To Hell Or Bavaria.

So, you've just joined Arch Dubliner, what will you do?

I suppose write a timeline; get prominent.

Well, Obviously. I mean what about?

Hm... Has the Weimar Republic been done much?

YES!

What about stories wherein an obscure figure from that period suddenly became important?

If you're thinking of killing Hitler off at Munich, I will hurt you.

Okay then, Erzberger lives it is! Also Ludendorff is relevant!

I'm watching you...

I don't doubt it, now to force Gonzo to make a graphic at gunpoint!

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"They have come from the woodwork, the Socialists, the Jews, the Communists, some of my own, albeit more traitorous, peers... We have crushed them all before; this will be no different. Their sole aim is our downfall. A wise man once said that Germany was born out of battle, with a helmet fixed to its skull; he was correct. We will trample our enemies into the dirt, and upon them we shall build the greatest empire the world has ever known. The Reich is strong. I am strong. You are strong. Together, we will send our enemies to Hell or to Bavaria - whichever we deem crueler."

- Erich Ludendorff
 
If given a choice to go to Hell or Bavaria, I'd have to sit down and THINK. Long and hard. I lived there for four years. Hated it mostly.

And the beer sucked, too. So a devil peeing on me might actually be an improvement :D

Watching this with interest.
 
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If given a choice to go to Hell or Bavaria, I'd have to sit down and THINK. Long and hard. I lived there for four years. Hated it mostly.

And the beer sucked, too. So a devil peeing on me might actually be an improvement :D

Watching this with interest.
Of course, at the same time, the devil might pick the opposite from what you wish.
 
Thanks for the encouragement you guys! This is my first time being part of an actually really active community of writers! All the ones I've investigated before have been dead or slowly dying before now, so I hope I'm not carrying some sort of curse. :p

First part will be up in the next couple of days. :)
 

Hell or Bavaria


Part 1: 1918 - 1922 Peace, War and the Age of Housewives

In the year 1918, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day and all that, the First World War took an uneasy recess, only to be formally resolved in June of the next year. However, this did not stop Germany from losing its head in many senses in the meantime. Upon the declaration of the armistice by the newly appointed - and likely rather exasperated and confused - democratic government, many generals, including one Erich Ludendorff, gave up their posts in protest. Indeed, these condemning defections may well have been a large problem if not for the tumult provided by the so-called German Revolution, where the squabbles between the government and military were overshadowed by a sudden blooming of Communist enthusiasm across Russia.

There was Luxembourg in Berlin, Eisner in Bavaria, and various other embarrassing little distractions which created enough of a racket to confuse Germans out of their anger with the sudden supplanting of Berlin by Weimar. By January 1919, the Weimar government, led by President Ebert, seemed to have suffered the worst of it. Ebert had permanently alienated the communists from the socialists, and ironically the reputation of Bavaria as a communist hellhole turned it into a fertile field in which an incalculable number of homogeneously radical and violent nationalist groups sprouted. However, the communists had been squeezed into the corner of the electorate, and it seemed like Weimar could proceed as usual.

Then peace came. And suddenly another, more permanent wave swept across the country, this wave was made more of outrage than of the opportunistic enthusiasm of Communists. They were there, certainly, but they were dwarfed by yet more angry Generals. Those who had stayed their tongues at the Armistice, such as Hindenburg, insisted that they had been “stabbed in the back”. Those who had remained loyal suddenly found themselves at a loss - Germany’s face had been carved up with a knife, and no one seemed to be doing anything to stop the bleeding.

This brought some, such as Luttwitz, round to the views originally voiced by Ludendorff the previous year. They, with bands of disenfranchised and recently unemployed soldiers stood with Wolfgang Kapp, a Prussian civil servant, to channel fury against Ebert’s government, and in March 1920 they took the city of Berlin. The military refused to aid the government, and Kapp set about building his own. After being thwarted by the willful inactivity of workers in the city, Kapp wandered to Scandinavia, and Luttwitz strolled Hungary, and Erich didn’t even have to do that. The military hadn’t objected to their plots, and allowed them the blind eye they needed to walk free.

And after this, the principal of our story found himself in a bizarre predicament. Having been outshone by Hindenburg, out-shouted by the Communists, outmaneuvered by Ebert and now overlooked by the justice system, he wandered Southwards to Bavaria, in something of a daze at his shocking inability to be relevant to his country’s politics. He set up a group called the Volkisch Movement in an effort to legally agitate, but still found himself overshadowed by contemporaries, and permanently locked out of power.

In the absence of the revolutionaries, the Weimar Republic started to settle into an uneasy peace. However, some, both on the left and on the right, were unwilling to accept that Germany wasn’t ready for their brand of politics, and as such displayed their anger through the assassination government officials. Most prominent in this great tantruming was the group Organisation Consul, who grew increasingly ambitious over the course of the next year. And then they got some mad idea in their head about going after someone really prominent, someone who had signed the Armistice - Erzberger.

Matthias Erzberger had, as mentioned before, been the man to sign the armistice. He had been targeted mercilessly by the right-wing press, and Kapp had personally condemned him during the Putsch of March 1920. He’d called Erzberger the government’s “leading light”, in spite of his being forced to resign by the government literally the day before the rising. He’d even been targeted unsuccessfully by assassins in that period - in short, March 1920 was a horrific month to be called Mathias Erzberger. Since then, Erzberger had heard no office, and seemed to merely exist, made a pariah by society.

Nonetheless, Manfred von Killinger, a Freikorps leader and one of the most prominent men in Organisation Consul, attempted to gain that symbolic victory over Weimar by killing its midwife. On 26 August 1921, two men from Organisation Consul - Heinrich Tillessen and Heinrich Schulz - were sent by Killinger to assail Erzberger while he was out on his walk at the Bad Griebsbech spa in the Black Forest. However, Erzberger departed on his walk later than anticipated, with his colleague Carl Diez walking slightly ahead of him. Diez was shot and killed by Tillessen and Schulz, who mistook him for Erzberger in the low-light. Erzberger hid and slipped away under cover of darkness. Meanwhile, the two assassins set about fleeing Germany. Having seen a second attempt on his life, Erzberger resolved to re enter politics, and to agitate for a crackdown on Organisation Consul and others.

On September the 4th 1921, Erzberger arrived in the Rhineland and set up the “Allianz treuer Deutscher” “Committee of Loyal Germans”, a paramilitary group designed to counter the nationalist groups such as the SA, and of course, Organisation Consul. Being greatly popular among the Rhineland Catholics, the party reached 1,000 members within two weeks of its founding. On October 12 1921, Erzberger made his famous Cologne Speech, to a crowd of over 3,000 supporters, condemning his attackers:

“There are some, who would defend these cowards, claiming that they are attempting to rebuild Imperial Germany. However, what they forget is that they go against the ways of the Reich, against the ways of the Kaiser. This is a nation built on the cavalry charge and protected by the steel helmet. These dogs, these fools, seek to build a nation on what some may call “cloak and dagger”. In truth, they would build a land of old maids, carving it out with a butterknife, and dressing it in a shawl! They hide because they fear we will look upon their frail forms! I tell you now people, I will no longer tolerate the old maids bullying our government. Any further butter-knives will be trampled by our righteous charge!”

Killinger, already holding Erzberger in contempt, resolved to send the sharpest of his butter-knives to silence him for good: Hermann Erhardt.

On 16 October 1921, Hermann Erhardt arrived in the Rhineland with a force of fifty former Freikorps members (ten of which were armed with rifles, and a further six possessing small arms of various sorts), with the orders to “return with his head or your own”. He approached the ATD’s offices outside Cologne, intending to vandalise the offices and kill Erzberger.

The offices outside Cologne were established within a large country estate, with a manor serving as the meeting place of the Party’s fledgling leadership (at that point only consisting of Matthias and a few of his close friends). Erhardt and his men, faces obscured, marched on the manor in the evening hours of the 18 October, chanting the national anthem of the Reich as they did so, in between bouts of chanting insults towards Erzberger and his allies, such as Walter Rathenau, who had recently come out in support of the ATD and made large donations to it.

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The ATD offices - “Erzberger Hill”

Climbing what is now known as Erzberger Hill, the Freikorps men took positions along the edges of the property. Erhardt came to the fore in a truck, and disembarked in the middle of the estate’s courtyard. He attempted to approached the house with a small delegation, demanding that Erzberger surrender himself, in return for the safety of the others inside. Before he could finish his demands he was fired upon by someone within the house. Erhardt was shot in the knee, and one of his lieutenants took a bullet to the neck. The surviving members of the envoy fled, carrying their captain to shelter behind the truck. However, due to the fire provided by the gunman, they were unable to flee. A tense standoff emerged, with Freikorps men firing upon the sentry and any others who appeared, but refusing to try and storm the house due to the refusal of one of their officers to “risk Erhardt’s life”, and general disorder in their leader’s absence. They hadn’t anticipated any armed resistance, and had at least expected the to respect the conventions of negotiation. Itis believed that roughly twenty of the Freikorps men fled the scene.

The police arrived approximately two hours after, sending 40 men to meet Erhardt’s. Being better armed, the police stormed the location and arrested the wounded Erhardt. And thus, the Battle of Erzberger Hill was won.

According to the official account, there was only one gunman within the house, but in hindsight it is believed that there were at least ten due to the widespread nature of the violence. Indeed, fourteen men died, including three ATD members and six of the Freikorps. Due to the area over which these men would have been spread, and their experience as military men, it is hard to conceive that the one gunman was responsible.

However, this gunman in particular, Frederick Radek was arrested, and consequently stood trial alongside Erhardt and several others. The trial was hastily rushed through in the space of two weeks and on 7 November, Radek received a prison sentence of nine years for several counts of murder, aggravated assault, attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, while Erhardt received a sentence of two for illegal possession of a firearm and incitement to violence. The riots that broke out as a result of this in the Rhineland forced Ebert to dismiss Chancellor Wirth, who demanded the use of Article 48. Ebert then pushed through legislation in the Reichstag which authorised a brutal crackdown on Organisation Consul, and temporarily permitted torture of political prisoners. The legislation passed by a vast majority, on 15 November with only the DNVP and DVP providing any significant resistance (and even then, in this latter party, the chairman, Gustav Stresemann, abstained from debate). Ebert also had the judge in question dismissed, and gave Radek a retrial in February 1922, which lead to an innocent verdict.

Organisation Consul was hit brutally by Ebert. Erhardt was tortured, and Killinger discovered. On 28 November 1921, police raided his house with the intent of arresting him, but found that he had fled - being tipped off by informers within the police service. On 1st December 1921, Killinger was found dead at what was believed to be his birthplace in Gut Lindigt, Saxony. Erzberger described it as “the greatest early Christmas gift I’ve received in many a year: true justice”.

This being said, while Killinger was exposed, Erhardt held off on naming other members. This allowed them time to escape or begin to arm themselves. Ernst Von Salomon and Schulz took control of the group after this, and rallied its members to fight a guerrilla campaign against Ebert. In the Winter of 1921 sixteen police officers and officials were killed, and former Chancellor and Foreign Secretary Hermann Muller was captured and given a mock trial before being executed. In retaliation, over 400 former Freikorps men were arrested. There were also attempts on the lives of Ex-Chancellor Bauer, Walter Rathenau and Ex-Foreign Minister Adolf Koster.

There was an attempt by Organisation Consul leaders to organise a similar trial for Ebert. However, with Killinger gone, these men lacked proper organisation and acted rashly. There was also a delay in planning, as they had to smuggle Schulz back into the country, and then to Berlin.

Salomon attempted to enlist former Freikorps leader and retired General, Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker. The two had fought the Spartacists in Berlin together in 1919, and Salomon hoped to enlist his experience. However, while showing interest to Salomon’s face, Maercker reported him to the police. He he had been swayed by the rhetoric of Erzberger, viewing Organisation Consul as cowards. The police instructed him to organise a meeting with Salomon and other leading conspirators.

Salomon was consequently arrested alongside Schulz and several others in a bar in Berlin on 30th December 1921. This brought an end to the so-called “Winter Conspiracy”. Both Maercker and Ezberger were awarded the Golden Merit Cross from Ebert for their bravery. Ebert also attempted to admit them into the Order of Merit of the Prussian Crown.

This latter award was controversial, as there was debate as to who had the right to award this, the President or Kaiser, particularly considering that Ebert wasn't himself a member. In March 1922, Wilhem approved the appointment of Maercker, but it wouldn't be until 1926 that he issued a blanket decree approving all admissions made by Ebert. However, afterwards it was revealed that the Kaiser had been expecting to die of a particularly bad case of pneumonia, and was attempting to resolve his feuds before his death.

Nonetheless, bearing in mind the collapse of Organisation Consul and the failure of the Winter Conspiracy, it is easy to understand that in November 1923, Erich Ludendorff was faced with something of a dilemma: loyalty to a state he hated or a doomed conspiracy.
 
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Did he actually say this?

It's a great quote either way.

fasquardon

Nah, sorry to disappoint but he didn't. All I can find by way of quotes from him at this moment are relating to Jews and his hatred of Christianity, so I had to come up with one on my own.

That being said, really, thanks for the complement. :D I wasn't sure about it, so it's great to know it paid off.
 
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If given a choice to go to Hell or Bavaria, I'd have to sit down and THINK. Long and hard. I lived there for four years. Hated it mostly.

And the beer sucked, too. So a devil peeing on me might actually be an improvement :D

Watching this with interest.

If this very specific dilemma ever arises, I will have to take note of what you've said. Thank you for your contribution. :p
 
Interesting. I like Weimar timelines, since they offer many different directions.
I would rename the “Ausschuss der Deutschen Treu” , since it sounds strange (and wrong) to a native speaker.
"Ausschuss" is not the right word for a paramilitary organization, it is better used for political fields or bureaucracy.
Loyal Germans are "treue Deutsche". (If you want to use the Genetive "XXX treuer Deutscher")
"Verband treuer Deutscher" or "Verbund treuer Deutscher" seems possible. But it sounds a little bit generic and not radical enough for a paramilitary.
You could also use Allianz, Front, Banner or Heimwehr. You could add ReichsXXXX (Reichsverband, Reichsfront ...).
 
Interesting. I like Weimar timelines, since they offer many different directions.
I would rename the “Ausschuss der Deutschen Treu” , since it sounds strange (and wrong) to a native speaker.
"Ausschuss" is not the right word for a paramilitary organization, it is better used for political fields or bureaucracy.
Loyal Germans are "treue Deutsche". (If you want to use the Genetive "XXX treuer Deutscher")
"Verband treuer Deutscher" or "Verbund treuer Deutscher" seems possible. But it sounds a little bit generic and not radical enough for a paramilitary.
You could also use Allianz, Front, Banner or Heimwehr. You could add ReichsXXXX (Reichsverband, Reichsfront ...).

Thanks for the feedback. I really wasn't sure how that name would read in German, so it's good to get it corrected. :) It is now the "Allianz Treuer Deutscher".
 
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