"Our Struggle": What If Hitler Had Been a Communist?
- Thread starter The Red
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Regardless it's a very much stylistic decision, no right or wrong how to do it and it is your work after all. I'm still very much enjoying it.
Chapter XVII
“We Communists are all corpses on holiday”
~ Eugen Levine
~ Eugen Levine
Though there had been a great deal of sound and fury from the KPD in Bavaria there was a great deal of work to be done. When Levine had arrived in Munich he had found a form of anarchy reigning, the communists claimed to be implementing the dictatorship of the proletariat when in fact workers still toiled for long hours in the factories for little to no wages whilst thousands of homeless shivered in the streets.
With Lenin’s instructions to hand, a vast program of expropriation and socialisation began. It was an aim that never really saw its end but was nonetheless pursued with a great deal of vigour by, amongst others, Adolf Hitler.
Having spent a few, largely idle, weeks representing his regiment on the soldiers council, Hitler had grown bored and as the chance came up to work in the more proactive side of the revolution he jumped at the chance. Working in the offices on Munich’s old police station, the ‘Housing and Resettlement Council’ soon came under Hitler’s notional control as he pushed continuously to expand its remit as the revolution developed
The Conservatives and Social Democrats who had fled the city had taken steps to disrupt the supply of food, medicine and other essential supplies into the areas of communist control. In an attempt to counter this Hitler ordered the round-up of any available food to give a soup kitchen element to the larger buildings being socialised by the Council. A few angry encounters with those who refused to share their homes with strangers also brought an enforcement element in, with Hitler commissioning troops to forcefully remove homeowners who resisted from their premises.
Arguments about the extent of these removals continue on this day, though there is a consensus around some facts. Hitler never ordered an execution on behalf of the Council, that was too great an expansion of his remit even for the opportunistic ideologue. Nonetheless, many beatings reportedly took place, arguably placing a further strain on Bavaria’s already stretched medical services.
These activities in the brief lifetime of the Bavarian Soviet Republic gained Hitler notoriety amongst the Bourgeoisie establishment but did gain him some popular support amongst the local populace. In a society where horses were being slaughtered to stave off the shortages, many non-homeless people came to his soup kitchens were many would later explain that he helped pass the time by regaling them with war stories and Grimm fairy tales and occasionally some futurist poetry whilst encouraging others to share their own talents. Though he would be very critical of much of the organisation of the Republic in his writings, Hitler nonetheless mentioned his civic work as ‘the happiest time of my life’ in Our Struggle.
His work did not escape the notice of the politburo, first in Bavaria and eventually the national KPD. Though he remained a relative unknown the name ‘Hitler’ soon became one of those that many German communists were intrigued by.
Geoffrey Corbett, Hitler's First Revolution
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The basis of the barricade was fairly ramshackle but they had done their best. Adolf thought so at least, the comrades around him made rather doubtful of any protection it might afford. It was hard to understand why it was so hard to fill the ranks with anyone who had some sort of military experience. The war had only been over for a few months!
Those veterans that had joined the ranks of the KPD were doing their best to try and achieve some basic training but cohesion was difficult when drills and ranks were subject to ideological disputes, though the most recent news had silenced the squabbles to some degree. Thousands of Freikorps had been spotted making incursions into the territory of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, it wouldn’t be long before they realised how weak the revolutionaries were and pushed on directly to Munich.
Adolf had been going through the registers of the remaining spacious and heated buildings in Munich when the news had come, that all veterans were required for the immediate defence of the city. The thought was initially alarming, the stories of the Spartacist’s failure and the subsequent atrocities of the Freikorps in Berlin had hung heavily amongst many. Adolf was dedicated to freeing Germany from the old elites but he wasn’t quite sure that he was ready to martyr himself for that cause.
As he had walked past the disgruntled Bavarian civil servants, those who still hung around the housing office even with the red flag fluttering above it, and out into the rainy day he even considered whether it might be best for him to disappear before the forces of reaction arrived.
There was no dishonour in retreating from superior odds after all, there were many times during the war where he and his comrades and fled to fight another day, why would this be different if the rumours were true about an army of tens of thousands preparing to engage their handful of fighters?
It had only been a temporary thought but it had dwelled in his mind due to the scene that had stifled it. Adolf hadn’t seen Munich this frantic since the pro-war hysteria in 1914 that he had been a part of. Now the battle would be coming to the city and as the gossip of the approaching Freikorps spread throughout the urban areas large groups of people were either heading home or hurrying to the shops to stock up on supplies. The blonde and unkempt figure he had spotted was a fair distance away amidst the rabble of people but the heckler had also spotted Adolf. The man from the barracks that Adolf had argued with, a man who was now grinning with a vicarious glee.
Adolf briefly wondered if this was a look of happiness, he had said he wanted the revolution to fail after all, but only a moment later he raised his left arm into the air and clenched his fist. The smile was on his face still but there was a glimmer of something in his eyes that Adolf could make out even his far away.
It looked like determination.
A moment later the man was gone but the scene had removed any doubts from Adolf’s mind, if that blowhard had decided to fight then so would he, to the death if necessary.
Adolf was experienced but he knew this would be a new type of fight all the same. There had been very little urban fighting in France, most towns covered by the frontline had been so badly hammered by the artillery of each side that it was hard to tell that anyone had lived there at all. Munich hadn’t been visited by war and as such it had several advantages that could benefit a defence, tall buildings could become sniper’s nests, public squares could become death traps, every block of flats could be converted into a fortress. Adolf had been confident that even with a numerical disadvantage, Munich could become the graveyard of the Freikorps.
His suggestions had fallen on deaf ears all the same and many of his military peers had subsequently complained that similar proposals were being ignored. It seemed that whilst the politburo was eager to embrace military experience, they had remained wary of any actual military input into the new society, even in matters regarding defence. There seemed to be a naïve confidence amongst some that confrontation with the Freikorps could be avoided altogether. It was a nice thought but Adolf felt it was far too optimistic.
As such he was helping to construct a barricade of boxes and barrels that had more of a place in the revolutions of 1848 than against a foe that reportedly that armoured cars and tanks that would smash through them with little effort. He had complained once again about this strategy only to be warned about demoralising the men by his comrades. It was a dressing down that carried weight, there were rumours that suspected traitors were being imprisoned and that some had already been executed alongside some of the other counter-revolutionaries. Adolf shed no tears for those guilty of oppressing the people but he was wary of coming across as a wrecker all the same. The barricade would have to do.
It was not an ideal location, Pacell street ran parallel to Maxburg and Maffei street on either side with the Marienplatz behind all three. Even if his men had howitzers to destroy the Freikorps from afar they were still far too exposed to encirclement. Nonetheless, this granted one opportunity at least. Adolf had ordered “lookouts” to be posted in the Hotel Bayerischer to track enemy movements, when the time came they would pour fire down on the enemy. Though he had personally moved homeless families into the hotel, he was not particularly concerned for them, the Freikorps were hardly likely to burn one of the most aristocratic hotels in Munich.
It would not be enough to help his hopeless barricade for long but it would be something, he only wished he could have put more of his ideas into action.
Perhaps, if he survived this, there would be another chance.
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Hope everyong enjoyed the holidays, back to regular updates now!
Looks like the Dragon Balls worked.
Also, interesting allohistorical allusion in the first half of the chapter. In OTL, Hitler called his service in the Army the greatest time of his life. Here it is working in KPD Bavaria that takes the spot. Really shows the differences in personality between the two Hitlers.
Also, interesting allohistorical allusion in the first half of the chapter. In OTL, Hitler called his service in the Army the greatest time of his life. Here it is working in KPD Bavaria that takes the spot. Really shows the differences in personality between the two Hitlers.
I think I remember some speculation about Red Bavaria being around for awhile, looks like we can call it now and say it won't.
Anywho, good update.
Well, it is called Hitler's First Revolution, meaning there are two more attempted revolutions in the future.
So the Bayerischer Hof is going to get wrecked. *shrugs* - just leave the pub on the corner of Rosenheimerstraße and Zweibrückenstraße in Au-Haidhausen alone, OK.
So he's defending against an attack down from Schwabing and Maxvorstadt? Hmm, that wouldn't be the position I'd take, although the buildings around there mean it is a sniper death trap area. This could be a very valuable bit of experience for him.
Nitpick: Pacellistraße was known as Pfandhausstraße during this period, it was renamed because Pius XII had been the Nuncio to the Bavarian Court, in fact he stayed in München during the Räterepublik one of the few diplomats so to do, there is a well known tale about how they took his car.
Indeed, there are many accounts of early 1945 when things were falling apart where it's mentioned that Hitler would frequently go off on tangents during meetings, reminiscing about his experiences in the First World War.
You could argue that he might have been looking for some sort of clue as to how he get out of the contemporary situation, as if he'd swallowed his own propaganda about Germany having never been defeated on the front.
Thinking this when it's his life on the line is much different than ordering peons to stand and die
There probably is a self-preservation element to it, although OTL Hitler was somewhat more flexible in regards to retreating prior to the end of 1941 so I wouldn't say it was too much of a stretch to have him consider it.
