The end of the world war did not mean the arrival of peace.
Just as the German Army and Allied Powers signed an armistice, ending World War I.
Within the empire, both the left and right factions are stirring with ambition.
November 10th, the day after Wilhelm II stepped down.
The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Scheidemann, couldn’t wait to jump out and announce the establishment of the ” Republic of Germany “.
At the same time, Liebknecht, the leader of the left-wing Spartacus League, also announced the establishment of the ” Free Socialist Republic of Germany “.
After the left and right wings established their respective countries, the contradictions between them became irreconcilable, and the shadow of civil war began to loom over the entire Germany.
Germany, having just endured a protracted war, is about to face another civil war.
Before the rise of Crown Prince Wilhelm, the relatively less radical right wing gained the support of the majority of the country.
But without troops, they cannot overturn the table and suppress the left with force; on the contrary, they may be overthrown by the left using the armed forces of workers.
So, immediately after the Social Democratic Party declared its independence, it sent people to the front lines to try to contact military leaders, mainly Hindenburg and others, in order to gain their support.
Hindenburg was initially somewhat tempted by the Social Democratic Party’s attempts to win him over.
He was a smart man and knew that in peacetime he could no longer wield the same power as he had during the war.
If he cannot advance further in politics, after the war ends, this 70-year-old man will have no choice but to retire and live out his days in peace.
But to his surprise, the army he had been using as leverage was almost entirely won over by Crown Prince Wilhelm in just half a month.
Having lost its bargaining chips, Hindenburg could no longer negotiate with the Social Democratic Party and had no choice but to remain a royalist and side with Crown Prince Wilhelm.
“Your Highness, sending troops to suppress internal rebellions is not a glorious thing, and may even damage your reputation.” Hindenburg was a veteran who had fought his way through countless battles; killing and arson were commonplace for him, and he felt no guilt afterward.
But this was, after all, internal repression, which is different in nature from external warfare.
Doing this kind of thing well will not earn you praise, but doing it poorly could lead to eternal infamy.
“Who said I was going to do it myself?” Crown Prince Wilhelm looked at Hindenburg with great interest: “Didn’t you say that the Social Democratic Party was trying to win you over?
Agree to their request and send troops to help them quell the rebellion.” …
“Your Highness, Hindenburg is an unstable man with great ambitions.
Wouldn’t entrusting such an important matter to him backfire?” Crown Prince Wilhelm’s confidants were deeply worried, fearing that the heir apparent would be betrayed by Hindenburg.
Power is a poison; those who have tasted its power will not easily let it go.
Between 1917 and 1918, Hindenburg held absolute power and became the de facto ruler of the entire German Empire.
When Prime Minister Holwig expressed pessimism about the prospects of the war, Hindenburg disliked him and forced Wilhelm II to dismiss him from his post and select a more compliant prime minister.
With power reaching this level, one is no less than an emperor, even if not an emperor himself.
Such a person should not be easily trusted.
“It’s alright, as long as we don’t let him take too many troops, he won’t be able to fight against me!” Hindenburg’s ambitions were fueled by the power he wielded; once separated from the army, he would be unable to cause any trouble.
Although Crown Prince Wilhelm also disliked Hindenburg, the latter was, after all, a meritorious official who had made great contributions to the German Empire.
His victories on the Eastern Front once gave the Empire hope of winning.
Faced with such a distinguished general, Crown Prince Wilhelm did not want to go too far; it was best to leave each other with some dignity.
Of course, it depends on whether Hindenburg knows what’s good for him.
Of course, there was another purpose in having Hindenburg do this: to win over Hindenburg’s troops while he was away from the army.
“Send a telegram to General Rupprecht of Army Group A, and tell him that I have invited him to come over for a chat!” “In addition, send another telegram to General Mackensen, commander of Army Group Danube River.
I have learned of their supply shortage and have ordered them to come to our side.
Our forces will supply them with supplies!” With these two army groups brought in, Crown Prince Wilhelm will have more than 2 million troops at his disposal.
Even if Hindenburg has great ambitions, it will have no choice but to behave itself in the face of an army of 2 million.
…
General Rupprecht, commander of Army Group A, was worried about the supply of hundreds of thousands of German Army soldiers.
At present, there was no stable government in the country, and the left and right wings were busy fighting among themselves, so no one cared about them.
In fact, even if they wanted to manage it, they couldn’t.
To ensure the supply of materials to hundreds of thousands of people on the front line, they not only needed to raise tens of thousands of tons of materials in a short period of time, but also needed to find a way to transport these materials to the front line.
This requires them to have an absolute grasp on all the country’s systems, but right now, the decrees of these two ‘ Germanies ‘ can’t even leave the capital.
The states are all watching the situation and there is a lack of unified coordination.
The empire’s logistics system has long been paralyzed, and nothing can be transported out.
Upon learning that Crown Prince Wilhelm, who possessed a large amount of supplies, had invited him to a meeting, Crown Prince Rupprecht did not hesitate and immediately traveled over by car.
He was not worried that Crown Prince Wilhelm would be detrimental to him, because they shared common interests, and Rupprecht, who came from the Bavarian royal family, was a natural royalist.
If Germany can’t even protect its emperor, how can its kingdoms and duchies possibly survive?
Therefore, Crown Prince Wilhelm didn’t need to do anything to win them over; all he had to do was give them a heads-up, and they would bring their armies to join him.
The more difficult targets were Hindenburg’s elite troops brought from the Eastern Front, and Army Group Danube River, which was trapped in Hungary due to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Why not just let Mackensen’s army enter Austria and take the opportunity to annex Austria?
Since the population here is mostly German, excluding Hungary and Czechoslovakia makes it easier for Germany to absorb them directly.
But as a defeated nation, would Allied Powers allow Germany to annex Austria?
That seems unlikely!
…
” Germany must be dismantled!” At the conference table in the Palace of Versailles, the French were unusually firm in their stance, causing the British and American representatives to frown.
“Weakening Germany is acceptable, but disintegration is not.
If Germany were to disintegrate, a huge power vacuum would emerge in Central Europe, which would only benefit the Russians in the east.
You don’t want Red Russia to sweep across the whole of Europe, do you?” As allies, the British were the first to stand up and oppose it.
For no other reason than to prevent the French from becoming too powerful.
If the French were to become too powerful, wouldn’t this war have been fought in vain?