“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”
~
A Farewell To Arms
When it comes to the rise of Communism in Germany, there is a frequent tendency among historians to overly emphasise or even solely focus on the forces of anxiety and fear that swept the country in the face of the Great Depression. The great hope that many held for the future that the Communists described is rarely commented upon yet without this idealism the picture of Germany in 1930 is incomplete, for more than anything else Paul Levi was emboldened by an image of a brighter future that helped him recover from his own despair, only to help to plunge all of Europe into an even greater torment.
In the Spring of 1930, Levi was one of the most prominent members Social Democratic Party (SPD) and a leader of the party’s most left-wing members, however his stature in the party was compromised by a great deal of personal discomfort Levi felt for this role. Levi had began his political life as an adherent of Rosa Luxemburg and, having been one of the few prominent members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) to survive the failure of the Spartacist Revolt, he took control of what was left of the party in the name of rebuilding and keeping the ideals of Luxemburgism alive in the aftermath. Levi proved himself capable of centralising power around himself and his supporters, although the KPD made little progress due to these cliquish tendencies restricting the influx of new members alongside strategic blunders such as the leadership’s failure to support the 1920 General Strike against the Kapp Putsch. The party was largely deemed irrelevant by German workers and despite Levi’s friendship with Lenin (both had been exiles in Switzerland during the First World War) his failings could no longer be forgiven as the Soviet-dominated Comintern began to disregard many of Levi’s “Left-Communist” or Luxemburgist beliefs as an “infantile disorder”.
The party’s botched efforts in support an armed workers revolt, that had emerged from several strikes around central Germany in March 1921, dealth a fatal blow to Levi, and set in motion the events that would lead him to resign his leadership and shortly after leave the KPD altogether. Allegedly Lenin had not wanted to ostracise Levi to such an extent, only to ensure that the KPD would follow the Leninist line, but the damage had been done. Although the KPD had massively increased in size thanks to the incorporation of the left-wing of the Independent Social Democrats (USPD), Levi felt he was forced to find a new political home. After spending time in the remnant of the USPD that survived the communist merger Levi finally rejoined the SPD as it became increasingly clear that the “Independent” party was becoming nothing more than an extension of the larger and more moderate original. Though he still clung to many of the communist beliefs, Levi hoped that he could affect greater change with a larger platform and though he accomplished this to a large degree he also earned notoriety.
Levi who was a former communist who now embraced Weimar from a leftist perspective, he had been involved in the 1918 revolution on the ground, and he was a Jew. These facts made him anathema to many on the German far-right and within the German establishment. The KPD denounced him as a turncoat and class traitor for siding with the “bourgeoisie” Social Democrats, and as their rhetoric got even more heated he was lumped in with the rest of the party as being no better than the fascists he opposed. Even some within his own party questioned whether or not he was some form of communist sleeper agent, or more commonly an interloper into a party he had once left for not being radical enough. Although he was well regarded by many of his peers, these attacks as well as his own personal conflicts, possibly made worse by a battle with his mental health, caused Levi to fall into a deep depression by the time of the Wall Street Crash.
It is possible that Levi’s acceptance of Adolf Hitler’s clandestine offer to represent the SPD was purely based on his hopes of building a joint platform between Germany’s two largest Marxist parties. Of regaining the future he had once hoped to build after lingering in a party that had tied itself too close to a failed economic system. It was an attractive proposition.
Then again, it is possible that Hitler had made him aware of a very different alliance being made to take advantage of the republic’s sudden weakness. One that would would remain officially secret for several months, but was alarming enough to convince both parties of the need to unify the left.
~ David Irons,
Bridging The Horseshoe
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Limone, March 1930
The mist hung close to the surface of Lake Garda before seeping into the quiet town of Limone until the narrow streets and alleyways were almost impossible to navigate without a local guide. Tourist season would not be upon the townspeople for another several weeks, the main fruit harvest was even further away, and in the streets shrouded in dim light and silence, one could be assured of privacy. If you had something to hide however, that often isn’t enough, and pretenders often have much to hide.
Wilhelm, His Imperial and Royal Majesty The German Emperor, King of Prussia (in pretense), had seen a woman looking straight at him from a balcony chair through the fog and had immediately presumed that she had been looking out for him. If he had inquired it is possible that someone would have told him she had been looking in that direction for thirteen years, north towards the mountains that two sons and a husband had never returned from. In the mist he couldn’t see that her aged face was shaking, nor her anxious whispers that they would all be back home soon. The would-be Kaiser only tried to conceal his face as a plain clothes guard escorted him to a restaurant on the shorefront, where his Italian contact was waiting for him in a private room.
Galeazzo Ciano had a pudgy, aristocratic face with an expression that exuded too much innocence for his tough, bulky frame. He was young, and it seemed he had a bright future ahead of him, but Wilhelm could still see the street fighting teenager in the man even if he was the son of a Count and about to become the Duce’s Son-In-Law. He had feared a rebuff when he was offered a meeting with an attache rather than the Italian foreign minister or the Duce himself, but some digging on the young man's background had made it clear that Ciano and Mussolini shared a close bond, one which would make this meeting far more important than it might seem to those who the Duce and the pretender Emperor would prefer left in the dark about their dealings. The young diplomat dismissed Wilhelm’s escort and ordered him to stand guard outside the room before he had even stood up to greet his guest.
“I hope you will accept my apologies for the poor quality of my German, Your Majesty. It is a fault I am working hard to improve upon.” Wilhelm smiled at the young man’s impish modesty, his German was flawless.
“Your German is a pleasure to listen to my friend,” Wilhelm insisted. “and I’m sure our meeting here today will lead to you having far more of a chance to use it.” Ciano smirked at that before offering Wilhelm a seat.
“I must admit that the - well, the “change of power”, that your contacts had mentioned would be a development that would take up much of the Duce’s time, and likely my own as well. Of course, if it was advantageous to the Kingdom of Italy then it would be a price I would be happy to pay.”
“But of course it would be! If-” Wilhelm noticed that the Italian’s look of surprise at the amount of enthusiasm in his response and calmed himself. “If Germany were to fall into chaos, or worse, Bolshevism, all of Europe would suffer. There is no reason to fear, however. I feel that myself and like-minded patriots have come to an understanding about a potential solution, one that will allow Germany to follow the path that the Duce has shown to work so successfully for Italy.”
Wilhelm thought back to the meetings he had held in the Netherlands not so long ago, bringing together the disparate elements of the German right, ranging from those conservatives who had never gotten used to the idea of the republic to the militants who wanted to march on Rome in Berlin. All had been united under the banner of the Volkisch Bund, thanks to his promise of a renewed Germany and his leadership.
It was a group that had originally been gathered around ageing General Ludendorff, but it had become clear that the man had no talent for politics. Wilhelm had been in touch with them ever since their failure to capitalise on the hyperinflation crisis, he had waited on them to call him when the time of the next crisis came, as only he and the Communists seemed to understand, until the Wall Street Crash had made it clear that the time had come to show his hand to the German people.
Wilhelm was confident of his appeal, but he had lived long enough to know he would need allies both at home and abroad if he were to succeed.
Ciano, at the very least, seemed receptive to his pitch.
“I have no doubt that Germany could achieve a great deal if it were to follow the path of fascism, but the Duce is unsure as to whether such a radical shift would not trigger greater chaos accidentally.”
Wilhelm, shook his head reassuringly, “I simply cannot sit back in comfort and watch my country fall apart in the face of this “depression”, neither would you if you were in my posiiton. What I like most about your Duce is his patriotism, and how he allows himself to act only in the name of his nation. He has provided an example for all true patriots everywhere, that they must unite their nations in times of great strife. There are enough men, good men, within the current regime who will respond to the call when asked. There will be no need to worry about chaos, not even temporarily, if we have your support.”
Ciano smiled in silence for a moment, before seeming to remember his line of inquiry.
“I agree entirely in regards to patriotism, Your Majesty, although we both understand that our patriotisms may conflict on certain issues. Your movement is not quiet in calling for the reversal of much of the settlement that followed a conflict in which our nations were enemies. Would we not be naive in helping to enable such action?”
Wilhelm tried to match the young man’s smile.
The arrogant little shit.
“It is true that we were enemies in that conflict, and of course I could reassure you that now that is water under the bridge and you wouldn’t believe me for a second-” Ciano merely shrugged, “- and you would be right not too. The way the war ended has had a greater impact on the German people than no other event since unification. What I would say is, regardless of which side our nations were on, did we not both end up in the same situation after the war ended?”
“Italy was betrayed by incompetent politicians who failed to secure a proper peace settlement for our sacrifice, the Duce has taken steps to resolve this injustice ever since.” Ciano replied in a monotone, as if he were reading a prepared statement from a card. Wilhelm’s smile was genuine now.
“Both of your nations were left damaged and debt ridden, at the mercy of the Bolsheviks, and open for exploitation at the hands of the British and the French. It was only your movement that saved Italy from the further humiliation Germany has had to endure over the years but you are unable to progress on the international stage, why? Because your interests will never be the same as those of the British and the French. Italy, like Germany, is a young nation, a threat to the established order of things, so they fear you, but they know as well as you do that you’re alone. Help me to do for Germany what the Duce has done for Italy, and we will not just hold back chaos and Bolshevism. Together we will be in a position to rewrite the European balance of power, and this time we shall make sure it is on our terms.”
Ciano had lost his smile, as he called for the guard who had been stationed outside to fetch a telephone. It took several moments before the young man spoke again, but when he did it was with the seven words that Wilhelm had spent the last night praying for.
“How much did you say you needed?”
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The painting is Bursting Shell by Christopher Nevinson
