The 2nd Great War

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Deleted member 1487

June 25th, 1941
Paul Reynaud sat in his office barely suppressing his tears. In his hands he clasped the telegram from Churchill, stating British support for France in the coming years, with promises of liberation repeated ad nauseum. Cold comfort for a newly conquered land. Glancing out the window, he saw German Panzers rolling through the Arch d'triumph and dazed French onlooks lining the streets. It seemed like a nightmare that no one could wake up from. Sadly, he set down the paper and slumped back into his chair. How could this have happened? he thought, exhausted. The Germans had broken the line on the Somme and poured into the country, forcing the government to capitulate. There would be no repeat of the last war, the French people had no stomach for the fight. Especially one so plainly unwinnable. The British could shout defiance to their last breath if they wished; they had the channel between them and the German army. The French were not so lucky.

This was a bleak year for the allies, of that there was no confusion. Germany had swept the Allied nations from the continent and all the remained were the British Isles. Churchill stood defiant at its helm, rejecting German offers of peace, only willing to stand for German withdrawal from all occupied territory. Reynaud could only chuckle at the thought. How could they force that? The 'noble' Americans stood aloof, calling it a European affair, one they refused to be drawn into again. Really, the only solution was to hope for Stalin to cast his lot in with the Allies, but the communists were worse that the Boche. Churchill was never very reasonable though. He, Reynaud, would have to pick up the pieces of this travesty. Soon they would call him back and have him issue their decrees. The Germans would expect him to be their puppet and let them rape his beloved France. But he had no other choice; the army was destroyed and no help was coming. Reynaud would play nice for now, if that was what it took to free France once again. But still, the question nagged at him: How could this have happened?

The Stir of Echoes

That moment had its first origins in the events of 1923. The ripples began with the putsch attempt in Munich. The political party, the National Socialist German Workers Party, was led by a man by the name of Adolf Hitler in a copy of Mussolini's 'march on Rome'. His march began with high hopes for the future of political power, but was cut short by a volly of gunfire from the police. Caught in the salvo was Hitler and his friend former general Ludendorff. With the death of these men, the rest of the party's leadership were arrested, and their rioting ruffians were dispersed. The death of Hitler percipitated the collapse of the Nazi party, shattering the early coalition of the nationalist German groups. Chaos was the result.

Every right wing group tried to seize the mantle of the nationalist movement, but none were able to garner a plurality of members. All the groups lacked an orater with the skills of Hitler. No one really spoke to the movement and the right wing stayed divided politically. The disorganization remained until the collapse of 1929. Finally several men emerged to take on the leadership role and began to form the Deustsche Nationalist Front (DNF). The one man that rose to the top was Heinrich Fuchs. He had been on the rise with in the right wing for a number of years, but the economic collapse gave him chance to rally the various nationalists and establish his base of power.

Fuchs was an interesting character of the time. A Hessian from Frankfurt, Fuchs fought in the Great War in the infantry and rose to the rank of Hauptman (Captain). His experiences lead him to reject the Kaiser and all sorts of cronyism and disdain the Prussians. Though he did not care for the Weimar regime, he did not totally reject Republicanism either. As Fuchs came from somewhat liberal household, he was remarkably open minded for his generation. Regardless he was a stauch nationalist with a burning hatred of communism and the French. His record of heroism on both fronts in the war earned him much respect, especially for one so junior within the movement. Ultimately he had risen to the helm of the DNF because of his inclusive rhetoric that most of the right wing could sympathize with, rather than catering to a select minority of radicals, like Hitler.

Ultimately, he was approached in 1930 by a group of industrialists that felt he could be useful in their economic agenda. They would finance his rise to prominence and help his party gain power in the Reichstag by 1932. This meteoric rise was exceptional, as other manipulative right wingers like Schleicher had sought to oppose him. Eventually he was able to be sworn in as Chancellor in June of 1932 and quickly began to impliment his independent agenda...
 

Deleted member 1487

Reorientation

With the assumption of office, Fuchs set about realizing his goals. The first act was to set up a rearmament board (secretly, of course). This committee was made up of members from the armed forces, the Reichsbank, and the resource mobilization office (also secret). This group was to focus on returning the military of Germany to the greatest power on the continent of Europe. Members included the new defense minister Werner von Blomberg and the new Heer chief Werner von Fritsch. Also included was the head of the Luftwaffe (also a secret, officially none existent position) Walther Wever, the head of the Kriegsmarine Erich Raeder, and Hjalmar Schacht, the head of the Reichsbank. Upon the first meeting, Fuchs listed his priorities for Germany in the coming years.

First: Revive the German economy, which would deny the rearmament board the needed funds for several years. This would limit the military to training new personel, but little else.
Second: To establish better relations with Britain to seperate the western powers from one another and allow for the revision of the treaty of Versailles
Third: Rearm the German military to reestablish the nation as a great power and increase negotiating power
Fourth: Unite German minorities into one nation, which would create a larger, more powerful nation
Fifth: to overturn the treaty of Versailles.

This list of points would help direct the efforts of the board in several ways, first, that they were not necessarily the first priority, therefore to rearm, they would need to do so in the most efficient way possible to maximize resources. Next, that naval rearmament was to be last on the list, as this would prevent the antagonization of Britain. Also, there would be a need to integrate other groups and industry into the process, as minorities were brought into the fold. They would also preside over the increased cartelization of industry to aid rearmament, and allow for the new Chancellor to increase control over the economy.

to steal from another poster (perfectgeneral):
Is this re-industrialisation market lead or a planned economy? In the fifties the Japanese planted the seed of their economic miracle with a planned restructuring and trade protection measures. Only later did they free up the market (largely due to pressure from trade partners).
Britain saw through it, but the US insisted on admitting Japan to GATT. Heavy investment in German growth might bribe the US into favourable trade terms with Fuchs' Germany.
An oligarchy/cartel of corporate national industry groups owned by each other, the banks and the government is the sort of rigged economy that grows strongly given uneven trade practices.
All steel production by one corporation, owned by the main domestic customers for steel and the national bank. Heavy investment from the bank in the form of preferential loans with a near majority share in the company as collateral.
All car production by one corporation, owned by the main domestic customers for cars, the steel company and the national bank. Heavy investment from the bank in the form of preferential loans with a near majority share in the company as collateral.
All chemical production by one corporation...
All armaments production by one corporation...
All shipbuilding by one corporation...
All machine tools by one corporation...
All aircraft by one corporation...
Imports restricted to technology transfers and unavailable raw materials by government.
These inter-owned monopoly corporations are prevented from price control and restrictive practices in the domestic market by the national bank that has control through massive loans and share collateral. This national bank is controlled by the government trade and industry department. A nationalist cartel. These corporations can be disguised as separate companies (and formed into 'competing' corporations) through inter ownership of shares and a large minority public shareholding (eg VW, Porshe, Daimler, Mercedes, etc.). The banks shares are just collateral and so 'officially' still owned by the shareholders. Each 'separate' company would sell models in different niches of the market. All would use the same parts suppliers. Each parts company would provide different types of parts. All using the same processed materials companies. One spring steel company, one light sheet steel company, one heavysheet steel company, one tube company, one rod and beam company, etc.
On the face of it branches of the monopolies would be separate companies, but they are brought together through inter-ownership and state control of their debts into a cartel. The trade monopolies are continued as long as the companies borrow to the point of bankruptcy (beyond even) at very low interest, to invest in research, productivity and production capacity growth.
A planned domestic economy disguised as a free market economy. A free market for export. A restricted market for import.
Dirty pool.
 
So it seems Fuchs is far more clever than Hitler or the Nazis. Since he has a hatred of Communism I still see him going to war with the USSR. However instead of invading Poland maybe he works out an agreement with them over Danzig. This way he can make the Poles his allies. Even if he doesn't do that, Fuchs should be smart enough to peel the Ukraine and Baltics away from the Russians, no mass excutions when they invade.

A well armed, well lead Germany in World War II, :eek:
 

Deleted member 1487

Rough Start

The first action by any politician in German in 1932 would have to deal with the economy. For the DNF and Fuchs, this was crucial, as it would cement their hold in the Reichstag. At the moment, the DNF had a bare plurality of the seats, nearly 33%, but this was not enough to rule govern unimpeded.
Unfortunately there were no simple answers to the economic quandry. The economy depended on imports and exports and with the trade balance draining Germany of foreign exchange, this situation was not sustainable. Radical action was needed and the head of the Reichsbank was full of radical ideas. The primary concern was reparations, which were draining Germany of necessary funds to function as a nation. These payments had been on hold for some time, but with the depression deepening abroad, there were renewed cries for them to resume. Negotiations with Hoover over the linkage between Allied war debts and repartations had been going on for some time, but finally under Schacht's pressure, the nasty triangle was broken and reparations were officially ended in 1933.

This was not the end of the issue however. Massive debt had been wracked up to pay for the reparations payments from America and Britain, so in a sense, Germany merely ended one set of payments for another. This would prove more problematic for Schacht to overcome, but eventually the issue was forced with Schacht declaring a moratorium on foreign debts, due to the poor balance of trade affecting the ability to pay. Naturally this caused a massive poltical backlash from the US and Britain, which forced Schacht to back down and agree to service interest and 25% of the previous principle of the debt. However, the crisis managed to highlight the poor balance of trade Germany was experiencing, which made it easier for Germany's political (and economic) allies in the US to make a stronger case for lowering tarriffs on German goods. Of course with was aided by Schacht threatening to cut imports of resources to balance trade. This argument would last for sometime, but really would only resolve itself when the German economy began to grow and attract US investment in German industry. This added political pressure on FDR to finally resume unrestrictive trade relations in '34. Ultimately with would also attract British investments too, which was Fuchs' desire. With this pressure added on the British government to lower tarriffs too, more trade began to flow, which further aided German recovery. This would also have the knock on effect of allowing Fuchs to leverage British polticians who benefited from this trade into supporting his foreign policy, but this would come later.

Internally, Fuchs and the DNF were building massive political captial by their agressive economic policy. With the official ending of reparations, Fuchs began to allocate public funds to job creation, which would prove to be the seeds for the Autobahn and later Volkwagen (under the cartel system through public investment and loans). By focussing on economic recovery instead of arms, Fuchs and Schacht were better able to represent Germany as a nation struggling to recover and join the family of nations in trade. This policy would also buy good will from FDR, as he was implimenting similar policies at home and often used the example of German efforts to convince hold outs in Congress as to the viablity of his policies. This start allowed for greater DNF gains in later elections, stealing votes from the SPD and other parties.

However, all was not well in the government. Blomberg and Fritsch were ardent nationalists and demanded greater funding for the military. These men were not politicians and disregarded political concerns in the demands for immediate, open rearmament. Luckily Fuchs was able to buy them off with an increased, if meager budget. This allowed for Blomberg's Umbau plan, which would double to Reichsheer through adding auxillieries to the army. This clever plan would allow the army to expand will making it seem that, on paper at least, part of the job creation plan included adding civilians to take over and enhance the military maintainance. In reality, the earlier cadres were forming for the full expansion of the military. In addition, civilians were being used to build military bases and air fields for the later rearmament, which was explained away as increased infrastructure, much like the Autobahn. The army was also able to buy its first trucks for motorization, but these were used more for training and doctrine development, as they were so few in number.

On foreign fronts, the cooperation with Russia was ended in 1932, as both parties increasingly lost interest in the program. Instead, the program was resumed in China, as increased relations with Chiang Kai Shek were built thanks to an economics advisor with links the the Chinese Nationalist regime was able to negotiate a trade deal with Chiang. This man was Max Bauer, a former military officer that had served with Fuchs and had come back to Germany to support him in his efforts to rebuild Germany. This relationship with China would be used to train and design both aircraft and tanks in secrecy. Additionally, China would be a source of cheap raw materials that would come to replace or reduce dependence on other suppliers. However, China was cash straped and needed military goods, so Bauer was able to establish an ingenious revolving trade deal that would involve the government giving China credits to buy weapons from Germany and would be paid for in raw materials. These materials would be sold to industries and would fund the credits. This revolving trade would expand on a similar deal that had existed in the 1920's. The major benefit of this deal, besides Chiang being grateful enough to let the Reichswehr use China as a development facility, was that it allowed German arms manufacturers like Krupp, Rheinmetal, and Messerschmidt to increase jobs in the economy and increase experience in arms system production and development. Naturally German soldiers would also man much of the more technical equipment for the Chinese and the fledgling Luftwaffe would cut its teeth in the early years by fighting Chinese warlords and communists.

On the home front Fuchs was also able to negotiate with the various parties in the Reichstag to outlaw the communist party in Germany. The members of the poltical parties were rounded up and interrogated. Of course, in the seizing of the party headquarters, documents (many of which were forged, but not all) were found linking the party to the Soviet Union, which further validated Fuchs' actions. Small Konzentrationslager would be set up to deal with these 'enemies of Germany'. Most Germans were appalled by the revelation of the linkage with the communists to the Soviets and memories still remained fresh from the civil war and the spartacist revolts in 1919. The camps were tolerated and looked to be further proof of Fuchs' benevolent nature. Obviously there were detractors, but Fuchs was careful not to censure them. He had to appear to be the defender of freedoms, so he reaffirmed their rights to speak out. Other nationalists were not so forgiving, and worked to suppress this dissent. Suprisingly though, this did not lead to much expatriotation, as many dissenters still felt that Germany was a free country, despite having political differences with the government. Stalin, in constrast, was furious that many of his agents and allies in Germany were now compromised. He would have to watch this cagey advesary.
 

Xen

Banned
This very good. Its a great read, but it kind of stinks cause I had been writing something similiar for the past couple of weeks to go along with my "A World Rewritten" TL. Still excellent Timeline, I am looking forward to seeing more.
 

Deleted member 1487

continued....

Further economic issues would cause Schacht and other economic planners headaches in the near future. One such problem involved issues remaining with the devaluation of the currency, especially as Britain and the US went off the gold standard. That made it easier for Germany to pay off its debts, but as made German products more expensive abroad. Through clever manipulation of markets at home and abroad the issue was deferred until the economy began to recover enough to confront the issue properly. Through careful spending and other controls, the Reichsbank was able to solve or limit most of the economic problems until the government had unblocked international trade. Problems would remain for years, but obvious recovery would be apparent by 1934. Infrastructure and government investment in industry would remain a priority, as would the covert cartelization of the economy.

The first true crisis of foreign relation occurred in Feburary of 1934. In that month, Engelbert Dollfuss, the chancellor of Austria, finally dissolved parliment and began to establish himself as dictator. Several of his political enemies fleed to Germany and begged Fuchs to intervene. Seizing this opportunity, Fuchs went before the League of nations and confronted Dollfuss and his new regime. He called for a plebecite and demanded that the Austrian people be given the chance to vote on living in a democracy or a dictatorship. This proclaimation threw the League into chaos. Britain supported Germany on principle, both the Germany should be allowed to unite with Austria, as many felt that France had overstepped at Versailles, and that Fascism must be stopped. France on the other hand was torn. They opposed Fascism on principle and were glad someone was standing up against its spread, but Germany violating Versailles and strengthening itself was abhorrant to the electorate. Not wanting to appear supportive of Germany or Fascism, France would give no opinion. Italy of course would stand up for Austria and offer troops to Dollfuss to resist. But Dollfuss was still very weak in his position, with significant resistance to his regime. He was worried that a refusal would throw the nation into civil war, cause his overthrow, and/or turn Austria into a battlefield. Reluctantly he relented and offered to hold the plebicite. However, Germany demanded that neutral nations within the League hold and run the vote. Citing experiences of voter irregularity or flat out denial in the Danzig and eastern border votes in the 1920's, Germany had Switzerland and Sweden tapped to run things. Despite some attempts at cheating by both sides, Germany won the vote by a safe margin fairly.

On March 5th, 1934, Germany united with Austria. On this day, Fuchs drove through numerous Austrian cities, flanked by German and Austrian troops to show the union of the people. However, there were several mishaps along the way, as the Reichswehr was not experienced in mass maneuvers of this kind. Broken down trucks lined many Austrian streets as spares and mechanics were not on hand. This be an important lesson to the Reichswehr, one that Fuchs in his cold fury would not let them forget. Along the way, Fuchs would meet a interesting out spoken officer by the name of von Manstein, that he would not forget. After their conversation next to one of the many broken vehicles, Fuchs would later remark "That man, though not by cup of tea, bears watching. He is going to save us one day". Eventually Fuchs would arrive in Vienna for a speech at Hofburg, the palace of the Habsburgs. While giving his remarks, a single shot was fired from the crowd, barely missing the man. The crowd in their fury severly beat the assassin, but spared him when it was apparent that their new Chancellor was safe. Fuchs gained respect with the Austrians when it was realized he had not ducked, nor seemed particularly ruffled by the experience. Laughing, he reminded the crowd that he had closer experiences to death in Russia fighting with his Austro-Hungarian comrades. Their affection would build quickly for this man, especially as government aid money would pour into Austria. This new province of Germany would prove later to be a base of votes for the DNF.

The union would add much to Germany. Not only was Schacht well prepared to integrate Austrian national banks into the Reichsbank, the gold and foreign exchange reserves would go far to replenish German stocks. As money flowed out of the banks of Austria, capital would flow into her industry. Money would be spent to expand the oil wells and refining capacity and roads linking Austria to the Autobahn would also appear. Airports/bases and new army training facilities would be built as would new housing. The economic miracle would spread south.

On the political front, Mussolini was to be reassured that South Tyrol was to remain Italian, and Fuchs even made a deal to accept ethnic Germans into the Reich. With that gesture, the southern neighbor reassured. France remained wary of this expansion of Germany, as one check to her power from Versailles was removed. Furthermore, many in France were starting to blame the government for not standing up for their victory in the Great War. While this would be with muted tones, as this was not necessarily as wide spread sentiment, as Germany started to recover economically, many more would raise their voices in protest to the (in)actions of the French government. In Britain, this was viewed with quiet acclaim as Fascism was seen to have stopped, France was given a snub (many in Britain were beginning to view the French as traditional rivals again), and Germany was confirmed as a 'true' democracy. Also, the economic opportunities continued to expand for British companies, as markets expanded in Germany and no longer would Austrian tariffs be concern. In the US, the view was generally positive, as a dictator was seen to have been out foxed by the 'good guys'. Most Americans started to develop a generally favorable impression of Germany, as they were perceived as being unfairly treated by the Allies after the war and were just reasserting themselves again. In Poland, the military Junta was wary of Germany, but overall unconcerned, as the Germans had proved to be decent trade partners. Over all, outside of the Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe was ambilivent about the Austrian union. German industry had penetrated into their markets and it was simply viewed as a good trade partner taking care of business. The Czechs were still concerned, as Germany now engulfed Czechoslovakia, and there were over 3 million ethnic Germans in the border region. Tensions over this issue would mount, but that matter would come later.

Within the army, the view was confirmed that the Chancellor was serious about restoring German power. There has been disquiet within certain circles that Fuchs was simply another politician, but his aggressive foreign policy stopped this talk cold. With the economic situation stabalizing, the military budget would increase to nearly 6% of yearly budget. The Austrian military, all 50,000 men, were integrated into the Reichswehr and brought in on the expansion of training. The establishment of the Gebirgsjaeger Korps in Austria was one example, as cadres were established for 3 divisions. This process would continue as the Reichswehr, which stood at over 250,000 men by mid-1934. Cadres were established for several tens of divisions so the expansion could be rapid in case of official rearmament. The Luftwaffe would continue to establish itself in China, as different structures were experimented with. The navy was finally able to begin to lay down its first new ships in years, with the frames of 2 'pocketbattleships' (really only heavy cruisers) being contructed in Kiel. Additionally there were several destroyers planned, with the possiblity of more for later years. Plans were made for the development and construction of submarines as well, but these were of the utmost secrecy. The research and development committee of the military was beginning to expand as more money flowed into their coffers. German rearmament had unofficially begun.
 
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Deleted member 1487

1935

There is a storm outside and I'm bored, so here goes....

The year of 1935 was not particularly eventful, but several significant developments occurred. First, the training cycle for the new inductees was concluded for the first expansion of the Reichswehr. Unofficially the Heer stood at over 250,000 men, with nearly 50,000 more in nearly ready to become fully operational soldiers. More field exercises were planned in light of the failures of troops movements into Austria. More staff exercises with a concentration on logistics were conducted. Significant advancements were made in the mechanical field repair units in the Reichswehr, but it became quickly apparent that there was a significant lack of mechanical aptitude in the German populace. The average German did not own a car and the lack of mechanics was trouble some to the army. This demand by the army would influence the creation of Volkswagen, as the effort to promote car ownership and develop an automotive industry was crucial to the German warmachine. Initial sales would be greater abroad than in Germany, but as the economy continued to expand, car ownership would increase.

1935 would also be the founding of the Panzer divisions. The very first units were delivered to the Chinese development schools earlier in '34 which allowed for actual testing with armored vehichles. Doctrine was developed quickly with various armor proponents like Guderian driving the innovation. China would prove ideal as a testing ground for armored forces, as all types of terrain were available with plenty of enemies, warlords fighting against Chiang, for combat testing. By the following year, enough officers had rotated through the school to establish the cadres for 3 divisions. These troops would be required to rotate back to China for updated training every year until rearmament could be announced. They would not have to wait long.

Funding would once again be increased, nearly up to 10% of the budget. This would allow for increased motorization in the army, but the decision was made to only completely motorize select divisions to maximize the limited numbers of vehicles available. The next crop of recruits were inducted, nearly 100,000 men. However, the pool of willing candidates was drying up, as jobs were increasingly available and the expansion of the armed forces as not openly advertised.

Trade and the economy continued to expand in Germany, but unemployment still remained high. To combat this trend, an effort was made to take certain segments of the population out of the work pool. Teenagers, married women, and older men were brought out of the work pool by increasing the working age to 20, requiring companies to fire married women while expanding incentives to have children, and by extending retirement benefits to encourage older men to retire. These measures would artificially drop unemployment signifcantly and further make Fuchs look particularly effective to the general public. The DNF would pick up the majority of seats in the Reichstag by the 1936 elections.
 
Wiking, great stuff so far. Austria and Germany join in 1934 and they are building up allies. So this alternate Axis be made of Germany, Italy, and China? Or will Fuchs filp on the Chinese and side with Japan.

Another smart move would be to co-op someone in Spain. Not sure if it should be Franco or not, but if Fuchs can make Spain an ally in WWII then Britain is screwed in the Med.
 
Wiking, great stuff so far. Austria and Germany join in 1934 and they are building up allies. So this alternate Axis be made of Germany, Italy, and China? Or will Fuchs filp on the Chinese and side with Japan.

Another smart move would be to co-op someone in Spain. Not sure if it should be Franco or not, but if Fuchs can make Spain an ally in WWII then Britain is screwed in the Med.
From what I recall from schooling on the subject wasn't prior to the alliance with Japan Germany on better terms with China? So thereby wouldn't flipping on China be a bad idea especially if he doesn't like Communist Russia
 
A very intriguing idea. I wonder if a real WW really has to happen here. Mybe it becomes more like a "early cold war" with more of countries backing other conflicts? Of course it is titled "2nd Great War" so there is bound to be one. We should all keep very open minds here, as likely anything could happen.

One question, how does Germany facilitate its communications and transport of tech and personell to China efficiently (its a long way). Also, Germany could still "build up"ut its stuff could be seen as "exported" and not for domestic use?

have a happy holiday
 

Deleted member 1487

I'm still toying with the idea of the 'Great War'. I'm thinking that it will be called that, because it will not be a true world war, rather a continuation/end of the first war. Be prepared, expect some interesting developments, but there will be some of the same.

As for the China thing, the German merchant marine is going to function as the facilitator of goods. Don't worry, I will try to keep logical about the reality of transporation. But this might mean that the demand for goods to be shipped to China will require a bigger merchant marine (Germany had one of the largest in the world before WW1) or outsourcing to a trustworthy 3rd party.
 

Xen

Banned
Can you do this and still keep Germany a democracy? Without making Germany the bad guys?

You can do it. I do not know if that's what Wiking has in mind though. Germany would be a very conservative democracy, most likely a limited democracy with many parties outlawed.
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
Would be interresting if an alliance consisiting of France, Poland and Czechoslovakia would be created, giving Germany a real challenge to reverse Versailles.
 

Deleted member 1487

1936

This was the year that the world changed dramatically and set the path for war. In March, Italy invaded Ethiopia and moved quickly to subdue the nation, however plans were frustrated by heavy resistance by the outgunned Ethiopian army. Eventually the use of gas and bombing of civilian centers forced the government to capitulate. Naturally the European powers were appalled by the excessive and militant actions of Mussolini and they condemned the invasion while seeking to enact sanctions. In reality it was posturing that did little to impede the Italian economy. However Mussolini was furious at the hypocracy of the league nations for attempting to thwart his attempts at building a colonial empire. Significantly Germany was silent on the matter, abstaining from any votes in the league. Mussolini took notice and made is appreciation known to Fuchs. This dentente between the formerly hostile nations would continue over the years and would culminate in a 'understanding' between the leaders.

Additionally, the Spain Civil War began in July, with the Soviets and Italians intervening immediately. The League took a non-interventionalist postion immediately, to which Germany agreed. Apart from observers, the Western powers would stay out of the grinding quagmire. Despite atrocities on both sides, including the bombing of Guernica by Italian bombers, the war would continue for years without resolution.

August would also see the beginning of the Olympics in Berlin, where Fuchs was able to debut his reformed, friendly Germany to the world. Stunning architecture would dazzle the world, as would German athletic performance. Significantly, Jesse Owens won the gold for the 100 meter dash that Germany was favored to win. In good spirits, Fuchs met and shook the hand of the American victor. He even invited the man to dinner with his German rival, which stunned the American public. To invite a black man to a state dinner was unheard of in the US. Owens would not have such an honor back home. The olympics that year was filmed by a rising director, Leni Reifenstahl, who would become one of Fuchs' favorite film makers. The film would go on to be the most popular foreign film in the US and Britain. The experience that most of the participating nations would have in Berlin would serve to rehibilitate the image of Germany abroad and would served to protect the reputation for democracy that would be tested by events later that year.

In light of the violence that year and with fading hopes for peaceful discussion in the league, one more disarmament conference was held in london. All the major nations of Europe and the US and Japan were invited. The debate started off on an acrimonious tone, as all sides were too self interested to make concessions. The US was unwilling to limit its navy, nor was Britain. The French refusals to discuss limitations of her army were especially troublesome, as Germany was then validated in her desire to rearm. French intrasigence bolstered this argument, as Germany successfully argued that she was unfairly limited next to agressive, unyielding neighbors, like the militant French and Italians, while a Polish military dictatorship bordered in the East. Britain took Germany's side in an attempt to force French concessions, but this approach badly backfired, as France walked out of the negotiations. Bolstered by this evidence of French pig-headedness, the German delegation left the conference. Fuchs quickly seized the opportunity to declare and end to the Treaty of Versailles. Rearmament was announced in response to the behavior of the French, much to the lament of the British. The entire opposite of the objective of their conference was achieved. French government officials made remarks about invading Germany in retaliation, further justifying German demands for rearmament. Internationally the situation tarnished the image of France. Eventually the Reichswehr, now renamed the Wehrmacht marched into the Rheinland with the stated objective of defending Germany from French aggression. An international crisis was spiralling out of control. The French contacted the Polish, who were also equally alarmed, and began to negotiate a mutual intervention into German industrial regions. Fuchs played hard and fast to head off this eventuality by offering to demilitarize both sides of the Rhein if France would demilitarize her border. Poland was offered and accepted a non-aggression treaty of 10 years. France rejected her offer and eventually backed down as pressure began to mount in the League and the coalition of small nations, the so-called little Entente, backed out one by one. Fuchs had won a smashing political victory at home and abroad. He had, in one fell swoop, destroyed all obsticals to German expansion. Britain was confirmed as a supporter of Germany, though somewhat reluctant. France appeared to the world as belligerent and Germany enhanced her aura of respectibility. The world began to accept the view of German victimhood at Versailles and would be willing to accept a greater assertiveness in her foreign policy.

This event would have massive effects on German policy. The large schools in China could be shifted to Germany, with a small presence remaining. The Luftwaffe was announced and conscription was reinstated. It became obvious to the world that Germany had been preparing for this day, but no one was particularly suprised. By December of '36, Germany had nearly half a million men in her armed forces (all branches). The differing states of training would mean that this force would not be ready for action any time soon, but would be enough of a threat to cause the beginning of French modernization programs for her military.

Fuchs had achieved many of his policy goals and the DNF won massive numbers in the Reichstag. Though Germany remained a republic, in practice Fuchs was able to pass through any law or action he needed in parliment. All that remained was a need for Germany to reunite with its minorities and correct the border in the East. The lack of strategic materials within German borders was worrisome for Fuchs, but with Chinese markets open to German trade, the need to conquer foreign territory was assuaged. The future looked bright indeed.
 
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