Weber's Germany: The Veterinarian Totalitarian
- Thread starter Tom Colton
- Start date
1.1 Foreword; The Rise of Hitler
That's an angle I didn't think of. The implications on the US political climate might be affected...assuming the war goes beyond 1944, that is.
But but but veterinarians are nice!
Well, everyone knows Hitler loved his dog.
As for Weber's "rhetoric", which I wrote, he's speaking to his fellow Nazis, so he's going to be playing up the racial theories. I do like the chilling implications I put right at the end. Regarding to what extents the anti-semitism will be played up with regards to the anti-Communism and irridentism, removing the theories of racial supremacy over the Jews and the Slavic people would make the Nazis stop being Nazis, which isn't the point of this timeline. I'd just like to reaffirm, although Germany will (probably) not follow genocidal policies, their actions cannot in any way be considered 'nice'. They'll still be the same aggressive, expansionist, racist and ruthless assholes they were IOTL, just more sensible about it.
It'll still form part of (both) Germany and Russia's plans to bide their time and build up resources before their inevitable war.
Okay, on to the first part!
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THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GREATER GERMAN REICH
BY PROF. THOMAS COLTON and DR. NORMAN IVERSON
BY PROF. THOMAS COLTON and DR. NORMAN IVERSON
INTRODUCTION
It is remarkable, if a sobering reminder of our world’s lack of vigilance towards megalomania, how a soft-spoken veterinarian managed to get himself – and his nation – where he did. The Nazi Party was as ruined after the failed putsch as Germany itself was following the Great War, and yet still he managed to essentially get himself appointed Dictator-for-Life, and at its height, German-occupied territories stretched from France in the west to a line drawn between the Baltic and the Black Sea in the East.
In both cases the method was identical; selective representation of facts, manipulation of those around him, and finally coercion with force. As for his personal rise to power, it was perhaps a simple matter of historical coincidence that he was perfectly poised to seize Hitler’s legacy, but it was his own personal ambition and savvy which let him capitalize upon it in such the effective manner which he did.
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PART 1
THE DEATH OF HITLER AND THE RISE OF WEBER
“It is vital that these words see print. The destiny of Germany depends upon them.”
The last words of Adolf Hitler, leader of NSDAP, said to Friedrich Weber.
The last words of Adolf Hitler, leader of NSDAP, said to Friedrich Weber.
It is an oft-repeated truism that the history of the world as we know it pivoted on certain crucial decisions or simple quirks of luck. Had the chauffer of Archduke Franz Ferdinand been better informed of the Archduke’s intentions to visit the hospital where the wounded from the previous attempt on his life were being treated and not made that fateful wrong turn, the Great War may have been averted entirely, although the interlocking systems of alliances that had split Europe and the world in twain by then probably merely required another spark to set the powder keg of the world’s armies off.
The rise of Doctor Friedrich Weber, a veterinary student who served in the Bavarian Cavalry, can similarly be traced to such a single moment in time, although as will be made abundantly clear, it was his own actions and decisions which enabled him to act upon this opportunity presented to him. Indeed, had he chosen to act differently in the aftermath of the death of Adolf Hitler, the leader of the National Socialist Party of Germany, from wounds sustained in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, the fate of the world would have been markedly changed.
To understand the context of Weber’s rise to power, it is necessary to briefly recount the state of Germany by the end of the Great War, and likewise the state of the NSDAP Party on the cusp of the Beer Hall Putsch. The Treaty of Versailles had left Germany humbled and reduced, territorially and in prestige. Its colonial empire had been stripped and doled out to the victorious Allied Powers, its military reduced to effective nonexistence and the economy subjected to massive reparations to be paid annually.
To the remnants of the Kaiserreich, this was an ludicrous price to pay for a loss which in the eyes of many Germans had not even occurred on the battlefield. Blame was placed on the businessmen and the Jews, encouraged by the military personnel, eager to avoid shouldering responsibility. Conspiracy theories were abounding that the nation had been sold out by these oligarchs to strengthen their hold over what remained of the German economy – the so-called “stab-in-the-back” theory.
One subscriber to these theories was a man called Adolf Hitler, who had served in the War as a regimental runner, and been awarded the Iron Cross for his actions in it. Like many disaffected Germans, he saw no reason for this sudden capitulation, and expressed his frustrations in politics following a failed entry into the art industry, joining the German Workers’ Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei - DAP) led by Anton Drexler. The party soon re-established itself as the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei).
Figure 1: Adolf Hitler.
Hitler swiftly rose in the ranks of the party, enchanting many with his speeches in Munich, a hotbed of anti-Communist activity. Among his early allies were Rudolf Hess, Hermann Göring, Ernst Röhm and, of course, Friedrich Weber. Hitler had absorbed the writings of Weber’s father-in-law, Julius Friedrich Lehmann, as collected in Germany’s Renewal, and taken its messages of racial supremacy and anti-Semitism to heart.
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I'd just like to add one caveat: While I have a rough idea of the "plot" of this timeline, I am by no means an expert on the rise of the Nazi Party or World War II (although I would say I know more than most of my friends). I've borrowed The Third Reich by Hildebrand, The Hitler State by Broszat and The Second World War: A Short History by Parker to help me out on this front.
If any of the points I'm making are too fantastic, feel free to chip in. Also, I might make appeals for specific details on how certain actions, political processes and troop movements might work.
Thank you!
If any of the points I'm making are too fantastic, feel free to chip in. Also, I might make appeals for specific details on how certain actions, political processes and troop movements might work.
Thank you!
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Very interesting, never heard of Weber, but if he was in the Oberlander League he definitely had the connections. Can't wait to see more!
Saphroneth
Banned
I recommend Wages of Destruction. It's useful in giving some sense of the economic constraints in Germany in the 1930s (and 40s, though by then Das Butterflies are roosting.)If any of the points I'm making are too fantastic, feel free to chip in. Also, I might make appeals for specific details on how certain actions, political processes and troop movements might work.
Thank you!
HeavyWeaponsGuy
Banned
Stalin wasn't particularly known for being a fine speaker either.
It's quite possible that his leadership could be of the power-behind-the-throne variety.
Thanks, guys!
Naturally, this text will play up Weber's connections to Hitler, given it's in-universe, so I might be making up more intimacy between the two than actually existed.
Indeed he was! (p.14)
Naturally, this text will play up Weber's connections to Hitler, given it's in-universe, so I might be making up more intimacy between the two than actually existed.
Enigmajones is closer to the mark here; were I to go with the latter as suggested by HeavyWeaponsGuy, Weber would essentially be *Himmler, and that's not quite the road this timeline is going down, especially given the PoD. Weber will be getting some oratory lessons, and I have interesting plans for Himmler...but I'm getting ahead of myself again.
Thanks! I'll check if the university library has it stocked.
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Next section will be up soon; I'm just getting the details on how the Nazis come to power after 1930 done up, and I'll be done with the first of the major chapters of this timeline.
BTW, "Norman Iverson" is actually a reference to something.
BTW, "Norman Iverson" is actually a reference to something.
Enigmajones is closer to the mark here; were I to go with the latter as suggested by HeavyWeaponsGuy, Weber would essentially be *Himmler, and that's not quite the road this timeline is going down, especially given the PoD. Weber will be getting some oratory lessons, and I have interesting plans for Himmler...but I'm getting ahead of myself again.
Honestly Im still pissed Im to busy to do my other timeline idea, Erhardt is a crazy monster.
That's a rather tender subject. Another slice, anyone?As for Weber's "rhetoric", which I wrote, he's speaking to his fellow Nazis, so he's going to be playing up the racial theories. I do like the chilling implications I put right at the end.
1.2 The Beer Hall Putsch
Be afraid...be very afraid...An academic Nazi leader?!
This summer, Mads Mikkelsen IS the Fuhrer in Weber: The Rise of Evil!
...nahh.
On to the next part!
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PART 1
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PART 1
When 9 November 1923 rolled around, seeking to emulate the example of Benito Mussolini in Italy, who had seized power through his infamous “March on Rome” in the previous year, Hitler sought to similarly do so in Munich, by leading a revolution from a popular beer hall there. Supported by Erich Ludendorff, joint head of Germany’s war efforts in the last months of the Great War and a promoter of the so-called “stab-in-the-back” theory, Hitler gathered the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary branch of NSDAP, and prepared for his coup.
At this stage, Weber was the commander of the Freikorps Oberland, an anti-communist militia which formed the core of the SA. Thus, when Hitler marched through the streets of Munich, so did Weber. Hitler interrupted a speech by State Commissar Gustav von Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller (Munich Beer Hall), declaring the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. When Kahr refused to collaborate, Hitler led the SA onto the streets, eventually deciding to march on the Bavarian Defence Ministry, as suggested by Ludendorff.
Figure 2: Hitler and Weber, during the Beer Hall Putsch.
It was to prove a costly decision. There, at the Odeonsplatz, the 2000 or so NSDAP supporters encountered a force of about 100 policemen, and a gun battle broke out, killing 17 NSDAP members and 4 police officers. Among these was Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, a top NSDAP leader, who clutched at Hitler’s shoulder and dislocated it as he collapsed to the ground, having been shot in the lungs.At this critical moment, it was reported that a shot rang out from one of the two buildings (later the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance) adjacent to the road leading to the Palais Ludwig Ferdinand. A bullet struck Hitler in the chest, instantly knocking him onto his back. His breathing was weak and laboured, but he still lived. Bavarian police later proceeded to storm the building, leading to a singularly inexplicable mystery.
Figure 3: The only known photograph of the mysterious Paul Driscoll, as he was brought to his holding cell.
The shooter was identified as an American, Paul Driscoll, armed with a Gewehr 98 rifle. When questioned by the police, he had no comment to give except that “My mission is done. Future generations will be spared the horrors of that madman’s ambitions for all time.” When prison guards arrived to question him the next morning, he had vanished from his holding cell as though he had never been there. The meaning of his words, his motivations, or his knowledge that the clash would occur there are all queries lost to the mists of supposition. [1]
Regardless of the circumstances of Hitler’s injury, the damage had been done – the NSDAP supporters were quickly rounded up by the police, and those not directly involved in the confrontation, including Hess and Göring, escaped to Austria. Eventually, Adolf Hitler, Friedrich Weber, Erich Ludendorff, Ernst Röhm, Heinz Pernet, Wilhelm Frick, Hermann Kriebel, Wilhelm Brückner and Robert Wagner were hauled up before the Munich Special Court and tried for various degrees of treason in 1924.
Figure 4: The defendants of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. Weber is second from left, Hitler fourth from right.
Weakened as he was, Hitler used the trial as a platform for his patriotic ideals, and the sympathetic judges gave him and the other NSDAP leaders very lenient sentences, or even released them, such as the cases of Röhm and Frick. Incredibly, Ludendorff entered the same defence he had at the trial for the previous Kapp putsch – that he was there purely by coincidence – and he was believed and acquitted. Despite the good living conditions at Landsberg Prison, Hitler’s health began to deteriorate quickly – he had rejected surgery to remove the bullet, fearing the operation would do him more harm than good. [2]
While incarcerated, he began to dictate his autobiography to Weber, who dutifully recorded it down. His thoughts soon went beyond his own life story to the philosophies he had envisioned for the NSDAP. As mentioned above, these philosophies were strongly influenced by Germany’s Renewal by J. F. Lehmann as well as The Passing of the Great Race by Madison Grant, another polemic on the alleged superior Nordic race.
Figure 5: The imprisoned NSDAP leaders in the Landsberg Prison common room.
Owing to his poor health and his good behaviour, Hitler and Weber were released from Landsberg on 26th October, 1924, after serving a mere six months of their sentences. Hitler’s health did not improve, though, and he spent his last few months alive frantically finalising the volume which he intended to name Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice. On his deathbed, he urged Weber to finish the work he had begun, send it to print and keep the NSDAP alive. He expired on 20th December 1924, aged 35.
It was thus through this set of circumstances that Friedrich Weber, a former instructor in veterinary medicine at the University of Munich, and a primary instigator of the failed Munich Putsch, was left with the only copy of what amounted to the National Socialist Manifesto in existence. It is unknown just when or how he realised the massive potential within his hands, but it appears to have been a moment which he would return to time and again later in life.
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[1] That's right, Twilight Zone fans - he actually succeeded this time! (If that makes this timeline ASB, I'll change it to Hitler getting shot by a Bavarian policeman instead.)
[2] IOTL, he refused or simply didn't get access to good help with his shoulder, leading to a lifelong stance issue.
[2] IOTL, he refused or simply didn't get access to good help with his shoulder, leading to a lifelong stance issue.
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I like the Driscoll bit, as long as the rest of the timeline plays out without any other time-travelers shooting important officials.
I got this gut feeling Weber is going to be worse than Hitler.
I got this gut feeling Weber is going to be worse than Hitler.
Paul Driscoll makes it near-litterally ASB.
Yes: efficient and true believer
.The first chapter suggests that he was ultimately defeated, but it looks like a much naster war in the process.
1.3 Weber Takes Control
All right, noted. I'll leave it as it is, and this will indeed be the extent of meddling prescient teleporting Americans in this TL. I fully realise I could make it slightly more plausible, but I just couldn't resist.
Everything else will change based purely on the personalities of the people involved and the butterfly effect.Well, it does say "Rise and Fall" right there in the title...
As pragmatic and arguably more successful Germany will be ITTL, taking away the bits of it which made it inefficient and unsustainable would be to make the regime Nazi in name only, which as I've stated isn't quite the point of this timeline. As to the precise nature of the "fall", I still haven't envisioned that yet, but I probably will soon. =======
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PART 1
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PART 1
Weber acted quickly. He spread the word of Hitler’s death to extant branches of NSDAP, and made enquiries to Hess and Göring, who were still in Austria, asking them to return to Germany. Pooling together their limited funds, Weber arranged for a public funeral for Hitler, conducted on Christmas Eve, where he made a heartfelt dedication to the former leader of NSDAP, and proceeded to shock the assembled supporters with the revelation of “The Great Document”, which he stated that Hitler had bequeathed unto him, outlining the direction of the Party after his death.
When the NSDAP and SA members dispersed following the funeral, Hess took Weber to one side, demanding access to “The Great Document”. Weber agreed to it, and between the two of them, they eventually produced the volume titled Der Deutsche Kampf (The German Struggle), with a heavy focus on anti-Semitism, anti-Communism, and German irredentism.
Figure 6: Cover of the first printing of Der Deutsche Kampf, 1925. [1]
We can see the beginnings of Weber’s machinations from these two events. By organising Hitler’s funeral and setting himself as chief speaker, he had implicitly coalesced attention and authority onto himself, and made it explicit by ensuring Hess’s cooperation in editing Der Deutsche Kampf, which he also employed, enforcing that his name was printed directly underneath Hitler’s in all printings. The message was clear – he, Friedrich Weber, and no other, was the successor to Hitler, and he would lead the NSDAP and Germany to complete Hitler’s mission.
Figures 7a and 7b: Himmler (left) and Röhm (right), both dismissed by Weber after the Putsch.
Weber’s stay in prison had not disjointed his continued leadership of the Freikorps Oberland, and he used his hold over this core of the SA to consolidate control. Although the SA had been banned, Ernst Röhm had created the Frontbann as a workaround – wearing the same uniforms and bearing essentially the same insignia, minus the added Stahlhelm. However, the ban on the SA was quickly lifted, and Weber, sensing a potential rival in Röhm, rejected his proposal to reincorporate his 3,000 or so Frontbann recruits into the SA, prompting Röhm to leave Germany for Bolivia, never to return [2]. Göring was instead eventually invited back to Germany to take over his old post commanding the SA, while Weber positioned himself to the fore, having won the support of Hess and Göring. Without the influence of Röhm, Weber moved the focus of the SA away from the “class struggle” and the social reformation of Germany, which he felt “bore the stench of Communism far too much for my liking” to focus on the German racial identity and irredentism [3].
In the meantime, Weber also rejected proposals by Heinrich Himmler, an eager member of the Saalschutz (“Hall-Guard”), essentially a bodyguard force for NSDAP leaders, to convert it into an elite branch of the SA, citing redundancies in the system should another paramilitary branch be set up. Personally, Weber would note he was “deeply disturbed” by Himmler’s fanaticism for the dead Hitler and rumours of his occult obsessions, and was unwilling to let such a figure head any branch of the party, public or otherwise. When the incumbent head of the guard (Erhard Heiden) resigned, Weber instead chose Wilhelm Brückner, a fellow inmate at Landsberg as his chief bodyguard and Schutzführer. It would not be the last he would hear from Himmler [4].
The uncertainty caused by Hitler’s death and the fragmentation of the party had led the NSDAP to suffer at the polls, barely even reaching single digits of seats won in the elections of 1924. Popularity began to resurge with the publication of Der Deutsche Kampf, and Weber exploited the martyrdom of Hitler for all the political capital he could manage, often making public appearances with the Blutfahne (Blood-flag), allegedly stained with the blood of dead NSDAP men, decrying the loss of Hitler as a loss to all of Germany [5].
It is worthwhile here to mention the oratory of Friedrich Weber. While Adolf Hitler was well known for his fiery speeches, exaggerated gesticulations and dramatic rhetoric, Weber was not a trained public speaker, although the sincerity of his funeral address had been a critical factor in gaining the sympathy – and support – of the disunited NSDAP members. Understanding his lack of experience, he contacted Erik Jan Hanussen, an Austrian hypnotist and Hitler’s former mentor in elocution. Weber, in contrast to Hitler, never raised his voice except at key moments, and relied on prolonged, tense, silences to keep the crowd hanging on his every word. Whether his veterinary experience in being able to read subconscious cues contributed to his ability to lead audiences is purely a matter of speculation.
Figure 8: Joseph Goebbels.
Under Weber’s instruction, Joseph Goebbels, a prominent NSDAP journalist and activist, replaced Gregor Strasser as the party’s chief propagandist. The move was strategic for two reasons: Goebbels had expressed doubt over Weber’s repudiation of the class struggle, and it had taken promises of compromise on his hard-line stance and the promotion to appease Goebbels; furthermore, Strasser and the Berlin branch of NSDAP had grown too independent for Weber’s liking and was focusing on intellectualist issues Weber felt the party had no time for. While an astute move, the snub to Strasser would have long-term, violent, consequences.
The NSDAP capitalised on the Barmat scandal, which had struck the ruling party, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD), to its foundations, claiming Communist infiltration and corruption in the entire democratic system. However, despite these overtures, the NSDAP failed to perform beyond indifferently in the polls, managing a meagre 7 seats in the Reichstag in the 1928 elections. However, events overseas soon tipped conditions in Weber’s favour. Germany suffered greatly when Wall Street crashed in 1929, prompting the Great Depression and massive amounts of poverty and economic uncertainty in the rest of the world.
NSDAP campaigned heavily against the capitalist and democratic system which had brought Germany to fiscal destruction, with Goebbels writing vitriolic article after article about the weaknesses of the SPD-led government. However, poor economic conditions and the discrediting of the central government alone could not ensure the ascendancy of NSDAP. Weber then conducted his political masterstroke – he commanded Göring to use the SA as a force for stability and defend dole lines and maintain order in the streets, which mainly involved fighting Communists. Gobbels and Rosenberg capitalised on this, presenting the SA not merely as an adjunct to the weakened governmental forces, but as a possible legitimate alternative. Any suggestion of a takeover or another putsch, however, was downplayed, with propaganda (occasionally literally) depicting the SA and the government working hand-in-hand. An SA leader named Horst Wessel had composed a patriotic song, Die Fahne hoch, which Goebbels was quick to rename it the Adolf-Hitler-Lied, with the Blutfahne being dramatically raised as the first line – “Die Fahne hoch” (“The flag on high”) – was sung [6].
Under these circumstances, the NSDAP breakthrough finally arrived – of a sort. Come the 1930 elections, the party won 95 seats – the second highest among all of the political parties, and an increase to 1400% of their seats won in 1928. However high this was, it still lagged far behind the SPD with their 144 seats, and was a mere 6 seats ahead of the KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, Communist Party of Germany). Still, Weber and the NSDAP had won the initiative, and it was now up to Weber to convert it into momentum.
This is as appropriate a time as any to expound a little on Weber’s personal life. In the frantic campaigning for the 1930 election, Weber was invited to Goebbels’ headquarters publishing the Völkischer Beobachter (People’s Observer), the printed propaganda arm of NSDAP. It was there that he encountered a talented clerical supervisor (not a secretary, as is commonly and wrongly stated) named Wilhelmina “Mina” Kneller. To what extent their meeting was happenstance is a matter of debate; Weber recalled Goebbels making a large show of ordering Kneller to bring in certain documents, and ensuring she was never far from him during the tour. This has been used to support suggestions that Goebbels, not fully trusting Weber at that point, intended to use Kneller as an ‘inside woman’ in the vein of Mata Hari. Mina Kneller’s memoirs are silent on the topic, merely introducing Weber as having entered the offices of Völkischer Beobachter one day. Whichever the case was, Weber was smitten with Kneller, although the two would not marry until the eve of outbreak of war in Poland [7].
Figure 9: Mina Weber (nee Kneller).
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[1] Compare and contrast with the cover of the first print run of Mein Kampf. The change in title is not simply a difference for its own sake; while Hitler made an excellent martyr, Weber needed to establish his authority in his own right.
[2] In OTL Rohm did indeed go to Bolivia and ended up holed up in the German embassy during the revolution until Hitler called him, saying "I need you." As Weber already has the loyalty of the SA, Rohm never gets that call.
[3] This change of philosophy, as well as the dismissal of Rohm, means that the threat of the "Second Revolution" never comes about, leading to massive butterflies in the early '30s.
[4] Well, this too, obviously.
[5] This is indeed a thing, and gains even more currency with Hitler's martyrdom.
[6] The Horst-Wessel-Lied in OTL. Horst Wessel ITTL probably avoids that fatal argument with his landlady.
[7] Mina Kneller is an entirely fictional creation as I don't want to associate any more people with the Nazi regime than I have to. "Kneller" is a cognate of "knell", as in a loud bell; rather apropos for someone in Gobbels' apparat. Her character will be markedly different from Eva Braun's, but I haven't decided her significance to the events of this timeline quite yet.
[2] In OTL Rohm did indeed go to Bolivia and ended up holed up in the German embassy during the revolution until Hitler called him, saying "I need you." As Weber already has the loyalty of the SA, Rohm never gets that call.
[3] This change of philosophy, as well as the dismissal of Rohm, means that the threat of the "Second Revolution" never comes about, leading to massive butterflies in the early '30s.
[4] Well, this too, obviously.
[5] This is indeed a thing, and gains even more currency with Hitler's martyrdom.
[6] The Horst-Wessel-Lied in OTL. Horst Wessel ITTL probably avoids that fatal argument with his landlady.
[7] Mina Kneller is an entirely fictional creation as I don't want to associate any more people with the Nazi regime than I have to. "Kneller" is a cognate of "knell", as in a loud bell; rather apropos for someone in Gobbels' apparat. Her character will be markedly different from Eva Braun's, but I haven't decided her significance to the events of this timeline quite yet.
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