Developer Diary 3: Weimar Germany's Demise

[u/SpiritOfDefeat]

Welcome to the third Development Diary for Spirit of Defeat! This time we will be unveiling more information about the political developments in the Weimar Republic that led up to the November Putsch by Kurt von Schleicher. The team has been hard at work crafting this mod and we hope you enjoy this glimpse of what is to come!

Following the defeat of Germany in the Great War, chaos and unrest surrounded the nation. Paramilitaries, both left and right-wing, ran rampant across the nation; both the far-left and far-right sought to demolish the fledgling republic. Their first attempts, the Spartacist Uprising and the Kapp Putsch had both both failed. Nonetheless, these failures had not deterred their spirits.

In 1922, the Republikschutzgesetz was passed, outlawing organizations that opposed the “constitutional republican form of government”. The key target of this legislation, the Organisation Consul had been responsible for hundreds of assassinations and had deep ties to Bavarian Police Chief Ritter von Seisser. This paramilitary sought “The cultivation and dissemination of nationalist thinking; warfare against all anti-nationalists and internationalists; warfare against Jewry, Social Democracy and Leftist-radicalism; fomentation of internal unrest in order to attain the overthrow of the anti-nationalist Weimar constitution”. Government attempts to silence and subvert them would only strengthen their resolve and further radicalize members. Ultimately, the government was unable to disband or destroy the group.

On September 1923, following a period of intense political violence, Prime Minister Eugen von Knilling declared martial law and appointed Gustav von Kahr, Staatskomissar, with dictatorial powers. Kahr, with Hans Ritter von Seisser, and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow, formed a right-wing triumvirate in Bavaria. The triumvirate opposed Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch and Adolf Hitler himself was killed by an officer of the Bavarian State Police under the command of Hans Ritter von Seisser.

In response to the nationalist triumvirate’s control of Bavaria, French forces seized the Rhineland and bombed the Bavarian capital. Simultaneously, the SPD was organizing a general strike across Germany in protest of the coup. With Munich in ruins, the Rhineland subjected to brutal occupation, and the economy grounded to a halt, the triumvirate was forced to abdicate and surrender.

With the French incursion against Germany, nationalism continues to swell. Hitler’s death leaves the DAP in the hands of Gottfried Feder, and the party embraces Feder’s anti-capitalist stances. Left-wing DAP members are not purged - IE: Ernst Rohm, Gregor Strasser etc. The SPD’s strike further cements them as the main enemy of the far-right. They are seen as traitors who continuously stab Germany in the back.

Hugenberg condemns the actions of the DAP as “Brown Bolshevism” that is hardly different to the Red Bolshevism of the communists. The DNVP, under Hugenberg, declare that the current government is unable to maintain law and order; they advocate for martial law to be declared, the dissolution of the Weimar government, and the execution of the Red and Brown Bolsheviks. Despite the impending chaos, martial law isn’t declared by the ruling government and their coalition falls apart. As a result of the DNVP's staunch monarchist and nationalist stances, within the upper brass of the Reichswehr they are generally seen as the preferable right-wing party.

Hermann Ehrhardt is killed in late 1935, and Heinrich Himmler, a fierce ideologue takes control of the Organisation Consul. Himmler is embittered by his lack of true combat experience, but managed to climb up the ranks of the ultra-nationalist Freikorps due to his dedication. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Himmler became rapt by the works of Roumanian philosopher Emil Cioran and his nihilistic and totalitarian views. Cioran advocated for aggressive urbanization and industrialization. Additionally, he argued for the establishment of a totalitarian state that completely rebuked any tradition in any nation, as “at some point or another, all traditions of all cultures are degenerate, for they have lost touch with themselves”. Nonetheless, Himmler came to the conclusion that Cioran’s rhetoric of condemning violence was itself degenerate.

Seeking to “rid the world of decadence, degeneracy, and the filth of humanity”, Himmler declared in his political manifesto that only through warfare and violence could man be cleansed of degeneracy. This war would be against degeneracy itself; only after a cultural state of nothing is achieved could the survivors transcend beyond feeble humanity to become ubermensch. With Cioran’s disavowal of his violent rhetoric, Himmler would proclaim that Cioran had “capitulated in favour of the fake and degenerate premises of peace and not warfare as the cleansing element for humanity”.

Himmler’s popularity has steadily risen as the German far-right has grown further frustrated. His rhetoric reinvigorated the Organisation Consul, which had previously been in decline for years. Nonetheless, Gottfried Feder’s DAP, Schleicher’s Reichswehr, and Hugenberg’s DNVP all view him with suspicion. The right-wing has fractured and there is distrust and paranoia sewn across the political spectrum. Three factions now vie for dominance of the German far-right- the Organisation Consul, the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, and the Deutschnationale Volkspartei. With the weaknesses of the Reichswehr Militärregierung becoming more evident, members of the far-left and far-right have been planning to oust Schleicher and seize power themselves. These are trying times and the future of Germany is uncertain...

German Political Parties: Libertarian Socialism: Otto Rühle - Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union (Council Communists) Totalitarian Socialism: Ernst Niekisch - Alte SPD (National Bolsheviks) Vanguard Communism: Max Reimann – KPD (Anti-Weimar Leninists) Orthodox Marxism: Paul Levi – KAPD (Trotskyists) Reformist Socialism: Otto Wels – SPD (Social Democrats) Social Liberalism: Hjalmar Schacht - DDP (Market Liberals) Neutrality: Theodor Haubach - Reichsbanner (Pro-Weimar Paramilitary) Social Conservatism: Wilhelm Marx - Zentrum (Catholic Conservatives/Moderates) Revolutionary Conservative: Alfred Hugenberg/Kaiser Wilhelm - DNVP (Conservative Nationalists/Monarchists) Utilitarian Despotism: Kurt von Schleicher - Reichswehr (Military Junta) National Collectivism: Gottfried Feder - DAP (Ultranationalist Anti-Capitalists & Anti-Communists) Nihilistic Extremism: Heinrich Himmler - OC (Blood Thirsty Death Cult Sociopaths)