Albert and Samuel, school would have to wait as they decided on their options. When they met again after the war, they greeted each other as long lost brothers. Each told of their wartime experiences and discussed their perception of Germany’s future. Sam’s desire to become a physician had strengthened after his experience in the medical corps. Albert still wanted to return to school, study finance and become a banker like his father. They could be possessed only of hope while awaiting adjustment to civilian life and the start of their further education and Germany’s long trek out of the ashes of defeat...
The first parliamentary cabinet forms in post-war Germany with Prince Max von Baden as its chancellor. He writes to President Woodrow Wilson requesting to receive conditions for an honorable peace based upon Wilson’s fourteen points.
In summary Wilson’s fourteen points are:
No secret agreements between countries
Freely navigable seas during peace and war
Free trade
World-wide armament reduction
Fair colonial claims between countries
German troops leave Russia who will now form its own government
German troops leave Belgium who will form its own country
France regains Alsace-Lorraine
Re-establishment of Italy’s borders to include all Italian citizens
Austria-Hungary continues as an independent country
Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become independent countries
Turkey will be an independent country with security for nationalities
Poland becomes an independent country
League of Nations to form and protect independence of all countries regardless of size
Other World War I allied powers believed Wilson to be too idealistic and Clemenceau of France wanted harsh reparation payments to be levied upon Germany. He fought for these and won.
The German Reichstag did amend the constitution of Germany and established a parliamentary regime which was anathema to Adolph Hitler, but there was little that this relatively unknown veteran could do at this point.
Interestingly, the German Admiralty refused to surrender to the British Navy without a last final and “honorable” battle against them. Sailors in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven refused this order and mutinied. This mind-set certainly reflected the dismal morale of the exhausted German military.
The first few months after the war ends sees the new German Weimar Government attempting to reform, but locked in a deadly struggle with the Communists for control of the country. The Weimar army (Freicorps) consisted of ex-soldiers and hired mercenaries whose main assignment was to neutralize the Communist effort to take control of Germany.
Anti-Semitism was not dead, but not having a blessing from the German Government, there was no force behind it. That force would come from Adolph Hitler, a man either Albert or Samuel had ever heard of this time in 1918 at the end of World War I.
In spite of this, the two returning 22 year old veterans, Albert and Samuel, started college in their respective disciplines: finance and pre-medicine…
The year was 1919. Dangerous political instability in Germany reigned supreme.
CHAPTER 12
Post War
German losses In World War I included 2.5 million dead and 4 million wounded. Near the war’s end, German military morale deteriorated to the extent that soldiers threw down their arms, and sailors at Kiel, a German naval base, refused to set sail for a final showdown against the British fleet. Even the German generals told the Kaiser that the time had come to end the unwinnable war.
The Kaiser abdicated and went into exile in Holland.
The German chancellor signed the armistice which Hitler viewed as a treasonous act, another reflection of his anti-democratic mind-set.
All this was taking place in Germany during terrible economic conditions with rising prices and unemployment. And if that were not enough, when the Communists led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht tried to take control, the government acquired Freicorps troops crushed the revolt assassinating Liebknecht and Luxemburg which prevented a Communist takeover. Post-war conditions in Germany were clearly chaotic.
The Weimar Republic was now free to form. It was named after the city where it was developed and planned. It would last 14 years. Germany became a democracy, anathema to Hitler who had other plans. Since this new government consisted of many political parties, numerous coalitions meant frequent change because it was impossible for one party to take complete control. Through this period, stability in government was non-existent and opposition to Weimar grew. Anti-Semitism still reared its ugly head at times, but it was isolated and not a part of government policy. That was and would be Hitler’s prerogative if and when he took power.
The bill to Germany for the war was 6.6 billion Reichmarks. Germany had to default on payments by the end of 1922, forcing France and Belgium to occupy the Ruhr so as to use its industrial capacity as payment. The loss of the Ruhr was catastrophic for Germany resulting in severe inflation. The average citizen found their savings had lost all value. The new Weimar Republic was in serious trouble.
Adolph Hitler, after the speech he gave at the political party he investigated was eagerly invited to join by Anton Drexler, the founder. After a thorough investigation when Hitler discovered the party’s philosophy was identical to his, he did indeed become a member. Soon he became the leader of the National Socialistica Deutcher Arbeiter Partei (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), or NAZIS for short. Within a few years, he built the party into a local one principally known in Germany’s Munich area.
Realizing the political possibilities of rampant inflation on the German economy, Hitler, emboldened by his rapid success, decided to act. He brazenly attempted the takeover of the German government to be replaced with his right wing nationalistic party before the Weimar government restarted reparation payments as the Treaty of Versailles stipulated. To Hitler, the government’s action was treason, an admission of guilt for starting the World War. Buoyed by a Nazi party which had grown to 35,000 members, he decided on a direct approach which is remembered now as the “Munich Beer Hall Putsch” (coup).
On November 8th 1923 the Bavarian Prime Minister, Gustav Kahr, was addressing a meeting in a Munich beer hall when Hitler and 600 of his Storm troopers invaded the hall. Hitler took over the speaker’s platform and announced to the audience that “The national revolution has broken out.” At gunpoint, Kahr and two other government officials were ushered by Hitler, Rudolph Hess, a good friend of Hitler’s, and others into a side room. Kahr refused to support Hitler, but Hitler reentered the assembly and lied to the audience that Kahr had given Hitler his full support. The audience believed it. Hitler then started his plan to take over Munich, while at the same time releasing Kahr and his other government officials. Kahr immediately reported all to the Berlin Central Government which mobilized the police and the military to prevent Hitler’s attempt at a coup. Hitler and General Ludendorf marched shoulder-to-shoulder through the streets toward the center of Munich. However, Hitler had not disclosed his agenda to Ludendorf who was angry about the concealment. When Hitler and 3,000 party faithful reached the center of Munich, they were
