Chapter 111 Currency War 10

Hersmann placed a bouquet of flowers in front of a tombstone, on which was Martin Schedermann. A little-known person in the original history. He did not read much, died when he was less than 50 years old, and was a worker in the Essen coal mine. Because he had suffered a work-related injury while working in the coal mine, his right foot was a little lame, and he was old, so he was not drafted into the army during the World War.

When the revolutionary trend started in 1918, he was still an active member of the workers' movement. He was almost fired by his boss for inciting coal miners to strike, and was arrested by the police in Essen and imprisoned for a few days.

And now, the coal mine boss who once wanted to fire him, the police who once arrested him, the former chairman of the Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Representatives of Essen who once led him to engage in the "anti-war movement", and many company managers and chairmen in the Ruhr Coal and Iron Federation. Now they are all wearing the most solemn mourning clothes and gathered in this cemetery surrounded by woods and various sculptures on the outskirts of Essen. Attend the funeral of Mr. Martin Schedermann.

Because he was sentenced to death by the Franco-Belgian occupation authorities for inciting a strike and then shot!

Hersman bowed to the tombstone, then turned around and looked at the people who came to the funeral. Most of them knew that Hersman was sent by the General Staff to investigate the Ruhr crisis. Before the funeral, Hersman had talked to most of them.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hessmann said, "you can see that I am an officer of the defense army, a supporter of His Majesty the Emperor, and a count. In the revolution of 1918, people like me were called militarists. And Mr. Martin Schedermann is a worker activist who opposes the war.

Before the Ruhr crisis, although Mr. Schedermann and I did not know each other, we were definitely political enemies. I believe that many of you also regard him as an enemy!

If he had been killed before the Ruhr crisis, I believe many of us would be happy. At least we would not come here to attend his funeral with the most grief and indignation to pay him the highest respect.

But today we are here, and we pay tribute to him from the bottom of our hearts, because he is our hero, he is a hero of Germany, and he gave his life to defend the Ruhr region of Germany!

I want to say that it was he and more than 200 other Germans who gave their lives for the same goal that made all of us living people understand a truth: today's Germany, today's Ruhr region, There is no so-called class division anymore. We are all oppressed Germans! The fate of all of us is linked to the German motherland!

Yesterday's bourgeoisie and middle class have or will become nothing in this hyperinflation imposed on us by the Allies!

The reason why the Allies can bully and plunder us at will is that Germany has no longer had a strong leadership core since November 1918. We are divided and we regard each other as enemies. In November 1918, we did not realize the serious consequences of losing a strong Germany. But now, more and more people have awakened. Mr. Martin Schedermann is one of them, because he is dedicated to his ideals as a member of the German National Socialist Workers' Party!

So, I once again call on you to unite and petition President Ebert, Congress and the Cabinet under the leadership of Mr. Gustav Krupp! "

The petition mentioned by Hersmann is actually the beginning of a "peaceful coup"! Because the main contents of the petition are two: the first is that President Ebert resign and hold presidential and parliamentary elections immediately; the second is to immediately stop the excessive issuance of banknotes and implement emergency control throughout the country.

Moreover, it is not only the city of Essen that will initiate the petition, but also Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Bremen, Hanover, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dresden, Stuttgart, Königsberg and other major German cities and the capital Berlin, where people are operating petitions. Not only the army, but also the Fatherland People's Party, the National Party, the Nazi Party, the Democratic Party, and even many branches of the Catholic Central Party have all devoted themselves to this "peaceful coup".

…

In the Presidential Palace in Berlin, the exhausted President Ebert had already learned about the "peaceful coup" through the channels of the Social Democratic Party. This matter has been planned and implemented for a long time, and at least 60% of the members of the Congress are involved. If the Social Democratic Party still doesn't know, it will be deaf and blind.

But even though they knew, President Ebert and the leaders of the SPD in the government, Foreign Minister Hermann Miller and SPD Chairman Wells, could not think of any way to deal with those who were planning a "coup".

Because those people did not overthrow the government by mobilizing troops to surround the presidential palace, but used peaceful petitions, protests, marches and parliamentary votes to drive Ebert out of office, which was in line with the Weimar Constitution - isn't this the result that the Social Democratic Party has been fighting for since the 1800s?

"Mr. President, according to Article 48 of the Constitution..." SPD Chairman Wells reminded in a low voice.

Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution is a very pitfall! It is also the SPD's selfishness that wants to use this emergency authorization to deal with Congress - when the Weimar Constitution was formulated, the SPD already knew that they might lose the parliamentary election!

But Article 48 of the Constitution can only deal with Congress, not with ordinary people's protests, let alone hyperinflation!

Now printing plants across the country are running at full capacity to print marks! The value of the mark falls several times a day!

All people who live on wages are paid daily. As soon as they get the money, they will go to stores and markets to buy necessities for their lives at the speed of a 100-meter sprint. If you run slower, you will inevitably suffer economic losses.

In this case, not only are the people dissatisfied, but even the party workers of the Social Democratic Party are also dissatisfied! Even if they are allowed to vote, President Albert will most likely step down.

"Mr. President, as far as I know, the army is behind this." Wells said with a frown. "If you are driven out, Hindenburg or Ludendorff will take power, and militarism will be revived in Germany."

"It's not the army, but the Corps of Honor." President Ebert said weakly, "Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Hutier (retired general, chairman of the German Officers' Union), Tirpitz (retired admiral, member of parliament, chairman of the Fatherland People's Party), Mackensen (retired marshal, member of parliament) and Groener are all involved... What can I do with them? Let Admiral Seeckt send troops to arrest them? Is it possible?"

Of course it's impossible, regardless of whether the army listens to the Weimar government or not. Even if it is legal, it is legal to launch a petition and vote to force the president to step down. The Weimar Republic is not the Soviet Union...

"We can only dissolve the parliament first," Foreign Minister Hermann Miller said at this time, "Dissolving the parliament and re-election will buy us up to two months... I believe they will not attack before the election results come out."

"What can we do in these two months?"

"Negotiate with the Allies!" Hermann Miller said, "If they don't want a militarist government to appear in Germany again, they should make concessions."

"What are the conditions?"

"The total compensation is 30 billion gold marks, part of which will be paid by international loans, and the Ruhr and Rhine regions will return to normal."

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