So, I was looking around the net for interesting possible alternate forms of government, and came upon this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement
(Be aware that the Wikipedia article in this case has quite a bit of unfounded statements due to an edit war, but the general idea should be correct)
Now, we have had democratic Germanys, fascist Germanys, and communist Germanys, but as far as I know we haven't had a technocratic one yet. So, I thought about collecting some facts and thoughts on it, before considering a TL (they never seem to get finished otherwise
). So here are some questions.
1) So, in OTL the German Technocrats, who are heavily based on their American counter-parts, try to accomodate the National Socialists, and thus go extinct in 1935. Therefore, a POD before 1933, or most likely even earlier is necessary for the movement to succeed. The research was mostly complete in the early 1920's, so if the movement started in Germany in say, 1925, could it have taken off?
2) If we by some way or another make the Technocrats successfully implement their system in the early 30's instead of Hitler's government, how would the world react? In the US the domestic Technocracy Inc. was often compared to first Fascists and then Communists by propaganda. In Canada the movement came under suspicion for their idea of "total conscription", something that might have gone home well in Germany however. Would escaped scientists, like Einstein (who in OTL investigated Technocracy Inc. and found it promising), stay, or return if he had already left?
3) Which Germans would be governing the 'technate'? Are there any good OTL candidates? Industry men (Eckener?) or scientifically oriented politicians (in a strange twist of fate, Albert Speer?) would probably be the best bets.
4) Obviously the Versailles treaty would be considered an inefficiency and so quickly terminated. How would France etc react if the Germans cancelled all debt payments, but did not reoccupy the Rheinland?
5) Who would be in charge of the Reichswehr? Considering that positions in a technate are supposed to be filled based on skill only, who would be the most fitting for the post?
6) What relations would a German technocracy have with the communists?
(Be aware that the Wikipedia article in this case has quite a bit of unfounded statements due to an edit war, but the general idea should be correct)
In Germany prior to the second world war a technocratic movement based on the American model introduced by Technocracy Incorporated existed which ran afoul with the political system there.
Now, we have had democratic Germanys, fascist Germanys, and communist Germanys, but as far as I know we haven't had a technocratic one yet. So, I thought about collecting some facts and thoughts on it, before considering a TL (they never seem to get finished otherwise
1) So, in OTL the German Technocrats, who are heavily based on their American counter-parts, try to accomodate the National Socialists, and thus go extinct in 1935. Therefore, a POD before 1933, or most likely even earlier is necessary for the movement to succeed. The research was mostly complete in the early 1920's, so if the movement started in Germany in say, 1925, could it have taken off?
2) If we by some way or another make the Technocrats successfully implement their system in the early 30's instead of Hitler's government, how would the world react? In the US the domestic Technocracy Inc. was often compared to first Fascists and then Communists by propaganda. In Canada the movement came under suspicion for their idea of "total conscription", something that might have gone home well in Germany however. Would escaped scientists, like Einstein (who in OTL investigated Technocracy Inc. and found it promising), stay, or return if he had already left?
3) Which Germans would be governing the 'technate'? Are there any good OTL candidates? Industry men (Eckener?) or scientifically oriented politicians (in a strange twist of fate, Albert Speer?) would probably be the best bets.
4) Obviously the Versailles treaty would be considered an inefficiency and so quickly terminated. How would France etc react if the Germans cancelled all debt payments, but did not reoccupy the Rheinland?
5) Who would be in charge of the Reichswehr? Considering that positions in a technate are supposed to be filled based on skill only, who would be the most fitting for the post?
6) What relations would a German technocracy have with the communists?