Minor quibble - Steven James in error here, they weren't behind enemy lines, but their own.
"Our Struggle": What If Hitler Had Been a Communist?
- Thread starter The Red
- Start date
Minor quibble - Steven James in error here, they weren't behind enemy lines, but their own.
So... Hitler's "stabbed in the back" myth now is that the German upperclass sees them proletarians as little more than expendable. Meaning it's no longer a myth.
Cool.
Cool.
Indeed, the petition is an invention of this TL. In reality Gutmann served at the front for the rest of the war, during which he nominated Hitler for the Iron Cross.
Chapter IX
'You can blame me,
Try to shame me,
And still I'll care for you'
~ Irma Thomas
Try to shame me,
And still I'll care for you'
~ Irma Thomas
‘By 1917, the situation had grown perilous for both the French and the Germans. Anger over meaningless large-scale attacks provoked desertion and mutiny across the French ranks, whilst the German army was rife with a whispering campaign of protest. Though the cause of this cannot be solely linked to Adolf Hitler, the disgraced private was certainly involved in attempting to spread rebellious thoughts throughout the ranks.
The debacle around the Gutmann Petition had left him with an education that the army would come down hard on anything appearing to be subversive, though it also encouraged him to ensure that whilst the fighting continued there would be a mass protest movement ready to spring up at the end of the war, whatever that conclusion might have been.
Said conclusion did not come in 1917, though the outcome was no longer in doubt with the entry of the United States in the Spring. It would take time for the Americans to have a significant impact on the battlefield though it was time the Entente had. In what had become a conflict of attrition, the odds were now heavily stacked against the German Empire.
Germany was now doomed, though the situation did not seem entirely bleak. The collapse of the Russian Empire and subsequently Kerensky’s provisional government had finally enabled an armistice to be signed with Lenin’s Bolsheviks, freeing up troops to take part in one final effort to break the British and the French before the Americans could arrive in force.
It is not known to what extent Hitler was inspired by either the French mutineers or Lenin at this time, though despite what was due to unfold it would seem that he had greater sympathy with the latter. The disgruntlement within the German ranks remained largely around perceived incompetence and the perpetually dismal conditions. Ideology seems only to have been ascribed later on. For this reason, most Germans prepared for the promise knockout blow without much complaint. Most were aware it was their last chance to end the conflict on their terms and whilst most might have grown apathetic to the Kaiser or the greater German establishment, few saw Entente victory as a preferable alternative. Though attempts have been made to say that Hitler was actively engaging in sabotage of his own side at this time, he appears to have remained focused on German victory even though he was not directly involved in the Spring Offensive.
It is unlikely that said offensive could ever have worked, though in the Spring of 1918 the Heer’s general staff had no other options. Unlike the German rank and file they were not only concerned about the fate of their nation, for their reputations were also on the line.’
~ Steven James, The Making of the Man: Hitler in the First World War
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The turbulent imagery emblazoned on the posters made an impression despite the fog of the early morning, though Gerda felt that things were perhaps becoming a bit too melodramatic. French artillery shelling peaceful German villages, a warning of might happen if they crossed the Rhine, this was something Gerda had little trouble imagining. John Bull posing as a hangman putting a noose around the neck of a German youth, perhaps a more metaphorical warning but an apt one nonetheless. Like most Germans the ache in her stomach was a daily reminder of the crippling British blockade. The third poster seemed too incredulous however, a demonic rabbit snarling at the viewer, encouraging people to keep rabbits, eat the meat and give the hides to the military.
The imagery struck her as bizarre, with all the talk of subversives on the home front it was hard to imagine what rabbits had done to deserve public ire. Not when there was a more dangerous enemy now in the conflict.
The war was going into its third year and the country was growing ever wearier. It had been a small comfort to imagine that the enemy were suffering from the same issues and might soon break but now the Americans were in the fight and it was hard for propaganda to resonate about the German resolve in the knowledge that the Entente were receiving fresh supplies of men and material. It was not the only message that was disheartening.
Gerda had seen other posters that had warned of an Entente victory causing economic ruin and mass unemployment but it seemed that that would be her future regardless. Having grown up in a farming community she had been no stranger to hard work, at times it was back breaking and she had went without pay. She was entirely reliant on her parents for everything despite contributing greatly to the work and though she did not resent them it had been a bleak thought that the only way she could ever escape the household would be to marry one of the neighbouring farmer’s sons, the thought hadn't exactly thrilled her. As terrible as the war was, it had offered a release from her life’s seemingly inevitable trajectory.
With so many men having gone off to fight, women had been increasingly called in to make-up the deficit. Whilst at first there was some hesitation towards this the war had become increasingly drawn out to the extent there was now a compulsory draft as the entire economy, and in many ways German society, became based around the war effort. Despite the backward attitudes of industry not being women’s work, Gerda actually found the work in one of Essen's many armaments factories somewhat easier, if the claustrophobic environment and the general lack of fresh air could be excused. The work itself was not the problem, it was the attitudes of those in charge that she found overbearing.
Although she and her colleagues had strived to outperform the increasingly overambitious targets set by the army, it was a thankless task. For all of the talk of German society being united in the fight she and her colleagues faced constant reminders that their lives as wage earners were temporary and that after the war they would be expected to hand their jobs over to men returning for the front before going back to their homes and raising the next generation of Germans. It was a particularly demoralising thought for Gerda and many of her colleagues, women who had experienced independence for the first time.
Her friend Christina waved at her as the shadow of the large factories loomed overhead, already beginning to belt out smoke. It would be a few minutes before the whistle bellowed to signal the start of their shift but they quickened their pace all the same as they walked together.
“I’ve begun to hate Saturdays” Christina moaned despairingly.
“There is a war on you know, perhaps if you hadn’t stayed so long in the club last night you wouldn’t hate the morning so much” Gerda patted her hungover friend on the back but her scolding wasn’t entirely jovial. There was a war on and it wasn’t going well, industrial workers couldn’t afford to be indulgent when they had work the next day.
“It’s not the shift, it’s the fact that we’re bound to get another lecture.” Gerda knew what she meant.
“Oh God, Frau Heidemann could darken anyone’s day.” Their ‘Shift Leader’ was not particularly popular on-site, especially due to her "motivational" speeches.
“Remember ladies, soon we will have victory and that will mean that you’ll all have grateful husbands returning home! I know you hate this work but think of your country, your Kaiser, and the household you’ll be running some day!” Even whilst hungover, Christina’s impersonation of Heidemann's high-pitched squeal was perfect. Gerda couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s odd how victory’s been “soon” for over two years now, she really needs to get her watch fixed. We do need to win soon mind you.”
Christina scoffed at Gerda’s urgency.
“Finish off the Froggies, push the Russkies into the ice, starve out the Island Monkeys, tell the Yanks where to get off. Easy. No problem at all.” Gerda could never tell whether her friend was being sarcastic, as that exaggerated list of priorities was becoming the reality of Germany’s situation.
“I hope you’re right, if this war goes on for much longer, we won’t have anyone left to fight it. And then were would Frau Heidemann be?” Christina shrugged in regards to Gerda's concerns.
“I guess we’ll just need to fight it ourselves.”
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The poster states Women workers, take up your rifles!, encouraging women to help defend the Bolshevik revolution in 1917.
There were German posters featuring demonic rabbits but they felt a bit out of place here.
I wouldn't bet on it, myself. Hitler's character, personality and external influences to both presented in the TL so far seem to indicate that he will take on a different path to socialism than the Bolsheviks. And if there's anything communists hate more than capitalists, it's revisionist communists.
If Stalin still takes helm over the USSR here, he might just see Red Germany as a rival for his vision of a socialist world, and rival in general. After all, one of his plans was domination of Eastern and Central Europe, which puts any Germany as his enemy immediately.
Lenin was rather intolerant of other 'petty bourgeois' socialist groups in Russia - Kerensky is a good example of a leftist that the Bolsheviks branded as part of the old establishment, and the Mensheviks were frequently denounced for 'endangering the revolution' between February and October 1917. As far as I know, Stalin was also generally opposed to other communists or socialists that he couldn't control, though for more pragmatic reasons than ideology. Not sure about Trotsky - he supported Lenin's revolution, but was originally a Menshevik. Of course, we don't know whether either of these two will succeed Lenin, or even if the Reds will win the Russian Civil War (perhaps if large-scale leftist mutinies in the German military occur, more aid will go to the Russian Whites due to an even greater fear of the spread of communism? Russian and German Civil Wars merging?).
I don't see an alliance of choice developing between a possible Bolshevik Russia (Soviet Union?) and Red Germany. A partition of Eastern Europe still seems likely, and perhaps the two could be drawn into an alliance of convenience. Even if they ultimately survive whatever war may come as allies, I think we can expect competition between Germany and Russia post-war, in much the same way as the Chinese and Soviets did in places like Vietnam.
I don't see an alliance of choice developing between a possible Bolshevik Russia (Soviet Union?) and Red Germany. A partition of Eastern Europe still seems likely, and perhaps the two could be drawn into an alliance of convenience. Even if they ultimately survive whatever war may come as allies, I think we can expect competition between Germany and Russia post-war, in much the same way as the Chinese and Soviets did in places like Vietnam.
Forgive my ignorance,but does women really got mobilized in Imperial Germany during WW1?I thought it was more of a WW2 thing.
It did, there won't be any significant divergences in Eastern Europe for a while.
They were, there was some resistance to it and it was seen as a temporary measure but women went on to play a huge role in the war economy nonetheless.