Chapter 175 Hindenburg's Will

August 2, 1934, Posen - Neudijk, West Prussia.

Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann and his wife Chloe left Berlin two days ago and arrived at the Schleicher family in Neude with their old friends General Schleicher and his wife. Knight's Manor in Gram. They came here to see off the President of the German Empire, Paul von Hindenburg. President Hindenburg's manor in Neudeck is located near Schleicher Manor. Since 1934, Hindenburg has been waiting for death in the Neudeck manor.

A strong man of a generation, the patron saint of the German Empire, is about to complete his 87-year long life. Although in the last years of his life his health and intelligence were in an extremely poor state. But his existence was the greatest stabilizing factor for the German Empire.

For those who have not experienced strongman politics, it is difficult to imagine this. But Hessmann, as a figure in the inner circle of Germany's highest power, is very clear about this - in this time and space, although President Hindenburg is not the only person who can restrict Adolf Hitler, he is undoubtedly tied to Hitler's neck. A thick iron chain.

Especially in the past three years, Germany has been developing in an orderly manner under Hitler's new political governance. The economy has fully recovered, military power has risen rapidly, and Germany's international environment has also been greatly improved due to the signing of the "Oriental Locarno Convention".

Under this circumstance, almost everyone was very satisfied with Hitler's rule, and Hitler's authority was rising rapidly. Not long ago, in June, Hitler once again asked President Hindenburg to dissolve parliament and hold an election. The Nazi Party and the Fatherland People's Party captured more than 80% of the parliamentary seats in this election.

After the parliamentary election, the Nazi Party and the Fatherland People's Party forcibly passed the "Transformational Justice Ordinance" in the parliament, and based on this "Ordinance", they announced the ban on the Social Democratic Party on July 1, 1934.

At the same time, the Imperial Parliament controlled by the Nazi Party and the Fatherland People's Party also passed amendments to the constitution, significantly reducing the autonomy of each free state, and actually abolished the Prussian Free State. The parliament and government of the Prussian Free State merged with the parliament and government of the German Empire, and the German Chancellor also served as Chancellor of the Prussian State. The degree of unity within the German Empire has therefore been greatly improved.

However, the formulation of the "Transformational Justice Ordinance" to attack the Social Democratic Party and the amendment of the constitution to integrate the German Empire also made many people see the possibility of the emergence of the Nazi Party's dictatorship. Among them were Vice President Ludendorff, Defense Minister Schleicher, President of the Baltic Republic Goltz, Chairman of the Fatherland People's Party Seekert and Chairman of the German Military Officers Union Oscar von Hutier, as well as the Hindenburg was only a few years younger, but Marshal Augusta von Mackensen was still mentally and physically healthy.

These people are now sitting in the living room of Schleicher Manor with Hersman, waiting to go to Hindenburg's manor to say goodbye to the old president for the last time, while discussing the coming post-Hindenburg era. All made no secret of their worries, and at the same time they were satisfied with the success of the Nazi Party's rule.

"If we had had a Nazi Party in 1917, we wouldn't have lost the World War!"

The old Marshal Mackensen touched his mustache, which had turned completely white, and said: "If there had been a Hitler Prime Minister at that time, the Social Democrats and the Spartacists would not have been able to do anything bad."

The old man’s ideas should be quite representative! Hersman, sitting in the corner with a coffee cup, understands public opinion better. There are many people who think this way. The lack of a ruling party that can unite the grassroots and suppress anti-war forces is indeed one of the reasons why Germany lost the First World War.

"But Hitler is not a qualified commander," Ludendorff, who will succeed the president, said very worriedly. "His overall view is completely based on race, excellent, inferior, Aryan, Slavic, Jewish. … It’s okay to talk about this kind of thing in normal times, but if it turns into a strategy to guide the war, then we will be in big trouble.”

Ludendorff knew Hitler better than the average person. They had more contact with him. He was the vice president who assumed the powers of the president, and Hitler was the prime minister. The two met often and discussed strategic issues, so he was very disdainful of Hitler's strategic overall view.

Hitler was actually okay. Hessmann’s view is somewhat different from Ludendorff’s, because he knows that Hitler was not the worst commander in World War II. Churchill who won the war but lost the empire, and Mussolini who was not helping all the time, There are also Japanese military leaders who recklessly provoked the Pacific War. They are all worse than Hitler.

But US President Roosevelt had more vision than Hitler, and Roosevelt also had more money. In fact, Churchill and Stalin also had a lot of capital, and their countries could afford more mistakes. But Germany cannot. A strategic mistake will lead to catastrophic consequences.

And Hitler just made a very fatal strategic mistake - he used racial concepts to guide the war! So much so that he always has unrealistic illusions about Britain, an excessive hatred for the Jews, and a desire to fight to the death with the Russians.

"He is an excellent prime minister," Seckter, who himself was prime minister for a while, shook his head and said, "but he is not a commander-in-chief... He is not as good as Lord Bismarck in this regard."

Baltic Admiral Goltz was not familiar with Hitler. After listening to everyone's comments, the general president turned his eyes to Hersmann and Schleicher, "Kurt, Ludwig, what do you think? Is he a commander who can lead Germany to victory?"

"Obviously not," Schleicher spread his hands and said, "If we are facing a real war in the next few years, only the best professional soldiers can take on the responsibility of commander-in-chief, not politicians who know little about war. This is also our Prussian tradition!"

"Military dictatorship?" Goltz asked thoughtfully, "Can this really work?"

He was a "quasi-dictator" in the Baltics, but he did not think that the Baltic system could be used in Germany. The Baltic Republic is a small country surrounded by powerful enemies and is easier to unite. Germany is a "great country" with a population of 66 million. In addition, the majority of the Baltic people are originally Russians, who are more accustomed to dictatorship, while the native German people have always had a democratic tradition.

"Military dictatorship is not okay," Hersman shook his head and took over the topic. "If that happens, Germany will definitely fall into internal strife and will no longer be able to face the outside world."

"What should we do then?"

As soon as Goltz asked this question, all the old men turned their eyes to Hersman and Schleicher.

Hersman also looked around and took in the expressions of the old generals and generals in the room. Although each of them used an expressionless face to hide their inner thoughts, Hersman still knew very well what they wanted most?

"We should restore the German empire!" Hersman took a deep breath, as if he had made a great determination, "At least we should try it now."

Everyone in the reception room was silent. They were all royalists, and restoring the German empire was of course their goal, but this was not easy to do - not only was it hard to say what the international reaction would be, but it was also difficult to control public opinion in Germany.

"How to try it?" Ludendorff asked with interest. After Hindenburg's death, he could succeed the president according to the constitution. But his presidency ended in 1937, so who would be the president then? With Hitler's current prestige, he is likely to be elected if he runs for president.

If the president and the prime minister are both Nazis, Hitler's power may be unchecked!

Therefore, restoring the monarchy during Ludendorff's remaining term and letting a constitutional monarch serve as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the most appropriate choice.

"The will can be tested with the old president's will." Hersmann had a solution long ago, "We can draft a will for the old president and propose the restoration of the Hohenzollern dynasty in Germany in the will."

When the people present heard Hersmann's suggestion, they were relieved. This is indeed a good idea! Push Hindenburg, a dead man, to be the first bird to come out. Even if the German people and the British and French powers are not happy, there is nothing they can do with a dead man. Is it possible to whip the corpse?

"So... Ludwig, will Hitler support this will?" Ludendorff asked uncertainly.

Hitler's attitude towards restoring the monarchy is very ambiguous. He is not like a Junker like Hersmann, who has the label of a royalist on his head. However, he showed his support for the Hohenzollern dynasty on many occasions. Moreover, Hitler had a very close relationship with Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was a friend of Fat Goering (Goering had some relationship with the Hohenzollern dynasty, and his godfather was a court doctor, so he knew the crown prince), and it was Goering who introduced him to Hitler. It is said that the crown prince himself joined the Nazi Party!

But Hitler never gave in on the issue of restoration. His Nazi Party is now the largest party in parliament, with more than half of the seats. If Hitler supports it, amending the constitution and restoring the monarchy will be a piece of cake.

Hersman thought about it, shook his head and said, "It's hard to say, he... at least he won't oppose it publicly."

He dared not oppose it publicly. The current Hitler is not the Hitler who conquered France in 1940. Under the circumstances that the Junker Group firmly controls the army and spies and confiscates his stormtroopers and SS, it is very irrational to conflict with the Junkers on the issue of protecting the monarchy, but it is not certain that he will strongly support it.

At this moment, an antique telephone in the reception room suddenly rang. Schleicher picked up the receiver and heard Oscar von Hindenburg's voice on the other end: "The president is dead!"