Germany
Well there would be also be an alternative government-in-exile for them to choose from if they deem it to be more palatable.
Thanks!
Yeah, it doesn't make much sense if one were to really think about it but if you already believe such a thing to be true or want it to be true it's an easier leap to make.
As another notable Marx once said, "I am not a Marxist."
They won't be for long...
Thanks for the catch!
On that ominous note, what are Hitler's (and his ideology's) views on religion?
We haven't had a scene in Austria in this book have we? Curious about what's been going on there.
Well, Bavaria and the Centre Party always had a rocky relationship. In general, the "Bavarian" identity was always something quite different from the "German Catholic" identity, at once more right-wing and less ultramontane in its orientation (I think it's summed up well by the old line that the English are the most Catholic Protestants and the Bavarians the most Protestant Catholics). It took a good long while for Bavarians to start voting for the Centre during the Kaiserreich, and after the First World War, once it looked like the Centre were actually going to be a party of government, internal tensions got so bad that the Bavarian branch of the party split off outright to form the Bavarian People's Party, which only sometimes supported the Centre in government (and generally more frequently in right-wing coalitions than in those that included the SPD). And indeed, in 1925 Bavaria voted for the Protestant Prussian conservative monarchist Paul von Hindenburg over the centre-right Rhenish Catholic Wilhelm Marx by a convincing margin.
For Hitler it's a matter or religious institutions being another power structure which keeps people like him down and punishes them if they get uppity. He'd be rid of organised religion altogether if it were possible. The DAR, and German Ideology more generally, is a bit more wary of spooking the horses, particularly initially. Things will develop on from there with something closer to the original vision of no organised religion whatsoever being the goal but there's realpolitik involved as well and, most importantly, workers to be won over before any radical steps can be taken.
You won't have long to wait mate, at least if I can keep up the current rate of posting. Until then the basics are the Creditanstalt collapse has happened earlier due to the Civil War in Germany, unleashing large scale economic destruction and distrust in the powers that be. This was just before the 1930 elections, the SPO did a bit better because of this and are now in charge with the tacit support of the KPO, who gained some seats themselves out of the economic disruption and the coattails of a certain Austrian Communist living abroad. It's not a proper Popular Front, the latter are still in the Comintern, but it's enough to guarantee a bit more stability than the knife edge result did IOTL.
Chapter XC
What has happened is that there are people who, for reasons best known to themselves, have voted for maintaining division in our country.
~ Neil Kinnock
~ Neil Kinnock
The Berlin headquarters of the German Socialist Party were a collection of abandoned shops ironically not that far away from the gutted Social Democratic offices which Ernst had belonged to not so long ago.
It was a haphazard organisation, like everything had been for these nightmarish elections. Those who were loyal to Noske or at least wary enough of what the United Front might bring to stick with him had had to put together a campaigning base in a matter of weeks. It was one that had gotten stronger even with the intimidation tactics of the People’s Guard that were reported whenever it seemed there weren’t League of Nations inspectors around.
Ernst hadn’t witnessed such incidents personally but he had come across the bitterness with which some of his former constituents treated him along with that of some of his old friends. It seemed defection brought about honest reactions in some people even though he had remained personally confident that the new party would only be a temporary measure before a resolution that all would benefit from. It had kept him going just as it had for the others around him. Now they all sat waiting.
All their good work had come down to this moment.
The results of the second round of the Presidential election were unfolding on the radio. It was the first time the results had ever been reported in this way and it had left those in the office gripped to the set all night. They were now well into the morning and Germany’s future unfolded before them. The results had been unbearably close for hours, exacerbated by the fact that different stations often had contradictory numbers on offer. The general message was consistent however, neither Marx nor Zeigner were winning decisively with near ties in some counts and the Bavarian Crown Prince usually making the difference between the two of them. This led to an inevitable sense of frustration throughout the gathered party members, whether newly returned to the Reichstag like Ernst himself or activists who had worn themselves out in the preceding weeks getting the vote out for little personal gain.
It was only after midnight that a small lead for Zeigner began to appear and then to maintain itself, first noticed by one station, then by another, until finally it was being repeated like a mantra by journalists who weren’t used to this sort of live reporting. The reactions throughout the headquarters consisted first of denial then of cursing the Bavarian royal for his arrogance in not standing down in favour of Marx. The continued closeness of the results then led to excited talk of recounts before the pattern of reporting became continuous. It had been in the early hours of March 30th that they had heard fireworks going off in the direction of Mitte, it had shaken the silence from within the headquarters and people had started to go home.
Ernst had stayed, waiting for something to happen out of habit more than everything else. He was already growing numb to the news but he still wasn’t sure if he wanted a final indication that it was over.
“You would have made an excellent Chancellor, Ernst.” The conciliatory tone that came from Gustav Noske seemed to be this indication. It was especially out of place given the man’s usual stern demeanour, even when amongst his colleagues.
The plan had been complex and precarious but Ernst’s place in it had given him all the drive he would have needed for it to succeed. Noske hadn’t expected to defeat the United Front electorally in the Reichstag but instead focused on gaining enough seats to make sure an alternative could emerge. One that was predicated on Marx’s victory in the Presidential election.
This had worked out in the Reichstag, the ‘Fatherland Front’ of the German Socialists and the German People’s Party had gained enough seats to work alongside other centrists on the notional basis of eventually securing the support of the Social Democrats as well. The plan was that after Marx’s assumption of the Presidency he would appoint Ernst to the position of Chancellor and Ernst, being a relative unknown but having been involved with the United Front, would reach his hand across to his old comrades and uncouple them once more from the Communists.
Centrist parties in government with the support of the Social Democrats. It was the way Weimar had worked before 1928 but this time it would have been different. Better. The centre-left would have been able to reassert itself. A true Weimar coalition would be reestablished and the tack to the left would result in a serious change to policy, offering the chance to provide reforms more radical than those gained in 1918. Ernst would have been the one to administer all of this. Now, he was merely another spent gambler.
“You’re still a young man, your future’s bright.” Noske went on. “I mean, look at poor Marx, that probably was genuinely his last chance of becoming President.”
“At least he got to be Chancellor.” Ernst sulked.
“We don’t involve ourselves in this messy business for acclaim and prestige.” Noske grunted, back to his old self.
“I know but the Communists in government? Yes they did well in working with us to topple Schleicher but rebuilding the economy? Restoring confidence in the currency? It will be a disaster and we won’t have any power to stop them.”
“We have power to make their lives miserable.” The comment caused Ernst to get out of his sulk, Noske had a wicked smile on his face even as the bad news continued to flow in from the radio.
“And believe me that’s what we’ll do. Remember Ernst, they don’t have a majority in the Reichstag. They don’t have enough votes to simply ignore us.”
“They’re only a few seats off,” Ernst retorted hesitantly, “they just have to rely on a disunited opposition, which we largely are.” His own words made him ponder how long the German Socialist Party would even last for now that it wouldn’t have the magnetism of the transitional authority behind it.
“Look at it another way, they have to ensure they’re a united government despite the fact they’re two separate parties who will struggle to produce legislation effectively. They will struggle to be unified on every vote, especially on the controversial decisions, and with the state of the economy they will have to make such choices. In the meantime it’s our role to make that even more difficult for them than it needs to be. For every vote. Until one side or the other of this ‘United Front’ decides it isn’t working and pulls out to try and save some of their own party’s dignity. New elections won’t be long in coming I assure you, and then...well, we’ll be back here listening to better news on the radio.”
There was a gleam in the old man’s eye and Ernst tried to match his optimism before his doubts persisted.
“But even if the United Front does collapse, and election results improve, we’re still stuck with Zeigner until, what, 1938?”
“Zeigner’s an eccentric but he’s not a fanatic.” Noske replied confidently. “In the same way that President Ebert didn’t want to have him arrested during that business in Saxony back in the twenties but had to relent due to the demands of the Chancellor of that time, Zeigner too will have to bow to the prevailing political winds at some stage.”
Ernst nodded reluctantly, he wasn’t sure how Noske could remain so positive but he realised falling into despair wasn’t exactly going to help anything either. They were in a new day and a new time. He had to make the best of what he had landed himself in.
The sun, after all, was already beginning to rise.
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The poster is Vote Marx by Edgar Scheibe.
Special thanks to @Utgard96 for the wikibox!
Nice chapter! The historical and somewhat “neutral” perspective offers an interesting contrast with the more subjective point-of-view of the character-narrated ones. Well written and very informative!
Hmmm. Either I’m reading it wrong, or there really isn’t a mention regarding who won. It would be ironic if somehow Zeigner was President and actually wanted to preserve the spirit of the Weimar Republic… but then Hitler decided to be a bit more ambitious with his German Ideology.
EDIT - Ninja'd by the Author! Seems nice, I will comment as soon as I can.
Hmmm. Either I’m reading it wrong, or there really isn’t a mention regarding who won. It would be ironic if somehow Zeigner was President and actually wanted to preserve the spirit of the Weimar Republic… but then Hitler decided to be a bit more ambitious with his German Ideology.
EDIT - Ninja'd by the Author! Seems nice, I will comment as soon as I can.
Thanks! Events are going to start moving a bit quicker now so there'll be a bit more need for textbook-y style updates at times. There's limits to what you can do with character driven prose.
Also other PoDs would be like “What if the Third Reich had won the Battle of Hamburg or the railroad junctions or both?” See a monarchist-fascist Imperial Germany would be interesting as it would curious to see if it ever expands outwards or if it breaks down into rival factions and has another civil war.