A Reluctant Fuhrer
Author: John Hardinge
Date: 2021-09-09T18:00:00+00:00
Description: I am sure every World War 2 aficionado has thought it - what if I was Hitler? Would I be mad? Bad? Sad? Could I do better? Would I even find people I could trust(or love?) in the Byzantine layers of Nazi society? One man's trip back into the body of Hitler, much to his surprise. Does he indeed do better, if not for Nazi Germany, at least for the world as a whole? Also with a bonus short story about what has always annoyed almost everyone about those seemingly endless fictional Nazi wanks. Fully edited, large book.
Publisher: Independently published

Information

Table of Contents URL: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/an-extremely-reluctant-fuhrer-story-only-thread.388640/#post-12399452

This has been in response to those who wanted a "clean" story to read. It also allows me to correct mistakes in typing as they occurred and I may even "fit in" a few extra posts. If I do the later, I will highlight these in blue so people are aware they are new. Please feel free to add any suggestions or comments on the main "Reluctant Fuhrer" timeline.

May 2014, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Well, it had been a good 50th birthday, he thought. Party of 12, Thai food, a few dead marines at the end of the night. Matter of fact he was still feeling a bit tipsy. Technically he should feel tired but sometimes when you have had a good time like that an adrenaline surge keeps you awake and so it was now. He reached over for a sip of water from the glass on the bedside table and picked up the I-phone. As he pressed the screen the dim light partly lit the room. He checked his timeline on AH.com to see if anyone had made any posts, kind or otherwise, and then went to Cricinfo to check on last night’s one day match.

Still wide awake. He looked at David Irving’s discredited Hitler book that he had not read for years but had picked up last week out of boredom. ‘No, I don’t that think I can face any more of that at the moment’, he thought. He was doing some work on pre war Germany for a Kriegmarine timeline but had been side-tracked by the Hitler stuff. With work tomorrow he probably should not be doing this at midnight, but what the hell. Finding the remote he turned the TV on and then fired up the rest of the movie. “Downfall.” It was pretty good stuff and had provided some bloody funny Youtube take offs as well. Normally he could take or leave subtitled movies but he could make some sense with his remaining knowledge of four years of High School German, although much was over his head. Oh, well, that was what the subtitles were for. Gradually he drifted off and moved into a series of quite vivid dreams.

April 1939

He woke up during the darkness of the night and the immediate impression was something he had not felt for many months, a body pressed up against him, a women in a long satin nightgown by the feel. What the fuck? Where had she come from? He reached for the bedside table and the I-phone but found only empty space. Now even more disturbed he slid out of bed, which itself seemed smaller and the outline of the room different. Groping about in the dark and with his heartbeat accelerating, he found his way to an anteroom and searched for a light switch after closing the door. He felt something brush his face that was hanging down. Remembering trips to the farm as a kid he pulled the string hanging down and the stark light bulb on the ceiling exploded into life. He was in a bathroom, the chill in the air noticeably more than he remembered. It was then he looked in the mirror.

It was the face of a dead man, yet a face nearly every person living still knew. An infamous face. Adolf Hitler’s face. Oh my God. It could not be real. Where the fuck was he? For that matter where was HE, the real him? Years ago his mates had relocated his whole room downstairs to the communal dining room, including him and his bed, even his wall posters, when he was majorly drunk after a big night out. He had not been drunk like that since Uni. They all had kids and families now. Surely not? Plus who was the chick? Fighting down a wave of nausea that could be from panic or last night, he thought-it must be a dream. Like a robot, he went back to bed. When he woke up, it would be in his own bed.

When he woke up it was not in his own bed. As evidenced by the women sensuously sliding her way up what he knew immediately wasn’t his own body. Then she came face to face and she started kissing him. Well, she seemed to be having fun and it had been a while, quite a while.

Well, that had been, enthusiastic, to say the least, he thought as he performed the obligatory post coital cuddling. His brain was racing in panic. He could not make himself say anything. Gathering his thoughts, he thought, “Well time to find out some information”.

“Let’s play a little game.” He finally croaked out in a voice not his own.
“Was den?” Shit, he was speaking in English. He tried switching to German and it came out perfectly. Christ, he knew German properly, it certainly wasn’t from those four wasted years at High School. How the hell had that happened?
“Let’s play a little game.”
“I thought we just did.” she replied, looking like a cat that had swallowed the cream.
“I bet I can tell if you say a falsehood when I ask you a question.”
“Adolf, this is not like you. OK then.”
“I’ll need to ask a couple of simple questions to get a baseline, let’s say. Firstly, what is your full name?”
“Eva Anna Paula Braun.” Oh oh. “Hmm.”
“What is the date?”
“20th April 1939. I hoped you liked your birthday present.” Oh, this was just great.
“Where are we?”
“Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.” It was just getting worse and worse.

He stumbled through the rest of the game, his mind still spinning during his shower and morning constitutional, Eva chatting about how he was due to meet party functionaries and guests that were coming to congratulate him on his 50th birthday after breakfast. How was he going to stumble his way through that? What had happened to his former life? Was he still there as well as here? Christ, what if that nutter Hitler was in his body? Now there was something that didn’t bear thinking about. What about his kids? Somehow he had to pull this off, at least for now. He needed more time to think. Eva was still putting on makeup in her nightgown. As he looked at her 27 year old body he thought how good that had felt, but there was probably more time to think during a quiet breakfast than going there again.

Toast and marmalade. Coffee. Not the sort of breakfast one normally associated with a demented mass murderer. He had kept on turning it over in his head. He could hardly just front up and say he was not Hitler. He could at best be institutionalized. At worst shot. Actually, considering the standard of care for mental illness in Nazi Germany, it might be better to be shot. He could speak German at least. It’s not like he did not know history. He was just going to have to use a bit of brass face and fudge it, at least for now.

He had to get Eva to help him dress, explaining it away on being tired and a bit run down, feigning a bit of confusion. Then it was on with the show. It wasn’t long before the first cab off the rank was shown in. Fat Hermann. He was pleasant enough, effusive even, in a pure white uniform that looked like it should have been used as a wedding tent somewhere. They were all there, Hess, Bormann, Raeder, von Blomberg, Keitel(who seemed even more of an obsequious toady in real life), Frank, Goebbels, Koch, Wagner. How did he even know all these faces, yet somehow he did. He could even count to twenty in French where he could normally only go to three. Somehow he had the memories of both men. He wondered if the guards would do it if he simply ordered them all shot. Probably not. It would have to be more subtle than that. Then, last of all, Himmler.

With his black uniform, glasses, weak chin, watery eyes and ridiculous wispy mustache, he looked like the kid at school who has the tar beaten out of him every day. It was hard to believe that this mealy mouthed little prick had masterminded one of the worst crimes in history. He found like pounding the living crap out him then and there but that would not do. Besides, he was 5 ft 9 inches now and 155 pounds, not 6 ft 1 and 235. He would have to wait.

Somehow, some way, he had to get out of this, but whilst he was here perhaps he could deal with some of these nutbars first. If he was not in some way found out. If he did not go crazy first. He had not had too many close scrapes in his life, aside from one bad car accident and that time a recruit had dropped a grenade at his feet at an army reserve camp, he had to keep his head above water here as he didn’t feel like ending up in a Gestapo cellar either. But one thing he did have was the ability to work and keep thinking under unrelenting pressure. Thirty years in the recruitment game being hand-balled other people problems and then expected to fix them in small time frames had given him that. Plus a fair knowledge of 20th century history.

He was sure going to need it as the new Fuhrer of Germany.

April 1939

He was back in his toilet after an exhausting day. To think he used to feel stuffed after some 8 hour office days. He looked at his scribbled list he had made of things he thought needed to be looked at straight away in a quick 10 minute think:

1) Kriegsmarine cut back-to and regain trust of British?
2) France-what to do. Alsace? How to stroke them and make them secure?
3 ) German women? Potential to work? Not used just as brood mares?
4) 26% of GDP of armaments-unsustainable
5) Have to get the Jews out of Germany, probably, How? Where? Jo Witties, Gays, Gypsys, The same? All would need some sort of protection, but what?
6) Czechs-what to do to ensure they are not fully fucked
7) Dismantle camps already in existence
8) How to stop the economy overheating and collapsing?
9) Balance of trade? Not enough exports
10) Benny? What to do with his stupidity so as not to encourage him?
11) How to get rid of Himmler and the worst of the offenders and replace them with “moderate Nazis-is there such a thing as a moderate Nazi?
12) Poland and the corridor and Danzig
13 ) How to shore up the Baltics and Finland against that other monster Stalin
14) Foreign relations-how to regain trust? Who to use to regain it?
15) Axis allies. What to do with that perennial problem. Balkans?
16) Keep any army strong enough to defeat Stalin if it come to it.
17) Need to keep it secret. Have to bring Eva out in the public eye. Can’t be pretending 24/7 so I will need someone I can lean on in case I forget things, even though I can’t tell her the truth
18) Speer? Who else is intelligent and moderate? Canaris and Oster and his crowd? Can the “Old Guard” nobles be used to lever out those they resent? If so, in exchange for what?
19) How to gain control of a force just loyal to me so if I chip away at the foundations bit by bit when a revolt comes, which it must as I roll back Nazi institutions, I can crush it. Loyalty oath will only go so far with Nazi backstabbers.
20) If a war comes with Russia, how to win it? Allies? Strategy? Go to be more to it than “World in Flames” or “Fire in the East.”
21) Pact of Steel? Due to be signed. He had told the Foreign office he wanted it aimed at France and Britain. That would not do. God, there’s a thought. Japan? Japan? Dump them? Support then? For God sake, he was an Australian. Can’t support them. Could he leak their plans to regain British support and if so, how? Or will they be needed if at war with Stalin?
22) Goering? Keep or discard? Luftwaffe? Cut back and improve quality.
23 ) What the hell was happening in his own life. How to get back to it?
24) Health. Check reliably. Not Morell.
25) This ridiculous moustache. Can it be shaved off without a shitstorm?

He could hear a soft knock on the door. Eva. Time to get back to his fake life.

April 1939

The very nature of his own calendar made the next thing on his mind easy. Ribbentrop was due this afternoon. He actually had some time to himself this morning after another enjoyable wake up period with Eva, who seemed surprised that he had suddenly disdained protection. Ribbentrop. He had to sideline Ribbentrop but he had thought long and hard as to the way to do so until finally coming up with a solution. It was a high profile post where the outcome really did not matter, perfect to sideline the man.

He had a week here in relative isolation out of the glare of the public eye. Best make the most of it. Accordingly he had dressed quickly and been rapidly met by his private secretary. Bormann. Time to turn on the charm.
"My dear Martin, what a wonderful gift this alpine haven is. I cannot thank you enough or offer enough thanks for your loyalty. Do not for one minute think I take it for granted. People come and people go, but old fighters such as yourself and myself will always remain."
"Thank you, Mein Fuhrer."
"Martin, we have gotten so much of Germany's lost territories back, tipped her out of the depression and back onto her feet and regained our national standing. The coming of my birthday yesterday made me reflect again on my wartime experiences. I saw combat Martin, and it was not a pleasant experience. Our enemy is the Jewish Bolshevik menace, yet I fear we are drifting in the wrong direction, that mistakes have been made in the last 12 months in particular."
"Mistakes?"
"Yes, there is no shame in admitting them, we all make them from time to time. We broke a trust when we occupied the rump of Czechoslovakia and that had destroyed our relationship with the Western powers like France and England. These countries should not be our enemies. We cannot win a war against England any more now than we could in 1918. We will never be able to build a navy to get us across the Channel. Besides, what do the British have that we want? I don't want to destroy the flower of German National Socialism in a pointless war against Great Britain and any war against France likely means a war against both. No, our destiny lies East, against the Godless Bolshevik hordes. That war will come and we must be ready, not engaged elsewhere.

No, we have made mistakes and now we need to correct them. Chamberlain was able to be stroked and have his fears allayed once, we must do so again. I must do so again, probably personally. That will involve making changes. Softening our hearts and making some concessions in the West. All so as to eventually gain in the East. I had been thinking that we needed to deal with Poland like we did the Czechs, but I think that would be a mistake. If we were trying to chop down a tree and had a Festo Saw and an old axe do you throw away the old axe and let one of us lay idle? No. The Poles can be our old axe. Inferior but not useless, a useful tool to an objective we want. Even Slavs can be useful. Do we beat a cow for being a cow? No"
"Interesting ideas, Mein Fuhrer. A change?"
"Turning 50 can be a change. However, it will require a reshuffle and we must present a different face, much like was attempted in 1936, but more convincing. Therefore, I require you to make a series of appointments for me whilst I am here."
"Who?"
Book in for two hour meetings the following: Schacht and make sure you tell him to bring a number of Reichsbank economic experts, Goering and make sure he is an early attendee, Canaris and make sure he brings his protégé Oster, Halder, Speer, von Neurath, von Papen, Raeder, von Blomberg and Beck together, also Hans Bernd Gisevius and Adam von Trott zu Solz. Lastly get Arthue Nebe and Walther Schellenberg up here, the last is Himmler's personal aide. Go around Himmler to contact him. Oh, and Otto Graf Czernin, you will find him in Salzburg.

With the afternoon came von Ribbentrop. After the usual greetings he was quick to get down to it.
"Von Ribbentrop. I have a mission for you that I am afraid will take you out of Berlin, probably for some time."
"Mein Fuhrer?"
"I have decided to re-orientate our foreign policy and to seek a détente with the Western powers so we can focus on our true enemy, Stalin's Bolsheviks. With that being said it is imperative that we get Japan, as a fellow Anti-Comintern Pact country to focus their efforts on the Soviet Union and Stalin's pig pile. That being the case I need my best man in Japan. That best man is you. I need you to convince the Japanese to strike, if they are going to strike at all, against Soviet Russia. Indicate that we intend to attempt to rebuild our British relationship so if we are unable to reach an understanding we would have to use exert any Pacific influence we may desire through China instead, supporting their noble suppression of Chinese Communists. I have a young man I want you to take with you, Hans-Bernd August Gustav von Haeften, You can rely on his advice.
"Who will take over the ministry?"
"Well, I need to soft soap the British and French, at least for a time. Perhaps von Papen, or your predecessor. Do not worry about this. Do this task for me and I will show my gratitude. I have written a name inside this envelope. This man is a member of the party yet a Soviet spy. Don't ask me how I know. I want him quietly eliminated, preferably in such a way as it appears an accident. Tokyo is a dangerous place, I am sure you can arrange it. Can you continue your exemplary service for me in this way?
"Yawohl, Mein Fuhrer, of course."
"I'm placing much trust in you..."
"It's not misplaced."
"Good, good. I'll let you be on your way. I'll make an announcement within the week."

That was one fool out of the way. No doubt he would bombastically trumpet the news to the Japanese far more fervently than he himself had been told it. He had memories of previous conversations. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, but loyal. At least loyal to what he believed him to be.

In truth a Japanese war versus Russia may only serve to whet Stalin's appetite. It did not matter if Japan went North or South, either way they would bite off more than they could chew, but a longer term Japan-Russia war would buy time. That was always useful. What he really needed was to contain Stalin's USSR so if war was declared, Stalin would appear as the aggressor and he could maneuver British, French and American public opinion and support onto his own side. Now that was going to take some doing. Eventually Japan were going to push too hard and too far and get that oil embargo. When that happened the clock was ticking against the U.S. Finland, the Baltics, Poland, Romania, Uncle Joe wanted them all. He just needed a well-disguised trip wire for him to fall over. Perhaps the answer that would assuage British, Polish and French fears was a treaty guaranteeing Poland rather than reaching to pull it apart, a secret treaty best of all.

April 1939

He dressed quickly, eager to be about the days business. This morning was the big fish, Goering. Dragged all the way from Karinhall, he would have to provide a sweetener, as there would be some pills Goering had to swallow, not least a reduction in the proposed Luftwaffe expansion, although he could at least make sure they received the right aircraft. In regards Foreign policy, he believed he could make Goering see the basic drift of what he was aiming for. From all reports the man was far from stupid, only lazy. In regards the Jews and other "undesirables", he did not believe Goering would care at all. He was only mildly anti-Semitic, if at all. What he was, however, was ruthlessly ambitious, indifferent to other’s suffering and totally self-serving. If policy changed, he would throw himself behind it. It was what to do with the really hard liners - that was the main problem, those that felt such strong convictions that they would defy their own little tin god, their Fuhrer, to achieve them.

Julius Streicher, for instance. He had used Bormann to make that appointment last for the week, just after his second last appointment, Jaac van Harten, who was currently in a Bavarian prison. It had been a long time since the sneaker course at reserve camps and 15 years since he had fired a weapon aside from an air rifle, let alone the Luger, which was certain to be different to the Browning. He would need practice. Perhaps this was best achieved under the pretext of teaching Eva. What's more, he had never killed a man. It was not something he was looking forward to, however, the stark reality was that this omelette was going to require a number of broken eggs. There was no one else he could quite trust at present and he had never been a believer in getting others to do what you were too shy to do yourself.

He had spent the early morning with Eva, discussing his wish that she now "come out" into the public eye as his official paramour and had relied on his own readings that she was simply lazy, not unintelligent. He had raised the subject of her moving into the Nazi elite's "ladies circle", which she would no doubt quickly rise to the top of courtesy of his own position. It would no doubt be an excellent source of gossip. Despite society's preconceptions, he was all too well aware that although men talked less than women, they actually gossiped more, and most shared everything with their wives. Yes, he had been correct. She was delighted with the plan and happy to feed back tidbits of information to him.

Goering had arrived just in time for lunch. He had to go through the motions of still being a vegetarian, oh how his daughter would be laughing at him now, he thought, with yet another pang of longing for home. It was bad enough that during a morning walk here it was bloody freezing. And people thought Tasmania was cold, this was more like his visits to St Petersburg. After the usual exchange of pleasantries, they got down to business.

"Goering, you are a fellow Great War veteran, in fact a hero, not like a simple infantry men like myself."
"I would hardly call you a simple infantry man, Adolf, far more than that" countered Goering, obviously pleased by the praise.
"The previous elites managed to get us involved in a war that killed three million German men, with millions more maimed. In addition, a million civilians starved to death during the blockade that was itself a crime against humanity. I have been thinking more deeply about our current role in Europe and have come to the conclusion that we have pushed things too far, too fast. Czechoslovakia had created a breach with France and England that will take much repairing."
"Do we wish to repair it?"
"I have it on good authority that a declaration of war against Poland will produce a declaration against us by both France and England. This will produce a war we cannot win. Just like in 1914, the British will sit safe and secure behind the English Channel and use their navy to blockade us. We have no means to break the blockade and no means to invade and crush their puny army. Aside from all that, why should we fight our Aryan brothers in arms. What do we want from England? A few unprofitable colonies? We can buy bananas and coconuts elsewhere. We cannot repeat the mistakes of 1914, we cannot witness the destruction of the flower of National Socialism like the flower of German youth was cut down before our eyes. Our own eyes, my dear Hermann. Finally, once we are at war against England and France, you can be sure that the United States will eventually come to their side as well, much like 1917. We cannot let that happen and fight a war we cannot win. No, we must be cleverer than that.

That means our anti Polish policy must change. If we are to obtain living space and land, it must come in the East, not in the West. Our true enemy had always been Bolshevism and that means Stalin's USSR. How can a war with Poland help us here? The Poles fear us, but they despise Stalin's Russia. Their territorial ambitions also lie East. We have brought Lithuania into our economic orbit, now we must protect her as well as control her. That is what a good parent does, protect their children, whilst sometime taking measures to ensure their obedience.

We must seek a rapprochement between ourselves and the English and for that matter their French lap dogs. That will require concessions that make both feel more at ease. An easing of policies in Czechoslovakia and a restoration of nominal freedoms. A final solution to the Polish corridor and Danzig and an understanding with Poland, backed by a treaty, a treaty they can trust because it's secret protocols will be a complete guarantee for them against Stalin. This will be needed, because Stalin will be coming. He is bent on territorial expansion and when he goes to war with us, which he will, we must be ready.

As I am sure you remember, the Russians have virtually unlimited manpower. That means we will need allies to bolster our own manpower and for that reason Poland will do nicely. Plenty of manpower, a nice "trip wire" between us and Stalin and with them we gain the Baltic States as well. Not only that, with our assistance they can become a powerful ally. If these people bleed and die for our objectives, it matters not whether they are Slavs. There are many inside Stalin's Russia who disagree with his policies, if the time comes they can be used, as can Ukrainian nationalists or White Émigrés.

To mollify the English we must cut back on the things that threaten them, aircraft and ships. I am afraid that will mean a cutback in our projected procurements for your Luftwaffe, however, what we can do is make sure what they do have is the absolute best. As head of the four year plan, I am sure you are well aware that we cannot afford to rearm by spending 26% of our GDP on armaments. Employment is at 130%, meaning we have too many jobs and not enough workers. This cannot continue. We need to throttle back our projects and procurement or our economy will collapse."
"Remarkable ideas Adolf. An about face?"
"We have made some mistakes, I fear. Now we need to correct them. I wish to appoint you to two extra posts, I hope it will not be too much of a strain for a hard worker such as yourself."
"No, of course not."
"Firstly, an appointment to the post of Reichsmarschall, a senior Field Marshal rank. You can design your own uniform. Secondly, to the position of Deputy Vice Fuhrer. Hess is a good man, loyal, but I fear he is constantly sick, losing his grip on things. There may have to be a change there and a successor in the wings would make things easy when the time comes."
"Thanks you, I shall not forget this honor."
"Now, specifically, in regards the Luftwaffe, I have a few recommendations. If we are going to cut back, we need to standardize and not mass produce different aircraft that fill the same role. Our standard medium bomber must be the Ju-88, it is superior to both the He-111 and Do-17. Mollify Heinkel by ordering his new He-100 in some numbers, a few 100. Yes, it competes with the 109 but it has twice the range. That will allow us to slow down production of the Me-110 as we will have some numbers of longer range fighters already. As you know, it performs poorly against modern single engine fighters such as the 109."
"I did not know you were so well informed."
"I have always had an interest in aviation, you know that. Lastly, three other points, Udet is not the man for the job. Replace him. Heinkel's He 280 and jet engines. Support this. It may be the future and if it fails, what is lost? If it succeeds, we are way ahead. Lastly, naval aircraft. Talk to Raeder. Give him what he wants. It's not much. Just a few carrier aircraft and a few long range patrol aircraft, of which we have none currently. Offer this as a prize to Dornier, a contract for a long range patrol aircraft. If a war comes, we will need all these factories and design teams.

Lastly, our policy for Jews, Gypsy's and the like. There are still 225,000 Jews in Germany and 75,000 in Bohemia and Moravia. Presently, we are unable to get countries to take them. England have capped emigration to Palestine. The USA has a strict quota and refuses to take more. We cannot afford a situation where, if we are trying to sooth foreign opinion against us, instead we have what will be perceived by others as atrocities here. Diplomatically, we need to make every effort to get these people off our soil. If war does come, I don't want them holding us back. I will be talking to the SS about easing our anti-Jewish actions and speeding up ways of getting them out of Germany. The same applies to other undesirables. That will help us by not wasting resources having to keep many in camps. Hence I wish to introduce a scheme where camp prisoners can work on construction projects voluntarily, including Jews. In return, whist still required to report their locations to the Gestapo, they could live normally. These projects would be under the control of the Todt Organization, not the SS. However, our ultimate aim must be to rid ourselves of these people, perhaps at a later stage. With a new softening of Foreign policy I have replaced Ribbentrop and either von Papen or Neurath will replace him, the other going to England as ambassador. In regards Jewish emigration, I have already had some positive news. Franco has won his war, now he must pay us for our assistance, not just in money but cooperation. He has agreed to take 20,000. Once in Spain, many can try and make Palestine, but that will be the English's problem. What are your thoughts on this?"

"In view of this change of direction it makes sense, but will be opposed by some" stated Goering. He seemed unfazed by the about turn on the Jewish question.
"We need to do the right thing by Germany and National Socialism. Those that oppose too loud may have to be dealt with themselves. For the greater good of the German people, of course."

They chatted for another hour and a half about the various details. He watched the man leave. He had given him both the carrot and the stick. He had thought about raising both the Gestapo and the SS, but he needed "proof" of their disloyalty first.

April 1939

To say that Canarias and Oster were alarmed to receive the summons to the Berghof was a drastic understatement. Both had been involved in the plot just prior to the invasion of the Sudetenland to unseat Hitler that had been stillborn and if the dictator had wind of that they would not remain alive.

Yet the more Canarias thought about the matter, the more reassured he became. Why would he invite them to his alpine retreat? If he already knew he had been betrayed, the Gestapo would simply arrest him and he would already been at their sinister headquarters at the Prinzalbertstrasse.

No, this must be something else, yet he had no idea what. Possibly Poland, an operation he was privately concerned would lead to disaster and a possible full scale 1914 style war, although support was high amongst the Prussian Junkers to regain lands that for some of them had been lost in 1918.

Both men were shown in and pointedly searched for weapons, itself a worrying sign, however Hitler appeared quite cordial when they were finally ushered into his presence. They were settled comfortably in armchairs facing Hitler when the Fuhrer opened the conversation with a statement that stunned both men “Gentleman, I am aware of your 1938 plot to assassinate myself in conjunction with von Kleist and others.” At the conclusion of the quietly modulated sentence, Canarias’s blood ran cold and Oster jumped to his feet. Hitler’s mouth took on a thin, tight smile. “Gentleman, if I intended to do anything actively against either of you, I would already have informed the Gestapo. No, I intend to do nothing, either to yourselves or indeed Gisevius, Nebe, Beck, von Witzelben, Schacht, Halder, von Weizsacker and others. As you can see, I do know it all, all the conspirators, all the plans. From now on, you work for me, but this may be not so much of an abhorrent thought as you think.” Hitler paused to let the words sink in. Canarias waved Oster back into the armchair. There was little point in attempting something stupid now. He was still reeling in shock as to who could possibly have betrayed them.

Hitler continued “I have come to the realisation that I have made mistakes, a number of them. Czechoslovakia was one such mistake. It alienated us from the Western democracies. Our planned Polish policy is a disaster and will provoke a war. We need to get ourselves on side with Poland and create allies in the near East, not enemies. In addition, our racial policy had gone far, far, too far. To that end, Germany is no longer safe for Jews and these will need to be gotten out of the country where they can be protected and where there are no more incidents that tarnish Germany’s reputation internationally. We need to soften our face to the outside world and relax the grip we as National Socialists have taken on this country. I want both of your thoughts on how I can do this, how the power of the party itself can be reduced by the placement of moderates in positions of authority and how to gradually sideline the extremists. I want your thoughts on how we can bring ourselves back into the international community whilst still guarding against Stalin and his Bolsheviks. “

Oster was the first to speak. “ I am not sure where to start or what to say.”
Hitler spoke again. “Be honest. You have only two choices. Firstly, I am telling the truth, that I have had a change of heart, brought on by turning 50, my conversations with others and thoughts of my own mortality by way of a recent incident. That I wish to change the direction of this country and am open to your input on ways to do so, which, by the way, I am. Now if you want to make those changes, you will need support from the top that can only come from me, otherwise the hard liners will never grant your wishes. By way of good faith, von Ribbentrop is already gone, as you will soon see. It’s the first change, but need not be the last. Secondly, I am not telling the truth. That it’s all some sick game. I don’t need you to lead me to your co-conspirators. Here is a list of them", he indicated, by passing over a folded piece of paper.” If I am lying, you are dead anyway, so I beg you to take option one. It’s natural to resent a choice that is no choice, however, I believe we can move to a better Germany together, one that will not stain this countries honour.”

Canarias spoke next ”What do you wish of us?”
Hitler went on. “Very simple really. I will be here 12 more days. I want you or two representative’s that you decide to come back on the last day I am here. Provide me with some points on policy including, but not limited to, the following:

1) Czech rump state
2) Poland and the Baltic States
3 ) Britain and France foreign policy
4) Jewish and Gypsy policy
5) SS and Gestapo activities
6) Economic recommendations to reduce employment and slow the economy without crashing it
7) Strategic appointments and removals to further a softer agenda

Oh, and Canarias?"
"Yes?"
"I want that file you have on Heydrich, I'm sure you know the one I am talking about."
He battled to keep the shock off his face. How did he know about that, of all things?

Canarias left in somewhat of a daze. Hitler had his characteristic intense manner and stare, yet was seemingly in other ways a different man. Either way, he was mousetrapped. Even shooting himself would be no escape, his family would then suffer. Sippenhaft, they called it. Maybe he was telling the truth. If that was the case, perhaps it was some blue sky, a chance to roll back some of the oppressive and almost inevitable cloud of war. At least that would be something.

April 1939

He felt much more confident with his next visitor. This was actually something he fancied he knew something about. However, Raeder was going to be an objector all the same, mainly because for the Kriegsmarine, it was all bad news. Nothing was likely to make the U.K more nervous than large bomber fleets and, in particular, a large navy had always traditionally been a major cause of alarm to the Brits.

He needed to dramatically cut the expenditure on arms and at the same time keep the country able to stand off Stalin and the USSR’s ambitions if need be. If a war came there, it would not be a naval war. This would also take the pressure of the terrible labour shortage rampant across Germany. To appear too weak would invite the sort of penetration of Eastern Europe that historically had occurred in 1939-40. On the other hand, whilst he desired an accommodation with both Britain and France, there were no guarantees and also he could not appear to be a supplicant either. He needed to show a change of heart, yet still appear strong enough to be a potential ally worth assisting, if required.

His plans were simple enough. Firstly, completely scrap “Plan Z”. In regards to capital ships, cancel the H Class battleships and O Class battlecruisers, effective immediately. Work of Bismark and Tirpitz would continue and the ships were so far advanced there was little opportunity now to correct their shortcomings, of which there were many. In regards to the Scharnhorst Class, he would be asking Raeder to consider rearming them with the 15 inch guns already under construction for the soon to be cancelled O Class. He also planned to scrap the three old pre dreadnaughts currently still in the fleet. They were almost useless in terms of combat potential.

For cruisers he planned to continue all five of the Hipper Class cruisers, even taking into account their dicey engines they would be a powerful back up to the battleships in the Baltic, if needed. The Panzerschiffe were another matter. They were slower than fleet units, but longer ranged. Designed right from the start for commerce raids against French and British interests, something that had no doubt not escaped either navy’s eye. His plan was quite simple in that regard. Sell, if possible, all three to the Dutch, who were clamouring for assistance with obtaining small capital ships, probably two-three units. The whole Class could be sold, possibly after upgrading to the Scharnhorst Class’s newer 28 cm SK C/34, which was an impressive weapon. He planned to scrap the two M Class light cruisers under construction, which had seemed like a flawed concept right from the start. For the Graf Zeppelin Class carriers, he planned to cancel and scrap the second unit and continue with the Graf Zeppelin as a test bed, even though it was a poor design. He had, at least, convinced Goering to give the navy control over it’s own aircraft, so that was one tid bit for Raeder. If they could work out the kinks of carrier operation he would be happy enough to authorise a follow on class of two more of an improved design.

For destroyers, nothing could be done about the last two of the Zerstorer 1936 Class which were near completion. However, the wholly inadequate, overweight Narvik Class was another matter altogether. He would cancel and scrap all four under construction and cancel orders for the remaining 16. By way of replacement, 24 of the much more versatile Flottentorpedoboot 1939 would instead be built. Minesweeper production would continue; if it came to a war in the Baltic these would be needed.

Lastly submarines and naval air. Submarines were also one of those items that were such a direct threat to the Royal Navy. He would ask for cancellation of all 16 planned Type IID Class submarines, the navy had more than enough small coastal boats. Likewise, the planned VIIC boats would be cancelled, no more Type VII’s boats being built after the current Type VIIB Class. He would cancel the remaining 12 of the Type IXB Class and all the Type IX Class, building only the first two boats already commenced of the Type IXB. Of the longer range submarines, he planned a continuation of the Type X and would ask Raeder to order three more. Finally, he would let the order for two of the four Type XI boats go ahead, but planned to lobby Raeder to consider converting the last two to “Milch Cow” style refuelers. Likewise, he planned to ask the man to lobby the aircraft companies for a truly long range machine capable of carrying and delivering a torpedo, if necessary. Finally, E Boat construction was to be stepped up and the use of and fitting of radar in naval vessels was to be investigated s a matter of urgency.

Thus was his broad plan. Such large reductions would piss off the navy and the shipyards, yet would be a concrete symbol of Germany’s revised intentions and would go at least some way towards taking the heat out of both the labour shortage and the economy. If Schacht thought the opposite, more orders could be submitted at a later stage, but it would not be for the navy.

April 1939

It had been a good day so far. He had confirmed Otto Graf Czernin as the new Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia earlier in the morning. The old Austro-Czech aristocrat has sympathies with the Czech people and would hopefully go some way towards protecting them from the worst of the excesses whilst he went forward with other plans.

In all honesty, he had no idea what to do with the Reich Protectorate at all. Newly occupied, he could hardly restore it to independence, at least not without some sort of quid pro quo. There was a thought; perhaps he could use it as a bargaining chip to resolve Danzig and to see his plans for the corridor go through.

Von Neurath and von Papen had followed and the former had seemed to be more than pleased about being restored to the Foreign Ministry, particularly when he had indicated his revised plans to the former Minster and to reversal of his previous foreign policy as regards Poland. As the Fuhrer he gave Von Neurath two main tasks, setting up visits to both London and Poland. Von Papen would go to London as ambassador. Both visits would have to be done by himself personally. It would be necessary to abase himself before the British to gain a change of heart. Only a personal appeal and an admission of mistakes made would be likely to repair the breach, along with a 21st Century crass political charm offensive with kissing babies along with contact with the media and the British public, as well as certain key figures. Churchill in particular would be hard, let alone Chamberlain, who had little reason to embrace him after being humiliated at Munich.

With Poland, a change was also needed. Their view was, understandably, that Nazi Germany was their likely main threat. To change that world view, two things would be required. Firstly, a resolution of outstanding issues, namely Danzig and the corridor. Secondly, a common cause. Both were not completely out of reach even at this late stage and a mutual understanding in terms of Eastern policy was largely the key. If this could be resolved he could then turn some thought to Mussolini. Long ago he had been told that in business there is a place for the intelligent and hardworking and the intelligent and lazy. Use can even be found for the stupid and lazy. What one must remove from employment, however, without fail, were the industrious and stupid. Too bad Benny fell well and truly into the last category.

His early afternoon appointment, Cioma Schönhaus, clearly had no idea why he was there. He had spent some little time with him, intrigued by his philatelic forgeries on a personal level, which that man was clearly not that keen to discuss but had little choice about doing so. He had gone on to his ability to forge passports, signatures and the like. He himself could provide Schönhaus access to the correct official papers and stationary for the job. It was like extracting teeth, but eventually he was satisfied the man was capable of doing what was required. Better still, he had a wife and family and seemed personally cared shitless so would not step out of line. He cautioned him to silence, eventually indicating that Schönhaus would receive contact within the month from an SS Gruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich, who would tell him what documents needed to be prepared. He would need three months or so before he could move against the SS and then rebuild it in the way he wanted it to be, which would be a scalpel and not an all pervasive spiked club. Heydrich would help him with that, although he was yet to know it. The man certainly possessed the necessary ruthlessness and utter lack of scruples needed to see the job through.

He spent the afternoon relaxing; he needed to gather his thoughts for the last four days here before he was "on the move". Finally, before tea, he again practiced shooting with Eva. Men like Canarias and Oster were trained spies. It was a profession that bred suspicion. A little 'symbol' of his "change of heart" would go a long way. Julius Streicher would provide that symbol, as well as endearing the German people to their "courageous" Fuhrer as he acted personally to foil an assassination attempt. It was not like anyone would miss a Jew baiting moron like Streicher in any case, the man's very lack of intellect and social skills precluded any close friendships after all. He then had to hope that Canarias and Oster would take it as a confirmation of his change of heart, without going the full hog and adding 22 and 22 and actually getting 44. Surely that wasn't possible? God knows, he was still not sure he believed it himself.

24 April 1939

Kenji Yushimori had watched the foreign journalist stumble along behind the girl clearly half drunk even before the girl administered the Sydenham's Laudanum into his drink at the hotel.

After he had passed out she had made the signal and he and his colleague had entered the room and whilst his colleague placed a few items strategically taken from the man's apartment last week, including cigarettes and a whiskey flask. He had placed the silk rope and it's already made noose around the man's neck himself. They had picked the top floor room for it's strong central beam, a rare thing in a Tokyo hotel room and quickly secured the rope.

They had both pulled on the rope, lifting the man into the air as the noose immediately tightened around his neck. He came awake, but there was little in the way of sound that could be made and the task was quickly enough done. Afterwards he tied off the rope and pushed over a chair underneath the corpse. It should not be hard to believe such a heavy drinker decided to take his own life.

He had no idea why this Richard Sorge had to die, but had been paid well enough for the task.

April 1939

His visits with von Blomberg and Beck together, also Hans Bernd Gisevius and Adam von Trott zu Solz, had gone much as expected. He had outlined his change of heart and the fact that he wished to keep Germany out of a war, particularly with the West, not push her towards one. Initially suspicious, they had been disinclined to believe that he had had any change of heart, however, the appointments of Von Neurath and Czernin were already news so there was some small reason for their belief to be ameliorated.

It had been when he had indicated his knowledge of the Kreisau Circle and von Moltke and von Wartenburg, as well as his detailed knowledge of Beck's army ambitions that he had really gained their attention.

He had kept the meeting short, intending to give them time to absorb what he had told them, before indicating to Beck that he wished to see him restored to active service but that first he would give them a "demonstration" tomorrow to show them his change of heart. They had filed out with much to think about.

His meeting with Speer, Todt and, in particular, Schacht and a number of Reichsbank economists had been far more lengthy. His own knowledge of economics, and seemingly Hitler's as well, were woefully inadequate for any sort of real comprehension beyond the basics. Of course, the fact that there were more jobs than workers and the country was spending far in excess of it's earnings were simple enough to understand.

There was little point in trying to ride herd on Schacht. In the end he had simply appointed the man to a role as Reich Minister for Finance, giving him power over the whole German economy and asked him to appoint someone else to run the Reichsbank. He had indicated he wished to see a detailed plan to restructure the German economy within a month, by which stage he himself would be back in Berlin for a three weeks.

Speer he had appointed as Reich Minister for Industry and Todt as Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition and he had made his plans in regards to military procurement quite clear as well. Ruthless standardization of types, especially for big ticket items such as aircraft and tanks, interchange ability of parts was desirable and designs too complex to produce easily that did not represent a major leap forward would not be produced at all. One thing he had indicated to both Speer and Todt that he wished stopped immediately was the construction of the West Wall. An enormously expensive, time consuming and labour intensive project, he would call a halt to it’s further construction immediately. It was completely incompatible with his current foreign policy and may actually gain him some Brownie Points with the French if he stopped it. The six months State Service rule would stay and he would not disband the organisation completely, however, it would be scaled back to free up labour elsewhere and their efforts would switch to synthetic oil plants near the relevant coal fields.

He had felt somewhat conflicted initiating sex the next morning with Eva, truth be told the girl really had no idea who she was even having sex with but if one looked at it entirely dispassionately it was hard to see how he was going to end up treating the girl any worse than Adolf bloody Hitler. Plus, she was certainly keen and very enthusiastic. That always helped and he was thinking forward to later this morning and had a great deal of nervous energy that needed a release. These 1930's satin nightgowns reminded him of his lingerie loving ex fiancé from 30 years ago as well. Mmm, happy memories there.

He pulled out the pistol from it's place in the bathroom cupboard draw, where he had hidden it last night behind his meager collection of toiletries, Eva controlling all but one of the bathroom draws. He checked it again and tucked it into his pocket. He had been at the mountain retreat a week and had practiced three times. It would have to be enough. It was hardly like either himself or Hitler had not shot a pistol before.

Julius Streicher had turned up on time and afforded him a copybook Nazi salute. He had been pleasant, asking after his health and activities as they sat in the two armchairs. It had taken not 60 seconds after his last question for the man to veer off into an anti-Jewish rant. Streicher was on the outer in any case, hated by both Goering, Hess and Bormann.

He blew his nose with his handkerchief and then used it as a prop to get up and passed the man the dagger.
"New SS dagger design."
Streicher took it, giving it a cursory glance before grunting "Looks the same as the old one", placing it on his lap. Excellent.

As Streicher continued on his anti-Jewish rant, he felt he had taken enough from this little fucktard not five minutes in. How could someone, anyone, be like this? What level of moral and mental inadequacies made anyone like this? Where he had been nervous before, now he felt oddly detached. He placed his right hand on the gun in his jacket pocket.

"Julius, I am closing down Der Sturmer."
"Closing it down? In God’s name why?"
"I am completely reversing all my positions on both the Jews and Jewish institutions in Germany and intend to pay them compensation for their mistreatment, both from The National Socialist Party and from Germany as a whole, also Der Sturmer."

The man had jumped to his feet and started raving and this was the signal he had been waiting for. He brought the Luger up in a smooth motion, hearing voices outside in the distance and took a step closer. Streicher was busy, almost gibbering and seemingly never even noticed the gun until it was level with his head. He had time for a whispered "Goodbye Julius" in English, before the 7.65mm bullet exploded out of the barrel. Like he had been taught a long time ago, he aimed for the nose with a shorter man, as opposed to the mouth with a taller. Streicher was dead before he even hit the floor. He had requested total privacy for the meeting so had a good five or six seconds to tap the body a second time and kick the dagger over next to Streicher's right hand before the door was swung open by guards.

Now all that was required was to tell the story just right. That, and time. It would be a long investigation; he was sure, taking months. Something he would take a personal interest in so it could be nudged in the right directions, if required. With the right inducement, like a lack of exposure of his Jewish origins, a man like Heydrich would ferret out the "co-conspirators" of dear Julius. Within 2-3 months Cioma Schönhaus should have the documents ready. Shocking that such a plot, motivated by more radical and less moderate elements of the Party would extend to the Gestapo and SS at the highest levels.

He felt that he would be able to rely on Heydrich to act ruthlessly and without pity for those involved. The public would be mollified by the news of his safety and that he had bravely fought off his maniacal attacker and would be "alerted to the dangers of extremism in their own party."

Yes, it could all work. Once the immediate loose ends were tied up, he could focus on Foreign policy, the area most in need of attention.

The remainder of the day, had, of course, degenerated into a circus and he had plans to broadcast to the German people tomorrow to reassure them of his safety. At the very least, he could play this as a giant sympathy vote to boost his assumed high prewar popularity and it should send a message to Gisevius, Canarias and those more intelligent types.

As he finally went to bed that night he had sleepily placed his hand on Eva's shoulder.
"How would you like to practice learning English?"
"Adolf, you don't know English"
"Of course I do, I learned years ago."
"But you use a translator."
"It gives me time to think and formulate and answer whilst he talks. Almost no one knows, pretty much only yourself."
"Yes, it can be our secret then."

He moved closer, placing his arm around her, feeling the need for contact after the stress of the day.
Might not want to get to close."
"Why?"
"I have had some light bleeding, you know, down below. I am not sure why, it's not that time."

April 1939

As he sat in the armchair, he pondered how to get what Germany would need without going to war to obtain it. The first part of that conundrum was what was required. The simplest place to start was a basic "shopping list" of strategic materials and whether Germany was fully self sufficient in all. He had read enough texts, watched enough documentaries and even played simulations such as "World in Flames" often enough. Now it was time to try and recall the relevant information.

It was a frightening list. So many things the country was short of, most prominent amongst them food. Germany was a net importer of food, so if she was blockaded, a tactic used more than successfully in 1914-18, she would gradually starve. This process had been repeated all too effectively in World War 2. It was going to require some thinking and juggling and also an appreciation that he did not necessarily have as to what could be exported to maintain something resembling a balance of trade.

Hopefully a blockade could be avoided as he intended to do all he could to avoid a war with both England and France, or indeed anyone. The lessons of Chamberlain and the Cold War meant that he had no intention of appeasing a nutter like Stalin.

It was a curious experience, having Hitler's memories. At times he had to avoid a response that reflected Hitler's own views rather than his own. Although his memories were submerged, his opinions were only suppressed, not gone completely. He himself had drifted to the more conservative side of politics over the years but there was a vast difference between conservative and planned homicidal mania. Well, it had only been nine days, one could not change the world overnight and here it would likely be one step at a time. To be pulled from power would mean not only his own execution but no changes at all, and perhaps, frighteningly enough, a World War 2 with someone more competent than Hitler in charge. That was a scary thought.

It was a long way from the suburbs in Australia. He wondered at times like this whether he was intellectually up to it. Everyone criticized political processes, but it was a whole lot harder when you were making those decisions he had found so far. In the end he would have to trust his intellectual superiors in their own fields of expertise and engender trust and persuade or outright dominate his intellectual inferiors whilst setting broad policy guidelines of what needed to be changed. Not too far or too fast or too alarmist, a gradual drift. Running sales teams should help, he knew how to sell, in this case the product being more moderate policies, both foreign and domestic. Plus he had been responsible for a platoon of 29 other men before and supervised work groups of over 100.

Christ, why was he dwelling on this? It was what it was. There wasn't any point bitching that the beach had seaweed on it or the water was cold. It was just jump in and swim. There were no other choices.

April 1939

It was his second last day at Berchtesgaden and the time in isolation had been a blessing, allowing him to go some way down the track of perfecting the role before he was thrust back into the limelight in Berlin. Not that he planned to be in either place long. Warsaw and the London and, if he could swing it, Washington, were all places that could use a visit from the Fuhrer.

He had Beck and Von Blomberg today. The later he intended to offer a reactivated position as head of the Reserve Army. It was a sop after what had occurred in 1938 but would at the same time get the man back into uniform and he intended to offer his apologies at his non intervention to save the man's career. It would hopefully pull him to Hitler as an ally. If war came, the Reserve Army could end up as the largest military force in Germany, so it would help if it's commander was compliant. Even better, von Blomberg now had several clearly defined enemies, including Goering. That could always to leveraged to advantage if the need arose.

Beck he could make use of. An anti Nazi, he was a very good officer. He intended to appoint both him and his former protégée Guderian to a post in charge of technical development for the Wehrmacht. He had several ideas there to start both men off, for instance, a much earlier use of the Hetzer and the creation of a new tank, with a sloped and better armoured chassis to replace both the Panzer III and IV that shared both an ease of production and communality of components with the Czech 38 chassis. Upgunning was of vital importance, both in terms of tanks and AT guns, with the Pak 40 needing to be pushed to completion and used as the main AT gun. Construction of the Panzer II was to be terminated as soon as practicable. Hopefully he could prevent the rise of ridiculous super heavy monsters. Recoiless launchers could also be discussed.

Tomorrow he had Nebe and Schellenberg separately. He had no doubt that Nebe would have been briefed by his fellow co-conspirators Oster, Gisevius and the like. He had not revealed to them that he knew Nebe was also involved. No, best to lay a out a simple suspicion that he was concerned about SS disloyalty and that, in the event of trouble, he may require Nebe and the Kripo's loyalty. That would do for now. The man was a professional secret keeper and when the time came he would do nicely as an instrument to emasculate the SS whilst Heydrich did the dirty work.

He intended to virtually abolish the SS altogether, including the Waffen SS, a fact the army would hold him in high regard for. The Kripo and Orpo would go back to what they should always have been, an ordinary police force. From the ranks of the LAH he could recruit a proper bodyguard unit that actually traveled with him, more like the U.S Secret Service, from the most blindly loyal men. His last appointment was Schellenberg. Brilliant and blindly ambitious, he would head up a small section whose job it was to report back to Hitler personally. Here a few words of praise and a hint of a better job in the wind should secure his loyalty. The job he had in mind would be simple-to investigate the Nazi hierarchy, particularly the Party "Golden Pheasants", and to collate, observe and catalogue their secrets, crimes and(in some cases) perversions. Having the right files on people would help immeasurably in getting rid of incompetents and hardline Nazis. Revealing "perversions" amongst hard liners would also serve to weaken their power base and allow the promotion of others. These two small sections, both of whom he envisaged as being less than 100 men, would be all that remained of the SS.

Then, in two days time, it would be time to return to the snake pit and put up the facade. It was a different way of thinking, Hitler's more erratic thoughts and emotions pushing up as opposed to keeping ones thought contained until it was the right time to express them. To keep up the pretense, he needed a little of Hitler to escape to the outside world as well, lest suspicions be raised he was not his normal self.

May 1939

Well, it had been the end of his time in the German Alps and a return to Berlin was due. As he rode the massive bronze lift down to the tunnel where the Mercedes staff car had to back in to allow entry, he gathered his thoughts. In truth, he had had a minor crisis of conscience last night, wondering what the hell he was actually doing here and had been snappish and distant, both to Bormann and Eva later in the night. Hopefully they had put it down to the ending of his time at the alpine retreat. He had pondered what he was doing here and suffered a major bout of homesickness.

It had required an early night, and brooding session of lying in the dark. This had produced some ideas plus a realization that little was likely to change and the best just had to be made of things. He had made changes at both the Foreign Ministry and at Economics. It was likely that Frick would have to go from Interior as well although that could be delayed. Brooding last night had produced some thoughts on new innovations that could be suggested as future export earners but, even though he had considered that he had good general intelligence, he had struggled to think of “new” inventions that he actually had some sort of idea how to make, Tupperware, Velcro and Halogen lights were all he could immediately come up with. As they motored down the winding road in the open car he considered how this was a pretty dodgy drive in an open topped car with bugger all in the way of safety barriers. Not quite the good road of 2013 when he had last been here. He was able to board the train with a minimum of fanfare and requested privacy in the compartment as he had tossed and turned in a fitful night’s sleep, thinking of the past and a possible future. No one was entirely sure whether Hitler had Parkinson’s or not, but regular physical exercise was clearly a must, as was caffeine consumption, both inhibitors for prevention of the disease, if indeed he had it at all and Hitler's health problems were not merely brought on by the idiocy of his own doctor, Morell, plus the stress of the war itself.

He had slept like a baby on the moving train and felt refreshed. When he got to Berlin it was time to put his game face on. He had initiated the sex, which, was quite up to his usual expectations. This girl was a revelation from his expectations of what 1940's women were like and it felt at one stage like he was on screen in an episode of Californication. In fact, in light of his thoughts about changing his image, the post coital thoughts had drifted quite quickly to something that might well be a smart play both emotionally and politically. She had gushed when he had asked her to marry him, duly apologizing for his impulsiveness that had left him without a ring to immediately give.

In the congenial atmosphere, it was easy to think. He had received a dispatch on his final day on the mountain indicating that the Dutch were indeed interested in the pocket battleships. That was a concrete signal he could use for the British. However, first cab off the rank was Poland, where he was due to make a state visit in three weeks that von Neurath had duly arranged. His basic plan was simple enough; to offer Poland a territorial guarantee and a full military alliance. The target of such an alliance was all too obvious yet the Poles very quickness to agree to a meeting was proof that they were happy enough to talk at the very least. They had better intelligence networks inside Germany in 1939 than any other power, so perhaps they had already sensed a change in the wind. In return, concessions would be required, on both sides. A plebiscite in Danzig-that was the minimum he could get. He had no illusions as to how that would go and the result would do wonders for his already "infallible" reputation. Lastly, the Polish corridor. He did not actually need the corridor, although a tiny thin wedge would be useful, even if it meant conceding territory back to Poland elsewhere. His plans there involved ceding the top 2/3 of Friedburg from Bohemia and Moravia, an easy enough condition for an ethnically Polish area in any case. It would go a long way towards resolving the Zaolzie disputed area and gain Poland some 1000 square kilometres and over 100,000 inhabitants. In return, what he wanted from Poland was an 9km wide strip of Pomerania containing only country roads and no major towns from Polczno to slightly East of Klobuczyno, in all 192 square miles and less than 9,000 inhabitants.

No, he did not need the whole corridor land, only the space under the land. The terrain made it feasible to build a necessary autobahn and railway tunnel to gain access to East Prussia whilst keeping what was above ground Polish. If he was able to obtain control of the territory, he could drive the tunnel through underground less than 9km to Dolne, connecting the two Germanys. It was an ambitious plan, to be sure, but one that could finally provoke a solution. Of course, other positive spin offs could be gained. Many Jews could be "resettled" to Friedsburg prior to any transfer, getting them out of Germany, a blessing both for himself and, hopefully, themselves. Particularly if things went pear shaped later.

If the the Poles needed some extra quid pro quo then that could come in the form of armaments to boost their sadly obsolete air force. 100 Me-109’s should provide a starting point. If Germany was going to have a shield, it would help to make it a strong, functional one.

If he could get Poland, then he could try for the Baltics and Finland, which would provide a lovely cage for the bear. Poland was the key as it signaled a change of policy, change that others would notice. Which remained him, Romania would also need to be tied into any anti Russian alliance. He remained reassured by one vital point-as much as the Poles hated the Germans, they hated the Russians even more.

May 1939

His meeting with Oster was scheduled Wednesday but the man had couriered over his initial suggestions on what to do with the Czech issue. As he read through he was more and more impressed with the document, whose thoughts had exceeded his own on the subject. Germany had withdrawn from the League of Nations in 1933. He could petition the British to support Germany re-joining the League. The sweetener would be placing Bohemia and Moravia on the table as a Class A Mandate, an agenda that would surely appeal to the British.

For this to occur, he needed the border adjustments that he intended to propose to Poland finalised first. As a fig leaf to justify the original invasion of Czechoslovakia, he would sheer off the city of Ostrava, with it's high German population and annex this small sliver to Germany. The fate of the balance of the Czech lands could then be decided by the League. In the meantime, he would pack the protectorate with as many Jews and other politicals as possible, hopefully as many as 80-100,000. With Spain agreeing to take 20,000 and possibly 10,000 more, it would reduce numbers of Jews in Germany from 220,000 to only half that number. When the territory reverted to Czech control, as it surely would, they would be beyond Germany's reach, at least for now.

He scanned Oster's groups recommendation for a possible new Interior Minister. Goerdeler. No surprises there, although he could not agree. The staunchly monarchist Goerdeler would never be the sort of man he could completely trust. Moltke was more someone who could be moulded into the role, but was far to junior currently. There was still some thinking to be done on that score. For now he penned a letter to Oster asking him to arrange for an Oskar Schindler to come and meet him.

Polish Corridor Proposed adjustments( to Germany in mustard)

Bohemia and Moravia Proposed adjustments-Germany grey, Poland purple

May 1939

The five men sat in a rough semi circle facing the fire in the drawing room of the Kreisau mansion, a fire which was hardly needed in May, thought Oster, but still. It was Moltke who broke the silence first.

"What developments at the Foreign Office?" he directed to Ernst, Freiherr von Weizsäcker.
"Changes aplenty. Ribbentrop is gone, packed of with undue haste and replaced by von Neurath. However, the real change has been to policy. Next week's State visit to Poland by the new Mr and Mrs Hitler. The English have agreed to a visit from 3rd to 13th June. There have been five days set aside from "community activities" and protocol have been asked to accept any reasonable invitations to speak to interest groups both in or in the immediate vicinities of London, with priority to ex serviceman's groups and women's groups."
"What about policy?" asked Canaris.
"The area of biggest change. He has a specific plan to make concessions in the Protectorate to Poland in exchange for a sliver of land in Pomerania, a plebiscite in Danzig and the building of a railway tunnel designed to link to East Prussia that he hopes will resolve the issue. The ultimate agenda is now a military alliance with Poland, a complete about face. I confess I am confused and I am not the only one. I'd say it's some sort of trick, but I am not sure what that would achieve. Plus, his speech to the Reichstag."
"Baffling", added Moltke. "First he rails against the oppression of German women when his own polices started much of it. Then a complete turnabout in regards to Poland and how we have a duty to ensure their security as would any good neighbour. Plus the Czechs admission. Next he will be proposing handing it back. It's created a massive shitstorm."
"He certainly still has that streak of ruthlessness." said Canaris. "I handed over my Heydrich file. I was quite bluntly told I had little choice."
"What are the implications of that?" asked Moltke.
"For good or bad it will make Reinhard Heydrich completely his creature. I am also interested in the Streicher shooting. It's not all it looks like."
"What do you mean?" asked Gisevius.
"The bringing back of Beck, the shooting of Streicher, these are messages. Not for the general public, but for us. Combined with new changes to foreign policy, the changes even to women's views, getting married and bringing his new wife into the limelight, it's a reaching out."
"So what do we do from here", asked the last member of the circle, Oster.
"We wait. The barge is finally going in the direction we want it to. Yet Himmler, Goering and others are still on board. Let's not paddle in assistance or rock the boat. We can afford to wait" said Canaris.
"Yet I cannot understand such a radical change", said Oster.
"Yes, that is the baffling part. Same stare, similar mannerisms, seems to have some of the same ruthless steak, yet different opinions, radically different policy. Almost like he is a different man. When he said that he had shaved off his moustache to please his new wife. Dear God, I cannot think of a less likely thing for Hitler to say. Yet, it must be him. I have heard of mid life crisis, but this is just too much."
"It's not just Poland and then England he possibly plans to visit. There has been talk of a trip to America as well, plus Mussolini has been invited to the Berghof in late July."
"Well hopefully then we will have a clearer picture by then. So gentleman, we agree, wait?" asked Moltke.

There was a general consensus.

May 1939

The quadumvirate sat in the small study of the Imperial Palace at Poznan. It had been a busy day, the morning spent mainly on the trappings of ceremony, including Hitler and his wife receiving flowers from Polish children, the inevitable military parade and so on.

Four men sat in the room, Foreign Minister Jozef Beck, President Ignacy Moscicki, Marshal Edward Risz-Smigly and Prime Minister Felicjan Składkowski. It was only the middle two that wielded real power, one representing Poland's powerful right wing and military, the other it's civilian government.

Edward Rysz-Smigly had been frankly astonished. The German’s proposal had some thorny issues for sure, namely granting a thin strip on the corridor and the reversion of Danzig to Germany(as a plebiscite would be sure to do). The later had been a bitter bone of contention in Poland for some time, in fact since the end of the Great War. On the other hand, the positives were certainly intriguing. A gain of all the disputed lands in the former Czechoslovakia, a full mutual defence treaty that guaranteed the agreed borders of Poland, technical assistance with both the Polish Air Force and Navy as well as 100 of the latest German fighters, provision of agricultural mechanization equipment and chemicals, plus power generation technical assistance in exchange for food on favorable terms, no customs duties on any imports or exports to or from Poland via Danzig.

Lastly, three further desired prizes. Hitler offered to make the hated Versailles minorities treaty, so long a source of excuse for Germany to intervene in Poland, either bilateral or indeed to repudiate it altogether. Secondly, an alliance with Poland would bring ties to the very countries that Poland had been trying unsuccessfully to cultivate, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, even Italy. Finally, Hitler had dropped a bombshell when he had asked Poland to put Germany's case to the League of Nations for a mandate to be applied to Bohemia and Moravia from the end of 1939, restoring limited sovereignty under the League. Diplomatically, it would allow Poland much sway and influence in the new, restored state and increase it's prestige internationally.

It was interesting, and he knew that in Beck Hitler had already gained a supporter. The foreign policy initiatives alone were enough to puff Beck's sense of self importance. Hitler had spoken calmly and persuasively, logically outlining why he must have Danzig as a link to East Prussia to both assuage German public opinion and also to provide the infrastructure links required to truly join the East Prussian enclave back to Germany. He also spoke at length about quid quo pro and the need for the two countries to be seen as full partners and the benefits that would flow to Poland.

He had proven to be much more humble than previous reports and had indicated that if they did not go for his deal there would be no threats, that the offer would simply be withdrawn and that he would simply offer the economic benefits of the trade deal to another country instead. He had made it quite plain that he regarded Stalin's USSR as his main ideological enemy, certainly something that Rysz-Smigly himself could agree with. It was tempting, although he had seen enough snake oil salesman over the years and it may be best to wait and see rather than commit. Beck was already ready to sign. Whatever position he took, it seemed likely his main political rival Ignacy Moscicki would take the contrary view.

Privately, he was all too well aware of Poland's military weakness, it's agricultural backwardness and it's painful lack of allies. Sandwiched between two larger powers, Beck's foreign policy had envisaged Poland as the leader of a "third estate" of smaller powers in alliance, such as Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, even Italy and Greece. However, this had been a dismal failure and Poland was largely friendless. This was something that this alliance could change. It bore thinking about.

May 1939

Józef Beck sighed. It was seemingly a fait-accompli. Rydz-Smigly had agreed and even Moscicki had not adopted a contrary position.

The very fact that the man had remained in Warsaw for a week, making himself available to the press for the bulk of that time had, in itself, increased the pressure on Beck to arrive at a decision favourable to the proposal. Hitler had been completely accessible and had been widely interviewed, stating that he hoped to "guarantee the security of both countries in perpetuity and finally allow Poland to take it's place in the sun." In addition he had espoused that Poland could "undertake an industrial renaissance similar to Germany's last six years," all the while praising Poland's current leadership group and outlining the economic benefits.

As the subtle pressure from the public for an answer grew, with the German dictator in the news every day, pictured strolling in Warsaw with his wife, taking in sights and showing an interest in Polish history and culture, it became harder to say no. Of course, some publications were critical of a German alliance, pointing out Hitler's abuses of the Jews inside Germany and his reversal of position on Czechoslovakia, however, most were in favour. Hitler had taken all questions in his stride, hinting at a change of heart on the Czechs and regret of the Czech invasion, stating that it was "a mistake". In regards to the Jews, he had played on Poland's own anti-Semitism yet had indicated that there had been some "unnecessary acts" in the past in Germany. It seemed the gains for Poland outweighed the losses overall. There were questions to be sure, but it was an opportunity that may not come again if it was allowed to pass by.

If Poland walked away now, the disputed areas in Bohemia and Moravia would revert to Czech control and she would still be friendless and trapped between Germany and the Soviet Union. No, there was only one option. Danzig was the main negative but in regards to that some pride would have to be swallowed and at the end of the day all Poland was agreeing to was a referendum. They could not be responsible for the will of the people in the enclave, after all. Or that was how it could be couched. It now remained to try and get the best deal possible. He had some further ideas there, namely:

- assistance with updating the Polish railway network, portions of which still used the old Russian broad gauge.

- possible purchase of a heavy cruiser flagship for the Polish navy

- lowering of import duties for Polish goods

- technical assistance for the Polish army

- a mutual defence treaty must also bind Romania and Hungary and guarantee current borders, at least in respect to Poland

- oil imports on favourable terns from Romania

It was a fairly extensive list, but he was confident Hitler had not stayed in Poland for nothing.

May 1939

He lay back on the bed as the train clatter clattered over the rails. One thing certainly had not changed- when he as a bit pumped up he found it hard to drift off to sleep. Sadly, in his persona as the bloody president of the temperance society his good friends Jim Bean and Johnny Walker were denied to him.

Well, success had been achieved, with a four nation treaty signing due in June. London would be the real test, Chamberlain would be bad enough after Munich, Churchill would be even worse, although he had some thoughts there in terms of at least getting a meeting.

Uncle Joe was wise enough to know exactly where his planned mutual defence treaty was aimed and the Poles knew it to, They had agreed to a joint military manoeuvre in August, but in general terms, German troops would not be allowed on Polish soil unless requested by the Polish government. The question was what the Soviets would do. Push hard like OTL? It was not like he actually wanted a conflict with Stalin's USSR but his own knowledge showed all too well what happened to weak neighbours of Stalin's regime. That thought brought him back to the Finns. What to do there was the question.

In Germany itself the treaty would not be well received in some circles, even amongst some moderates such as Goerdeler. At this stage he was well enough in the driver's seat to crush any opposition, however, and the converse was also true. Many would be in favour, seeing it as a veer away from war. His mind drifted to projects for the Heer, if he was going to cut back on the bloated army of Germany and put more workers back into a workforce screaming out for them, one that would not be satisfied by his desires to see more women work, then he needed to make sure that there was a cadre of experienced soldiers that could be called upon if needed. This smacked of an army reserve type arrangement that he would have to bring up at a later stage. They then needed to be backed by the best equipment and not large amounts of duplicated models performing the same purpose.

He made some notes: firstly, assault rifles. Almost a must. How to suggest this without appearing too smart, that was the question. Secondly, standardising of equipment was a must, but this needed to be on competent designs. With small arms, this had not been too bad OTL, but the nightmare of tanks produced by the German Army needed to be avoided. By 1939 production of designs like the Pz II was utter wastefulness. But the question was what designs to pick.
Pistol: Walther P38 or Luger, definitely Walther P38. Rifle: standard 98K until an assault rifle could be developed. Thankfully the 33mm Kurtz cartridge had already been developed. SMG: MP 40. Machine guns: MG34. Light anti tank: PB 39 until some sort of weapon similar to OTL Bazooka could be developed, when the PB 39 could perhaps be used in a long range anti personal role. Anti tank guns: The Gerlach guns were always going to be problematic due to their reliance on tungsten and the current staple was the Pak 35/36 with the Pak 38 the new kid on the block. They needed to go to the Pak 40 and probably skip the 38 altogether, it was not like it would be needed for tanks. What was really needed was something similar to the PAW 600, which would return to a gun that was able to be easily moved by a small gun crew in rougher terrain.

In regards to tanks, there needed to be a standard main battle tank and a standard tank destroyer. It made sense to use the chassis of the Mk IV and mate it with the Pak 40 as per OTL. In regards to a tank destroyer, the question was whether to use the Mk III chassis, the Mk IV or the Czech 38. If it was the later, then continued possession of the Skoda works at Pilsen was probably a must. On the very edge of the Protectorate, it may be necessary to keep it. What was really needed was a set of standard chassis with interchangeable parts like the E Series, but that would take time.

As he was starting to drift off to sleep he turned and slipped his arm under Eva, relishing the feel of her against him as a comfort. However, in no time at all she was having none of it, jumping up in bed, brushing roughly past him and into the ensuite, vomiting loudly. His first though was a rather uncharitable "Fuck, I can't afford to get sick at the moment."

May 1939

Reinhard Heydrich watched as the Jewish forger extracted another series of documents from the safe he had been provided and duly passed them over. It was remarkable that a boy of nearly 17 could produce such exquisite work. Heydrich has assisted in getting the boy a job at a printing firm that allowed him his own lockable office out the back. The documents consisted of a small selection of handwritten letters that hinted at a plot rather than revealing one and must have been difficult to forge, plus a selection of documents with all the correct seals and signatures on the correct letterhead and now merely needed to be filled in with the appropriate text. More would come over the next three weeks or so. When it was all over the tricky part would be placing them into their unwitting owner’s possession, although some would be found in a vault belonging to the late Julius Streicher when the time was right. Once the time was right, a perfectly natural trail of evidence could be followed that would lead to a perfectly unnatural conclusion. Once completed he then had someone in mind to type the contents of the documents themselves. Someone who would not be missed when the job was done.

He had not thought too much about what he had been instructed to do over the last two weeks or so since the initial shock had fallen away. The contents of the file had been quite specific and would ruin not only his SS career but also likely his marriage and any career prospects elsewhere. After having been drummed out of the navy with one scandal, he could not afford another. Plus he had sworn allegiance to Adolf Hitler personally, not to others. Rewards had been promised and he was nothing if not an ambitious man and the choice between ruin and the top of the mountain was an easy enough one to make.

Hitler was clearly planning a clean out of the SS similar to what had occurred with the SA, perhaps concerned that Himmler was becoming an over mighty subordinate or perhaps in response to a real threat. In either case, Heydrich was not averse to getting his hands dirty in pursuit of his orders, as he had done some five years before. He had been instructed to operate independently, referring only to Nebe if he needed everyday plods fro the Orpo or back to Hitler personally. It seemed such orders may be only weeks away.

Cioma Schonhaus looked at the immaculately turned out, tall, spare man with the piercing blue eyes that seemed to look right through him with complete indifference. He would be glad to have the task finished. He had received instructions for both himself and his sister to report to an Oscar Schindler who was setting up two factories in Ostrava, on the very edge of the Protectorate, one of which was a printing firm. It was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain employment as a Jew in Berlin and he had sold all of his forgeries of scarce postage stamps so he was not averse to leaving the city at all. As for Heydrich, there was something unnatural in the way the man looked right through him and he would be glad when he had his final meeting with him and was away from both this city and the man.

Oskar Schindler looked around the station platform in Ostrava. The Abwehr had recalled him from Poland some two weeks ago where he had been asked to report to Schlacht at the Reichsbank headquarters. There he had been told that he was to set up two factories employing mixed Jewish, Jehovah Witness and other selected workers and that he would need to build and/or find accommodation for said workers in a proposed planned work village. He was then to stay on as the General Manager of the factories concerned. Schlacht had indicated that the Reichsbank would provide the necessary funds. He had not been told how this had come about or how he had been selected, it being merely hinted that the instructions had come from “up high”. He had been told to expect assistance and a "technical assistant" was expected for his printing firm within a month.

May 1939

Tank, tanks, bloody tanks. It was easy to have an idea formed in one’s mind, but another thing altogether to put the idea on paper. Specifications yes, what he wanted and did not want, yes, actual drawings much less so. It certainly confirmed what he had always known, that he was officially the world’s worst drawer as well as Pictionary player. Even the guy he had drawn just for the sake of it as the tank commander was a fucking stick man, for Christ’s sake. He put it aside for now. The concept at least was fixed and he was not due to meet Beck and Manstein until tomorrow. It was to be a simple series or family of tanks, with derivatives using the three chassis he had in mind. For the sake of simplicity the first chassis would be based off the standard Czech 38, slightly “cleaned up” and enlarged to accommodate a loader and bigger ammunition stowage. It should create a tank in the 11-12 ton range, although, in actual fact, he planned no tank version from that chassis at all.

The main aims were less drilling, more stamping and less machining, mechanical reliability, ease of production, interchangeability of parts that would allow for production switches, diesel, not petrol engine and must be able to be field serviced. The transmission, indeed the engine, required easy access. No pulling off of road wheels to get to wheels beyond and so on, although interleaved road wheels did help to reduce the strain on the suspension, so they were not all bad. Ease or production and field maintenance was a must.

He foresaw three basic chassis, the smaller based on the Czech 38, to be called the E-10 Cheetah, a medium chassis of 30 tons, the E-30 Leopard and a larger chassis, the E-50 Lion. The E-50 would be for small scale production only but could allow an expansion later if heavier tanks were required to meet new threats. In regards to functions, he had made notes:

E-10: A Hetzer like tank destroyer with Pak 40 or flamethrower, AA vehicle with quad 20mm Flak 38, armoured recovery vehicle, artillery towing tractor, self-propelled artillery for 105mm 18/40
E-30: Main battle tank with Pak 40, but turret ring able to take 88mm KwK 36, recovery vehicle, Sturmpanzer with 150mm howitzer, self-propelled artillery for 150mm sFh18, heavy artillery towing tractor, Sturmgeschutz with 75 or short 105mm gun
E-50: Tank destroyer with 88mm KwK 36, bridgelayer, self-propelled artillery for heavy pieces

The 10, 30 and 50 should approximate the tonnage of the tanks themselves, but it was the 10 and 30 he envisaged in large scale production. With production of the Pz II terminated, he intended to curtail the Pz III next although he wanted to offer it to Poland and other countries first in an effort to gain export sales and then finally the Pz IV when the new types were ready. The Pz 38 would also continue until the new type was ready.

Once he had sorted some ideas in regards to AFV’s, he then intended to contribute some thoughts to the Luftwaffe, which in 1939 was at it’s peak, before technical development slumped in the 1939-41 era. Here to, ease of production needed to be a major factor. However, he was not due to meet aircraft manufacturers until after his return from London. The visit itself would have some impact on what sort of force mix he would require.

He had some ideas to pass on to Schindler once he was up and running as well, halogen lights, tupperware and velcro would be a good start. If it was making a roaring profit and trade, he would have the incentive to look after his workers and he would be able to produce a special economic zone around Ostrava where the inhabitants were separate but hopefully productive and valued and therefore protected. Money and success spoke all languages, even in Nazi Germany.

His eyes started to itch, a sure sign of fatigue. He needed to go out and spend some time with Eva. Bloody hell, he was going to be a father. Again, he thought with a pang. Just another reason why he needed to get this right. As he stepped out, his wife was sketching a design out a fashion magazine. He watched for a while in communal silence, finally leaning over to watch. She was pretty good.
“Adolf, I did not know you were interested in fashion.”
Not in the slightest either in this life or the next, he thought. Well, except perhaps lingerie.
“Eva, could you draw something else for me?”
“I suppose so, what?”
“Tanks.”
“Tanks? Water tanks?”
“No, armoured vehicles, tanks”
“Why tanks?”

It took some time, but he eventually had two rough sketches of both a tank destroyer with the low, slopped chassis he desired and a Panzer with similarly small turret and sloped armour as well. In the intervening period he had gotten a second wind, having two vastly different thoughts. Firstly, Sarin, the formula had probably been supplied to the Wehrmacht Chemical Weapons Office by now. Produce or not to produce? Whilst the idea of knocking out Stalin via a chemical weapon was attractive to be sure, there were probably better solutions.

Secondly, women. There were an often forgotten but obvious oppressed group in Germany, one which was often underappreciated. In the last few years many German women lawyers, doctors, teachers and civil servants were sacked, a criminal waste in a workforce crying out for labour. Over 100,000 teachers, 3,000 doctors, 1,500 lawyers and many more civil servants. Shocking really. These were some of the first things that needed to be scrapped. Plus current laws that forced women from the workforce once they became mothers. The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage could stay, Germany could use higher birth rates after the losses of World War 1.

In general terms girls needed to be encouraged to think that there was more to live for than just being a mother, important role though that may be. In Germany, there was no organised girl’s sports beyond tennis and gymnastics. Certainly there was no bonding or team sports and no sports that could be played in schools. OTL Hitler seemed to have little interest in sports and Germany’s national sport was soccer, so it would not be hard to maintain that façade since he had always considered soccer a massive yawn fest. How many English football sides, 120+, how many can actually win Premier League? 3, 4, 5? Anyway he was diverging. Most school in Germany had a football pitch. He could easily mandate that they provided facilities for girl’s sport as well. He even had the sport in mind. Might be nice in future years to have another netball playing nation.

He dropped off to sleep wondering if the six 11 inch triple turrets from the Scharnhorst Class could be utilized if any of the Nordic countries or even Spain were interested in a German built pocket battleship but on favourable terms. That, and the thought of being a father again. Remarkable.

May 1939

He had drawn up the list from memory, from books he had read, including "Spycatcher", plus the interest he had in the subject. It was not exhaustive, but his memory was not infallible.

Cambridge "Magnificent 5"
Kim Philby
Donald Maclean
Guy Burgess
Anthony Blunt
John Cairncross

Sixth Man
Guy Liddell

Cambridge "Secondary 5"
Leo Long
Melita Norwood
Alister Watson
Dennis Proctor
Michael Straight

Go Betweens
Edith Tudor-Hart
Bob Stewart

Oxford 5
Pheobe Pool
Peter Floud
Bernard Floud
Arthur Wynn
Leonard Beurton

Japanese loner
William Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord

It was a shocking list, perhaps too much to believe on the surface of it. Yet it would not require much string pulling for the whole garment to unravel. It would certainly be a strong political statement and would go a long way to reinforce what a threat to the U.K Soviet Russia was. Of course, they were really not that much of a threat at all, but anyone would have to be alarmed to discover that another country had placed 18 agents in positions of power, especially Churchill with his well-known anti-communism.

There was little question that it was a bloody strong statement of faith, especially if given without conditions. Lidell was the only one he was not certain of, but surely no one could possibly be that close to the other members and that stupid without being involved. Now, the question remained, how to deliver it and who indeed to drop it on?

May 1939

It was not the first time that Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin had met Colonel Stewart Menzies and his own activities made him well aware that Menzies was the deputy head of MI-6, quite probably soon to be the head with his superior Admiral Hugh Sinclair seemingly in terminal ill health.

Menzies had met Ewald as an emissary of Canaris in 1938 in an attempt to plot an overthrow of Adolf Hitler and to try and reverse the Czech situation. It had come to naught but he could only presume that his previous familiarity was the reason he had been sent to London in an effort to get Menzies to come to Germany and meet Canaris. It was the 26th now, so it was touch and go, however, a meeting had been arranged on the 31st at Emden not far from the Dutch border. Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin had no real idea of the reason for the meeting at all, only that it must take place in May before the end of the month.

May 1939

Menzies was starting to become irritated. The man he had come to see, Canaris, seemed distracted and unwilling to be drawn on any pertinent subject, glancing at his watch three times in the last half an hour.

At the current rate, it seemed that this meeting was a wash out. Had Canaris changed his mind in the last few days and was now backing out of whatever he had wanted to discuss? Presumably another anti-Hitler foray similar to last year’s. Canaris finally suggested they go out onto the balcony of the shipping magnate’s villa that they had appropriated for the meeting.

It was when he came back from sucking in the contents of two Consulate cigarettes he received his biggest shock. He was different, to be sure, without the mustache, but the man sitting at the end of the table was unquestionably the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler. Had he been set up by Canaris and if so to what end?

Well, he thought, the man was off balance, which was as good a time to start as any. He signaled to his interpreter and duly started.
"Welcome, Colonel Menzies, if I could have some of your time. There are some matters of national security that affects Great Britain that I believe we can help you with if I can crave your indulgence."

Menzies managed a quick nod.

"However, before I go on let me explain some things to you, some things that you may choose to take at face value or you may choose to believe. You must make your own choices in regards to the matter. Firstly, I have come to realise that our foreign policy in regards to Poland was a mistake, a mistake that our recent rapprochement and mutual defense treaty has gone some way to correcting. However, my largest regret is Czechoslovakia. I made an agreement with Chamberlain in 1939 and I broke it. There is no excuse beyond pressures that were upon me at the time. I have since come to the realisation that I have travelled some way down the wrong path. Now I wish to try and correct that.

I am hoping that I am not so far down that path and that the situation as it stands is not irreversible and that it will be possible to regain some British trust. Britain and Germany are both proud Aryan nations and we should have things in common, as indeed should you and I as men who have suffered the horrors of war over twenty years ago, suffered the horrors of gas and have no desire to see such a war again.

To that end I wish to regain Britain's trust, that is the purpose of my eleven day visit three days hence. However, first I wish to give you a token, a token of not only friendship but a token showing a change of heart. You see, we have become aware of a cancer growing inside the British establishment, penetrating into your own intelligence services, quietly groomed and encouraged by a third party."

"Why are you telling me this? I am just a retired army colonel."
"Come now Colonel Menzies, let us not insult each other's intelligence. I am well aware of the position you hold."
"Let's assume I can do something with this information, what would you want for it."
"Simply nothing Colonel Menzies, except perhaps, if you are able to verify the information's correctness, you let the parties concerned know where the information was obtained. Verification I will leave to you, however, if you are willing to take my recommendation, I would start with the fourth name on the list, followed by the twelfth", thinking of Blunt in particular and how easily he had caved. He slid the Abwehr folder over the desk. It contained all the names minus Sempill's. A Japanese spy would have to come from another source.

"There are other agents of hostile powers we are aware of but this is a deep seated penetration and most dangerous."

Menzies eyes scanned the list. It was inconceivable that these men could be Soviet agents. Surely it was inconceivable? Kim Philby? A spy? Both him and Leo Long were already members of the intelligence services. This could all be a trick to destabilise MI-6, yet surely other, more important people would be named. This group were well placed, yes, but not critically so, although they may be so in ten or more years. As his mind raced the room remained silent.

"How do I know that this is not just disinformation, designed to tar innocent men and get us to waste resources and tear ourselves apart chasing shadows."

"Well, Colonel Menzies, I cannot say that I can confirm exactly how we came upon such an extensive list, however, I am sure someone with your own level of experience in such matters would be aware that there is only one way that such a large list of potential agents could be exposed. As I know MI-6 are aware, Germany had extensive covert military projects in cooperation with Soviet Russia in the 1920's and 1930's, all inside the Soviet Union.

This gave us the opportunity to gain an asset uniquely placed to procure this sort of information. Of course, other information was provided from time to time that was of interest as well, even some concerning MI-6 and, indirectly, yourself."

"What information?" said Menzies, mind whirling.

"Well, the Zinoviev letter. Unfortunate business. The sort of unsavoury thing that may have brought down a government. If you think there are Soviet agents in England, it pales in comparison how penetrated White Russian circles are. As many members of the unfortunate "Trust" sadly found out. But enough of that. I am sure we can all agree that the Zinoviev letter can be seen as unimportant. Not as important as that list, most certainly. I will leave you to your thoughts. Feel free to ask any question of Canaris here as to what has transpired in Germany these last 41 days. Good day."

Menzies talked with Canaris in regards to some of the changes in Germany during the last month or so and eventually left on his way back to England via Holland. He had a sleepless night on the train. The whole list seemed unbelievable, but was it? How could they possibly know about the Zinoiviev letter? Surely that secret and MI-6's unfortunate indirect involvement had been buried with Sydney Reilly? In either case, it would not hurt to start gently pulling a few strings and see what occurred.

He thought the meeting had gone well enough; the real question now was which way would the British jump? Hopefully they would at least make a cursory investigation. In many cases, that was all it would take. And if names started to be confirmed, the veracity of the whole list would rapidly go from cardboard to concrete. The real question if the British did move was how to make the connection back to Vsevolod (Boris) Merkulov, who was the controller of the U.K cells. It was a short step from the sycophantic Merkulov to his boss, Beria. In the USSR the purges were just dying down. A purge of the NKVD itself would disappear a whole range of people that would not be missed by humanity as a whole, Beria chief amongst them. At least it might make the streets of Moscow safe for young women. Speaking of young women, he was keen to get back to Berlin and a newly pregnant wife.

"The Times", London, 2 June 1939

Today at a full meeting of the League of Nations Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck announced a Polish-German Pact that involved what he described as a "final resolution" of the border between Germany and Poland.

This involved the ceding of a thin strip of territory in Pomerania to Germany and a plebiscite in the long disputed territory of Danzig with three options, annexation to Germany, annexation to Poland or a continuation of the current status quo. In exchange, Poland will annex approximately 60% of the disputed province of Friedberg in Bohemia and Moravia. It was also announced that Germany was officially incorporating Pilen as part of Germany and also Ostrava as part of a "special economic zone."

The most surprising announcement, however, was the request of the League that, from 1.1.1940, they take over the management of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in full under a Class A Mandate until such time as free elections could be organised, with a view to creating an independent Czech state. Poland have specifically requested both Great Britain and France to assist with the administration of the Mandate from 1940. The other proposed territorial changes are timed to go into effect on 1st September 1939.

Whilst on the surface this would seem to represent a reversal of Germany's 1938 blatant tearing up of the Munich agreement as signed, it remains to early to tell what this rapid change of position really represents. However, with German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler due in London tomorrow on a visit that he himself requested, it adds to the intrigue that already existed in regards to the visit and represents a level of unprecedented interest seldom seen in regards to a visit from a foreign head of state. At this stage, Foreign Office officials were unavailable for comment, nor was the office of the Prime Minister, Mr Chamberlain.

Also in German related news, the Admiralty expressed "surprise" at the sale of three German pocket battleships to the Royal Netherlands Navy. As part of the arms deal, Germany had agreed to purchase two more submarines of the Dutch Class similar to the O19 and O20, which are nearing completion. Following on the sale of 50 German tanks to Poland and the gift of 100 German fighter aircraft, all as part of the Polish-German Pact, it represents a substantial export of military hardware.

May 1939

The flight on the special Ju-52 had been interesting, to say the least, for a man well used to 747 travel. He had never been affected by airsickness so there was no issue there and the sheer amount of time in only moderate comfort at least gave him the time to think.

He had deliberately requested a minimum of fanfare on his first day, wishing simply to get settled before his meeting with Chamberlain and Halifax. He thought it prudent not to engage with the press on this first day, to simply wait and then put his thoughts to both men and then reinforce those to the press after his initial meeting. Indeed, he had instructed his secretary Boorman to schedule a press conference tomorrow and he would commence a round of pre-arranged speaking engagements after that as well.

He still had no pre-arranged plan to try and get to Churchill and the man had refused an invitation to a meeting some two weeks prior. That would require some thinking. He had spent some time making notes and manually cutting and pasting his thoughts in regards to Hitler's April 1939 actual Reichstag speech, watering it down and making it much more conciliatory but keeping Hitler's basic tone and the points that were of some validity. It would have been easier with a computer, of course, but with hopefully no war maybe Alan Turing would not get around to that little invention for a while.

He collapsed on the bed, still deep in thought. He had deliberately picked a normal, commercial hotel and had banned any of his entourage from Nazi salutes, uniforms or any anti-Jewish statements. Staying at the Savoy rather than the German embassy would indicate that he wished to be accessible and indeed that was what he would have to be. His thoughts drifted to MI-5 and MI-6 and what impact that friendly revelation may have had so far and then back to Churchill. He had a rough map of the man's schedule. There was free time, to be sure.

There were two sure ways to reel the man in. His vanity and his curiosity, both of which were boundless. He had thought of a plan. It was out there, to be sure, but a plan none the less. There was no reasonable expectation that Churchill would ever become Prime Minister if war could be avoided, however, he was listened to and swaying him to a neutral position would certainly be useful. It was not like Chamberlain was long for this world, so one could not be certain that Churchill would not get the nod, although Halifax was also a chance of course.

June 1939

He slipped down into the lobby of the hotel, wishing to appear as inconspicuous as possible and gained the use of the telephone. The first call had been simple enough and he used the same name, Leslie Hore-Belisha, to make both bookings, speaking to the housekeeper in the first instance.

He had told Eva that he had to go out and had also told his own security detail that they would not be required. Normally, as a visiting head of state, he would also been assigned officers from Scotland Yard, but he had already studied the floor plan of the hotel well enough and was able to make his way out the rear entrance unnoticed and into Savoy Court. It did not take long to catch the taxi he had booked in The Strand, Eva's ridiculous yellow umbrella keeping the rain away and acting as a identifying mark for the driver.

The driver seemed surprised at the destination, "Westerham, Kent", no doubt gladdened by the thought of such a substantial fare. They chatted amiably enough during the 23 mile journey and, since he had only been to Chartwell House once during the day in a previous life, they had to stop at a local pub to get directions. The man, in the nature of taxi drivers, quickly picked up on his Australian twang and asked if he knew his cousin in Redfern and seemed quite bemused when he said he had never been to Redfern at all.

As the taxi pulled up he alighted and asked the driver to stay, pressing 50 pounds worth of ten pound notes into his hand, before going to the door himself. Churchill had simultaneously been both a hero and devil to him. To meet him in the flesh was rather a shocker. He waited, trying to pull himself together, and was rather surprised when it was Churchill himself who himself answered the door, complaining about being required to do so and clearly expecting Hore-Belisha or a representative.

When Churchill opened the door he did a small double take and he took the opportunity to jump right in.
"Adolf Hitler, surely one of the English languages greatest wordsmiths could not have been afraid to meet a political opponent and share a simple talk?"

June 1939

It was hard to imagine Churchill stunned, but he seemed at a loss for words, so he continued on.
"I have a taxi waiting and it's bloody cold out here. Can I come in dear fellow? Yes, I can speak English, by the way. It's a fact that very few know. Now you are one of them."
Churchill nodded, leading him into a well-appointed hallway, almost immediately right turning into a study that looked typically English-Chesterfield, a large, cluttered oak writing desk, many photographs and the recent smell of cigar smoke.

Churchill seemed to have regained his form and rasped out. "I had thought my secretary declined your invitation for a meeting."
"If you want to talk to the organ grinder you don't get into a conversation with the monkey. Besides, it was too important not to meet."
"Too important? You burned those bridges a few months ago.'
Churchill went to the cabinet and poured himself a brandy. "Heard you are a tea total. Don't suppose you want one of these?"
"Normally yes, but I am cold and it's late. One will do nicely thank you."
"How do you know English?"
"I have not gotten a great deal of time before people will miss me, panic, and then all hell will break loose. I came here to talk about other issues. Suffice to say I picked the language up just after The Great War from an Australian captured at Gallipoli that elected to stay in Europe after the war. I have secretly had lessons ever since. Gallipoli, your campaign, I believe?"
Churchill's penetrating eyes settled back onto him and he decided it was best to let that lie.
"Why come and see me? I'm in the wilderness in any case, unloved by most. Besides, it's Chamberlain you made to look like a damn fool."
"I have a meeting with Chamberlain and Halifax tomorrow, as I am sure you know. Why you? You have been my most strident critic and I will say now not without justification. I know you think I want war and, indeed, I myself have been caught up in the euphoria of the last six years, swept along by the promise of better times and an awakening of German national consciousness. It started simply enough.

Each revolution needs an enemy. In 1917 in Russia it was the ruling class, in Germany in 1933 it was the Jews. In truth, neither was really to blame. Our anti-Jewish activities went too far. However, the real mistake was Czechoslovakia. In 1935, we started with the Rhineland explicitly to humiliate France. I won't apologise for that. They had been doing exactly that to Germany for 15 years. In Austria we merely completed what was asked for in 1918 and denied by the Entente powers. However, in 1939, we lost our way.

I do not want war. Over twenty years ago I was living with rats, shot at every day, gassed and lucky to recover. Choking on gas, thinking I would be blind for the remainder of my life. Why would I want that for anyone? My wife is pregnant, why would I want to bring a son into a world like that? I have thought a lot about this over the last month to two months. I have thought of ways to remove ourselves from a daggers drawn situation, to stand down the more extreme elements of my own party. Can I tell you those thoughts? You have been my most strident critic and I respect you for that. Yet you have also shown yourself to favor peace when the chance comes to reach out and grasp it. An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last, however, courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, yet it also requires courage to sit down and listen. That is what I am asking you to do, what I will ask Chamberlain to do tomorrow. Will you do so?"

"Very well. I am always willing to learn, although I do not always enjoy being taught."

"Foreign relations. Let us examine the countries that surround Germany. Firstly France. I have never expressed a desire to regain Alsace-Lorraine and will happily sign any treaty to any effect to make these areas perpetually French."

"Like you did with Chamberlain in 1938."

"Fair point, but you said that I could finish. Belgium gained a small strip of territory in 1919 that was formerly German. It's about as big as the backyard here so I hardly think it's something anyone would go to war over. I'm not worried by it. Luxembourgers are not really German, despite many of the Kaiser's men trying to pigeonhole them as such. Holland has had friendly relations with Germany for many years. No Germans there, well, aside from the Kaiser. With Denmark we have a fair border based on ethnic grounds. The same goes for Italy, Yugoslavia and Hungary. We have created the Slovakian state, so presumably we are satisfied with the borders. Those Slovakians wanted independence from the Czechs, despite reports to the contrary. Who in the right mind would go to war with Switzerland? That leaves the Poles. Only two week's ago we signed a mutual defense treaty and established a protocol for border revisions that both countries believe will finalise the border at last. It's a give and take, a free exchange designed to finally remove tensions. Already we have allocated money for an autobahn extension from Stettin via Danzig to Konigsberg. We have no need of the Polish Corridor any more. Why would we? It's ethnically Polish after all. The border with Lithuania is also now fixed. Lastly, the Czechs. As I am sure you have become recently aware, I have proposed placing the Protectorate under a League of Nations Mandate from 1.1.1940. To put things simply, we desire no further territory, hence us handing back the Protectorate. I almost forgot our former colonies. Keep them by all means. If we need pineapples and coconuts we can buy them off England. To maintain a colonial empire, a large navy and merchant navy are required. I have no great desire to build either beyond their current levels, hence our cancellation of new battleships and aircraft carriers.

Not only do we desire no more territory, we desire no war. That is why I have asked for British supervision of the Protectorate. That is why I am selling pocket battleships, that is why I have curtailed submarine production, as these are things that are direct threats to England and I have no desire to threaten England, in fact quite the opposite. After what has happened with Chamberlain, I expect no love nor do I deserve such. However, if I am given time, from a United Kingdom that is not overtly hostile, I hope to work towards regaining some of that lost trust.

That is my main hope. For in the East is a regime that is bent on World domination, a regime that exports it's creed all over the globe at every opportunity. A regime that has already slaughtered millions of it's own citizens. Check confidentially with MI-6 and you may be surprised at what they have done in this regard in your very country. When and if the time comes Germany's sole focus will be on this regime. Whilst I am Chancellor not a sole German soldier, sailor or airman will make a hostile move against any other country. I will also pledge my efforts to attempt to overturn Mussolini's ridiculous invasion of Albania and any further Mediterranean adventurism."

He sat back, sipping at the strong brandy.

"Most of these are just commitments, commitments that your track record indicates you will break, as you have done before. Nothing is more abhorrent than imprisoning people due to their simple unpopularity. You say you wish to give the Czech's back their independence yet your plan cuts off Ostrava and Pilsen and gives a strip to Poland."

"Firstly, the strip of the Protectorate going to Poland had been under dispute for some time. It has as many Poles as Czech's and was required to make the Polish Corridor deal work. Politically expedient, yes, but hardly unfair from a demographic point of view. Ostrava has a high percentage of Jews and a large German population, but mainly what I hope to do is move many of the Jewish people in Germany to the city and create a special economic zone so they can enjoy fruitful work and limited self-government. The border will be fluid and they can leave Germany if they so wish. I have decided to go against the wishes of many hard liners because I believe these anti-Jewish laws have gone too far. In relation to Pilsen, it has a substantial German population, particularly in the rural surrounds but I will not lie as to why it is required. Skoda.

We have always traditionally been the two great peoples of Central Europe, the Germans and the English. We have now restored our sense of self pride, raised ourselves from poverty. I don't intend to waste that on a war I can avoid. If war can be avoided, never will so many owe so much to so few."

"Alright, I will moderate my public criticism of your visit but I will not meet you officially or come out in support of talks. At the end of the day it's the Prime Minister who you made look a fool. It will be hard to reverse that."

"That is all I ask. I had best return. The length of time I have been away unexpectedly will provoke a scolding from my wife. I thank you for your time."

He extended his hand. Remarkably, Churchill took it, whether as a reflex action or out of simple politeness he was unsure.

June 1939

It was a pleasure to be back in Germany, strangely enough. He was at a stage now where he was fearfully concerned that something may happen with him ending up in a Gestapo cell. In fact, if they had any idea what he had planned in the next few weeks, that would indeed be the agenda of a number of men, Himmler chief amongst them.

In many ways, it was hard not to be disappointed with the results of his English trip, but, if he was truly honest, what could one expect? He could hardly expect Chamberlain and indeed the English as a whole to take to him like a duck to water after the events of the last few years.

His meeting with Chamberlain had gone much as it had with Churchill, the man largely stiff and formal. He had made the same arguments he had with Churchill and, in all fairness, Chamberlain had agreed to support both his Polish proposal and to take a leading role in administering a Czech mandate. He had little choice. It regained him a modicum of face and he as Hitler himself had presented it as a deal that Chamberlain had extracted to regain Czech independence, which gave the man a face saving leg up. He had also agreed to speak to Mussolini in regards to Albania, which would promise to be a painful conversation he was sure.

One thing he was quite happy with was the way he had handled the press. More respectful but probably more politically aware than the ignorant whiners that constituted most of the 2015 press corps, he had admitted fault when required, smiled, taken an interest in British political affairs and had been both open and frank in regards to his thoughts, at least the ones he could afford to be open about. He had emphasized the downsizing of the German army and navy, the agreement with Poland and so forth.

Overall, he felt happy enough. It was not like Germany and Britain were going to be bosom buddies any time soon, but perhaps just slightly, Britain had drifted more away from a hostile stance than France. It he could avoid a war it would be a marvellous achievement. If not, he wanted to make sure the only one was to the East.

He had two missives waiting for him of particular interest when he returned. Firstly one from Heydrich indicating he would be leaving for his country home on the 1st July, some fifteen days hence. It indicated that by that date, he would be ready to move. A second from the German embassy in London indicated that the British had moved yesterday, picking up the bulk of the names from his list. That should provoke a nice scandal and not only blacken Stalin's USSR's name in the corridors of power in the U.K but build some tenuous bridge of trust. He had held back the name of the Japanese traitor in their midst. Whether MI-6 came for that as well after his hints he had more would be an indication of renewed trust in itself.

Hopefully, the imminent danger of a war had perhaps been averted. He needed to stay in Germany these next two months to oversee Heydrich's little purge and then the Polish border changes on 1st September, as well as travel to Danzig to make sure of that result. After that, he would need to try and address French suspicions and attempt what had been promised with Italy.

Then there was the questions of "super weapons". Firstly, rocketry. von Braun's research was enormously expensive, more so than the Manhattan project and may well have been spent on other things. Yet, pair it with the second and third options and it was devastating. Nerve gas was the second option. Horrid though it was, it seemed prudent to maintain a stock and it would be relatively easy to produce. Last, the bomb. Hard to manufacture, requiring an enormous investment in infrastructure. Lastly, the other worry. If something happened to him and Germany was left in sole possession of the bomb. It just did not bear thinking about. So a limited production run of Sarin would be authorised and he still remained unsure in regards to rocketry. One thing for certain, the V1 would not be built, only the V2 if anything. It had more peaceful applications than the V1.

He had already curtailed the navy, it seemed pointless to build a fleet for anything more than control of the Baltic or to try and compete with the USN or R.N. What he needed was to create an army that was capable of holding it's own against any opponent, particularly the USSR. The army that Hitler had created, full of conscripts and designed to fight a war in breadth was not the answer. He had cancelled the army's proposed expansion to 98 divisions. It current structure was 48 Infantry or Motorized, 3 Mountain, 2 Cavalry, 5 Armoured and 3 Light Divisions.

Instead, he projected it's force structure as 50 Infantry or Motorized, 3 Mountain, 1 Cavalry and 12 Armoured. The Luftwaffe's Herman Goring Battalion would be folded back into the army, although it's Parachute Divisions would be increased from one to two. These would be regular formations, with only limited amounts of conscript soldiers.

Below that, he envisaged reserve divisions, in most cases infantry, but a small fraction mechanized. That would expand the 68 regular divisions to more than 100 if needed, yet not take the extra 600,000-800,000 men out of the workforce, allowing them to work more productively in the agricultural or manufacturing sectors. Instead, as reserve soldiers, they would be required to train part time, their only full time commitment being two weeks every year.

The sheer expansion of the armoured divisions required made the new E series models to be in production as soon as possible. Then their was also the Luftwaffe to consider.

July 1939

Himmler had gone to bed tired from a lengthy end of financial year day. Even the SS were not immune to accountants, or so it seemed. He was still dozing when he heard the truck pull up. Since many top Nazi Party and Wehrmacht officers lived in the Tegernsee area this was in itself not surprising, with many late at night comings and goings quite common.

It was the rapid and angry exchange of voices that roused him from bed, followed soon after by the sound of the front door splintering and the drumming of heavy combat boots on the stairs. When a heavily set Oberfeldwebel smashed in the door of his bedroom he was still blinking owlishly in the stark light of the room. He barely had time to say goodbye to his wife Margarete before he was bustled down stairs and into the back of a saloon next to a Wehrmacht Colonel. He saw his own personal bodyguard also led away. Henning von Tresckow looked at Himmler, he seemed stupefied that anyone had broken into his home and laid hands on him. Well, he would soon be even more surprised.

That changed half way back to Berlin, when Himmler started blustering about he was going to shoot every one of von Tresckow's men in between entreaties as to what was going on. They did not waste much time when the car swung into the Bendlerblock as he bustled Himmler out of the car, down the East side and into the courtyard.

It was a scene of horror that met Himmler's eyes. Amongst six other corpses, Gottlob Berger’s and Karl Koch’s lifeless bodies looked up at the sky. Has was forced to wait another 80 minutes as men were brought out six at a time to suffer the same fate, Rudolf Hoss, Oswald Pohl, “Gestapo” Muller, Theodore Eicke and Franz Zierreis amongst them, all in Berlin for his end of year enquiry on concentration camp expenses and inefficiencies, as ordered by Hitler.

His last thought as he was led out beside a struggling Odilo Globocnik was how this had happened to him. Slipping in the blood, as he picked himself up and looked up at the twelve riflemen and they swung up their Kar98’s, it was still a mystery to him. Across the country arrests were happening in what was to be known as Nacht der Verschwundenen, or night of the disappearances.

August 1939

It had been a stressful month, punctuated by constant updates from Heydrich and an aborted attempt on his own life. Now he had a meeting with Daladier that he had been trying to obtain for over two months. The French leader had refused to see him but, although he had not asked the English to do so, it appeared that British pressure had brought the French Prime Minister to the negotiating table. There was only so much that could be obtained by a meeting, but any lessening of tensions at all would have to be of some use.

It was a month that had had it's ups and downs, for sure. Firstly, the SS. He had instituted a full scale purge of the organisation and the documents so carefully placed by Heydrich had duly been found by the Orpo, which had "proved" the disloyalty of his "loyal Heinrich." He had largely let Heydrich have his head in relation to this matter, it was not like he possessed a detailed memory of all SS war criminals after all, since these things largely happened in the future. His list of 56 had been expanded to 411 by Heydrich and, of that number, 356 had duly been executed, many disappeared into Bavarian forests, although some 62 had been shot at the Bendlerblock, notably Himmler himself. Probably the most important escapee had been Kaltenbrunner.

He had wanted it done quickly, so angst could not be caused by refusals of clemency. It had created enemies to be sure, and the more perceptive of his subordinates, such as Goering, clearly resented being left out of the loop. Whilst it created some enemies, others were clearly delighted by the fall of the SS, most notably the army.

He had broken the SS up, carving off the Orpo to form a separate, independent police force and placed Hans Bernd Gisevius at it's head in place of the executed Kurt Daluege. This would go a long way towards mollifying many of Canaris's circle. The Kripo had also been removed from SS control and placed under the Ministry of Justice and he had appointed Hans von Dohnányi to it's head, with Arthur Nebe in overall charge of both. The SD had been abolished and that had left the Gestapo. Walther Schellenberg had been placed in charge of an organisation emasculated by the loss of so many of it's leaders. His charge was to reduce it's personnel to less than 1000, it's new responsibility was to investigate only corruption and disloyalty within the higher echelons Nazi Party itself.

The Waffen SS he had largely given to the Army, authorising the keeping of only five companies of men as "personal bodyguards", based at Munich, Berlin, Konigsburg, Cologne and Vienna. Paul Hausser would act as it's commander and any suitable remaining troops would be transferred to the Wehrmacht.

The Office of Race and Resettlement had been abolished, as had the SS Legal Office, the Racial German Assistance Office and lastly, the WVHA. He had been forced to keep elements of the former until such time as he could arrange a successor for the deceased Pohl and have them go through the monumental task of processing and releasing the bulk to the concentration camp inmates back into society, keeping only the truly dangerous, both socially and politically.

He planned to water down the Nuremberg laws at his Nuremberg speech in September, although in the whirl of the last month he had given little thought as yet to that, aside from announcing a "special economic zone" in Ostrava province for Jews and Romani people.

Speaking of Ostrava, Schindler had reported to him on the progress of the factories that he had been sent to oversee. He had split the business in two, placing halogen lights and tupperware under Schindler and velcro and a new thought, duct tape, under Albert Goering, who he had talked to in July. He seemed a good man and the move was also designed to please his elder brother Hermann. He had also sent Heydrich's brother Heinz to Ostava to personally supervise the activities of Cionna Schonhaus and set up a secure installation for the forging of foreign currency, which he hoped the careful use of, along with others measures, would prop up Germany's ailing economy.

On the 2nd, after a prolonged three day fussing period from Eva, he had witnessed the trials of a turret-less 30 ton chassis of what would be the new standard tank and had viewed mock ups of various variants on the 10, 30 and 50 ton chassis. He had ordered production to commence as soon as possible. Likewise, production of the 75mm anti-tank gun had commenced and he had directed the army to follow up on research into shaped charge weapons in the anti-tank role.

He had also intervened with the Luftwaffe, directing some Me-110 production to He-100, whilst specifying that Heinkel abandon his overly complicated surface cooling system and do everything possible to keep the range much higher than the 109. He had also asked Ernst Heinkel to abandon the He-177 and recast it as a four engine bomber, forgetting about a dive bombing requirement. Dornier he had asked to increase the pace of development of the Do-217 and planted the basic idea of the push pull fighter, hoping for a Pfeifl like development.

He had initially though that he may reorganise the army's Infantry Divisions along the 1944 Volkgrenadier model, just two Regiments of two battalions each, the advantage being the ability to, in times of war, "fill out" these divisions into a standard 1939 triangular divisions with soldiers from reserve units and allow the army to run more generals so there was a larger variety of experienced officers. In the finish he had abandoned the thought. The problems outweighed the benefits.

Colonel Stewart Mason of Mi-6 had arrived in July, probing Canaris for the name of any other agents. He had duly provided his last piece of information there, handing over Semphill's details, something sure to rock the English upper class. In regards the Japanese, as instructed, Ribbentrop had done all that was humanly possible to encourage and support their current squabble with Stalin's USSR in the Far East and to hopefully escalate it, hinting at material German support. The Japanese were well aware that the Polish alliance was an anti-Soviet one and the signing of the CEDET(Central European Defense Treaty) in Budapest on 24th July between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania and Poland, guaranteeing current borders and committing each other to mutual security was also clearly aimed to the East.

The surprise addition was Lithuania, however, he had asked Von Neurath to approach President Antanas Smetona in conjunction with Polish Foreign Minister Beck to ask about the possibility of Lithuania also joining the Treaty. Smetona's country was effectively surrounded by both larger entities and both accounted for some 60%-70% of it's foreign trade. He had dangled a generous set of inducements in terms of free trade through the port of Memel and German investments and technical assistance to build a branch rail spur from Kretinga to Pelanga, where a dedicated Lithuanian export port could be developed. Antanas Smetona had agreed in the finish because the Treaty provided and guaranteed military assistance and, more importantly, fixed the current borders of a small country under threat.

As he had promised to the British, he had made representations to the Italians and Mussolini in regards to Albania. It was a hopeless case. All he could do was to gain a promise from Italy and Mussolini that any future such adventures would be done in full consultation. Personally, he hoped there would be no "future adventures". Whether that could be achieved by closer ties to Greece and/or Yugoslavia remained to be seen.

It was his trip to Munich on the 29th July that had provided the biggest scare. His Mercedes had been held up on a sharp turn by the press of the crowd and a man had come forward and fired two shots from a Luger at him. Thankfully the gun had, characteristically, jammed after the second shot and his bodyguard had duly shot the aggressor, a disgruntled former SS Untersturmfuhrer, before anything else had occurred. The first shot had gone wide, however, the second had come close enough to crease his cheek. It had been a lucky escape and, with the man's death, it had proven impossible to find out so far if he had acted alone.

Thankfully, his wife, now 16 weeks pregnant, had not been with him. One unexpected side effect of the attempt had been a seeming increase in his popularity, if that was possible. He had rested for three days and had a visit from his new doctor, but was now on his way to France to do what he could there. After that it would be Danzig to speak before the 12th August plebiscite.

If he could neutralize things in the West, he could hopefully be ready in the East if things fell in the shitter. Whether there was a Winter War would be some sort of indication of Stalin’s intentions. In some ways, it was to Germany's advantage if there was, as it would push Finland into the anti-Stalin camp and harden British and even French opinion against the Russians.

Jag Pz 38(d) JagdGepard with 75mm Pak-40

Pz V Leopard with Pak-40

Jag Pz VI Lowe with 88mm KwK 36

August 1939

Édouard Daladier had been not entirely sure what to expect from his meeting with the German dictator, but any preconceptions he may have had were completely removed within the first half an hour.

Hitler had calmly stated quite clearly that he had no designs on Alsace Lorraine and that he would be quite happy then and there to sign any document professing this. He had also rapidly made his position clear on two other issues. He did not want war and regarded the Czech invasion as a mistake and hence had taken steps to correct it. Lastly, he had made it quite clear that there would be no talk of reparations, repudiating all Great War debts on behalf of Germany. He pointed out his reduction in the proposed navy and army spends for Germany and his successful negotiation of a compromise with Poland.

The man seemed somehow different to his last meeting with him at Munich, although he could not put his exact finger on why. More reasoned and less impassioned perhaps.

What was remarkable was the last proposal. Daladier had opened what he had thought were secret talks with the Americans in October 1938, with the aim of purchasing aircraft in very large numbers, possibly as many as 2000. This had been held up by France defaulting on their Great War debts in 1932 and therefore the U.S Johnson Act of 1934, which forbade loans to countries that had defaulted on such debts. Despite Roosevelt's broad support, it had taken the replacement of Harry Hopkins on the committee for foreign arms sales by Morgenthau for a deal to finally be broadly agreed in April, Even then, the U.S would not be able to supply all of France's perceived needs and only 795 engines and 555 aircraft had been ordered, some 200 of those trainers. This was all secret information. What was even more secret was that Daladier had initially proposed using 300 million of Frances gold reserves to secure the deal, as well as renegotiating the potential sovereignty of France's Pacific and Caribbean colonies, especially in light of Paul Reynaud's reluctance to use the gold reserves. It was political dynamite.

Yet Hitler had brought it privately to the forefront, putting forward what seemed like an almost incredible offer. Hitler had indicated that Germany would be happy to sell France supplies of Do-17 bombers, Me-109 and 110 fighters, as well as the DB-601 engine. It was when Hitler had thrown in "and you won't have to release 300 million in gold or sell your Pacific colonies for them as I will guarantee a cheaper price for better aircraft than the Americans" that he felt his head almost spinning.

The proposal, as bizarre as it was, had a certain dark attraction. The reason France had folded at Munich was it's very lack of modern air power and the paucity of it's aerial stocks, as much as British reticence. This would be a quick fix that would(obviously) provide a cadre of modern aircraft that matched the German Luftwaffe.

Daladier had not committed himself one way or the other and had instead promised a follow up meeting at the end of the month. Did Hitler mean what he said and was he really backing away from war, at least in the West?

August 1939

Well, the French had bitten after all. His second meeting with Daladier had gone somewhat better than the first. It was, of course, politically unacceptable to France to buy German aircraft, so Poland were to buy 130 Me-110's, 120 of which were to be deemed "surplus" and sold to France. The French had also agreed to buy 800 DB-601 engines, which would provide useful export dollars for Germany.

He had bent every effort to flatter the Frenchman and indeed the French, asking France to assist in the upcoming placement of Bohemia and Moravia under a League of Nations Mandate from 1.1.1940.

He had then asked about rejoining the League, pointing out the irony of a country not a member of the League trying to invoke a League mandate. He had indicated that a rejoining by Germany would also attract Italy, Spain, Slovakia and Hungary.

The Danzig plebiscite had gone as he had though it would, with a 71% vote to join Germany and the border changes with Poland, the annexation of Ostava and Pilsen and the incorporation of Danzig were now less than a week away.

He had had numerous conversations with Schacht, the system of Mefo Bills would have to continue but the only long term answer was to drop imports but particularly expand exports. Germany's position was not helped by a drop in the price of manufactured goods(their main export) and a rise in commodity prices.

One of Schacht's major new measures was drop in the basic tax rate of all except high income earners in exchange for the introduction of a consumption tax of 10% and moves to reduce tariffs in exchange for free trade agreements, at least amongst closely allied countries. Reductions in military spending were now starting to occur, yet armaments manufacture remained high with new export markets. Schacht had proposed greatly reduced state control of business, particularly small business and he had agreed.

The agricultural industry was moribund and did not supply anywhere near Germany's needs. Indeed, it's output languished below 1913 levels despite technological developments. He had himself instituted greater tax breaks for primary producers and combined this with the creation of a new entity, Deutche Landwirtschaft, which was in effect a holding company to distribute funds for what was in effect foreign share farming investments. It would be financed by an aggressive sell off of government assets back to the private sector and this would in turn provide funds to pay for share farming ventures outside of Germany's borders, most notably in the wheat belts of Romania, Hungary and to the East in Poland, where Deutche Landwirtschaft would provide the up-front cash and fund the planting and harvesting of the crop, the landowner being paid for the use of the land itself, partly by a flat payment and partly a percentage of the crop. Sales of government owned assets could also be used to retire some of Germany's now staggering national debt.

At least from an export point of view, Germany's new alliance with Poland had provoked arms sales, hopefully a thawing of relations to the West would further stimulate trade and allow a wind back of the rationing that had commenced with some goods in late 1938.

September 1939

As he rode on Amerika on his way back from Danzig to a short stop in Warsaw, he thought back over the previous five months. Remarkable, really. Well, he had achieved his first objective. It was near midnight on the 1st September 1939 and the world was still at peace, well not including Japan's Far Eastern war.

He missed his own home, badly at times. It was late at night that the thoughts often came and sometimes he had a hard time pushing them aside. He was conscious of the fact that he had always been a rather self-contained person. That was why it was so easy to fall into a relationship with Eva. She had plenty of love to give for Hitler and he was in desperate need of some normalcy, some love of his own, after feeling like he had so much taken away. He had been separated from his family before, but only by distance, never by time itself.

In terms of foreign policy, the question was where to go from here? Wait for Stalin to possibly make his move on Finland? He had been placing pressure on the country since early 1938, after all. Or move now. It of course also raised the question of the two remanding Baltic States, both essentially dictatorships already.

Plus Yugoslavia and Greece. His conference with Mussolini had scarcely filled him with confidence about the Italian leader’s peaceful intentions or stability. Well, he had a small ceremony of the newly created German Women's Sports Association on the 3rd and then eight days relaxation at the Berghof. That was welcome.

He had stayed awake long enough and turned and put his arms around his wife. He felt the baby kick. Now that was something at least. Nothing had surpassed the feeling of being a father in his previous life, seemingly so long ago.

September 1939

He commenced his speech, which he had wrestled with for days, trying to steer a middle ground and yet introducing new ideas for the first time as well. It was mighty hard to write a speech praising the Nazi Party, yet if one was to follow a course of gradually "watering down" such philosophies, what choice did none have? He had delivered enough speeches over the years, so the writing and the delivery itself as no issue, it was the content. He stepped up to the podium after Goering and looked out over the masses of the party faithful.

He paused a good 20 seconds for dramatic effect before commencing.

"The Eleventh Party Congress of the Movement is coming to an end. This rally is not just a display of political power, it always means immeasurably more for the loyalists, the great personal and spiritual meeting of old fighters. Those that have endured the harsh fires that have taken us all to where we are now.

When our Party was tiny, it wanted to be the sole power in Germany. As a Party, we remained in the minority and endured the struggle. These men and women, the best of the German race, in proud self- confidence, have courageously and boldly claimed the leadership of the Reich and nation, the people in ever greater numbers have joined this leadership and subordinated themselves to it willingly.

The German people are happy in the knowledge that the constantly changing leadership has now been replaced by a fixed point, a force which considers itself the representative of the best, and, knowing this, has elevated themselves to the leadership of this nation and is determined to keep this leadership, to use it to the best advantage. It will always be only a part of the nation which will consist of really active fighters, it is their charge to look to the welfare of the millions of other citizens. As I prepare to have a child of my own, know that you yourselves will also always be my children, you welfare first in my heart.

Yet, disloyalty can also occur, either misguided or deliberate. This has been shown all too well recently. That is what we must be alert for, that is what must be removed root and branch. We have shone the light on our perceived enemies external to the German people, perhaps too harshly, when we should also have been looking inwardly at our own.

There are those among you, in spite of the splendor of this gathering, who perhaps recall those days when it was still quite difficult to be a National Socialist and indeed a German. How things have changed! Yet, we will have to change more, as well. We have won our struggle to rebuild our national pride. We have rebuilt and remodeled the "sick man of Europe" into this current state. We cannot remain static, we must, like the shark, always move forwards.

Change must come and we must embrace it, not to scared of it's consequences. Germany has become great again and that is why, to truly take our place in the sun, we need to rejoin the international community of Europe, to act as a good citizen and to treat with good faith with other countries. Likewise, now that we are over the hard times, we need to build a better future for all, a future led by Germany but not imposed by it. Raising up other nations will raise ourselves.

It may surprise some for me to say that it is not the goal that all loyal Germans will become National Socialists. In the past, our enemies persecuted us and removed some of the undesirable elements from our Party for us. Today, we ourselves must remove undesirable elements as they occur. What is bad, has no place among us!

Over the objections of some, a disloyal few, we have avoided the horrors of potential war, I have come to agreements with our neighbors and we can use Germany's might to assist these states in escaping the slough of poverty and raising themselves up, as it will also duly raise us up.

We have won our campaign against the burdens imposed by the Jews and Bolsheviks in this country, we have won our dominance and freedom, now we must move forward and live alongside others and build a future for all, whilst always maintain the interests of the German people as paramount. We are already planning a project in East Prussia to give the German people Lebensraum, which will be the largest land reclamation project in history, over 1300 square kilometers. With the help of our Polish friends and our agreement recently, we will create a permanent link to East Prussia via a landmark engineering tunnel. The future is ours, we need just to reach out and take it.

As you prepare to leave the city, keep the memories and begin to prepare for the next review - again and again people will come and go to Nuremberg, they will be moved anew, be pleased and equally inspired, because the movement can be a symbol of eternity. Long live the National Socialist Movement! Long live Germany!"

Well, the applause was deafening at least. It now remained to be seen what the upshot was. Some of the words had been personally difficult to say, but he had gotten through it.

September 1939

It had been another great month for external arms sales, including some unexpected results gained simply by flagging the availability for sale of surface warships. There was little point in trying to fight World War II all over again, which left only two likely opponents, France and the Soviet Union. Both would be land and air wars, not naval, so there seemed little point in building a fleet of such extensive proportions that it would not be needed.

It was the approach from the Japanese that had been unexpected. They had requested a purchase of the carrier Graf Zeppelin and he had agreed, well aware of the inherent faults of the design. Better still they had also agreed to take as part of the deal the four Narvik Class destroyers currently building at Bremen, no doubt impressed by the heavy armament. Both were inherently faulty designs although the Japanese had already requested a series of changes be worked into the carrier.

The Greeks had also been active, the purchases sure to secretly enrage Mussolini, which was enough to bring a smile to his face alone after the memories of his last conference with the man. The heavy cruiser Blucher, four submarines and two minesweepers, as well as 30 Do-17 bombers and 24 Pz II tanks.

Germany needed the money more than it needed a large navy and it was important to get the factories tooled building the right equipment rather than building things of dubious value. Unless, of course, they could be sold. Foreign currency and trade were the key to lowering Germany's crippling debt. In fact, he would sell at least two more of the heavy cruisers if he could find a buyer, however, the only interest so far had come from Spain, impoverished by the recent civil war. However, once Greece took delivery of a modern heavy cruiser, Turkey would no doubt gain an interest.

October 1939

Well, the Japanese had come to terms with Stalin's Soviet Union, reports indicating that they had failed in a final counteroffensive and signed a ceasefire on the 2nd, a week ago. Now, the question remained, which way would both former protagonists go? Would the USSR attempt to lean on Finland? They had been doing so since 1938, but would they now amp up the pressure for the Karelian Ithmus and the islands in the Gulf of Finland itself?

Likewise, the question was also what Japan would do from here? Increased activities in China, where Germany had dispatched a new military mission? Or would she still seek her destiny in the Pacific as per OTL? Of course, the third option was that she would push so hard in China and perhaps Thailand that an oil embargo would draw her into a war of necessity in any case. There seemed little chance she would back down in Asia, even without a European war.

October 1939

He had always enjoyed a sea voyage, much like his son and the complete opposite of both his daughters, who had both struggled with seasickness. He had enjoyed the voyage on the Bremen much more than his six months pregnant wife. For a few days at least, he had been able to relax and let his mind wander.

This was mainly a public relations tour, designed to show a human face to Germany and indeed the Nazi Party, of all things. It would have to be short by necessity, the possibility of the USSR proceeding as per OTL and providing Finland an ultimatum at the end of the month all too real. He had secured a meeting with Roosevelt, however, his first meeting was here in New York with Thomas Dewey. He intended to use his meeting with Roosevelt to apprise him of what he knew in relation to Japanese activities, including a confirmation that Japan was building Yamato Class battleships, warning on the potential of the new A6M and even the existence of Unit 731 in Harbin. They could make of it what they wanted.

He had made the decision some time ago that Japan would be an essentially useless ally. If one did not want war with the West, then it was better to curry their favour than co-operate with a country that would not make common cause against the Soviet Union if that war came and whose interests directly contradicted the emerging power, the United States, as well as the old European colonial powers.

He was bound to face the Jewish question here as well, and had not, as yet, decided exactly how to answer it. It was probably best at this stage to use an old political tactic, pointing to recent changes and highlighting the unequal distribution of wealth in Germany prior to 1933. Diversionary tactics, to be sure, and repugnant in one way as they did not represent the truth. However, it was too early to make any admissions there. As it was, his July purge still had a number of key figures “at large”. Kaltenbrunner had turned up in Holland although Heydrich had plans to take care of that problem, apparently. However, there were still a number of political opponents in Germany who were less than blindly loyal. Goring was certainly one. With the SS gone and the Party set back, the army’s hand was also strengthened. This could be both good and bad. If the army took power, it would likely be to bring back the monarchy and to water down the Nazi ideology. That may be a good thing. Yet the army had been in favour of war, which he had so far managed to avoid touching off.

He had also secured a meeting with Lindbergh. In all honesty, it was more to satisfy his curiosity more than anything else. He had met Goring, of course, and had been presented with the Order of the German Eagle, on behalf of the previous Hitler.

With war avoided, it was hard to know what the best solution was. Was he still the best person to sit in the chair leading Germany? There were others better qualified, to be sure, however, he wanted to change things and knew what could happen if he did not and the situation backslid into the hands of fanatics. For now, he was convinced he was still the best option available.

The New York skyline was certainly different to what it was in 2013 when he was last there, uglier in one way, yet, to a man that liked older buildings and architecture, perhaps more elegant.

October 1939

Dewey was a dapper man that reminded him much of old photos of Clark Gable. He had himself not requested to see the man, the meeting had been pursued by the American, so he let Dewey himself take the lead in the conversation. After introductions had been effected and it was established that he could understand well enough anything Dewey might have to say in English, the man went ahead, using a curious accent that whilst American contained an almost upper class English twang.

"Mr Hitler, I asked you here, as I am sure you are aware that I am in the process of conducting a prosecution of Fritz Kuhn, the United States leader of your own Nazi Party."

Frankly it was news to him. Obviously the man was more respectful of his own knowledge of foreign affairs than was actually the case. He remembered meeting Kuhn once, in 1936. So, it was to be political. The man was clearly a showman, as well as a hard worker. He remembered well enough the Gangland trials, including Lucky Luciano.

"In truth I was completely unaware of it. What is he being prosecuted for?"
"Come now Mr Hitler, you surely must be aware of what is going on with the top Nazi Party member in the United States. He is being prosecuted for embezzlement."

"I think you over exaggerate the importance of the Nazi Party here in the U.S. Our party was created to drag Germany out of the mire it had deliberately been pushed into after the Great War. It is a German party, for Germans only and I see any spread of the party outside of Germany to be detrimental to our interests, not complimentary to them. As for Mr Kuhn, I have always been in favor of strong policies against law breakers. If he has broken said law, punish him by all means."

Dewey appeared somewhat taken aback before resuming. "What of Germany's plans for Europe, the breaking of the Munich agreement, the Pact of Steel with Japan and Italy, both of whom have invaded other countries? The atrocities in Abyssinia and China?"

"As I have indicated quite publicly in the last few months, I now regard the invasion of Czech lands in the wake of the Munich agreement to be a mistake. Like any mistake, one can only apologize and strive to correct it. That is what is being done. We have no further ambitions in Europe territorially, unless someone actually came to us with a proposal, much like Belgium in the 1920's. Our Eastern border is resolved. Our Western border fixed. I have publicly repudiated any claim to Alsace-Lorraine.

As for our agreements with Italy and Japan, we must make common cause with those that extend the hand of friendship. When Germany was dragged out of the mire in the 1930's, no one from the West was willing to extend that hand of friendship to us, we received merely suspicion and fear. We were weak in 1936, even 1938 and took comfort from what allies we could. Now we are strong we can sail our own ship of state, looking for friends in other areas, like America, for instance. Your country does not need to be isolated from Europe, Mr Dewey. Any war there will not be started by us. I would be more afraid of the perils of communism, which is not inward looking like my own party but determined to spread it's creed world wide."

"Yet what about the Jews in Germany. What of the way they have been treated?"
"Are you a patriot Mr Dewey?"
"Why yes I am."

"Well don't take offense when I ask. What of the way black people are treated in this country? What of the way Chinese are treated? In Germany it was perceived that the Jews hoarded wealth when most of the country was starving. Rightly or wrongly, they received much of the blame when the country fell to pieces in the 1920's, when we lost our pride. We needed any excuse for our situation, any enemy-they were it. Some of the measures have gone to far and will be rolled back. In Germany things are far from perfect and there are those who are opposed to any relaxation of our current position, yet it must be so. We are far from perfect yet we have moved forward from the 1920's. We can now, on the cusp of prosperity, start to move further forward without blaming others for the past. At least this is what I believe."

The rest of the conversation was largely pro forma The man was clearly an isolationist. The real question was, if war war not aflame in Europe in early 1940, would he beat Wendell Willkie for the Republican nomination? Without a European war, that was increasingly likely and would perhaps place either himself or Taft, an older isolationist, in direct competition to Roosevelt.

October 1939

The meeting with Roosevelt had taken place two days after his brief meeting with Lindburgh, who struck him as a curious cross between a Southern Baptist and a Prussian nobleman. Self contained and exacting, then man seemed to have, in his own wife's words, "a stick up his arse".

His meeting with Roosevelt had gone well enough, the American president had been keen to secure whatever guarantees possible in regards to Germany's peaceful intentions. He had talked about his plans for a restoration of Czech lands and had indicated that the military alliance between Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Italy, Slovakia and Lithuania was entirely defensive.

Roosevelt had asked about Italy's intentions and he had been quite honest when he had stated that Mussolini's appetites had proven impossible to reign in and that whilst Italy was an ally of Germany's, Germany was not bound to support her in aggressive wars, merely defensively.

In regards to Japan and her Pacific intentions, he had disclosed all that he knew that could be potentially verified or believed, including warnings of the construction of the Yamato Class battleships and the coming of the A6M. He had also hinted at the Japanese use of both chemical and biological warfare in Manchuria and China. He had taken the opportunity to announce to Roosevelt that he intended to reverse his previous China policy and reopen the German military mission to Chiang, using the previous incumbent, von Falkenhausen. This had been on his mind for some time and he had already secured the general and Chiang's agreement. This had elicited a warm response from Roosevelt, which was good, but he was also ware that it was an excellent sales ground for German arms.

It was in relation to the USSR that he was able to gain some ground. He had detailed his MI-6 revelations and had then gone on to name Alexander Koral as the head of one group in New York, Louis Budenz, Victor Perlo as head of a Washington based group and lastly naming Whittaker Chambers as the most high ranking Soviet spy in the United States.

He had asked for favorable trade concession from the United States and had also asked Roosevelt if it would be possible for Germany to purchase U.S bombers, namely the B-17, where he was well aware of the Luftwaffe's shortcomings. Roosevelt had been non committal, but the meeting overall had gone well and one thing he had been able to secure was favourable terms for the importation of U.S oil, which would allow him to scale back or at least slow down the expensive building of synthetic oil plants.

November 1939

It was in some ways amusing to see the developments caused by the very tensions that Hitler's Germany had caused. Now he had stepped back from the brink, yet Europe still seemingly hovered on the edge of war and the very instability the rapid rise of Nazi Germany had caused had also fueled a gigantic demand for armaments. Arms sales/orders were positively booming and German equipment was winning many contacts. This was allowing the economy to still run at a high pace as he was able to gradually divert funds to civil projects. Consequently, Germany had been able to bring in a number of Polish workers, feeding the shortage of workers in one hand and assisting his poorer neighbor with the other.

Fighter aircraft alone were a classic example. Orders in 1939 alone were huge:

Bf109: Switzerland(90), Yugoslavia(84), Spain(57), Poland(100-gift plus 30), Slovakia(12), Hungary(50), Bulgaria(14)
He-100: Romania(40)
Me 110: France(200), Turkey(10)

In addition, the increasing tension between Finland and the USSR had resulted in an order for 90 more Bf-109's for Finland and fully 1000 DB 601's had been ordered for France. China had also indicated that orders were likely in 1940. In regards to naval ships, he had sold an aircraft carrier, two heavy cruisers, all three pocket battleships, a light cruiser, 4 destroyers and 4 submarines, a respectable fleet in and of itself.

These sales, along with the sale of a number of Pz II tanks, had allowed the planned upgrade of the army to proceed, along with two "big ticket" civil projects, namely the Polish corridor tunnel and the draining of a large part of the Curonian Lagoon South of Karkle.

2 December 1939, Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin

Heydrich conferred with Arno Rahl. "The woman is quite broken Herr Oberstgruppenfuhrer, as per your instructions she had not been permanently physically hurt but she is now ready to follow all instructions given."

Heydrich did not concern himself as to what methods had been used during the last 7 weeks of Maria Poliakova's captivity since she had been taken and smuggled over the Swiss border to Germany in a lake steamer's trunk. He would leave that to Rahl. He looked at the women again. Now dressed in an elegant silk blouse and pencil skirt with her high cheekbones, 170cm frame and up-swept blonde hair, she looked more like a fashion model and a far cry for a Soviet agent and a Jew, of all things. Much like himself, a voice nagged at the back of his head.

"Very good Rahl". He stepped into the side office and the 30 or so man stood and extended his hand.
"Yrjö von Grönhagen", the Finnish nobleman said in perfectly unaccented German.
"Heydrich." You understand the nature of your mission von Grönhagen?"
"Yes, I have been fully briefed."
"You are to marry when placed back in Berne, live a normal life and use the cover of the publishing business that was purchased for you. Your new wife will continue to run all central European Soviet agents through Switzerland and report back to Moscow center. What is reported is not to be censored in any way and in fact we will "supplement" some reports with extra, completely true, information. She will need to reestablish trust after going dark for two months. A whirlwind romance and a marriage will serve to explain that away to a degree but a renewed flow of solid intelligence will be the best sweetener."
"Marrying you will give the girl Finnish citizenship as well. It is important that you avoid all political ties with any German or right wing groups from this moment onward. Are you confident that you can appear to be a happily married couple?"
"She is intelligent, beautiful and speaks five languages. I am sure it can be done."
"Very good, it seems we are ready to release our dove back into the sky."

8 December 1939, New Chancellery, Berlin

It had taken Europe to the brink of another war, yet, on the 4th of December, the Soviets had finally accepted the Finns second revised offer. The Finns would cede the Terijoki area, some islands in the Gulf of Finland and the Kalastajansaarento Peninsula in the far North, as well as not construct any fortifications within 10km of the new border.

He was unsure exactly what it was that had caused Stalin to accept the Finnish offer that had been rejected OTL, but the most likely reason was the purges, which OTL had been winding down in late 1939 and completed by mid 1940. These had started up again in full swing, this time seemingly with a focus on the NKVD. With this continued disruption and events in Mongolia still tense with Imperial Japan, Stalin had presumably thought discretion was the better part of valor at this stage.

This had been all to the good, as he had pledged German support in terms of arms and war materials in the event of a conflict and the humiliation that Finland had been forced to endure had provoked it's own overtures from the Finns themselves. Mannerheim himself had requested an appointment on the 20th. It was nearing the end of his winter schedule as he had promised he would take a break over the Christmas and New Year period. There could only be one such reason why Mannerheim would want such an appointment and it had already been intimated that he was interested in Finland joining the Central European Defense Treaty. All to the good.

In terms of diplomacy, the transfer of Bohemia and Moravia to League of Nations mandate was only three weeks away and he had used the intervening time to move 80,000 Jews and Gypsys into the Protectorate where they would be safer. Speaking of the League, Germany would resume as a member on 1.1.1940 and he had persuaded Hungary, Slovakia and Spain to rejoin as well, although Italy had refused to do so.

He had come to the conclusion that Italy was more of a strategic and diplomatic liability than an asset, but was unsure as to what to with that knowledge. The other diplomatic powder-keg, or potential one, was a resumption of the confidential offer made in the 1920's by Belgium to sell the Western German provinces back to Germany for cash or goods in kind. It was not something he thought Germany could currently afford and would outrage the suspicious French, much like it had in 1926.

One a personal level, next month he would become a father. Somehow, he would have to find time for that, as well as trying to sort out a succession plan. It seemed that Spanish solution may be the best bet. First he had better meet the contenders, as well as starting to map out a transfer of some limited powers back to the Reichstag, but it could wait until next year, when hopefully things were in less turmoil and constant change.

January 1940

It was a constant reminder of the resilience of women. He had insisted on being present for the birth but had been overruled by his own wife in the finish. Now he simply paced outside and waited, and waited. Thank God he was a man. It had been 24 hours so far and during the last hour Eva's seemingly agonized cries had made being isolated from current events in the birthing room even harder. He had attempted to read, firstly official reports, and when they had failed his attention, even a novel. Neither had held his attention to any extent.

Mannerheim had duly arrived just prior to Christmas and whilst he would not commit Finland to join the Central European Defense Treaty as he had hoped, he had committed Finland to the same side as Germany in the advent of a war, his main aim being the recovery of lost Finnish territory. He had also ordered more military equipment from Germany to assist in fending off any further Soviet adventurism.

The start of the new year had resulted a changeover of administration in Bohemia and Moravia from German to a fledgling Czech Republic under a British/French/Polish League of Nations Mandate until elections could be arranged. Economically, his defense spending cuts and tax changes, along with a surge in exports, had the country slowly turning around but still running a large deficit. He amused himself with a list of potential issues for 1940 that would have to be addressed. It helped to pass the time away at least. After an hour's idle doodling, concentration not helped by the circumstances, he reviewed it.

1) Navy-carriers yes/no?
2) Make all efforts to speed new tank deployments
3 ) Panzerfausts/Bazookas?
4) Jets-progress?
5) Will it be war? Bessarabia, Baltic States Soviet invasion OTL? If pushed, was it worth going to war for this?
6) Italy and Greece. If it happens jettison Mussolini or not?
7) Civil economy, need to keep it afloat with increased exports
8) Lebensraum within Germany? Return of native Germans to Germany
9) Belgian purchase? Yes/No. If yes, where to find 180 million gold Marks
10) Succession plan, need to dilute Nazi power rather than erase it. How to insure any successor does not have too much power-this could be why a constitutional monarchy may be desirable. If the last, who? This should help with the army, which was still aristocrat dominated but would need to be hosed down as a threat to the party
11) Reorganisation of Gau's, weeding out of corrupt or undesirable Gaulieters
12) Agriculture, how to improve, where to import the shortfalls
13 ) The bomb vs rockets vs neither. Could these be developed in peacetime without enormous expenditure that may not be worth the economic cost?
14) Modern submarines. Type XXI
15) Radar development and deployment
16) The country as a whole needed to look at minerals shortages and what would need to be imported for a war. If so, from where? With potentially no RN blockade, it may well be a different war. However, trade agreements would still need to be secured.
17) Keep Heydrich on a leash
18) Goering? Keep? Replace?
19) Health, keep up physical routine and exercise regimen
20 Family? Need to make time for them

He scratched down the last just as the door from the birthing room finally opened. The nurse came out with a small bundle wrapped in a pink blanket. Well, that was one question answered. Perhaps it was just as well for those who were afraid of a dynastic version of Nazism, similar to the OTL abomination of North Korea's dynastic communism. The baby had sharp blue eyes and wispy mousy brown hair. It had already been decided for a girl. Ingrid Johanna Hitler. Knowing what he did, it had a weird ring to it to say the least. Still, it was love at first sight.

1 February 1940

Count Henri de Baillet-Latour studied the German Fuhrer, who seemed more relaxed than he had remembered from their last meeting in 1937. The IOC had been in a pickle. Japan had withdrawn as the original host of the 1940 games and then, Helsinki had also withdrawn in December 1939 with the Soviets pressing Finland diplomatically. The telephone call from Hitler had certainly been unexpected, however, with the other two bidders for the 1940 Olympics, Barcelona and Rome, not in a position to host the games, Hitler had indicated the Germany would be prepared to do so and that the facilities that had served the games in 1936 could be made available again. It was a neat way out of a difficult situation and de Baillet-Latour as IOC President had placed it before the IOC in late January where they had duly agreed.

The 1940 Summer Olympics, like the 1936, would be held in Berlin. This would have been a politically unacceptable event nine months ago, but Germany seemed to be emerging from it's aggressive recent past and the British members of the committee had declined to back the French objections to the games being in Berlin again. There was little other choice. The only other city that could have accommodated them was London and she had already won the bid for the 1944 games. de Baillet-Latour himself was not interested in politics, merely in making the Olympics as high a profile as possible. It promised to be so.

March 1940

Major General Erwin Rommel watched as his Panzergrenadier Division Grossdeutchland went through their paces. He had no real idea what had transpired to cause him to be plucked from obscurity as a Colonel to be promoted to Major General and placed in charge of what was being touted as the premier division of the German army.

The division was recruited from all over the Reich, not along the usual regional levels and soldiers had to apply to join it's ranks and undergo a rigorous testing regimen. The formation had only been enlarged from a Regiment in July 1939. There were rumors of a second such mooted division, "Das Reich" as well.

The division was lavishly equipped and was the first to receive issues of the new vehicles, in particular the new Cheetah tank destroyer based of the modified Pz-38t chassis and the new Leopard main battle tank with the 75mm Pak-40 as it's main armament. It's artillery arm had 12 of the new 15cm sIG based on the obsolete Pz II chassis, as well as six half-tracks mounting rocket artillery. However, it was it's anti tank and armour capability that was most enhanced. It's organic anti tank company consisted of nine new Cheetah tank destroyers. In addition, it's Panzer Regiment had in it's 1st Battalion 36 older Pz IV's as well as 42 of the new Pz V Leopards, although it still had 78 of the older Pz II in it's 2nd battalion these were slated to be replaced by the new types in the coming months. Lastly, it's 3rd Battalion was an attached Heavy Panzerjager battalion consisting of 16 Panzerjager I's and 16 of the large new 88mm armed Lion Panzerjager, the entirety of production, as well as four Neubaufahrzeug chassis that had been rearmed as tank destroyers with the 12.8 cm K L/61 gun in a boxed superstructure.

In all, the division had over 200 armoured tanks and tank destroyers/assault guns, many of the newest types. For Rommel, it was a plum assignment and, if rumors were true, Hitler had intervened personally to secure it for him.

Later in summer 1940 the Division, or part thereof, was scheduled to conduct maneuvers with the Polish "White Eagle" Brigade, which was reequipping with their new 10TP tank, which Rommel was interested to see. He would have the chance to meet his benefactor Hitler again at the joint maneuvers in East Prussia. With Russia still adopting a threatening posture towards the Baltic states, in particular, he was keen to see his division fully rounded out by the new types, which had replaced all of the older types in production aside from the Panzer IV, itself shortly to be an export tank only.

March 1940

Audiences with all three Archdukes, Crown Princes and Princes had gone over well enough. It was a shame that there was only one real candidate. To cement the support of the army, a required move with the SS gutted and the party's influence on the decline, it would have to be a Hohenzollern and a protestant, certainly not a Hapsburg or even a Wittelsbach.

He had written to Archduke Otto, however the man would not come to Germany to meet, probably harboring suspicions that the 1938 death sentence that had been lifted late in 1939 would again be enacted. He had, however, replied, showing an excellent grasp of European affairs and he had left the invitation open to the Hapsburg Archduke.

Rupprecht of Bavaria was an engaging, intelligent man who he had had some dealings with in late 1939 when he had intervened to prevent a seizure of Schloß Leutstetten by local party officials. However, whilst well regarded in Bavaria he had little support within the higher nobility or with the army as a whole.

Kaiser Bill himself was a hopeless case and an international pariah. The Crown Prince was hostile after the assassination of von Schleicher in 1934 and was neither popular nor that competent, preferring carousing to politics. His first son Wilhelm had been disinherited and renounced his succession rights, leaving his second son, Louis Ferdinand. He was a young man(32), who seemed more interested in business than politics. There was no way he could currently survive the Byzantine Nazi political scene in Germany, but he was potentially intelligent enough to be taught.

During the conversations he had kept his cards very close to his chest, however, the question remained. If this was to go ahead, it would require the full support of the army, as there would be strong party resistance to the breakup of the Gau's and the partial dissolution of the corrupt "Golden Pheasants" of the regional party administrations. Plus he had yet to contemplate what structure would replace it. The old royal states? It was certainly a headache. He needed help on the geographic issues and the dynastic and political implications of possible restorations. In addition, Wilhelm II was head of the House of Hohenzollern and could simply forbid young Louis Ferdinand to go forward with his proposal, or, God forbid, demand conditions. He could only be seen to be doing this from a position of strength, not one of weakness.

March 1940

He looked at the map one last time before placing in back into the folder and then the safe. The country had been split into twenty provinces and one special zone, which Prussia still dominated as the largest, however, both Austria and Bavaria would hold considerable power as well. It was in many ways both a nod to the old and hopefully a step forward. Much like Australia, Germany had always had a federalized model and this would allow for much local autonomy.

Of one thing he was quite determined, there would be no forced restoration of local monarchs, however, people could vote themselves whether they wished for such a restoration. A free and fair vote, now that would be something to look forward to in Nazi Germany.

It was to some extent pie in the sky as he doubted that it was a reform that could be implemented whilst Kaiser Bill was still alive, meaning he would have to wait another 15 months before it could be officially raised. Eight of the twenty provinces had never been monarchies in the first place, so there would be no requirement there and the other questions were Austria and Hanover. Whilst restoring Hanover may win some points with the English, Austria and the Hapsburg's were another issue altogether, particularly as the Hapsburg's were still nominally at least Kings of Hungary as well. In any case, the various Princes, Grand Dukes, Kings and the like would act as strictly constitutional monarchs if this proceeded, as would Louis Ferdinand himself. It was an excellent system of government in terms of combating extremism, where the real power lay with parliament, however, in a crisis a monarch could still technically step in a dismiss a government if they had enough popular support.

It was the possibility of war with the Soviet Union that was the most worrying. It had been a tightrope walk trying to balance the needs to the economy to slow down and the need to keep the army at a level where it could successfully prosecute a war in the East. Progress had been made.

The new "standard" tanks were now coming off production lines, the anti tank gun in production had moved to the Pak-40 and he had asked Rheinmetall to produce a new anti tank gun based on firing a shaped charge projectile, hoping for a development similar to the PAW 600.

In regards to the Luftwaffe he had attempted to streamline the contributions of each manufacturer. For Dornier, he had ordered the Do-17 discontinued in 1939 and all efforts concentrated on the Do-217. For Arado, all efforts were towards getting the Ar-232 in production. Focke-Wulf on the Fw-189 and the new Fw-190. Heinkel was to cease He-111 production in the third quarter of 1940, it's functions being taken over by increased production of the Ju-88 and Do-217, the later of which should be up to speed in production numbers by that time. Instead, they were to concentrate of the He-100, production of which was set at 20% of Me-109 levels. He had also cancelled the troublesome He-177 in it's infancy. Instead, Heinkel would build the new B-17C under license and had already received four B-17B's from Boeing to evaluate, with an order for 44 more of the C model later in the year. Heinkel also remained the center of testing for jet engines, but designs themselves were not possible to manufacture until such time as engine life could be improved to such a level that it could be operationally used. Junkers continued to produce the Ju-88 and Ju-87 and he had ordered the disappointing Ju-188 cancelled. Lastly, Messerschmidt continued production of the 109 and 110, the later proving to be a popular export aircraft. He had cancelled the Me-210, which was also to prove disappointing.

Anticipating a war with Russia and trying to avoid one in the West, as well as trying to reign in the out of control military spending of Nazi Germany had meant that the navy had been the service to suffer. He had cut and shut the service to be large enough to screen Germany's North Sea coast and fight the Soviet Baltic Fleet. The current fleet was small, two battleships, a heavy cruiser and five light cruisers, but would be supplemented in August by Bismarck and another heavy cruiser and in December by Tirpitz and another heavy cruiser. It should be enough for now.

The very uncertainty Nazi Germany had created, along with perceived threats from Japan and Italy, had created an excellent environment to sell arms and Germany was in the unique position to capitalize on foreign sales in a market she had essentially created. In naval terms alone, she had sold three pocket battleships to the Netherlands, a heavy cruiser to both Greece and Turkey, a light cruiser to Peru. The largest order had gone to Japan and would consist of the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, a light cruiser and four destroyers, which would sail for Japan in August.

He had two more meetings with Edward Rydz-Śmigły. Whilst obviously no fan of democracy and seemingly an anti-Semite to boot, he at least spoke his mind and had started to let his guard down somewhat as Poland and Germany had commenced finding common cause.

In the newly constituted Czech protectorate, Edvard Beneš had won the election on the 28th and the League administration was scheduled to end on the 1st June. It was predictable enough and the man would be no friend of Germany, however, at least the Czechs would have a measure of independence restored.

Now the questions remained, would Stalin press his claims in the Baltics and Bessarabia in June and July as per OTL? That was the real question. Or perhaps the real question was, if he pressed these claims, was it worth going to war? If he pressed Romania to accept, should he then prepare an attack himself in the knowledge that backing down would likely only lead to further demands. Those were the questions. He checked on his two month old daughter before he went to bed. It was now obvious why so many politicians aged so rapidly whilst in office. Each day was grinding and long. The downside with being a dictator was that almost all decisions were expected to be made by such a dictator, resulting in long, hard, grinding days, made even longer by his need to keep certain parts of his activities covert.

Possible "German Empire" boundaries and states map March 1940

April 1940

NKVD Major Vasili Blokhin led the now thoroughly broken man along the corridor from his cell up towards the small courtyard at Lubyanka. When they emerged into the daylight, it seemed to shake Beria awake and the man started incoherently mumbling, protesting his loyalty to Stalin and his innocence of charges of sexual perversion and rape. Blokhin secretly loved his work and had personally supervised the torture of Beria. The man had broken rapidly and had quickly complied with the appropriate prompting by naming his co-conspirators. Malenkov, Mikoyan, Rakhovsky, Kalinin and even Molotov, who had been accused of failing to secure allies for Soviet Russia in her foreign policy, among others.

Arrested were four of the eleven politburo members or candidates. The purges that had been winding down in 1939 had restarted yet again, this time concentrating on the NKVD itself and the Party in the wake of the extraordinary falling apart of virtually all external Soviet spy rings and the consequent diplomatic fall out and embarrassment. The army had been spared the worst this time, although the 30% of officers that had been restored to the army after their arrests in 1937 and 1938 were again under review.

Beria had fallen to his knees in the snow, still mumbling incoherently. Blokhim pulled the trigger. There would be no show trials this time, merely interrogations, confessions and Soviet justice.

May 1940

Chiang Wei-kuo circulated freely during the diplomatic function at the Chinese Embassy. Sino-German military cooperation had gained a new lease of life and he had recently reported to his father, Chiang Kai-sheck, that Germany had agreed to sell 80 Panzer II tanks to the Chinese army.

He had been due to be recalled in September 1939, but, alert to the winds of change, he had remained with the German army, being promoted Hauptmann in May. He was due to leave in June, but it had been a most productive posting and China had now opened a pipeline to weapons and munitions that were desperately needed, not only for the Nationalist's struggles against the Japanese but also to oppose the incursions of the communists.

July 1940

Ducks and the necessity of getting then lined up. That was what was on his mind. This summer day, some 14 months after his initial stint at Berchtesgaden, was the first relaxation he had had. It may be the last as well, he thought, although at the moment Stalin's Soviet Union seemed fully engaged on it's own purges and had, as yet, shown minimal signs of the demands placed on Latvia, Romania and Estonia OTL. That, however, could always change.

It had been a perfect early July day aboard the "Strength through Joy" ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Curious to think that he was on board the ship that was, in another universe, the site of the largest maritime disaster in history. He allowed himself to drift as the skilled hands of the masseur worked the knots out of his shoulders, he felt boneless after a day of swimming, some badminton and a torrid session with Eva afterwards; with Ingrid sleeping before he had come for a massage.

Yes, he had been working hard to get his ducks lined up in regards to a number of projects. His two major East Prussian civil projects were now well underway and when the Gustloff docked at Danzig in three days he was due to inspect both. From there he was to be present at the official commissioning of the new battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Seydlitz. He had succeeded in making a final naval sale, the heavy cruiser Hipper to Brazil to replace their old battleship Sao Paulo. This would not occur until the completion of the last Improved Hipper Class, Lutzow, at the end of 1940, leaving the Baltic Fleet with four battleships and two heavy cruisers by end 1940.

Foreign relations were much improved, the peaceful transfer of what within a week would become the Czech Republic had gone a long way towards mollifying the West. Chamberlain had been formal but not unfriendly in their brief correspondences, however, a telegram from von Papen two days ago indicated that Chamberlain would be stepping down as Prime Minister within two weeks due to health reasons. Now the question was who would be his successor, Halifax or Churchill?

In the U.S, Dewey had gained the Republican nomination in what would perhaps prove an interesting election in November. Also interesting was that there was, at this stage, no sign of Vinson's two Ocean Navy Act.

He had read Guderian and Rommel's report on the joint manoeuvres with Polish military forces and they had done much to cement friendly relations. They had reported favourably enough on the new 10TP Polish tank and had viewed the completed prototype of the new 14TP.

In regards to his political changes, he had continued to stay in touch with Louis Ferdinand and had brought Seydlitz into his confidence via Oster, indicating his thoughts were drifting towards a monarchical restoration. It was better to let the committed monarchists canvass Louis Ferdinand in support of a restoration rather than him pushing that barrow himself.

Heydrich had finally achieved his objective, eliminating Kaltenbrunner and his mistress Gisela in Antwerp, although the operation had been less than elegant, drawing the ire of the Belgian police when the house he had been cornered in had gone up in flames, burning three other dwellings down. It had required payment of compensation to calm the Belgians, even though there had been no official admission that Kaltenbrunner's attackers were in any way involved with the German government.

The special economic zone centered on Ostrava was starting to bear fruit. He felt guilty usurping what should have been the patents of others, however, if it helped people that OTL may have ended up at Auschwitz, then it was in a good cause. It was not like, he himself, actually benefited from the money, after all.

The influence of the SS had been eliminated and now it fell to the last bulwark of Nazism, the party itself. This was a project that could wait, with some chipping around the foundations before an all out assault. The increased power of the army itself served as a nice counterweight to the Party's political power. The key to success here, the sort of success that could eventually restore real elections, was to remove all potential powerful rallying points, Goering being first amongst them. He had a plan in motion for this when the time was right, a nice variation on the OTL von Tresckow plan in 1943. von Grönhagen had done an excellent job with the Soviet spy, Poliakova, who continued to supply Moscow with tid bits of information after the destruction of most of the Lucy spy ring. When and if the time came, the discovery that Goering's aircraft had been brought down by a Soviet spy would add the appropriate fuel to the fire. Those pesky Soviet spies, they were everywhere, weren't they?

In regards to Stalin, reports from Moscow had indicated that the purges had reignited themselves. The question remained, would they still try and move on the Baltic's and Bessarabia? If yes, then he had determined that the best course of events was to pressure Romania to agree. Hopefully this would lead to the replacement of Carol with Antonescu as had occurred OTL. From there, Barbarossa could be planned, hopefully achieving the same level of surprise as OTL. This seemed a better option than reacting and having to mobilize to oppose the Soviets, since although the West were now less hostile, it was probably optimistic in the extreme to count them as likely allies. In any case, now that things had cooled diplomatically, he could now start building an army for war on the Eastern Front, if required.

It would not be war for Lebensraum, it would be a war to shatter the Soviet Union and establish a series of buffer states between Germany and Poland and whatever political regime remained in charge of Russia. It was hard, whichever way one went could mean the deaths of millions, as could doing nothing. If, indeed he had averted the Jewish holocaust, he may have saved the lives of millions. As to war in the East, how avoidable was it? If Germany did not declare war, would the USSR do so anyway or force the issue by demands so extreme that one broke out anyway? A question answered by ones knowledge of history often only raised others.

After the inspection of the East Prussian tunnel and the warship commissioning, he was to inspect the Olympic preparations in Berlin. To assist in publicizing the games, he had asked the hastily formed Olympic Committee to write to Jesse Owens and invite him to publicize the games. It was small gesture, but Owens had fallen upon relatively hard times after 1936 and was a hugely recognisable figure. Besides, he wanted to meet the man. The real question would be, would he be cheering for Australia or Germany on the inside? Australia for sure. However, he had a life here now and had to make the best of it.

He towelled off and went back the his suite, which contained it's own special pool that had been installed when he had indicated in February his wish to take a cruise. Talking about making the best of it, his daughter was awake and alert and he immediately walked over to take her from her mother. Ingrid possessed sharp blue eyes and a developing scalp of light honey coloured hair. She possessed a sunny little temperament and he had rapidly fallen under her spell. He was happy with his domestic life and had rebuffed attempts during this cruise from Unity Milford to get too close, both from no desire to do so and because it would be potentially dangerous if she noticed significant changes in him. He had no interest in her political views in any case and sexually, if, as it seemed by her actions, they had formerly been close, he had no requirements either, or at least none not currently being met. Yes, he missed his former home, but there were compensations in this very cabin.

July 1940

As the last day of July drew to a close, he had been forced by his own public image to attend Wagner's Tristan und Isoldes. One thing for sure, it wasn't as good as the movie and that wasn't saying much.

God, he had never understood opera before and it had been excruciating sitting through the whole thing. It still struck him as surreal how people fawned over his presence at any sort of public event but he was gradually getting used to such.

It was less than five weeks out from the Olympics and things were heating up in the Baltics as well, with the Soviet Baltic Fleet appearing off both Riga and Tallinn in the last week, which had also seen over flights of the Baltic States. Things were moving and the German Army itself was not as yet ready, still 9-12 months from being ready for any potential war.

July 1940

It was a compromise, perhaps a small start, but a start none the less. The fact that they Olympics was coming to Germany again and the associated pressures of international visitors and opinions had made forcing the changes through possible.

It had required some lengthy discussions with Goebbels, who was against the idea initially, however, he was seemingly so devoted to his Fuhrer that it was not that hard to talk his position on the issue around. His promise to be godfather to Goebbels latest child, due in October, had also greased the wheels. The proposed changes would not repeal, but would start chipping away at the Nuremburg laws. The practice of Namensänderungsverordnung would be the first to go. Restriction on Jewish professionals were to be lifted and the ban on their attendance at universities, cinemas, theaters, and sports facilities was also to be revoked. In addition, the definition of what constituted being Jewish was also to be changed, with parents or grandparents that had converted to Christianity before 1 January 1934 no longer counting as Jewish for the purposes of tracking descent. Anti-Jewish propaganda was also to be scaled back, including removal of signs in public places.

In regards the Baltics, and Bessarabia for that matter, if indeed it was to come up, he had decided to cut Latvia and Estonia adrift if required, probably after negotiating concessions for ethnic Baltic Germans that would allow their return to Germany if they so desired. In regards to Bessarabia, pressuring Romania to accept would hopefully achieve three outcomes, firstly an abdication by that jackass Carol, secondly, hopefully draw Bulgaria into Germany's orbit and lastly the USSR would be lulled into the same sense of security that left it so unprepared OTL in 1941 for an attack.

August 1940

The man had pushed him so far that seemingly both his own temper and Hitler’s had been let loose. It had started low key enough, with his call to Frick, still in his pre April 1939 position as Minister for the Interior. In truth, he had not been able to find a definitive reason to replace him, not with so much else to do.

The reason for his telephone call had been to check on his orders to clear out the camps, Marzhan, Dachau, Buchenwald, Flossenberg, Mauthausen, Nauengamme, Sachsenhausen and the women’s camp at Ravensbruck. They were to be replaced by one camp only, using the old military base at the Fortress at Ulm.

Frick's instructions had been simple enough. Release all Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witness, in fact any that did not fall into two categories: dangerous criminals or certain “politicals”. Inmates were supposedly to be offered staged releases and either released unconditionally or offered either 3 or 6 months working for the Todt Organisation for simple room, board and a small incidentals payment, at their own discretion in 95% of cases.

Frick, however, had been stalling. Badly. When challenged on the matter, he had stated raving about homosexuals and the dangers of letting them loose and so on. He got up from the desk, stretched the chord on the phone and kicked the door closed before plonking himself back into the chair.

“We cannot have these people out on the streets spreading their unclean lifestyle.” Right that was it. He could feel his usually restrained temper boiling over, probably not helped by lack of sleep and a cold as well.

“Frick, let me make my position, the position of your Fuhrer, clear. I could not give a damn if two men want to fuck each other up the arse. I doesn’t affect you, me or anyone else. You know who is getting fucked up the arse though? German taxpayers. They are paying a fortune to confine and feed these people when they could be out working and contributing to society. Get it done. And let me tell you Frick, if it’s not done by the revised target of end of September you will be joining some of these warm brothers you are so concerned about as their bunk mate. How does that sound? And before you ask, this applies to all groups listed. No exceptions. Seven weeks. No, I don’t care if it’s possible. It was possible on the time-frame I first gave you. Now you will just have to make it possible.”

He slammed the phone down. God it was so hard to deal with these people. Frick would have to be replaced, but for now he needed him to finish this task at least, then if done, a replacement would be required. In October he intended to move forward and place his land proposal before the Reichstag. Someone else would have to hold interior at that time. Moltke seemed the likely choice.

He would have to take a break and calm down. He was due to meet representatives of the German and British Olympic committees and, more importantly, Halifax, the new British Prime Minister.

August 1940

Halifax had been quite different to his pre conceived opinion of him. He had read so many alternative history scenarios that had the man pegged as an aristocrat and arch appeaser that he had almost expected a Gilderoy Lockhart type of character. Instead the man was urbane, seemingly well read and mannered yet quite anxious and forthright in putting forward Britain's position in regards both Eastern and Central Europe.

Whilst it was clear that Halifax was on the one hand happy to see that Germany had reached an accommodation with Poland, it was also clear that he felt miffed that Britain had been effectively locked out of any real influence in Eastern Europe and it was, in fact, Germany that many now viewed as a protector of sorts. Halifax had also been quite explicit in declaring that both Britain and France would be prepared to go to war to guarantee the territorial integrity of the restored Czech state.

Personally, he had no problem with any of those things, in fact, the more he could agree with Halifax the more he could hopefully relax the man and assuage his fears that, like Chamberlain, he would be humiliated. He had pointed out to Halifax that if he had further Polish or Czech designs that he would not have reached such a cosy accommodation with Poland and would not have handed back the Czechs their own homeland.

He had spoken at length to Halifax about his desire to avoid any further confrontations and his lack of desire for future German territorial gains but both men wanted something from the other, an always useful position in any diplomatic exchange. The British were worried by any change in the status quo in the Balkans, fuelled mainly by Mussolini's ambitions. They feared a repeat of World War 1 with a Balkan incident touching off a powder keg that drew in allies and then, eventually, themselves. This was especially magnified by the deteriorating situation in the Far East, which Halifax was astute enough to view as a great threat. What Halifax wanted was an assurance that Germany would stay out of any Balkan confrontation involving Italy.

His own desires were clear enough. He wanted a free hand in Eastern Europe if war was to break out. He had made clear to Halifax that he would under no circumstances allow any of his allies to fall to Soviet aggression and that what he desired was not support so much as at least indifference from Britain in any Eastern war. In return for not supporting Italy or any other Balkan flare up not involving Stalin, this was something that Halifax had been able to agree to.

September 1940

Well the 100 metres was run and won by American sprinter Harold Davis. He had stayed all the way until the end where Finnish marathoner Vaino Muinonen was able to break away from Japanese athlete Son Kitei. He wondered if Kitei, the 1936 gold medallist, had deliberately lost. It was no slur on the veteran Finnish runner, however, Kitei had expressed his shame privately after the 1936 games at winning a gold medal for Japan, a country occupying his native Korea.

The Olympics had been a major success, with a large influx of people into Germany that had generated far more income than what had been required to "tart up" the 1936 facilities. In addition, it had served the added purpose of bringing a large number of foreign diplomats, politicians and heads of state to Berlin, which had given him useful access to many of them.

As a postscript to the Olympics, he had pushed, cajoled and eventually succeeded in arranging a rematch of the Joe Louis - Max Schmeling fight, scheduled for tomorrow night. It had generated a massive media beat up, but it was the following day that was more important to him. He was due to meet with Halifax, Daladier and Ioannis Metaxas. Together they would ink a treaty guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Greece. It had been a busy two days, including a trip to Bremen to commission the heavy cruiser Lutzow. Only the Tirpitz was still under construction of the major ships for the Kriegsmarine, which now consisted of 3 battleships and 3 heavy cruisers as it's major force.

As he sat next to his wife, who was wearing a form fitting green satin dress, watching what was an epic ten round encounter eventually won by Louis after a thundering right hook floored Schmeling, he thought that signing the treaty would be the easy part. The hard part would be the next meeting three days after with the Duce. Unlike OTL, Italy had not, as yet, made any directly aggressive moves towards Greece, however, he was certain the man would resent what he would perceive as interference in the politics of the Mediterranean, especially considering his monumental ego. Considering that Greece was only invaded in OTL late 1940 due to French being prostrate and Britain weakened and that these conditions no longer existed, he was probably doing the man a favour by removing the temptation. However, he doubted Mussolini would see it that way.

He would miss seeing his daughter tonight. She was an early developer that was already crawling. On the other hand, he could always investigate what was under that green dress. There were some battles on the horizon, with the Reichstag about changes to state boundaries, possibly with Mussolini and Stalin's Soviet Union, finally emerging from their semi isolation of the previous year, asking Germany to cater for a visit from Vyshinsky. It didn't require a astrophysics degree to see that this may be about-the Baltics.

September 1940

It was curious how what was expressed as a desire in thought sometimes became a quite shocking reality. The report had came in late on a Sunday as he was fiddling about in his office with the final map of the proposed new states and his plans to place a plebiscite before each component state in regards to it’s ultimate form of government, republican or monarchist.

Goering’s Ju-52 had overshot landing in fog at Rechlin airport, running off the tarmac, charging through a fence and hitting a telegraph pole. The aircraft itself had not caught fire and aside from Goering the only other casualty was a Berlin art dealer called Zubel. Goering had apparently not been wearing a seat belt and had been thrown forward violently against an interior bulkhead, suffering catastrophic head injuries.

September 1940

The meeting with Mussolini had gone off well enough, not because the man had suddenly come around to sensible, democratic ideals, that’s for sure. It had required a massive amount of heavy flattery and preening to unruffle the Italian dictator’s sensibilities in regards to the guarantee of Greek independence. Pointing out that any aggressive intentions towards Greece would draw the ire of an unengaged Britain and France had gone some way towards settling him down.

He had also pointed out to Mussolini that the British and indeed the French badly needed to be thrown a bone and that Greece was as good an example of what was required. Mussolini knew this intellectually. The Italians still only controlled 5% of Libya at the end of the day, having no control at all outside of the few coastal cities. The situation in Abyssinia was very similar and they were scarcely popular in Albania either. A Greek adventure would be madness in any case, although he had not couched the words in precisely that manner.

In regards to the proposal before the Reichstag in regards to a restoration of state boundaries, it had sailed through with limited issues in the finish. There had been objections, of course. This had been both natural and expected as it would remove a huge amount of power from Gaulieters who had become all too accustomed to exercising it. Next would be a plebiscite in the second week of October on the form of government each state wished to undertake. It was an extremely short lead up time but it would serve to give the German people back some measure of experience in having a voice in government.

Democracy was in many ways like a snowball rolling down hills. Once commenced, it tended to gather momentum unless crushed in it’s early stages. This would start the momentum in a small, manageable manner.

The meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister had not been a pleasant affair. Andrey Vyshinsky was a queer beast. A middle class Polish Catholic, he was, like all converts to a doctrine, more fanatical than those born into it. Perhaps he felt that he needed to make up for his own background in some way. Vyshinsky, and therefore Stalin’s, position was simple enough. He wished to allocate Finland, Latvia and Estonia to a Soviet “sphere of influence” in exchange for recognition of a German “sphere of influence” in Poland, Hungary and Lithuania. He also wished for pressure to be placed on Romania to cede Bessarabia, essentially restoring the 1914 border.

Vyshinsky had become more aggressive as he had deliberately been as obtuse as possible, stating that Lithuania, Hungary and Poland essentially ran their own affairs(true) and that he had no influence on their policy and therefore they were not part of a “sphere of influence”(patently untrue). Winding the man up had indicated how badly he wanted these particular objectives, however, and the answer to that was increasingly obvious-badly.

Ulmanis in Latvia had rejected any defensive alliance with Germany and without Latvia Estonia was not a viable prospect. He was pessimistic but still hopeful of avoiding a war and Germany was not really ready for a 1940 war in any case. That being the case he told Vyshinsky that he would agree to placement of a Latvia and Lithuania in a Soviet “sphere of influence” but he could only agree to talk to the Romanians, that he could not make any final guarantees on Romania's behalf. This would serve two purposes, firstly buy time and secondly bind Romania even closer to Germany through fear. The Romanians would not agree if they felt they had a choice. Bessarabia was an ethnically Romanian area, after all and losing it would bring their terrible World War 1 ordeal but eventual victory to naught. If push came to shove he had little choice but to back them. That would likely mean war, perhaps not straight away but eventually. This had brought a month’s time which would take him into winter so a 1940 conflict was unlikely.

Should he offer a version of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and with Britain and France unoccupied try and stimulate Japanese interest in Siberia? He had shown little support for Japan so far but her Southern ambitions would be less tempered by the big democracies being at peace so perhaps they could be tempted by a Russia adventure.

October 1940

Well, the results of the plebiscite were officially in. He had expected more support for some of the older institutions, yet most areas had voted for a republic. All had voted for a move to the new state based boundaries as proposed. The results were:

Austria: For new state boundaries, 77% yes, monarchy 40%, republic 56%
German Bohemia: For new state boundaries, 70% yes
German Moravia: For new state boundaries, 68% yes
Saarland: For new state boundaries, 92% yes
Westfalen: For new state boundaries, 87% yes
Rheinland: For new state boundaries, 88% yes
Baden: For new state boundaries, 56% yes, monarchy 30%, republic 67%
Hesse-Nassau: For new state boundaries, 63% yes, monarchy 23%, republic 72%
Hanover: For new state boundaries, 69% yes, monarchy 21%, republic 75%
Oldenburg: For new state boundaries, 83% yes, monarchy 38%, republic 59%
Hamburg: For new state boundaries, 93% yes
Bremen: For new state boundaries, 90% yes
Schleswig-Holstein: For new state boundaries, 59% yes
Thuringen: For new state boundaries, 84% yes, monarchy 14%, republic 83%
Sachsen-Anhalt: For new state boundaries, 71% yes, monarchy 22%, republic 74%
Bavaria: For new state boundaries, 80% yes, monarchy 59%, republic 38%
Mecklenburg: For new state boundaries, 91% yes, monarchy 23%, republic 72%
Prussia: For new state boundaries, 59% yes, monarchy 49%, republic 48%
Saxony: For new state boundaries, 92% yes, monarchy 52%, republic 45%

Whilst confirming the state boundaries, it was a mixed result that would take some constitutional sorting out, particularly in relation to those states that voted for restorations. It also meant the removal of many Gaulieters, which was certain to create it's own form of dissatisfaction as well as elections within every state. Interesting times lay ahead.

November 1940

It had been a series of long, difficult meetings with Carol II. He had promised the Soviets an answer on or before the 7th of November and was able to deliver exactly on time, the seventh day of November. Whether it was exactly the answer they had wanted remained to be seen. Vyshinsky had been curt and obviously displeased by the accommodations put forward, but he had made it clear that he was unwilling to budge any further on any of them and that he required an answer back from the Soviets by the 12th December.

His manoeuvrings with Carol II had been difficult enough. The Romanian King had an abrasive personality, that would be the kindest way to describe him and, in addition, he had brought Magda Lupescu with him to Berchtesgaden and this had elicited a strong reaction from Eva, who called her an “entitled Romanian tart.” Eventually he had made the man see sense, indicating that Romania was Germany furthest away ally geographically and that he would have to withstand the full force of any Soviet offensive action before Germany could assist. In exchange, he had agreed to back Romania against any territorial demands from other powers, including those of Hungary. He had also hinted that in any war with Stalin’s Russia the lost territories would be restored, plus additional compensation. This had greased the wheels on the deal. What he had put to the Russians was simple enough:

1) Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania would fall within the German sphere of influence
2) Finland, Latvia and Estonia would fall within the Russian sphere of influence, however Finland must remain independent. There was no such guarantee for the two other Baltic States
3 ) The governorates of Cetatia Alba and Chilia from Bessarabia to be ceded to the Soviet Union, effective 1.3.1941
4) All land North of the River Prut in Bukovina to be ceded to the Soviet Union, effective 1.1.1941
5) A Treaty of Friendship to be signed between the Soviet Union, Romania and Germany. Germany was to construct a Hipper Class cruiser and two modern destroyers for the USSR, as well as sell it 45 Me-110 fighters. In return, the USSR would provide the following to Germany and Romania over a 12 month period, with Romania getting 12.5% of the total unless shown otherwise:

- 600,000 tons of grains
- 350,000 tons of oil(all to Germany)
- 75,000 tons of cotton
- 80,000 tons of manganese
- 75,000 tons of phosphates
- 10,000 tons of chrome ore
- 18,000 tons of rubber(all to Germany)
- 100,000 tons of iron ores
- 100,000 tons of scrap metal and pig iron
- 800 kilograms of platinum(600kg to Romania)

In addition he had negotiated with Boris of Bulgaria for the return of Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. It was an area that had only a 20% Romanian composition, both Bulgars and Turks outnumbering Romanians. The price for the province was simple enough-Bulgaria was to become a signatory to the Central European Defence Treaty, increasingly called the Warsaw Pact, taking the name of the city it was signed in. He had placed a caveat on the transfers in regards to time, which would allow any native populations to move, if they so desired. This would also apply to any remaining Baltic Germans, which would be appealed to to "come home", over the next six weeks.

This followed the broad theme of what he had offered the Soviets. All land North of the Prut in Bukovinia was a Russian/Ukrainian majority, as was the governorates of Cetatia Alba and Chilia from Bessarabia. It was, on the surface of things, a good result. The Warsaw Pact now consisted of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. Finland was tied via a secret treaty if a war was to break out with the USSR. He had signed treaties of friendship with Spain and Greece and his next step was to open negotiations with Yugoslavia.

It now freed his hands try and maintain a delicate peace or to launch Barbarossa as had occurred OTL. If that was required an incident would not be that hard to manufacture. In the meantime he would be receiving raw materials that Germany desperately needed, in particular rubber and manganese. However, the question remained, peace or war? The longer he delayed, the stronger the USSR would become and the more distant the chance of success. Then the Russians may well just roll over Germany. Or, go in 1941 at the cost of God knows how many lives? Not that Stalin seemed backwards in coming forwards in terms of killing his own citizens, with purges still occurring although the rate of “disappearances” seemed to be slowing yet again.

The changes to the State boundaries and the abolition of Gaulieters were scheduled for 1.1.1941. That should save some money. It now gave him a window of time to do what he had been avoiding, namely approaching the ex-Kaiser Bill, now in the twilight of his life. The narrowness of the referendum in Prussia gave him some ammunition in terms of what he wanted, which would be a Spanish solution and a transition to a proper constitutional democracy. That could not occur until after any conflict with the Soviet Union was run and done. To create a power vacuum before then would be counterproductive with so many polarizing views in Germany. There was no chance that the Western powers would consider a return of Kaiser Bill and his own son, the Crown Prince was hostile after the von Schleicher affair and more of a womanizer than a deep thinker. That left the Kaiser’s grandson Louis-Ferdinand, a 31 year old that was both intelligent, technically minded and a political moderate. Married to Russian Grand Duchess, a connection that may prove useful in the event of a Russian campaign and with two boys already.

Now he had to wait for the Soviet response. He had delayed as much as possible and winter was almost here so he could be fairly sure that their world be no war in 1940 at least, which was all too well as he was still expanding and reequipping the army and Luftwaffe. By mid 1941, that process should be near completion, even taking into account war material he had hived off to his allies.

To the West, France would undoubtedly be suspicious but would be unlikely to go to war for the USSR, Britain likely even more so. In the USA, Dewey's shocking 298 to 231 electoral college win was likely to draw the U.S into isolation to an even greater degree.

Proposed 1941 Europe Map(Warsaw Pact in grey)

November 1940

He had travelled to see the first of the B-17C’s that had been modified for Luftwaffe service. So far there had been 38 purchased and they equipped two Gruppe of KG 40, along with another two more of the new Do-217, replacing the older Do-17 in both cases. The new bomber was a vast improvement and 62 more were still to arrive, which should give some long range striking ability.

Every effort had been made to standardize equipment and this had been made easier by Goering’s demise. No Goering had allowed some hard decisions to be made. The standard fighter was still the Me-109, produced with an 80/20 split alongside the He-100. The first of the Fw-190’s had been ordered in September and he hoped to have a test unit operational by January. This would hopefully be in full production by May or June 1941, taking the pressure off the allocation of the DB inline engine somewhat. With the Fw-190 in production, he could cease production of the Me-110, aside from any export orders.

In regards bombers, in addition to the B-17’s and Do-217’s, production of the Ju-88 was continuing and the He-111 would be phased out within months. He had ordered the RLM to request for Heinkel a night fighter, hoping for the 219, but that would be some time away as yet. The new Ju-87 version, the Ju-187, which contained no significant alteration aside from a retractable undercarriage and some streamlining, was also now in production.

Likewise with armoured vehicles. All tank production was now based on the three standard chassis, which contained many shared components. Production of the Pz II had stopped in 1939, the Pz III in June 1940 and the Pz IV chassis would cease being made, aside from a final export lot for Turkey, in December. All armoured car production would be the still under design SdKfz 234, replacing both larger and smaller cars. Halftracks had been standardized of the SdKfz 251 and 10, with the 11, which was the main prime mover.

For anti tank guns, the Pak 40 had been standardized, with the sPzB 41 the other variant in production. The Pak 36 still remained the most common gun. Development of the Pak 38 had been cancelled. Recoilless guns were under development, as were jet engines. The He-280 had flown with jet engines but power outputs were low, engine life was short and the engines themselves consumed large amounts of strategic materials. There were promising developments, but they would take time.

There were times that Australia and his former life seemed so long ago, barely a memory. Other times it seemed like yesterday. It was strange to be at a stage where most of the people that one knew in one’s life were not even born yet and those that were would have no memory of him. He probably knew more people who had not yet been born than he knew now.

It was a hard fact to accept and that, perhaps more than anything, was why he had formed such a strong bond with his own wife, who seemed to lap up the affection. Where else could one obtain some measure of comfort amongst people barely known? Amongst so many that one secretly despised. This mitigated the sometimes strong desire to put a bullet in his own head. It was a rock at least as strong as the desire to perhaps be able to correct some of the horrors of World War 2. It seemed so easy to say “Well, I’ve perhaps saved the Jews.” Avoiding a war was another matter entirely. Plus, should he avoid a war? If he could stamp out Stalin and the USSR as a polity, how many lives would that save in future wars? For that matter, would it save any or what other, new and unseen conflicts would spring up?

Well, there was little use in being obsessively maudlin. “Get busy living or get busy dying” had been the line from “The Shawshank Redemption”, his favourite movie, one that would hopefully still be made. It made him think of Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator”, which had just been released but had largely been banned in Europe. Perhaps he should ask Chaplin to give him a private screening. It might be amusing. It was a film he had never seen in his previous life. He walked out of his office to the bedroom, noting that both Eva and Ingrid were having an afternoon nap. “What the hell”, he though, taking off his boots and pulling back the covers. An afternoon nap sounded like a fine idea.

November 1940

The meeting with Saburō Kurusu had been fairly stiff and formal, the ambassador himself with typical oriental diffidence mentioning his surprising support for China after the initial exchange of pleasantries. He had thought long and hard about the meeting itself, now he felt more confident than ever about what he was going to say.

“Mr Ambassador, you are married to an American and your own children are partly American. I have made great efforts here to drag Germany back from the brink of war with the Western powers, a war that would have almost certainly drawn the United States in as well, much like it did in 1917.

I am aware that Japan has a strongly militaristic government that is desirous of expansion, however, one also needs to be aware of the military situation. Any attack on one European power's colonies will undoubtedly draw in the United States and Japan cannot hope to win a war against all the colonial powers. Pushing further into China will draw the ire of the United States. Just imagine what would occur if the United States decided to cut supplies of oil to Japan as a consequence of further expansion into China?

This is why I have offered support to China, in the hope that Japan would see what seems obvious. There is only one possible opponent in the Far East, one that Japan has fought twice before. We should all be alert to the evils of Communism and I can tell you know one secret. Japan have the wrong part of Sakhalin- the Northern part contains what Japan desires-oil. I have seen secret reports to this affect via our own agents. I believe that Siberia as a whole offers untold riches. These are the reasons why Japan should consider another Russian adventure, however, the most important reason is that Japan cannot fight a war against all the colonial powers at once, or the United States, let alone both of them combined. To overreach in China would also be a mistake. In terms of expansion, to quote a delightful Americanism, a Siberian campaign "is the only game in town."

November 1940

The meeting with Schacht had gone well, he thought. To be completely honest, it was hard to tell. Whilst he would like to consider himself a reasonably intelligent guy, economics were definitely one area of weakness. He had never studied it extensively and never pursued it as an area of business. Curious that his one main area of interest, the navy, he been the main part of the German military to receive a razor cutback. However, it had to be done.

Schacht had explained that the balance of payment situation had improved as a consequence of Germany’s increased export earnings, particularly for armaments but also for manufactured goods. That a very small but not totally insignificant part of this had come from the Ostrava operations he had set up under Schindler was pleasing indeed. Conversely, some of the agricultural stimulus initiatives had also reduced the amount of imports slightly. It was trending in the right direction, but still had a long way to go. Gold and foreign currency reserves were still low, creating the problem as to what areas of the economy were to be prioritized, There was little choice but to move to a war footing.

Greatly increased trade with “Warsaw Pact” countries, particularly Poland, had also assisted economically. Schacht had ensured that these generally took the form of straightforward barter agreements, obviating the need for formal currency exchange. This was gradually allowing Germany to exert an economic influence on her allies in addition to a political and military one. Schacht had agreed to purchase many strategic materials using Reichsmarks, but only on the condition that these Reichmarks be used to purchase back German goods. This created an enormously complicated system where the Reichsmark had a different allotted value depending on the country traded with and the negotiated rate agreed, but did help with stimulating German exports.

Mefo bills were still serving their main purpose, both disguising and delaying repayment of government spending. Without a significant upswing in balance of payments, it could not go on indefinitely, even with government revenue increasing as a consequence of what was still a red hot economy and his decision to increase taxes(particularly for the large number of foreign workers) and introduce a consumption tax, as well cuts to certain areas of government, not least of which was state security. He anticipated the dissolution of Gau’s would provide further administrative savings. The decreased tensions with the U.S and the Dutch allowed for the easier import of oil and this had allowed a cutback in the enormously expensive synthetic oil program.

November 1940

He had received the two men most crucial to an Eastern Front campaign the previous night and both had gone over the basic plans as it would stood. Von Manstein and Model gave a very detailed presentation, some of which quite frankly was over his head. Hence the worry. There was a lot of potential to fuck this up, with disastrous consequences, probably worse consequences than may have happened OTL.

Just the political manoeuvrings alone to weld an alliance together were bad enough. There was one advantage there. All the potential countries involved hated the Soviets with a passion. That was something right there.

He had gone over and over it before he had made the decision. Others would be easier to get on board, the Romanians ridiculously easy. This one would be harder. Rydz-Śmigły had assumed more influence in Poland due to the President's poor health, ironic since the Marshal himself would die of a heart attack in 12 months unless something drastically changed. Well, the man was certainly anti communist enough, no doubt about that. Plus the injection of modern equipment into the Polish armed forces had certainly made him look good. In addition, he had made every effort to kiss up to the man, who previous experience had shown, was hardly immune to flattery any more than the prostitutes that he had arranged to be procured for him.

He had initiated the meeting and had spent almost an hour with pleasantries before he had requested the room cleared and had made his pitch to the Polish Marshal. Without Poland on board, the venture was doomed to be stillborn and a defensive posture would have to be assumed, dangerous considering the way the Soviet Union would almost certainly recover from it's largely self inflicted wounds. He dragged out the map, indicating that the Marshal would be the first to see it.

Rydz-Śmigły was to leave with nothing decided, however, he had not answered in the negative and had requested another meeting in a week. That, at least, was food for thought.

Map shown to Marshal Rydz-Śmigły

November 1940

The meeting with Beck had been cordial enough. The Poles had come back with their own proposals which had been, thankfully, temperate enough. Roman Dmowski’s “Poland for the Polish” catch-cry clearly still rang true, as they had clearly concentrated only on the last of the areas outside Poland that contained a significant Polish minority.

This of course excluded Germany itself, which still contained a significant Polish minority in the East. He had hoped that the Poles had been influenced by the very lack of German territorial demands, a small matter that had resulted in some expressions of shock from the small circle of staff planners that had actually read Mein Kampf, as well as von Neurath. The fact was that Germany had no territorial claims on other countries aside from Belgium(currently under negotiation for a land purchase), some areas in Northern Italy, possibly Maribor in Yugoslavia and of course, Alsace Lorraine. With the exception of the Belgian area, none were worth pursuing. Alsace had caused enough wars, Italy was an(admittedly erratic) ally and the Yugoslavian area was small.

Of course, the Polish wanted more than just land. He had agreed to a number of economic concessions, one of which was the removal of the requirement for export payments to be in Reichmarks. Also further military gifts, including 50 more Me-109 fighters. Ultimately, there was one thing he could count upon and that was that if there was anyone disliked by the Poles more than the Germans it was the Russians.

He had been able to agree to the amended territorial division. It gave the Poles what they wanted and did not cripple anyone else claims. More importantly, it gave him what he really needed-not only Poland’s agreement to participate in any campaign, but access via Polish territory. With Romania already on board, the two most important nations of any coalition had been tied in. Now it was time to sound out the others, Slovakia, Finland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Italy. At a stretch, once an invasion had commenced, Turkey and Spain could be approached, Spain to provide a “Blue” Division or two as payment for the civil war, Turkey to be offered part of Azerbaijan. As for Finland, big rewards would require a bigger contribution than OTL, no finishing at a designated “stop line”. The Kriegsmarine was more than sufficient for a Baltic adventure and without the need for Donitz’s U Boat arm in the Atlantic, they should be able to dominate the Baltic.

The real question was really whether this was all a good idea. That was the real imponderable. It would unleash a world of pain and suffering on so many people, particularly Russians and Ukrainians. The flip side was that many of these were being terrorised by Stalin now. Plus the imponderable-if the USSR becomes strong enough, which, left alone, they were likely wont to do, would Germany and central Europe be crushed anyway? Either way, the post 1945 of the struggle versus communism that had resulted in so many bloodbaths in Asia and particularly Africa could perhaps be mitigated.

The other question, the one that he pushed to the back of his mind, was how much had he been influenced by Hitler’s thoughts, attitudes and philosophies? You would like to think not at all, but were things really that simple? In all likelihood probably not. One’s personality was constantly shaped by life experiences and the people that one interacted with and the mores of society as a whole. It was almost impossible not to be affected by these factors. How could someone not be influenced by the thought, memories and ideals of a homicidal maniac, a fanatic? These were unpleasant reflections.

These were thoughts that had come increasingly more over the last month as had contemplated the thought of a Barbarossa Mark II. There were so many pitfalls, so many lives affected. Unlike playing “Fire in the East” or even “World in Flames”, one could not simply pack away the counters after a night, week, month or year and try again. This one was for keeps. He was aware that he had been moody and short tempered this last month. Even his own wife had called him a “neurotic hausfrau” the other day. It was time to try and crush such thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. The decision was taken, the die cast. Now one had to make the best of it.

Revised map after meeting with Beck

December 1940

This task would be a lot easier if Hitler did not mange to keep giving aircraft away, especially to the fucking Polish, though Erhard Milch. He went over the figures again for his report to Kesselring, who had succeeded Goring in charge of the Luftwaffe, a job he had anticipated getting himself. The new types were coming along, he though, as he reviewed the state of ready aircraft.

Single Engine Fighters: 1540, 1318 Me-109, 242 He-100
Twin Engine Day Fighters or fighter/bombers: 369, all Me-110
Night Fighters: 218, Me-110 208, Do-215 10
Twin Engine Bombers: 1681, 287 Do-17, 619 He-111, 59 Do-217, 656 Ju-88
Four Engine Bombers: 62, 14 Fw-200, 48 B-17C
Dive Bombers: 370, 356 Ju-87, 14 Ju-187
Recon aircraft: 406
Army Cooperation aircraft: 452
Coastal Aircraft/torpedo bombers: 102
Transport Aircraft: 422

Many of the obsolete types had been pared from production and 35 more B-17's were on order from the United States. Fighter production, especially of the new FW-190, would have to be stepped up and obsolete types could be allocated to many of Germany satellites such as Hungary , Romania or Lithuania.

December 1940

It felt so refreshingly normal that he had made some time for himself, if possible, to once a fortnight to come to the golf club at Wansee. It created havoc with his own security and the course as a whole and as a courtesy he had let the course know the day before when he was coming. There was, of course, the issue of finding someone to actually play with but he had solved that issue by co-opting Heinrich Hoffman, who firstly was a reasonable player and secondly an affable enough companion.

As for the golf itself, it was execrable, made only slightly better by the beautiful course surroundings. What was a mystery was how people were able to achieve decent scores with such crude clubs. The woods in particular were a nightmare to tee with and far less forgiving than his old Titanium Wilson Driver. However, things were improving, although a new 5 iron was needed to replace the one on the bottom of the lake on the 3rd. The extra attraction of the golf club was that it had, courtesy of a previous English professional, a full size snooker table. He had not lost his skill there and would come away with a win at something.

He had brought Eva a month ago but had foolishly not explained the rules before doing so and had been interrupted putting on the 2nd hole by his wife and sister racing across the green using the clubs like hockey sticks to push the ball into the hole. FFS, and they say men are strange. Next time he would perhaps explain the rules and arrange lessons, although maybe then she would enjoy it less. When playing golf, he had always found it easier to fill his mind with thoughts of, well anything no golf related.

The Eastern adventure. That was what he was titling it in his own mind. The Poles were on board, as were the Romanians. Von Neurath had contacted Mannerheim and the Finnish were also prepared to go to war to avenge their 1939 humiliation. Slovakia was a given. Negotiations with Horthy were occurring at this very moment. Bulgaria had agreed some time ago. He was confident enough that the coalition of the willing, to borrow a future phrase, would be assembled.

It would be foolish to meddle militarily, however, he had drawn up some basic guidelines for consideration. Firstly, the army had to be truly prepared for a winter war, a war that may go well into 1942. Secondly, there must be a logistical plan to ensure maximum use was made of both rail and road to reinforce front line units. This would involve recruiting and employing as many as possible trained foreign workers in the Reichsbahn whilst secretly conscripting trained men that could be used in specific units in Russia. It would not be enough in and of itself, but every bit would assist, as would making greater use of waterways, especially when the September rains hit. Lastly, there needed to be a coherent occupation policy that led directly to autonomy for the local inhabitants and gave them something concrete to look forward to.

The later would involve the Foreign Ministry, which he was far from certain was leak proof, so he would have to draw up some preliminary ideas himself with assistance and only move forward closer to the date. In terms of “Commissar orders”, exactly the opposite policy would be pursued. If treated well enough, many Ukrainians would perhaps end up shooting the commissars themselves, which would be a satisfying outcome. There would certainly have to be some sort of order mandating the terms of treatment for both prisoners and civilians. Armies were rapacious, destructive beasts, as much in peace as in war. Yet it was unrealistic to assume that most Russians would help the Germans. Reasonable treatment and involvement in administration would hopefully prevent the growth of partisans, however.

In terms of the operation itself, some of the OTL mistakes to be avoided were:

1) Having enough rear areas troops to reduce encircled pockets was essential. For many Warsaw Pact minors countries troops, this would be an excellent use of their abilities

2) In a longer campaign, the Polish cavalry units would prove useful when many armoured units became immobile

3 ) OTL, by drawing forces away from Leningrad, when the Army was on the outskirts of the town, the Wehrmacht ensured that neither Leningrad nor Moscow would be taken by Christmas. This is a classic text book example of concentration of force not being applied tactically in the field. Hopefully, the promise made by the large Finnish swathe of territory would ensure a more active Finnish push in the North

4) The OTL evacuation of Soviet factories was another issue. With the Luftwaffe having total air superiority in 1941 it was hard to see how this had been allowed to occur. More than 500 factories and 210,000 workers had left the Moscow area in October and November alone and in the St Petersburg and Moscow areas alone some 2.2 million railcar movements were involved. How had Goring allowed this to occur? Here Japan could be useful. If Russia was attacked from the Far East, it would be unlikely that these movements could occur at a time men and munitions were also needed for the Far East

5) There is little doubt that the postponement of Barbarossa from the original planned date of 15th May to 22nd June also adversely affected the timetable. Going here on the planned date of the 8th May would assist this. As the advance continued the German supply lines would grow longer, the Russians shorter. However, starting that much closer than OTL, especially in the Polish areas, must assist matters.

He leaned over and potted the black. 62 to 25, a comfortable enough win to make up for a 18 shot loss on the golf course. As he thought in the limousine on the way back to his quarters, he was still musing. Commanders were the other issue, would it pay to make some suggestions there or leave well alone?

As he returned Eva motioned him into the sitting room. Ingrid had levered herself up and was standing against the coffee table. Eva said “Papa, go to Papa”. His daughter wobbled half the way towards him before collapsing against his shoes. He picked her up and hugged her. Yes, this gamble had to work. It was too important not to.

December 1940

The year was drawing to a close and he was rounding out the few final facts he would need before he took a short break. The meeting with Runstedt and Manstein had gone well, he had made the appointment of Commander in Chief East and had indicated to both men they would have total freedom of expression to modify the plan as they saw fit. He had expressed confidence in Runstedt, yet at the same time he also made it clear that he had leapfrogged the man over other just as qualified senior officers.

He had indicated to both men that the Polish were fully on board, as were the Romanians, the Finnish, the Lithuanians, the Hungarians and he could expect a limited contribution from the Bulgarians. It was likely that the Italians would also contribute an expeditionary force. He had dropped a number of hints, including that the feedback from “agents” was that the Russians were likely to set up well forward and that an occupation of the Baltic States may well happen before the nominal date for Operation Barbarossa, 8th May 1941. Indeed, from Russian troop movements, it may happen within days. Speed of advance needed to be of the essence and he had taken the broad plan as it currently existed and handed it to Runstedt, with a rider that the completed document needed to be back in his hands be the middle of February.

Care had been undertaken to detail what forces would likely be available. In June 1941 OTL, the Germans had deployed 155 Divisions on the Eastern Front, 40 in the West, 4 in Germany, 4 in Finland, 2 in Africa, 7 in the Balkans and 7 in Norway. In December 1940 OTL, 196 Divisions existed, including SS and Luftwaffe. It was from these divisions that the order of battle that took part in the assault was drawn. Every effort had been made to expand the army to the required levels and, of course, tank production had been bumped as much as possible, although converting to new types had hurt numbers. The army now consisted of 138 Infantry Divisions, 24 Panzer, 10 Motorized, 10 Jager, 6 Mountain, 1 Paratroop, 2 Cavalry, 6 Static Fortress and 13 Security, in all 210 Divisions. It had been a stretch in terms of weaponry and the Security Divisions that had been formed were not suitable for front line combat, being armed with a hodge podge of non standard weapons and ammunition, including many ex Czech, Austrian, Spanish, Italian and even Austro-Hungarian weapons. It was anticipated in the initial plan that 20-24 would need to be kept in Germany with another six deployed to Finland. That left rather more than OTL, 180-185 on the Eastern Front, some 20 divisions more than the 161 OTL, although as many 13 of those would be Security Divisions that would be ill suited for front line combat.

The last year had seen 112,000 Germans return from Poland and 89,000 Polish leave for Poland as a consequence of the population exchange program he had organised with the Poles, which was strictly voluntary. There had also been a steady stream of Baltic Germans from Latvia and Estonia. This had helped swell numbers as well, plus the impact of no casualties in the first two years of what had been war OTL added 180,000 men. A much smaller navy had also assisted in creating a bigger army.

Tanks were another matter that needed to be considered. In July 1941 OTL the Germans had deployed 3360 of them, including 780 Czech tanks and 1360 Panzer III/IV types, 770 being Pz II’s and 370 or so Panzer I’s. He had given Manstein the 1940 production figures plus projections that estimated an availability of 390 Panzer I’s, 810 Panzer II’s, 100 Panzer II Flamm, 120 Panzer III, 260 Pz 35t, 200 Pz 38t, 210 Panzer IV. In addition there were the new types, 550 Panzer V Cheetahs, 960 Panzer VI Leopards and 60 Panzer VII Lions, plus some of the heavy Porsche tank destroyers. There should have been many more Panzer I’s, but the absence of “booty tanks” had required these go to training schools. In fact, to gain numbers he had not sold Pz 35t’s to Bulgaria and sent the older Pz 34t instead and he had also reached a settlement with Spain that saw the return of 80 Panzer I’s, along with other war materials. In a switch about, he had purchased the 100 Renault R-35's that had been contacted for the Polish Army in April 1939 to use as driver training vehicles. It was a stretch, but the numbers came out with likely figures of 3700 or so, still much lighter than he had wished, but it would have to do. At least resources were not wasted on redundant types and the three tanks in service were actually useful.

He had driven a hard bargain with Spain. Based on Spain’s OTL contribution, which was negligible, it could hardly be otherwise. The question of payment for the 70Million RM’s of military equipment provided had been a vexed one and OTL Germany had received only 12 million RM’s, access to six mines and had written the rest off. This time he had done much better, with 15 million RM’s, 2 destroyers he had immediately sold to Argentina, 90 Pz I’s, 27 Bf-109E’s, 27 He-112’s that he had sold to Romania, 54 He-111’s, 13 Do-17’s and 12 Ju-52’s, as well as 125,000 Italian rifles and 5,000 machine guns and a concrete promise to maintain an Infantry Division at Germany’s disposal “if called upon”.

It was the Luftwaffe that had an embarrassment of riches. With no battles over Poland, no battle over France, no Battle of Britain and the smaller campaigns of Norway and the Mediterranean, over 4,000 aircraft destroyed historically were still intact, along with their precious crews. This had allowed not the OTL three Luftflotte to be deployed, but potentially fully five Luftflotte, even counting on a separate transport Geschwader that would service what he hoped to be two Parachute Divisions by May next year when they were not helping the by late 1941 no doubt chronic logistical situation. He had also hoped that it was a more capable organisation, with no Goring, longer ranged fighters, the new cannon armed Fw-190 due mid 1941, a core of B-17 strategic bombers backed by the Do-217 and Ju-88. However, by May 1941 he anticipated having 2,000 extra aircraft involved than were available in July 1941 OTL, 4,800 instead of 2,800, a hopefully decisive number. In addition, the Polish Air Force had added over 200 aircraft in the last 18 months, having grown to over 600 combat aircraft, 60-70% of the strength of a full Luftflotten. Also, the Romanian air force had 80 extra machines, the Hungarian almost 50 and even the Lithuanians had a small 30 plane force.

December 1940

As he sat with his daughter in his lap, the girl's soft downy hair pressed up against his chest as she slept, he thought and made notes about what was to come. This Christmas must be one to savoir, for the next would likely see Germany at war. Stalin had crossed into Latvia and Estonia in the 16th, the last of the fighting occurring on the 20th, yesterday. No doubt both would soon be Soviet SSR's.

He would have to trust the generals to come up with a coherent plan. All he could give them were the tools to do so and the promise to stay out of military matters, however, he had made it clear that the objective was the fall of Stalin's regime, which must be accompanied by the destruction of the Red Army in the field.

Logistics was the one area he could assist in, probably because it was so often ignored or poorly addressed by even the most senior commanders. He made some notes in relation to this.

Railways:
He had imported thousands of foreign workers into Germany, many of whom had gone to work in Poland converting broad gauge track to narrow gauge starting May 1940. Closer to February and March next year he would bring most back to Germany and regular Reichsbahn workers could be conscripted specifically for "Railway Battalions" to assist in work in Russia. Lithuania's small state railway could also assist and he hoped the very speed of the advance would result in the capture of many trains and rolling stock.

The track laying had allowed the purchase of some redundant broad gauge trains and rolling stock from Poland and he had arranged a purchase, supposedly for Poland, of 50 older broad gauge locos from the USSR with a bonus for delivery by April 1941. Ironic to use their own trains to invade them.

Air:
Not having the Crete campaign alone had saved almost 300 transport aircraft and he fully intended to make as much use as possible of air supply, something the Norwegian campaign had also been costly for. The campaign in the low countries had cost 300 more, so he was 700 or so transports to the good. Bigger transports still had not appeared but he would requisition as many Fw 200's as possible, including some from Lufthansa. He had also negotiated to purchase 100 old Caprini Ca133's from Italy, as well as 300 L-33 tankettes that could be converted to ammunition carriers. Halftrack production was also at full pace to cope with the Russian mud. This had been paid for by the sale of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugento Italy, reducing the fleet to two battleships, 2 battlecruisers and 2 heavy cruisers.

Winter Clothing and winter warfare:
Stockpiling winter clothing had commenced in September and an expedition to Finland had recommended the army adopt light oils to prevent freezing in vehicles during harsh winter conditions.

Airfields and Roads: Here not having the Todt organization labouring away manfully on the Atlantic wall and various other fortifications from Norway to Greece released large amounts of manpower for airfield construction and road repairs/building as well, in addition to railway infrastructure such as stations, sidings, watering points and the like. The organization had also been swelled by the release of prisoners from the camps, many of whom had stayed as a means of earning money in the absence of other opportunities. Sadly, he would have to scale back his Polish corridor tunnel and land reconfirmation projects from early April 1941 to use many of these people in Russia.

Sea Transport: Despite saying he would not meddle, he was still toying with the idea of a joint sea landing paratrooper attack on Tallinin after the invasion had commenced. In either case, the requisition of the civilian fleets should give ample room to use sea transport in the Baltic, the fleet being more than sufficient even in a reduced state to deal with the Soviets in the absence of an Atlantic battle to fight.

Political: This was tougher. Since Russian émigré organisations leaked like sieves, there was no possibility of tipping them off prior to the operation. All that could be arranged in terms of administration and setting up of, let's say a Ukrainian state, would have to be done on the fly, although he had a plan for this, juts not one that could, as yet, be aired to the people most affected. The code of conduct of troops on the Eastern Front would be written before the operation. He would have to make it clear that infractions would be severely punished, hence after the operation he would invite both the U.K, the U.S and Portugal to provide military observers.

Enemy logistics: It was imperative that, unlike OTL, the Luftwaffe, interdicted Russian train movements and that they were not allowed to simply remove their factories and industrial facilities East. At least not easily. With an air force almost twice the size of that employed OTL, this must be a priority and it was the one area he had impressed on senior Luftwaffe commanders.

He looked down, picked up the little girl and placed her in her cot. That would have to do today, he was bone tired, as he was at the end of many days.

January 1941

Christmas had come and gone and he was still eating Stollen from the enormous batch that had been delivered. It would soon be time to assist in his daughter's first birthday party, but for the moment he wanted to reflect on two things, firstly the replies from Warsaw Pact countries in regards to their contributions to Barbarossa.

Poland had elected to retain only some 12 divisions at home and would place 26 Infantry, 6 Cavalry, 2 Mountain and one armoured division forward. Hungary, paranoid about Romania, had promised their Second army and a mobile force, consisting in total of 5 Infantry, 1 Cavalry and 1 Motorised Division. Slovakia had provided 2 Infantry Divisions, as had Lithuania. Bulgaria had been less than keen, but had also agreed to send two Infantry divisions. Romania was the biggest contributor after Poland, as she should have been considering her gains. Again, she had elected to leave substantial forces to guard against Hungary, but had still put forward 13 Infantry, 2 Cavalry, one Armoured and 2 Mountain Divisions. Finally, Mussolini, prompted by the promise of glory, had contributed 2 Infantry, 2 Motorised, a Cavalry and a Mountain division. In all, it was 76 extra divisions, rather more than OTL and that did not include the Finnish component, which would be significant and would be backed by six German divisions that would have to commence transport via sea to Finland in mid February.

Secondly, he wished to reflect on his noted thoughts of 12 months ago. These were:

1) Navy-carriers yes/no?

He had decided a definite no for this, the navy would have to wait. Everything needed to be subordinated to the Russian campaign. If that was completed successfully, then the navy could move into the limelight. Until then, they would have to wait.

2) Make all efforts to speed new tank deployments

This had been accomplished. It was hard to see what more could be done, really. He would have liked to have created more self propelled artillery, but in reality he was so short on conventional tank hulls that this would have to wait

3 ) Panzerfausts/Bazookas?

Contracts had been let, research had been pushed down this path, but nothing concrete as yet

4) Jets-progress?

The He-280 had flown and work on a functional airframe was well advanced.
Blade life on turbines was well short of what was required to "freeze" a design for production, however. What he had done was tried to push Dornier down the track of the Do-335 and he had suggested a push pull design and arranged for RLM funding

5) Will it be war? Bessarabia, Baltic States Soviet invasion OTL? If pushed, was it worth going to war for this?

Well yes, that decision had been taken. Now it was up to him to do everything possible to make it work

6) Italy and Greece. If it happens jettison Mussolini or not?

The Treaty with Greece had forestalled this and now the Italians were committed to a Russian campaign. In exchange, he had agreed to gently pressure Yugoslavia for small concessions

7) Civil economy, need to keep it afloat with increased exports

This was happening, Schacht was performing miracles there, but it was just moving money from one place to another, smoke and mirrors to a degree

8) Lebensraum within Germany? Return of native Germans to Germany

Well, he had made every effort with that. In addition, he had agreed to a population exchange with Poland. A voluntary one. What's more, it had even played well in the Polish media where he had achieved high levels of popularity. Truth could sometimes be stranger than fiction

9) Belgian purchase? Yes/No. If yes, where to find 180 million gold Marks

This had been simmering in negotiations for some time. There were too many other priorities, so he had instructed the Foreign office to agree in principle if the Belgians were happy with 175 million Marks. However, that it must be subject to a plebiscite in six months time. That would place the issue one the back burner until after the war and not piss off the French before it

10) Succession plan, need to dilute Nazi power rather than erase it. How to insure any successor does not have too much power-this could be why a constitutional monarchy may be desirable. If the last, who? This should help with the army, which was still aristocrat dominated but would need to be hosed down as a threat to the party

The death of Goring had made this somewhat easier. This had given Frick's department something more to do than obstruct reforms. It was the 4th of January and the Interior Ministry were due to submit a report and final document on the constitutional amendments needed to not only move to the new state boundaries, but also the revised constitutions for those three that would revert to monarchies. Just as well, as the Gaulieters had been told they would be redundant from 28.2.1941. Then it would be time to arrange a meeting in Holland in March to float the "Spanish solution"

11) Reorganisation of Gau's, weeding out of corrupt or undesirable Gaulieters

See above on this one. By March there would be no Gaulieters and with a much smaller number of State Governors required, he could cherry pick the best and propose new men for some of the others

12) Agriculture, how to improve, where to import the shortfalls

Agricultural subsidies had improved things to a degree in this area and the flood of Polish foodstuffs, as well as the 1940 Treaty with the Soviets had alleviated this

13 ) The bomb vs rockets vs neither. Could these be developed in peacetime without enormous expenditure that may not be worth the economic cost?

He had not worried about the bomb. Too expensive, not able to be ready for this coming war, so why spend the money? There was no way to beat the Americans to it, the trick now was not go give anyone an excuse to use it on Germany. Rocket research he had continued at a low level. Germany was well ahead of the rest of the world there, it made sense to stay ahead

14) Modern submarines. Type XXI

He had not done anything in relation to this and it would have to remain something on the back burner

15) Radar development and deployment

He had made every effort to encourage the development of radar, although Germany was still behind the UK, they should be well ahead of the Russians

16) The country as a whole needed to look at minerals shortages and what would need to be imported for a war. If so, from where? With potentially no R.N blockade, it may well be a different war. However, trade agreements would still need to be secured.

This had been largely addressed. The simple fact of no blockade would make this largely a non issue, since Germany would hopefully be free to trade with any country aside from the USSR

17) Keep Heydrich on a leash

It was possible that Heydrich was nearing the end of his usefulness. This was perhaps something worth acting upon very soon, when some loose ends would need to be tied up

18) Goering? Keep? Replace?

Fate had taken care of that one for him

19) Health, keep up physical routine and exercise regimen

He had been quite dutiful with this one and his wife's high sex drive had made sure that not all of his exercise was outdoors, either. Which reminded him, after the party was over....

20 Family? Need to make time for them

This had been a hard call, particularly this last two months since the decision had been made, however, he had "booked out" every Saturday and one afternoon per week for nothing else. The shocked expression on some ordinary people's faces when they had been their Fuhrer simply strolling in the park with a baby carriage had been beyond amusing

All in all, it had to be deemed a reasonable result. Eva slid into his lap. "Come on, it's time for a party Addie."

February 1941

Draft operational unit allocations, Case Rot

Commander in Chief East: von Runstedt
Chief of Staff: von Manstein

Army Group North(von Leeb)
10th Army(Heinrichi): 7 German Inf Div, 2 Lithuanian Inf Div
16th Army(Busch): 8 German Inf Div
18th Army(Kuchler): 8 German Inf Div
4th Panzergruppe(Hoepner): 4 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div, 2 German Inf Div
Reserves: 2 German Inf Div, 3 German Sec Div

Luftflotte 1(Keller)

Army Group Centre(von Bock)
4th Army(von Kluge): 13 German Inf Div
9th Army(Strauss): 14 German Inf Div
12th Army(Vietingoff): 8 German Inf Div
Panzergruppe 2(Guderian): 5 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div, 2 German Cav Div, 2 German Inf Div
Panzergruppe 3(Hoth): 4 German Panzer Div, 4 German Mot Div, 2 German Inf Div
1st Polish Army(J.Rommel): 13 Polish Inf Div
2nd Polish Army(Kutrzeba): 12 Polish Inf Div, 2 Polish Mtn Div
Panzergruppe Poland(E.Rommel): 1 Polish Arm Div, 6 Polish Cav Div, 2 German Arm Div
Reserves: 1 German Inf Div, 1 Polish Inf Div, 4 German Sec Div

Polish Air Force
Luftflotte 2(Kesselring)
Luftflotte 7(von Richtoffen)

Army Group South(von Fritsch)
6th Army(von Reichnau): 11 German Inf Div
Panzergruppe 1(von Kliest): 5 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div
17th Army(von Stulpnagel): 10 German Inf Div, 1 German Mtn Div
2nd Hungarian Army: 3 Hungarian Inf Div, 1 Hungarian Mot Div, 1 Hungarian Cav Div
Slovakian Corps: 2 Slovakian Inf Div, 1 Slokakian Cav Brigade
Reserves: 2 Hungarian Inf Div, 1 German Sec Div

Luftflotte 4(von Griem)
Hungarian Air Force

Army Group Black Sea(List)
Romanian 3rd Army(Dumitnescu): 6 Romanian Inf Div, 2 Romanian Mtn Div, 1 Romanian Cav Div
11th Army(Scholberg): 10 German Inf Div, 2 Italian Mot Div, 1 Italian Cav Div
Romanian 4th Army(Crueorea): 9 Romanian Inf Div
14th Army(von Salmuth): 6 German Inf Div, 2 Bulgarian Inf Div
Panzergruppe 5(Model): 2 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div, 1 Romanian Arm Div, 1 Romanian Cav Div
Reserves: 4 German Sec Div

Luftflotte 6(Kammhuber)
Romanian Air Force
Italian Air Expeditionary Force

OKW Reserve:
2 German Arm Div, 1 German Mtn Div, 15 German Inf Div, 2 German Para Div

Finnish Command(Mannerheim)
15 Finnish Inf Div, 6 German Inf Div, 2 German Mtn Din, 1 Finnish Cav Div

Luftflotte 5(Stumpff)
Finnish Air Force

February 1941

Well, there it was, the initial planned dispositions for Case Rot, or Barbarossa. It involved a much stronger force than OTL. On the main Eastern Front 225 divisions compared to OTL 152, with 19 in reserve compared to 2 OTL. 22 Panzer Divisions with two in reserve compared to 17 with 3 joining later, not including the Polish and Romanian armoured divisions. 24 Divisions in Finland compared to 22 OTL.

It was in aircraft that the major difference was to be found. Instead of the 2,800 aircraft deployed OTL, almost 6,000 would be deployed, including 800 extra transports. Instead of 3.8 million men being deployed OTL, it would be 5.5 million. Only in terms of tanks and artillery were numbers not significantly larger 4,500 compared to 3,550 OTL in regards to tanks and 9,800 artillery to 7,200 OTL. Artillery had been hard to come by to equip the rapid expansion of divisions and the security divisions had been issued only mortars with many of the Polish divisions also well short of a compliment of field artillery.

He had stayed out of command appointments aside from a simple mention of Erwin Rommel to command one of the Panzergruppen and a suggestion that Model and Heinrici would make good army commanders. His previous rehabilitation of Fritsch had seen him gain a command of an Army Group.

In the North his armies would start 250km closer to their objectives, in the centre anywhere between 110km and 210km, in the South anywhere between 100km and 180km. Logistically this should make a huge difference, even from a railway point of view where some of these lines were broad tracked after the Soviets took possession.

It was all a huge gamble, but, now committed, all that remained was to ride it out. With longer ranged bombers, he hoped to destroy even more of the Red Air Force on the ground. As far as ground operations were concerned, speed was of the essence. The more of the Red Army that could be pocketed and destroyed in the field the better.

The more spectacular the success the more Japan, now starved of opportunities to strike South, may decide that a banana cake, whilst not as attractive as a chocolate gateau, was better than nothing at all.

February 1941

The Lutzow was an impressive looking ship. All of the Hipper Class ships were and her sister Seydlitz rested against the opposite pier. They added to a small but now modern fleet with four capital ships, two heavy and three light cruisers, the Tirpitz having commissioned in mid January.

Their slightly smaller sister ship Prinz Eugen had been sold to Italy, along with two torpedo boats, 4 Type IIB submarines and a small depot ship with 12 S Boats. All these ships would spend less than a week in Italian service before proceeding to Constanza, being duly on sold to the Royal Romanian Navy in return for fuel exports to Italy. It was hoped the ship would provide a constant danger to the Soviet Black Sea fleet.

March 1941

The first day of March was still very cold in what had been an unseasonably cold winter. One thing that was not likely to vary was the weather and he had pressed the date for Barbarossa back a week already to the 15th May. It was important that any initial advances cover as much ground as possible before losses, exhaustion and logistical issues slowed the advance down.

Unlike the OTL Barbarossa, he would encounter the Pripet Marshes much sooner. His attacking units should be less exhausted by that stage and more able to flank and surround the swampy area more readily. Unlike OTL, his Southern Army would attack out of Bessarabia on day one, hoping to encircle the Russian armies, which, he had noticed, had started to deploy forward in numbers themselves, much like what had occurred OTL.

He looked over the huge project. The first part, building a ten kilometre land spit between from the headland South of the River Neman to the Curonian Spit had been completed, leaving what would be a deeper Northern harbour with outflows from the Neman, which had had one of it's branches dammed, increased and created an isolated and very shallow Southern lagoon.

The Southern Lagoon would now be gradually drained and the land reclaimed. Dutch engineers had assisted with the project, which would eventually deliver 1101 square kilometres of new land, which he supposed was his own version of Liebenstraum. Unfortunately, the project would have to be scaled back dramatically within weeks, a shame as this was what he really enjoyed. He had also inspected the underground tunnel to East Prussia, now over 2.5km in on a 9.4km journey.

He had had Hanna Reitsch visit him before his East Prussian trip. Fanatical Nazi, he was sure that she had almost wet herself when she had shook his hand. Her aviation exploits, however, were impressive. She had asked about women pilots being able to join the Luftwaffe, saying that she was aware of 20 or so prepared to fly if required. What the hell, if she wanted to die for National Socialism, who was he to stop her? He had placed a call to Milch, indicating that in many cases they would have been flying for years and that it may also be a good propaganda vehicle for both National Socialism and the Luftwaffe. By early June a squadron would be formed and posted to the Eastern Front for night harassment consisting of 6 Fw-187 twin engine fighters and 16 Ar-68 older types. Both aircraft used the Jumo 210 engine in any case.

March 1941

As the clock ticked over to 00:01 to mark Sunday 9th March, the Wittelsbach’s were duly restored to Bavaria. He had finished his speech just before midnight. The restored Bavarian King, Rupprecht, was both an urbane and polite man that he had found he had gotten on well with over the last few months.

Similar ceremonies were taking place all over Germany and he had even dispatched his wife for the first time to deliver a modified version of his speech today in Saxony, where the Wettins had been restored. It was only in Prussia that the process had been delayed. It would subject to a meeting in Holland in three days with the former Wilhelm II. Three provinces would have monarchical restorations. That had left 17 that would require Governors. He had received von Moltke, Goerdeler and Popitz in early February to discuss both possible candidates and to discuss his “Spanish solution”. He had eventually appointed five of their recommendations, including Josef Muller in Baden, von Donanyi in Austria, Kaiser in Alhalt and Beck in Mecklenberg, retaining six of the more efficient and less fervent Gaulieters and three of his own thoughts.

There had been quite a lengthy discussion on what he had proposed in terms of the Hohenzollerns. There was no question of a restoration of the former Kaiser, that could be easily agreed upon. However, the infirm 82 year old man was still head of his house. Goerdler had been in favour of Prince Oskar, but this would mean bypassing his other four, older sons. Popitz had favoured the Crown Prince. In the finish they had eventually not objected when he had nominated Prince Louis Ferdinand, the Crown Prince’s second son(the first had forfeited his dynastic rights), 33 so young enough to cut a popular figure, moderate views who would work as a constitutional monarch if required, a Russian wife, which may prove useful in the context of the current political environment and also one of the old Kaiser’s favourites.

As far as succession was concerned, he had indicated that it would be his intention for Prince Louis Ferdinand to serve as King of Prussia and then eventually Deputy Fuhrer until he eventually replaced him. He indicated that, subject to Germany being at peace, he would eventually step down age 65 at the latest. Now it was a matter of convincing Kaiser Bill.

March 1941

The initial meeting had gone perhaps as well as expected. Wilhelm had been guarded, as he had perhaps expected and the first parts of the conversation had been like two fencers circling to find a weak spot or an advantage. Whatever the former Kaiser’s faults, he was not a stupid man. He would be well aware that he wanted something from him. That being the case, he thought, perhaps honesty is simply the best policy. It need to be sorted at this meeting. The former Kaiser looked old, heavily drawn and perhaps not long for this world.

“I wish to make arrangements for Germany post my own term as Fuhrer. Those arrangements include bringing the country back into a more moderate political view, a restoration of older values of freedom of religion and thought. I cannot imagine your thoughts in regards to me so I won't even try bu I have had conversations with your Grandson recently.”

Wilhelm paused. “What I wish to know is what has changed? In early 1939 I thought there is a man alone, without family, without children, without God. Should he have human qualities? He is sincere: but this excessive sincerity keeps him apart, out of touch, perhaps with both men and realities. He may build legions, but he doesn’t build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, tradition: it is made up out of the hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, the joy and the exuberance of children . In Germany there was the start of an all-swallowing state, disdainful of human dignities and German courtesies, setting itself up in place of everything else. And the man who, alone, incorporates in himself this whole State, has neither a God to honor nor a dynasty to conserve or a past to honor.

For a while I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it necessary to push down socialism or communism. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he has got rid of, or even killed. Papen, Schleicher, Neurath, even Blomberg. He had nothing left but a group of black and brown gangsters, seemingly. In Germany, which was a nation of poets and musicians, of artists and soldiers, he has made a nation of hysterics and hermits, despised internationally. Then early in 1939, a gradual changing of direction, a step away from increasingly harsh policies. So, again I ask, what has changed?”

“Let me answer a question with another. How did you feel when the German army was stopped on the Marne in 1914? When it became obvious in 1915 that it would not be a short war, there was a glimpse that in fact it would be a war more horrific than any other. How did you feel? Did you regret the Guns of August? What would have happened if you had failed to support Austria in 1914? Might the world have been at peace?”

“I could only make the decision I though was best at the time. There had been a shameful murder, committed by terrorists, most likely Serbian sponsored terrorists. We had a responsibility to our ally and a responsibility to also see Germany as the dominant power in Europe. If it had not been war then, it may have been war at a later stage against stronger, better prepared opponents. Britain and France hated us. I could not make poor foolish Nicky see sense. However, if I had known, perhaps I would have looked at other options. At the time I thought it best for Germany. I held no responsibility for the rest of the world.”

“So you see, one can change one’s mind. That was what I came to the conclusion of in April 1939. In fact, I came to that conclusion at an earlier stage, but as you should be well aware, it is very easy to be carried along by the expectations of others. It is like you have created a current in a pool and can not then fight against it. So I made up my mind in April 1939 that I was going to change, that a new direction was required, that I could not set myself above and apart from others. Like Germany in 1914, we face a hostile power on our borders. Yet it is not in military matters I require your assistance. It is for establishing a future for Germany in a peacetime world, a future that all Germans can be proud. A future for families, a future for beliefs and a future that honors the past. As for myself, I now have a wife and a future to safeguard. It's now about other people, not just my own selfish ambitions.”

“You came for a reason Herr Hitler. Ask your question.”
“I wish to restore the monarchy to Germany, probably in a constitutional sense.”
“I accept.”
“No, not yourself. Rightly or wrongly you carry the cross for the Great War. You would be utterly unacceptable to either Britain or France and I cannot afford to have either country against German interests at present. Plus, I have been told that your own health is delicate.”
“So, my Grandson Louis Ferdinand.”
“Yes, your own son has connections to the Great War as well and is not strongly liked even in monarchist circles.”
“The boy is a disappointment to me as well, to be sure.”
“I need someone who has no taint of the past, yet a link with it, someone to be liked and not feared, someone modern, young, attractive, someone that can capture the public’s imagination.”
“Sounds like you want a movie star, not an Emperor.”
“To a degree. What I am proposing is he be restored as King of Prussia. Within five years I replace my deputy Hess with Louis Ferdinand as Deputy Fuhrer. Eventually he will replace me as Head of State, as Kaiser. When that occurs the family can select a separate individual to be King of Prussia. I don’t think the office can be combined with that of Emperor in future.”

The former Kaiser sat silent for some time. Finally he swung back from the window, where he had been looking out across the lawn. “I will speak to the boy.”

March 1941

The second batch of 50 B-17D's were all at Dornier as he toured their Freidrichshaven factory complex. Some of the earlier 50 B-17C's were being upgraded as well, but mostly this batch of 50 were receiving a simple fitting of German weapons, consisting of the MG131 and the like.

He had also been shown the almost completed prototype of the fighter he had suggested. Even with the DB 601 rather than the OTL 603, it still looked remarkably similar to the OTL Pfiefl. Whether it would generate a similar performance was another matter altogether.

The factory had until then end of April to bring the entire fleet of 100 B-17's up to full readiness. In fact, Germany had more the heavy bombers now than the USAAF, although that would change and a good, albeit expensive relationship had been forged with Boeing.

Now that Wilhelm had sent Louis Ferdinand to him to formally accept, he would become the new King of Prussia on the 18th of April. It had been agreed that the other announcements could be made at a later stage.

April 1941

Dear God, another one. He had lost track of the amount of these sort of projects that he had strangled at birth these last two years. This one proposed a "sun gun", whether it was technically feasible he had no idea. Sounded like something out of a James Bond movie. It did involve already having a space station in orbit around the Earth, something they were some way off at present.

He had tried to insist on standardization, not diversification. Aside from his savaging of the navy, he had killed a number of projects, not least of which were:

Luftwaffe
Argus As 292, the useless He-177, the Ju-288, the defective Me-210 and the pie in the sky Silbervogel. He had also insisted the Ju-187 be built with minimum modifications that simply involved provision of retractable landing gear. He had also killed work on the V1.

Heer
The enormous and expensive Karl Gerart mortars, the PaK 38, the 406cm naval guns for the H Class battleships, the 355cm Haubitze M1, the 5cm Flak 41, the 24cm Kanone 3 and the defective G-41 rifle. In addition, the Panzer II, III and IV had all been phased out of production.

The Germans seemed to love huge, complex projects that burnt through money out of all context to their actual military value. The fact of the matter was simple enough. If the war was not won or near enough to won by the end of 1942 then both himself and Germany were in trouble. It was only projects that would provide a long term benefit or contribute to the war in the next 18 months that could be looked at, at least for now.

April 1941

He had called a second meeting with Saburō Kurusu to try and advance the cause. The problem with the Japanese ambassador was that he was very hard to read, however, it seemed like it was best to put the cards straight on the table.

"You have been in negotiations with the Dutch since September 1940 in regards to concessions in the East Indies and in particular access to oil. These negotiation have dragged on with limited resolution and will fail. Germany could be of great assistance to Japan in this matter. Firstly, we have excellent relations with the Dutch and can broker concessions for Japan. Secondly, we can provide technical assistance in regards to construction of synthetic oil plants. Lastly, the current embargo on aviation fuel shipments to Japan. No such embargo exists in relation to Germany. It is certainly possible that we could ship aviation fuel to Japan and import more ourselves, if we so desired."

"What would be required of Japan if such an arrangement was to be facilitated?"
"We talked last year about Siberia, about the oil resources of Sakhalin, about the dangers of Communism. You recently fought off the so called Hundred Regiments Offensive in China from the Communists. Japan cannot fight all four imperialist powers in the Pacific, however, it could fight the old enemy, Russia, particularly if said enemy was occupied elsewhere. Last year you gave no definite response, but situations change, circumstances change."

April 1941

The work on the building next door had been going on for so long on and off that the inhabitants of Kopenhagener Straße had become quite used to it. Heydrich had been aware of the house for some time. There were occasional weekends that it was unoccupied and he had used that time to construct the small tunnel linking the two properties. When the time had been right he had visited Ostrava, collecting not only the press and a quantity of paper, but the engraving blocks and, or course, the stamps and notes, eventually storing them in a Berlin warehouse. He had talked to the Jewish forger Cioma Schonhaus, who had been advised to forget about his previous work and had commenced instead work on various Red Army and NKVD documents.

He had gradually moved the material next door in allotments, including real documents and exchanges from Moscow Centre that had been obtained by the spy Poliakova. Schonhaus had provided the final touch with two genuine documents that had been "washed" and rewritten. Poliakova had been a lovely asset since being turned, furnishing documents that showed the "weakness" of the German army together with genuine intelligence. Von Gronhagen himself was watched - there was little doubt the man had fallen for the women himself, her pregnancy seemingly assisting matters. Heydrich had taken the necessary steps to get her daughter out of Russia a year ago but had withheld a meeting to ensure she remained compliant. Perhaps that could soon happen.

He had arranged for the Reichsbank to contact the Bank of England who had in turn provided men as observers for the raid, as was Heydrich himself, alleging a tip off and providing a sample of the fake notes. The Kripo had kicked open the door and quickly arrested five of the workers on the underground newspaper. Aside from almost 12,000 copies of "Die Rote Fahne", a newspaper that had gone underground in 1933, they had discovered a hidden crawl way in the basement. It led to the house next door, where resided printing presses, 2 million pounds in 5 pound notes and 20 million pounds in 50 pound notes, 10,000 sheets of 80 of forged KGVI one pound stamps, documents in Russian and personal effects.

On the 30th April the Reichsbank received a personal letter of thanks from the Bank of England governor, whilst at the same time a diplomatic incident was brewing between the English and Stalin's Soviets. It was the same day Poliakova reported through contacts Japan's intention to attack Soviet Russia later in 1941 since her frustrations with the Western allies could not be exercised.

April 1941

He had completely taken over the historic Memel Hotel, arriving with an extensive entourage on the 28th. It had been provided with a bomb shelter and the latest communications gear and the Eastern Front campaign would be monitored from here. Sitting on the beach, it was a slightly more attractive location that the OTL "Wolf's Lair". His location was of course a secret. Officially it was simply a communications post of Army Group North. Of course the presence of the bulk of his SS bodyguard may give lie to that falsehood. The SS had been restricted to five company sized organisations, each exactly 101 men, plus an additional 150 administrative and coordinating security advisers, it's sole purpose his own protection. He wondered if on reflection the garish purple uniform that they had been reequipped with were really the best choice when he was trying to go incognito. They had picked up the name "Lilakrauts", or purple cabbages, not really the most flattering epitaph.

Whilst in another lifetime he had made a careful study of Soviet spy rings inside the U.K, he had done no such thing on Soviet penetration of the U.S and consequently all he had been able to do was tell Canairis to release Noel Fields name to the FBI. Even that name had come via Poliakova, known from his time in Europe. He was only a former State Department employee, however, it may provoke an investigation of his associates.

The British had not been idle under Halifax, using the last six months to shore up alliances themselves, most likely playing on the fears of non aligned countries that had not moved into the Warsaw Pact but were uneasy about it's intentions. He had pulled together Portugal, Greece, Yugoslavia, Norway, Belgium and her own puppet Egypt in a loose alliance that guaranteed the borders of all states. For all that, relations with the U.K had warmed and Royal Navy officers had toured the new battleship Tirpitz on commissioning by invitation.

The Soviets were seemingly bent on a possible attack in the East themselves, bringing up men and equipment, although shipments of raw materials as per the 1940 pact were still occurring. He had made as many preparations as possible, leaving the military planning largely to the generals and concentrating on the logistical aspects. Trucks and artillery tractors were certainly one of the major issues. In June 1941 OTL the Germans had attacked with 600,000 trucks, armoured cars, other wheeled vehicles and halftracks. Not looting the French army, in particular, had hurt in this area.

Every effort had been made to supplement the amount of vehicles for the invasion, "leasing" 10,000 trucks from Italy, the recovery of 9,200 motor vehicles from Spain, an agreement by Bulgaria to provide 900 trucks in lieu of only a small contribution to the invasion, Lithuania providing 600 vehicles. Manufacture of trucks had increased slightly, however, tanks were also needed and ultimately his remaining divisions within Germany were also virtually denuded of vehicles. There was not the ready foreign currency to simply buy them overseas and so by the time the invasion was due to kick off with it's revised date of 15th May the numbers available in relation to half and fully wheeled vehicles would barely exceed the 600,000 deployed OTL and this for a significantly larger German army. Of course, the minor powers would add their own logistical trail as well. At least starting so much further forward would mean that the supply lines would take longer to become stressed.

Two things he did have was, with no battle of the Atlantic, an ability to control the Baltic and a presence in the Black Sea. This should help sea supply and his large surplus in aircraft should ensure that, if aerial superiority could be obtained, that resupply from the air should be much more feasible.

In terms of rail transport he should be better equipped than OTL; larger and better prepared repair parties, much Polish and Lithuanian broad gauge stock that had been lost in 1939 being available, shorter starting lines and even more locomotives, some courtesy of the Soviets themselves.

As he climbed into bed, it was the last day of April 1941, which would be the last month of peace in Europe. Always the nagging doubt remained, was he doing the right things, did he come here just to repeat the mistakes of the past? Eva seemed to sense his mood, moving closer under the covers. As he fell asleep, still the doubt remained.

May 1941

He had woken up at 4.30 am, waiting until 4.50 am when he could have sworn he was able to actually hear the thunder of guns commence. 4.50am on the 16th May, perhaps it would be as famous as 11am on the 11th November 1918.

The speech had come easily, perhaps it was the real Hitler taking over because the words had come seemingly from a well two days before as he sat down to write it. He stepped up to the radio to give the broadcast at 0700 exactly.

National Socialists! German people! People of all nations! Over the last two years we have seen communist aggression against Finland and now Latvia and Estonia overrun, demands against Romania. I took the step to do nothing in the hope of setting at rest the strongest power in the East, that of the Soviet Union, by solemn declarations regarding the limits of our interests.
At that time you probably all felt that this step was a difficult one for me. The German people have no hostile feelings against the peoples of Russia. However, for more than two decades the Bolshevik rulers in Moscow had been endeavouring to set aflame not only Germany but all Europe. At no time did Germany ever attempt to carry her worldview into Russia, but on the contrary the Bolshevik rulers in Moscow unswerving endeavoured to foist their domination upon us and other European nations, not only by ideological means but above all with military force. Agents in Western countries, assassinations in Mexico, abductions of opponents in France. forged currency schemes, the list goes on. The consequences of the activity of this regime have seen nothing but chaos, misery and starvation in all countries.

I, on the other hand, have been striving for years, with a minimum of intervention and without destroying our production, to arrive at a new order in Germany, one that not only eliminates unemployment but also permits the productive worker to receive an ever greater share of the fruits of his labour. The achievements of this policy of national economic and social reconstruction, which strove for a true national community by reducing rank and class divisions, are unique in today's world.

While Germany reluctantly affirmed that the Baltic States lay outside any German political interests, we attempted to enter into a treaty of trade and friendship with Stalin's USSR in the hope that their communist imperial ambitions would be slaked. The consequences of this treaty, which I myself desired and which was concluded in the interests of the German nation, were sadly very severe, particularly for Germans living in the countries concerned. For more than a quarter of a million German speaking men and women, all small farmers, artisans and workmen, were forced to leave their former homeland practically overnight in order to escape from a new regime that at first threatened them with boundless misery but later with complete extermination.

Nevertheless, thousands of Germans disappeared. It was impossible ever to determine their fate, let alone their whereabouts. Among them were no fewer than 100 men of German Reich citizenship. To all this I remained silent because I had to! For, after all, it was my one desire to bring about a final relief of tension and, if possible, a permanent settlement with this state, to avoid the agonies of war. However, this was only the beginning of continually renewed demands, which have been repeated ever since.

In the fall of 1939 and in 1940 the results actually made themselves felt. As Russia undertook to subjugate by armed force not only Finland but also the Baltic states, she suddenly motivated this action by the assertion, as ridiculous as it was false, that she must protect these countries from an outside threat, or forestall it. This could only be meant to apply to Germany and her allies, for no other powers could even intervene in the Baltic area, let alone go to war there. Still I was silent. However, those in power in the Kremlin immediately went further.

Whereas in 1940 Germany did not deploy any troops to the USSR border via our allies, a deployment of Russian forces at that time was already beginning, to an extent that could only be regarded as a deliberate threat to Poland, Hungary, Romania and therefore Germany. According to a statement by the USSR themselves, there were 18 Russian divisions in the Baltic states alone in early 1941. Given that the Russian government always claimed that it had been called in by the local population, the purpose of their presence there could only be a demonstration against Germany and her allies.

From August 1940 onward I therefore considered it to be in the interest of the Reich to no longer permit our Eastern provinces and the lands of, in particular, Poland, which moreover had been laid waste so often before, to remain unprotected in the face of this tremendous deployment of Bolshevik divisions.

Russia's threatened attack on Romania was in the last analysis equally intended to gain possession of or, if possible to destroy, an important base of the economic life of not only Germany, but of all of Europe. Russia's threats to Romania threatened to quickly turn these regions as well into a general theatre of war.

I still believe at this late hour to have served the cause of peace in that region, albeit by assuming a serious obligation of our own. In order, however, to finally solve these problems and achieve clarity concerning the Russian attitude toward Germany, as well as under pressure of continually increasing mobilization on our eastern frontier, I invited the Soviet Foreign Minister to come to Berlin. He then demanded Germany's clarification of or agreement to the following four questions:

Is the German guarantee for Romania also directed against Soviet Russia in case of attack by Soviet Russia against Romania?
My answer: The German guarantee is a general one and is unconditionally binding upon us.

Russia again feels itself menaced by Finland, Russia is determined not to tolerate this. Is Germany ready not to give any aid to Finland?
My answer: As ever, Germany has absolutely no political interests in Finland. A new war by Russia against the small Finnish nation could not, however, be regarded any longer by the German government as tolerable, all the more so because we could never believe that Finland could threaten Russia. Under no circumstances did we want another theatre of war to arise in the Baltic.

Is Germany prepared to agree that Soviet Russia give a guarantee to Bulgaria and, in this regard, send Soviet troops to Bulgaria?
My answer: Bulgaria is a sovereign state, and I have no knowledge that Bulgaria had ever asked Soviet Russia for any kind of guarantee such as Romania had requested from Germany. Moreover, I would have to discuss the matter with my allies.

Soviet Russia absolutely requires free passage through the Dardanelles, and for her protection also demands occupation of a number of important bases on the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. Is Germany in agreement with this or not?
My answer: Germany is prepared at any time to agree to altering the Treaty of Montreux in favour of the Black Sea states. Germany is not prepared to agree to Russia's taking possession of bases on the Straits. This last demand was so outrageous I did not even inform the Foreign Ministry of it.

Germans! Here I adopted the only attitude that I could adopt as the responsible leader of the German Reich, but also a conscientiously responsible representative of European culture and civilization. The result was to increase the activity in Soviet Russia directed against the Reich, above all, however, the immediate commencement of undermining the Romanian state from within, and an attempt to remove the Bulgarian government by propaganda. And yes, to yet again try and humiliate Finland. As can be seen from this and the questions above, so aggressive and provocative, they were never sincere, not for a moment. The only peace that Stalin wanted was a piece of other countries land.

Thus Moscow not only broke but miserably betrayed the stipulations of our treaty, the treaty we had signed to avoid war. All this was done while the rulers in the Kremlin, exactly as in the case of Finland and Romania, up to the last moment pretended peace and friendship and issued seemingly harmless denials. Although I have been obliged by circumstances again and again to keep silent, the moment has now come when to continue as a mere observer would not only be a sin of omission but a crime against the whole of Europe.

Today something like 200 Russian divisions are standing at our frontier. For weeks there have been constant violations of this frontier, in the far North against Finland, as well as Poland and Romania. Russian airmen consider it sport to nonchalantly overlook these frontiers, presumably to prove to us that they already feel themselves masters of these territories. During the night of May 10th to 11th Russian patrols penetrated into Lithuanian and Polish territory, and could only be driven back after prolonged exchange of fire.

This has brought us to the hour when it is necessary for us to counter this plot of warmongers and equally the rulers of the Bolshevik centre in Moscow.

Germans! At this moment a deployment of forces is taking place that, in its extent and scope, is the greatest the world hitherto has seen. United with their Finnish comrades under their Marshal we are protecting Finnish soil. Formations on the German Eastern front extend from Lithuania to the Black Sea. German and Romanian soldiers are united under King Carol from the banks of the Prut along the lower reaches of the Danube to the shores of the Black Sea. In Poland with the help of their own great Marshal we prepare to put an end to this aggression. In conjunction with our allies Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Bulgaria, we have commenced military operations against Stalin's Soviet Union.

What do we desire of this undertaking? Simply peace. Let me say now, Germany desires not one square meter of Russian territory, we will not take one square meter, however, one cannot view ones friends, not only in diplomacy but also life, bullied and threatened and yet do nothing. We will no longer tolerate the threatening of Germany's allies.

Therefore, I appeal to the men and women of all nations, join in this struggle against the evils of Bolshevism, which enslave not only the people of Russia and the Ukraine, but threaten the whole world and our way of life. To the peoples of France, Britain and the United States, all of whom have Germany's esteem, I say assist us in the fight to quell this rapacious red demon. Anyone who wishes to fight Bolshevism will be welcome in the German army.

To those many Russians inside Russia and forced abroad by the red terror, I can confidently say it is our intention to restore a functional government in Russia and in the Ukraine that can rule their own people free of the tyranny of Stalin. I invite now Russian leaders to talk to us about the formation of a Russian and a Ukrainian state, about adding Ukrainian separatist and White Russian forces to our own to fight for their freedoms.

I therefore decided today to once again lay the fate and future of the German Reich and our people in the hands of our soldiers and those of our allies. The task of this war, this war that was forced upon us, is not merely the protection of individual countries, but the safeguarding of Europe, and thereby the salvation of all.

May the Lord God help us especially in this fight!"

Now that that was done he would stay in East Prussia for a few days and then return to Berlin briefly for a series of meetings with various White Russian groups that had been pre arranged. Now that the war had commenced it would be interesting to see which groups did not attend and which did. Plus there would be the associated diplomatic fallout.

18th May 1941

Report from Army Group North - Generalfeldmarshal Ritter von Leeb

Three days operations by the Army Group have achieved the following objectives. Colonel General Heinrichi's 10th Army has crossed the Bug and isolated Riga, a portion of which, including the 215th Infantry Division and the Lithuanian Corps, have also reached the Baltic Coast at Ventspils. This has trapped a large part of the Soviet 8th Army in a pocket. Riga remains only lightly defended and it's capture should be accomplished relatively quickly.

4th Panzergruppe under Colonel General Hoepner, with support from 16th Army has taken the strategically important town to Rezekne, itself an intersection of the Moscow-Riga-Warsaw-Leningrad. Their next objective remains Pskov.

18th Army under Colonel General Kuchler has taken Daugavpils, advancing and engaging the Russian 1st Mechanized Corps and destroying many tanks.

Air superiority has been achieved with an estimated 4-500 plus Soviet aircraft destroyed so far, many on the ground.

Report from Army Group Centre - Generalfeldmarshal von Bock

Objectives achieved by 0900 on the 18th May are as follows. Hoth's 3 Panzergruppe, supported by Strauss's 9th Army, have shattered the Russian front and broken through, encircling Minsk to the North. To the South, Guderian's 3rd Panzergruppe has had similar success supported by von Kluge's 4th Army. Both armoured spearheads have met this very morning at Krupki, some 25 miles East of Minsk, cutting off the Soviet Tenth and most of the 4th Army. To the South there have been weak counterattacks from elements of the Soviet 4th Army that have escaped the encirclement but these have been brushed aside. Likewise to the North the Soviet 3rd Army had slowed Hoth's advance somewhat but has itself been engaged by Vietinghoff's 12th Army and the dangerous pressure had been released.

Just North of the Pripets Marshes, Rommel's Panzergruppe Poland has taken Bobruysk with the support of J.Rommel's 1st Polish Army. Elements from both forces will attempt to swing North and trap the remainder of the Soviet 4th Army. 2nd Polish Army is guarding both formation's Southern flanks, generally skirting the Pripet Marshes.

Massed attacks on Soviet airfields have largely neutralized the air threat, with an estimated 800 plus Russian aircraft destroyed in this first three days of operations, which has allowed our bombers access to support our troops tactically, as well as conduct a raid on the Smolensk rail hub by four engine bombers.

Report from Army Group South - Generalfeldmarshal von Fritsch - 10.00am 18.5.1941

Panzergruppe 1 under Colonel General von Kliest has advanced to and breached the Stalin line and have advanced elements in the city of Birichev, 25 kilometres South of Zhitomir. and plan to swing South of Kiev to complete and encirclement with elements of Panzergruupe Poland which plan to drive South one past the Pripet Marshes.

General von Stumpnagel's 17th Army has also breached the Stalin line after heavy fighting and have taken the town of Letychev on the road to Vinnitsa.

Luftwaffe attacks on Soviet airfields have achieved surprise with more than 400 Soviet aircraft destroyed.

Report from Army Group Black Sea - Colonel General List

Colonel General Model's Panzergruppe 5, with supports from 14th Army, have broken the Stalin line, crossed the Dniester and are driving on Odessa. Capturing the city will encircle the Soviet 9th Army.

11th Army, along with 2nd Hungarian Army of Army Group South, have pinched off a small pocket containing elements of the Soviet 18th Ary but are under pressure to hold the encirclement. The Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies have force a breach in the Stalin line and have crossed the Dniester this morning.

List 9.00am 18.5.1941

19 May 1941

Three more days in Memel and then he would have to head back to Berlin where a real struggle awaited, trying to pull something together out of Russian émigré groups and Ukrainian nationalists, both of whom were a disparate lot with mainly conflicting views.

It had been a busy four days since his radio speech. It was quite clear that much like OTL the offensive had caught the Red Army with large quantities of units near the border and that consequently breakthroughs like those already achieved would result in large hauls of prisoners. This had been addressed by communication to the four Army Groups in April but he had though it worth reinforcing. He scanned the document that had been sent to the four Army Group Commands two days ago and the associated transmissions to von Witzelben's Home Army.

Firstly, in regards to prisoners, Germany was blessed with the "fortunate" situation that camps already existed and unused at Buchenwald, Dachau, Flossenberg, Mauthausen, Nauengamme, Ravensbruck and Sachsenhausen. These camps alone had a capacity to house over 1 million people, were all empty and would require little effort and expenditure to accommodate POW's. Probably the first time anyone had ever said "thank God for those concentration camps-glad they are there."

All camps had attached factories, so there would be capacity for prisoners to work if they wished to do so, although this would not be compulsory. For those working, rations would be set at 90% of the basic recommendation and tobacco provided. For those not working, this would drop to 70% and no tobacco would be provided.

In regards to code of conduct for POW's, he had made it quite clear that POW's were to be treated fully in accordance with the Geneva convention and had written to the Red Cross personally and flagged his wish that they be able to inspect all POW camps in Germany aside from the Fortress at Ulm, which was still active for politicals.

The Foreign Ministry had also contacted the British, Portuguese, Swiss and Swedish embassies and requested that they provide military observers for the Russian campaign, which should serve the duel purpose of allaying international fears in regards poor treatment of prisoners and serve to curb any excesses of his own units.

Any prisoners of Major General and above rank would go to the Dranske Schloss on the island of Rugen, where they would be given every comfort and encouraged to mix and talk. The castle itself would be bugged and access would also be provided to the prisoners in the hope that some may turn on their former masters and could then be used to recruit out of captured POW's for anti communist forces.

He had issued orders that Commissars were to be separated from their men immediately, so as not to influence them. These were to go to Ulm to join other "political" detainees. Currently only 5,000 detainees filled the 30,000 capacity fortress. There conditions would be harder and labour enforced, but there would be no shooting people out of hand.

von Witzelben had done a fine job with the Replacement or Home Army, raising 15 more Fortress Divisions, or "700" Divisions. This had allowed him to disband the 332nd Fortress Division to allocate as POW camps guards and add four more Infantry Divisions to the reserve for the Eastern Front, as well as allocate two more for training. He had thought that these may be used as the basis of the first mechanized divisions by the simple expedient of using captured Russian hulls, likely T-26 and BT-5/7 types. In the Barbarossa he remembered, the Germans captured 1100 T -26, 500 BT's, 50 tanks T-28/T-35's and 30 T-34's and 30 KV's. Many of the T-26 and BT types could be converted to crude armoured personal carriers by the quick removal of the turret and the welding of an armoured "top skirt." The remainder could be used as monition and supply carriers.

24 May 1941

Vice Admiral Sir Lancelot Holland was cleaning out his flagship's flag deck and his personal cabin. HMS Hood was due to undertake a full reconstruction and was to leave the following day for the yard that had given her life, John Brown and Co. With two of the King George V Class ships in commissioned and three more due within 4 months, the Hood could be spared from duties with the fleet. His steward had placed the evening edition of "The Times" folder next to a cuppa and a most enticing scone and jam. It was the page three article that had caught his attention.

"Reports from the German Kriegsmarine headquarters in Wilhelmshaven indicate that their battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Seydlitz with accompanying light forces engaged two Soviet battleships of the Gangut Class this morning. One of the Soviet battleships was observed to violently explode, possibly due to a magazine hit. The second was driven off badly damaged.

This action in support of the evacuations from the Gulf of Riga, had followed previous reports from the German navy of their Finnish allies conducting what has been described as "a brilliant exhibition of tactical offensive mine laying that has claimed 6 Russian destroyers and a number of smaller craft."

Well, though Holland, none of this has anything to do with this old girl.

May 1941

His chat with Andrij Melnyk and Pavlo Shandruk was enough to convince him of the man’s sincere commitment, however, whether he could control some of the more radical elements of the Ukrainian independence movement was another matter altogether. With Stepan Bandera still languishing in a Polish jail at least one version of crazy would not be on the stage. Whilst that had swelled the supporters of Melnyk, it had also given his support base a dangerously radical element that Melnyk did not himself share the views of. Shandruk he had requested the Polish government release, as the man would make an ideal military commander if a Ukrainian Army was to get off the ground.

Both men had raised immediate objections when he had outlined his “Eastern Plan”, despite it’s large Ukraine. Both seemingly felt that Poland contained far too many Ukrainians. It was not, in and of itself, an unfair point, but there were political realities. Melnyk, was at least a reasonable man, not a national zealot or a buffoon.

“Herr Melnyk, the simple facts of the matter are quite clear. Let me present them to you both in three main points.

Firstly, vis a vis Poland and the Ukraine. Poland is a concrete ally of Germany, a member of the so called Warsaw Pact, it is contributing almost 30 divisions and 500 aircraft to our life and death struggle, a life and death struggle to rid Europe and indeed the Ukraine of the evils of both Bolshevism and Stalinism. A Ukrainian state is a concept, something borne out of my own thoughts to restore pride to the Ukrainian people, to ensure that horrors like the Holodomor do not happen again. At the moment the Ukrainian state does not exist, it can contribute nothing to winning this vital war. In short, gentleman, if I am forced to make a choice, it will be Poland, every time.

Secondly, if we are going to establish a Ukrainian state, it will therefore be on terms that I myself and other Warsaw Pact countries set. Forget about the fact that Ukrainians may live in other sovereign states and dreaming of more. For a fledgling Ukrainian state to be established you must be united from within. You must have German, Polish and Romanian support. You must have Warsaw Pact support – even if an independent Ukrainian state is established, Russia will still be there and Ukraine will not be able to stand alone. That does not mean I wish you to be a puppet government. Post war your decisions are your won. What it does mean is ethnic cleansing of Poles or even Russians within the Ukraine will lose our support. What it does mean is that if you want an independent Ukrainian state you must be prepared yourselves to fight for it.

Hence, why I requested Heer Shandruk. I invite you to form a Ukrainian National Army that will fight under Warsaw Pact command until an independent Ukraine can be established. If you accept, you will be responsible for such a unit’s creation. You will pick your own Ukrainian government and make your own decisions as to how that this is formed and who is appointed to responsible positions.

Thirdly, finally, and most importantly. This is an idea that I believe will assist in establishing freedoms and peace in Eastern Europe. I have picked you two men as my horses to carry the burden of these changes. Yes, I could have gone back to the Hetmanate, Pavlo Skoropadsky is still here in Germany after all. Perhaps even drag Stepan Bandera out of a Polish prison, but I chose you both as the most suitable, the most thinking, the least radical.

Now whilst you think about what has been said so far, think on this. If you say no, when will the chance for an independent Ukraine come again? 10 years? Not likely. 50 years? 100? 500? At the moment I have agreement to this from all parties. If there is no agreement from you, Ukraine gets divided between Poland and Russia. Once that happens when will we see an independent Ukraine? It took 125 years for Poland. Do not consider this war won with a few early successes. If we cannot work together, Stalin and the Soviets may win. I will be hung, Berlin will be occupied. Ukrainian nationalists that have talked to Hitler will be in short supply. At least among the living.

I feel I have said my piece. I will meet you both in a week’s time. You can give me a definite answer then. If it’s yes, come with a plan as to how this should happen. Good day gentlemen.”

May 1941

The big bombers were not part of Josef Kammhuber's Luftflotte 6 as such, being kept initially as a strategic reserve. The airfield near Chisinau had reverberated with the sound as the raid had taken off and then formed up. 82 B-17's, 15 He-100's and 32 Me 110's. The single engine fighters would escort the bombers almost 400km of the way to the target before turning back, the Me-110's all the way. Ten experienced Me-110 crews had gone ahead and "marked" the target with red smoke prior to the bombers arriving, a new technique that had been practiced for four months at the suggestion of Hitler.

Kammhuber had been able to obtain photos of the target the following day. It showed a devastation of the target area that was quite extensive. The pilots had been joyful at the results, only four bombers being lost and seven fighters. Kharkov Diesel Factory N.75 was laid waste by the sort of damage only 164 tons of ordinance can provide. Many day shift workers were caught at the factory and killed, there being little in the way of air raid precautions some ten days into the war.

It was the same day that Leningrad Kirovsky Factory, the former Putilov works, suffered a heavy raid from 64 He -111's, escorted by 18 He-100's and 11 Finnish Hawker Hurricanes. Damage had been less extensive and casualties heavier, with 9 fighters and 10 bombers lost in exchange for 15 Russian aircraft, however, it had been extensive enough. It was to take two days of digging to confirm the death of Alexander Morozov in the ruins of the Kharkov raid.

31 May 1941

Meetings with White Russian émigrés had been as fruitless as he had anticipated. The various groups had been hopelessly at odds and many representatives that he had asked to meet with him had failed to turn up.

It would be possible to raise some units out of Cossacks and the like, but the biggest problem would almost certainly be that they would run amok. Images of the Kamiski Brigade came to mind and in the finish he decided to abandon the idea and stick to an organization of a Russian state after the conflict, assuming any success was achieved. The one exception would be the White Army, still a superbly trained military cadre than could raise a division sized unit. He decided to do so, his meeting with Boris Shteifon convincing him the man could be trusted.

He had dispatched the inactive and underemployed, but articulate Ernst Udet in company with "Leni" Riefenstahlns on a propaganda tour of Western Europe that was designed, along with Goebbels radio broadcasts, to recruit foreigners for service in the Wehrmacht. In that regard Franco had also kept his word. The Spanish "Blue" Division would be available to deploy in July 1941.

Both Sweden, the U.K and Portugal has agreed to provide military observers and he was still waiting a reply from the Swiss.

In terms of the Russian campaign, things were so far going well, although he was all too aware that this could be an illusion. There was no reason to assume the weather would be any different than OTL and that meant rain would start to fall in quantity from 27.9.1941 onward, snow from 30.9 and a very cold winter, even for Russia. However, the navy controlled the Baltic, the Luftwaffe had established air superiority. They were a good start. The smashing of two of the main production centres of the T-34 would also help. He scanned the latest from the Army Group commanders.

Report from Army Group North - Generalfeldmarshal Ritter von Leeb

The Army Group has now been operating for 16 days. Colonel General Heinrichi's 10th Army has reduced the Riga pocket, which has now surrendered as of the 25th. This has produced 98,000 prisoners, as well as 186 functional tanks and 474 guns as the Soviet Navy failed to evacuate most of the trapped forces, although 30,000 are estimated to have escaped. Latvia has been completely cleared of Soviet forces. Restoration of a civilian government is possible if desired at this stage.

4th Panzergruppe under Colonel General Hoepner had captured Tartu, Parnu and Pskov has fallen on the 30th, breaching the Stalin line.

18th Army under Colonel General Kuchler is advancing through Estonia with the objective of cutting off Soviet forces from a retreat along the coast.

Report from Army Group Centre - Generalfeldmarshal von Bock

Elements of Hoth's Panzergruppe 3 are less than 30 miles from the Stalin line and Mogliev, but have been forced to halt to assist in reducing the Minsk pocket. The surrender of these huge Russian formations, which include the Soviet 10th and most of the 4th Army, has netted 315,000 prisoners, 498 functional tanks and 713 guns.

Rommel's Panzergruppe Poland has, as planned, detached two armoured and two cavalry divisions to cut South and attempt to encircle Kiev in conjunction with Army Group South. They will be replaced by the 18th Panzer and 22nd Panzer from the OKW reserve.

Report from Army Group South - Generalfeldmarshal von Fritsch

The city of Zhitomir has been captured and 21,000 prisoners taken, along with 32 functional tanks and 88 guns. Soviet counterattacks on the 22nd have been driven off. Panzergruppe 1 under Colonel General von Kliest has established a bridgehead over the Dnieper and finds itself some 28 miles east of Kiev. As planned, it will swing North to attempt to envelop the Soviet 5th, 6th and 21st Armies in conjunction with Rommel's drive South.

Report from Army Group Black Sea - Colonel General List

Colonel General Model's Panzergruppe 5 have driven off Soviet attacks with support from 14th Army, maintaining an encirclement of the Soviet 9th Army in Odessa.

11th Army, along with 2nd Hungarian Army of Army Group South, have forced much of the Soviet 18th Army in Bukovina to surrender, capturing 213,000 prisoners, 321 functional tanks and 1044 guns.

3 June 1941

The initial production line run of ten of the ex Soviet tank conversions had gone well. The Skoda factory at Pilsen would receive the majority of the conversions that were required and, according to a telegram that Otto Gaskell had received earlier today, many more may be expected. Conversion of the small tanks to troop carrier took only 12% of the man hours required to build a new Leopard, the factory's other main product.

Skoda had grown exponentially and was now a huge concern employing near 50,000 people. It was reflective of the demographics of the city, which contained 30% Czechs. Some had moved back to Czechoslovakia, other shad stayed where they knew they would have work. Women had gradually become more important to the factory over the last 16 months, with almost 2800 employed, many in the electrical works.

The town was flourishing in the shadow of the factory itself, much as Ostrava was being recognized as a "safe place" for Jews and the factories set up there were thriving and the town booming, so this had happened to Skoda and by extension Pilsen.

Pz-26 APC

18 June 1941

He had accompanied Sean Lester when he had expressed a wish to tour Ostrava himself when he had come Berlin on the 14th to talk about the Eastern War. He had hung back, allowing the man to view and inspect what he wished without interference and, in any case, he was confident that Schindler would be able to exert his own charm on the man. Lester was keen to find a negotiated solution for the war, however, he was well aware that this would be impossible as long as Stalin remained in power.

Uncle Joe had seemingly woken up from his funk on the 28th May, when he had addressed the Russian people via radio. Within a week Soviet generalship had improved, aside from in the North where Stalin's lap dog Voroshilov continued to make comprehensive errors.

It was late in the day that Lester expressed himself satisfied and boarded a train that would take him back to Geneva, where a vote of condemnation on the Warsaw Pact invasion of the Soviet Union would be held at the League of Nations on the 2nd June. Whilst scarcely cordial he must have not actively lobbied countries as the vote was comfortably defeated with only two "ayes", from the Czech Republic and Persia, with France notably abstaining. It was an important diplomatic victory, although he had no interest in stopping militarily now come what may unless there were important changes in Russia.

The war situation was generally going well, losses had been acceptable 59,500 killed or MIA, although many more were wounded. The Panzer Divisions were starting to suffer the ill effects of 35 days of continuous operation, however, he had injected two fresh divisions into the conflict and unlike OTL Hitler, had not kept new vehicle production in Germany to raise fresh divisions, but rather had sent new construction straight to the Eastern Front, even rounding up 46 Pz I's from training schools as well as the rest of the Porsche heavy tank destroyers and the five Neubaufahrzeug tank destroyers to replace losses and breakdowns. The more ground gained in 1941 the better, the more Soviet ground forces eliminated or captured the better, because, the longer the war went on, the harder this would get. The new tanks had more than fulfilled expectations. Even when the occasional T-34 or KV-1 were encountered, the 75 and 88m equipped machines were capable of dealing with them.

The last 15 days had seen some more significant gains, particularly in the North where the Soviets seemed hopelessly disorganized. Army Group North had taken Luga after a fierce battle on the 5th, then reached the coast East of Narva on the 9th, cutting off a significant Soviet pocket with elements of their 8th and 11th Armies. Some had been evacuated, the Red Fleet losing two more destroyers to air attack doing so, but 242,000 men, 243 functioning tanks and 939 guns had been taken when the pocket surrendered on the 14th. Unfortunately, two Kriegmarine torpedo boats had been sunk by the Luftwaffe with another two lost to mines. Talinnin had fallen on the 13th and elements of 3rd Panzergruppe were near Staraya Russa. Estonia had been cleared of Soviet troops. Elements of Army Group North were less than 120km from Leningrad. Things were so disastrous for the Soviets that one Soviet Division near Staraya Russa had surrender without a shot being fired, it's commander indicating an unwillingness to fight for Voroshilov or Stalin. This was, however, very much an isolated incident.

Army Group Centre, by far the strongest group, had taken Mogliev on the 5th and completed an encirclement of Smolensk on the 16th, meeting at the village at Shokino near the Moscow road. They were currently holding the line against a number of fierce counterattacks by the Soviets near Bereznya, attempting to free the estimated 300,000 trapped men. If they were able to hold the line and reduce the Smolensk pocket, they would rest for 7-10 days and then resume the advance on Moscow, now only 180km away.

In Army Group South's sector, Operation Black Eagle had dropped the 2nd Fallschirmjagers near the village of Mina on the 15th with mixed success, however, the paratroopers had assisted in consolidating a position behind the Soviet troops in and around Kiev and with Rommel's Panzergruppe Poland still thrusting South, having been reinforced by two Polish cavalry divisions, they were within days of trapping a huge Soviet pocket in an around Kiev that could contain upwards of 500,000 men, one that contained much of their 6th and 5th Armies and elements of the 21st Army.

Army Group Black Sea was till besieging Odessa and had not moved as far as expected due to the stubbornness of the Russian defenders.

22 June 1941

For Alberts Kviesis it was a triumphal return to Latvia. He had been bundled out of the office by Kārlis Ulmanis in what he still considered an illegal coup in any instance, so his restoration as President was the correct legal occurrence in any case. There had been concessions, the country losing a strip to the South East that contained the city of Liepāja, however, these were bearable.

Kviesis had been told that he was free to restore any form of government that he wished, however, participation in the war and joining the Warsaw Pact as an active member was non negotiable. After what had occurred during the Soviet occupation he had come to the conclusion that the Germans were the lesser of the two evils and he had duly pledged Latvia to the Warsaw Pact on the same day he was sworn back in as President. Besides, it seemed the Germans were winning this war, Starya Rusa had fallen three days ago and Russian counterattacks had failed to dislodge the German encirclement of Smolensk.

28 June 1941

The lure of returning to Memel had been too strong with events progressing so rapidly on the Eastern Front. His troops were starting to tire, the incredible distances travelled and the logistical effort beginning to take it's toll, along with the sheer strain on both man and machine.

To that end he had tried to make maximum use of his reserves early in the campaign to gain as much ground as possible whilst the enemy was both shocked and disorganized. Two Panzer Divisions, one Paratroop, one Mountain and 15 Infantry Divisions and two Polish divisions had been fed into Army Groups North, Centre and South. Only Army Group Black Sea, which had travelled far less distance, remained the same. This had reduced the OKW strategic reserve to six Infantry and one Paratroop Division. He was hopeful that this may receive a boost since Italy, emboldened by success, had agreed to add two Divisions and both the Spanish "Blue" Division and his White Russian division, as well as the fledgling Mechanized Division should be ready within a month to six weeks.

One growing issue was POW's. Army Group Centre had halted for ten days on the 27th, to allow rest, recuperation and the chance for many of the Infantry formations to "catch up". They would commence the advance on Moscow on the 7th July. It was a frustrating but unavoidable delay. They had suffered a series of heavy attacks as the Soviets tried to relieve Smolensk, attacks that had resulted in some of the relieving force being encircled themselves. These encirclement's had resulted in another huge haul. 345,000 prisoners, 402 functional tanks and 1092 guns taken. Army Group North he had not halted despite their exhaustion as their opponents were seemingly in disarray. They were threatening Novgorod and had encircled a pocket a Luga that also yielded 181,000 men, 78 functional tanks and 298 guns.

To the South the ring around Kiev had been closed and Odessa remained surrounded. He should have been more prepared for the sheer numbers of POW's that would perhaps come the way of Germany. The concentration camps in Germany alone that he had ordered reopened could house 1.2 million prisoners and he had taken steps to reopen some camps previously closed that could take 43,000 more. Poland had constructed a series of camps near Poznan to take 180,000. Technically there was enough places in camps to house the incredible 1,558,000 prisoners so far taken. Barely. However, what he had not considered was the logistics of getting them back to Germany. He had taken the risk and ordered the liners Bremen and Europa to transport men from first Riga and then Tallinn. However, the Europa had struck a mine and barely made it back to Memel. Just to reinforce his stupidity, his old cruise ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff had performed what was on reflection a foolish mission to Narva. Arriving safely, she had picked up 15,000 POW's and had gone down rapidly after touching two mines with an enormous loss of life.

All this meant one thing, far too many men in improvised POW cages in the open, with a lack of facilities, food, and in many cases water. There had been some assistance from the International Red Cross, but, even with the best of intentions things were not good. Thanks fully, 685,000 had made it back to Germany, but many more had not and with the pockets at Kiev and Odessa still surrounded, more of this was due.

Romania had facilities, as did Italy, so it was likely that some prisoners would transit Germany and be housed in those countries. He had even considered asking Franco, who still possessed some facilities from the end of the Civil War. In the mean time, a large facility was being built on the island of Rugen to house up to 300,000.

30 June 1941

OKH Report on captured material for period 15 May 1941-28 June 1941

Tanks and tankettes:
T-27 38
T-37/38 102
T-19 44
T-26 1026
BT-2/5/7 378
T-28 33
T-35 16
T-40 4
T-34 19
KV-1 15
KV-2 4

Artillery tractors
103

Trucks
8,456

Armoured Cars
207

Mortars
82 mm 824
120mm 316
107mm 5

Artillery
37mm 108
76.2mm 1624
107mm 44
122mm 458
152mm 151
203mm 12

Anti Aircraft
25mm 24
37mm 312
76.2mm 68
85mm 11

Anti Tank
37mm 104
45mm 947
57mm 15

19 July 1941

The Kiev pocket had fallen on the 14th, freeing up Army Group South to resume it's advance. It was estimated only 40,000 had evaded capture. This had yielded an incredible 674,000 POW's, as well as 168 functioning tanks and 1,165 guns.

In the North Novgorod had fallen on the 2nd, the Moscow-Leningrad rail line had been cut of the 6th and Leningrad isolated completely on the 15th. Yesterday the Finns had advanced to with 20 miles of central St Petersburg and the South shores of Lake Lagoda and the Neva were occupied, with Leningrad utterly isolated. Another pocket had been trapped in the Valdai Hills, yielding 41,000 men, 12 functioning tanks and 94 guns. Von Leeb's forces would now take a 10 day break as well and would not resume the advance until 29 July.

Army Group Centre had recommenced their advance on the 7th, breaking through and encircling a pocket containing four Soviet armies on the 17th, ironically sealing the pocket at Borodino. They were only 135 km from Moscow. The pocket would take time to reduce before an advance could continue.

In the South Nikolayev had fallen on the 2nd July, Kiev on the 12th, Dnepropetrovsk on the 17th. Odessa still stubbornly held out, although attempts to resupply by the Black Sea Fleet had cost them one destroyer to air attack and another to the Rumanian cruiser Regele Carol.

The thing that had made the largest difference was the was the fact that the Luftwaffe had achieved a dominance that it had not been obtained in 1941 OTL, despite the incredible numbers of machines available. Instead of Luftflotte 2 having only 549 serviceable machines at the commencement of the OTL Operation Typhoon, almost 1,600 were still in operation with both Luftflotte and the Polish Air Force, which had reinforced itself with the purchase of 50 Hawker Hurricanes.

The one thing he had taken a degree of control of was the selection of military targets for strategic bombing, insisting on hitting the factories producing the T-34 in Leningrad and Kharkov, the MiG 3 in Gorky and Kiev and also on making every effort to interdict rail traffic to and from these cities. With Leningrad now cut off, one of these cities was off the target list, however, once the large pocket at Vyazma and Bryansk was reduced, Moscow and it's surrounding rail communications would suffer the brunt of an air offensive, with a focus on the Yak-1 manufacturing factory in South Moscow.

POW's remained a problem, with now over 2 million taken and he had appealed for international assistance in building POW camps and initially feeding them, not only in Germany but in Poland and Hungary as well. He was already thinking about attempting to use the more reliable men as farm labourers, much as had occurred all across Australia with Italian POW's OTL, usually with great success. If the Vyazma pocket fell, as well as Odessa, there could be another 800,000 plus men.

Now the real battle began, capturing both Leningrad and Moscow. At least the Finns had committed to cross their OTL stop line in the North and the push on Moscow would begin much earlier than OTL, which was just as well as the Soviets would throw everything into defending it.

With Kiev fallen, he now needed to return to Berlin to put the wheels in place for a Ukrainian Government. There had been a number of places in the Ukraine that had welcomed German troops, although many had resisted fiercely and partisans were still a menace that was by no means non existent. "Incidents" had been common enough, as usually occurred with most army's, including the massacre of one village of 80, the company commander from the 28th Infantry Division facing capital charges. Units had complained of the presence of foreign observers in many cases, yet they had helped in this regard. Of course, there was the plight of POW's, however, most could see efforts were being made, even though in many cases they had proven inadequate.

Once in Berlin, he would have a meeting with Otto Tief, Uluots having refused the post of President of Estonia. He had been asking the Foreign Ministry and had telegraphed von Ribbentrop about the possibility of Japanese involvement, but their was no answer from the Japanese, only vague promises of well wishes followed by a miserably small loan for the purchase of war materials. Also, he was due to meet Halifax and Churchill in Berlin in two weeks time.

He had been thinking much about the upcoming thrust at Moscow. It was early days as yet, but he had initially wondered about attempting to kill Stalin. The difficulty was that his only definite memory of the man's location was that he was in Red Square on the 7th November. Was it worth attempting to use Tabun when it seemed likely that this may be able to be accomplished without it. In any case, only 22 tons of the nerve agent had been manufactured, scarcely sufficient for a prolonged campaign. In addition, it would them provoke a Soviet response and it would be back to mustard gas again. No, at this stage conventional means would have to do.

29 July 1941

It was at a time when Army Group North would now attempt to take Leningrad. The Finnish were a mere 16 miles from the city, which was completely cut off. Large Luftwaffe raids had attacked the Soviet Navy at Kronstadt, sinking the already damaged battleship present there, as well as a heavy cruiser and four destroyers. Further North, Finnish troops had cut the Murmansk rail line the previous day.

Army Group Centre had forced the surrender of the large pocket in the Vyazma and Bryansk area, netting yet another huge haul, 626,000 men, 198 functioning tanks and a huge 1,689 guns. They now faced the Mozhaisk line, some 125 kilometres West of Moscow, a series of new fortifications that had been hastily constructed and manned.

To the South, the neck of the Crimea had almost been reached, progress still retarded by the need to keep pressure on Odessa, which stubbornly held out despite being completely cut off.

He had met with Fritz Todt, who had replaced Darre as Agriculture Minister in late 1939 and had done much to revitalize the sector. It was agreed that Russian POW's that had been vetted could be given out to farmers in Germany and Italy initially, no more than four to any one enterprise. In return the farmer would pay the equivalent of 12RM per head per month and provide food, clothing and suitable accommodation. His cabinet had changed much since 1939, von Neurath replacing von Ribbentrop in Foreign Affairs, Funk with Schacht in Economics, Goring with Richtofen in Aviation, Todt with Speer in Armaments and he had replaced Frank with Moltke, Rosenberg and Goerdeler in cabinet.

He had bolstered the "White Russian" division with some POW's that had expressed a willingness to fight and this would first taste combat fighting to recapture what had been the capital of the Tsars. The Spanish Blue Division was also on it's way to Army Group North. With two more divisions thrown into the fray in the last two weeks, it left only seven divisions in reserve, two of those Italian and his mechanized division, which was still forming.

Talks with Otto Tief had proceeded and a compromise had been agreed. In exchange for the islands of Saaremaa and Muhu being ceded to Germany, Estonia would keep the islands of Hiiumaa and Vormsi and resume as an independent country. The islands themselves were sparsely populated by less than 15,000, some Baltic Germans. In return Estonia would receive a 700 square km strip of land South and West of Pskov.

His talk this morning with Andrij Melnyk and Pavlo Shandruk had placed the final touches on the new Ukrainian State, which would be announced in Kiev on the 2nd August. He had invited Shandruk to send men to tour the prison camps in Germany, Poland and Romania to procure Ukrainian nationals for a Ukrainian Liberation Army.

He now had a meeting with Halifax and Churchill in four days, a meeting that had been requested by the British, so he had little sense at this stage as to what they actually wanted.

2 August 1941

As he prepared for his meeting with Halifax and Churchill, he had received some comforting news. Perikorp had fallen and his armies could now access the Crimean Peninsula. To the South only Odessa remained like a thorn in his foot. In the Centre, the advance on Moscow would resume today after the reduction of the huge pocket had been completed some three days before.

He had driven past Flensburg on his way to the meeting at Sønderborg Castle, just over the border in Denmark. Hopefully there would be no repeat of 1945 Flensburg. Halifax looked wan and pale whilst Churchill still looked fit and it was the former that started the conversation first once the usual pleasantries had been exchanged.

"Herr Hitler, His Majesty's government are gravely concerned about the events in Russia and are desirous of negotiating a settled peace. To that end, we would appeal that you suspend further military action in Soviet Russia whilst a negotiated peace is explored."

It was interesting that he could almost see Churchill raise and roll his eyes ever so slightly at the announcement.

"Prime Minister, I am sure that you have been advised by military men, probably even by your esteemed colleague, that such an action is quite impossible. To halt against an undefeated enemy who is still in the field would be to invite disaster. It would be militarily impossible, an insult to our own dead and quite impossible to gain agreeance from our own allies."

"Let me talk instead to what may be the concerns of the United Kingdom. You are concerned that if Russia falls, Germany will be the dominant power in Europe. You are concerned that, as per my earlier writing expressions, that Germany seeks an ultimate destiny in the East and will annex large parts of Russia. You are concerned that after Russia I will turn my attention West to France. I must acknowledge that these are all valid concerns, as indeed I must acknowledge that my word is something I have broken before, although recent events suggest I have made good on promises to.

Firstly, the Warsaw Pact. You view it as an aggressive military alliance that is a "closed shop" for Germany's military allies. This is not completely the truth. It has always been a defensive alliance designed to stop the USSR "picking off" smaller country's like they did to Latvia and Estonia on their way to gaining strength for an eventual confrontation with Germany. That had always been our concern. It is far from a "closed shop". Indeed if the U.K or France wished to join the Warsaw Pact, Germany would certainly not object, indeed we would applaud. Since the very foundation of such a pact is to guarantee the current borders of each of the members, I see this as a desirable option for France. As for England, joining herself would pull in her allies of the so called "mini Entente" of Portugal, Greece, Norway and Yugoslavia.

Secondly, the USSR. Whilst I have changed my mind in regards to previous thoughts I have had in relation to race and the destiny of the German folk, there is one element of my mind that has not and never will change. The threat of communism must be faced and defeated at every turn. Their eventual aim is to spread this tyranny all over the world and this must be defeated or decisively checked. Your own observers have seen the sheer quantity of men and material on our border. There was no question we faced an attack ourselves and simply pre-empted a war by a few weeks or even days. You cannot tell me that after British intervention in 1919-20 that your won governments concerns have abated over the last 20 years. Recent events showing the deepest penetration of British institutions by Soviet spies surely confirm this.

Now I cannot expect you to take my word that I desire no Russian territory for Germany. That being the case, I will do two things. Firstly, I give you a map that shows notional divisions of territory in the East and a view to establish, if possible, a non Communist Russian successor state. You will note when you have the chance to examine this that we propose an independent Ukraine. This aspect is non negotiable as promises have already been made and indeed such a state may well be being proclaimed at this very moment as we speak. After the brutalities suffered by the Ukrainian people under Stalin's regime I think this is the least that is deserved.

I regards to Russia itself, I propose, if a significant military victory is able to be obtained, that the administration of Russia be given over to a international peacekeeping force consisting of German, British, Italian and French troops until such time as free elections can be arranged. To that end, I would invite the United Kingdom to resume their occupation of Archangel and if success is achieved against the Soviets they would be able to immediately take part as a full partner in the restoration of civilian government in the East.

In regards to your concerns about Germany dominating Europe, they are most valid. I do intend for Germany to dominate Europe. Economically. Not militarily. I am quite prepared to sign any treaty required post war or even now to apply post war that limits the size of the German army and air force to that of France and also resume the Anglo-German Navy Treaty.

In regards to this war, this can be a chance for the British Empire to again take it's place in the sun. Germany and our current allies need to raise capital for war loans. This can be done via America, since New York is now the focus of the world financial sector. However, it could be done via London as well, bringing wealth and restoring the British banking sector to what it once was. This could boost the British economy substantially. Boost it past Germany, who had laboured so hard to come from so far back in the pack to take her place in the sun. It is also a chance for the U.K to lead the way diplomatically, by taking the lead in Russia, by making the decisions post war. It cannot be Germany, as we will have just fought the war and will be seen to be imposing solutions on the Russians. It cannot be France, too caught up in their own envy of us. Yet it could be Britain, Great Britain.

As far as the Communists being gone, well, I am sure we can all agree that would be a good thing, especially Mr Churchill? They bear no sympathies for the atrocities they have committed. Gentleman, I need my exercise and I brought my wife with me. I will take a walk. How about we reconvene after lunch after you have had a chance to chat?"

13 August 1941

He was back in Memel, the two day secret meeting with the British in Denmark having achieved little of real note. It was not hard to see why the British had come, an event likely spurred wholly and solely by the French, who were almost jumping out of their skin with agitation at the success of the Russian campaign so far, yet could not bring themselves to make an approach directly. It was significant, however, that Barings Bank had agreed to consider a 5 million pound loan that had been requested by Krupp.

On the 29th July, the German, Lithuanian and Finnish armies had moved into Leningrad. Forces had taken the villages of Volkhov and Tikhvin and both Finnish and German forces from the North and German and Lithuanian from the South had moved into the city. Pushkin and Koblino had fallen to the South and his troops had now entered the inner city itself, where Soviet resistance was fierce. The White Russian division had proven itself invaluable, inducing one Soviet battalion to switch sides, however, whilst only in the early stages the city fighting was proving predictably bloody. With the city fully cut off and the Russians poorly supplied due to rapidity of their retreat, the question remained as to how long things like food and ammunition could last.

Army Group Centre had renewed it's drive on Moscow on the 2nd. Kalinin had been taken, as had Tula. This had unhinged the main Soviet defence line and the hastily set up Mozhaisk line itself had been pierced and the city of Tula captured on the 8th. To the South East, troops were on the Nara River, only some 70km from Moscow.

To the South there had been extensive gains. Berdyansk had fallen on the 11th as the march towards Rostov continued, followed by Mariupol on the 13th. Encirclements at Nikolayev, Mariupol and near the Dnieper had yielded a further 278,000 men, 118 functioning tanks and 712 guns. Even in Odessa there was for the first time signs of Soviet weakness, with some small units slipping out of the city and surrendering.

15 August 1941

As he scanned the report it seemed almost incredible that any army, indeed any country, could pick itself up off the canvas to fight a successful war after such horrific losses, yet it paid to remember that Soviet Russia had done exactly that OTL.

One advantage was that it was until only the 15th August and the battle for Moscow was reaching it's crucial stages, not like OTL when the battle was taking place in the middle of October, during the commencement of the rasputitsa. OTL rain had not arrived in Russian until the 27th September and had not become general until around mid October. That gave his armies that most precious of commodities, time.

He looked again at the report. Incredible numbers that whilst pleasing were creating a crisis of their own in relation to the sheer number of POW's.

OKH Report on captured material for period 15 May 1941-13 August 1941

Total POW numbers: 3,315,870, 1,653,790 transported to Germany/Poland/Romania/Finland so far.

Tanks and tankettes:
T-27 41
T-37/38 112
T-19 48
T-26 1216
BT-2/5/7 518
T-28 41
T-35 16
T-40 8
T-34 38
KV-1 26
KV-2 7

Artillery tractors
123

Trucks
16,312

Armoured Cars
291

Mortars
82 mm 1,625
120mm 486
107mm 19

Artillery
37mm 158
76.2mm 2526
107mm 68
122mm 782
152mm 272
203mm 12

Anti Aircraft
25mm 55
37mm 601
76.2mm 112
85mm 26

Anti Tank
37mm 174
45mm 1780
57mm 56

His first mechanized division using some 300 plus of the captured T-26's was now fully equipped and able to be deployed and indications were that it would be thrown into the attack on Moscow. The captured T-34's and KV's had been largely impressed into service with front line divisions and the Finns had received some BT's, as had the Romanians. He had promised the fledgling Ukrainian army 50 T-26's. There were far fewer captured aircraft and the quality of many of the Russian aircraft left much to be desired, however, the Romanians had received 4 Yak-1’s and 12 Polikarpov I-16's and the Finns 18 Tupolev SB's.

31 August 1941

As time ticked on and August came to a close, gains had been made but still it seemed the issue was in the balance.

In the North, he had withdrawn some worn out and dispatched two fresh divisions plus a new combined Lithuanian/Latvian division to the front line to the battle for Leningrad whilst halting further advances by other formations, giving them a chance to rest and reequip. The battle for Leningrad itself was like a living thing, consuming both men and machines at an alarming rate. As his troops and the Finns with German support from the North pressed forward, at least they could be assured that the Russians were receiving little or nothing in the way of reinforcements, with the Luftwaffe throwing an air umbrella over the city to ensure that no supplies got through by any means, as well as keeping up their attacks on the Soviet navy that had been attempting to provide gunfire support.

It had taken 33 days yet his forces had now pressed stubbornly forward capturing Moscow and the Vitebsk stations and they now stood only one kilometer from Palace Square. Meanwhile, Finnish forces were less than 800 meters from Primorskiy Prospekt coming from the North. Desertions in some Soviet formations had progressed at a steady rate yet in many areas resistance was still fierce. The Russians were now compressed into a 20 square kilometer area spread over 13 islands.

Army Group Center had continued the push on Moscow despite stiffening resistance. They had been allocated all six reserve Infantry divisions, leaving only his newly formed mechanized unit, itself slated to move within days. Both Panzergruppe had led a push to the North and South of Moscow, respectively. To the North, Hoth's Panzergruppe had seized a bridgehead over the Moscow-Volga canal on the 26th, only to lose it on the following day and regain it on the 30th. Elements of 7th Panzer were now only 18 km from Moscow and still attempting to push East. To the South, Guderian's forces had suffered two major attacks from fresh Soviet forces including, for the first time, significant numbers of the T-34 tank. These had inflicted serious casualties to 9th Panzer but an attached unit of four heavy Lion tanks had assisted in breaking the Soviet attack, destroying 29 of the Russian tanks. None the less, progress had been slow, although advances had been made to the Oko River, some 80 km West and South West of the city. On the 2nd, 1st Fallschirmjägers would be dropped South-east of Moscow to try and assist the Southern pincer to move forward. The Luftwaffe were bombing rail hubs to the East of the city, attempting to disrupt Soviet transport in and out of the city.

In the South, Army Group Black Sea and it's Romanian divisions had finally taken Odessa which had surrendered on the 21st. This had freed other units and had been followed by the fall of Taganrog on the 24th, Kharkov on the 29th and Stalino on the 30th. In addition, his troops had broken into the Crimea and were sweeping through the peninsula.

However, the best news had come from Alexander von Falkenhausen in China. Despite no official announcement, some Japanese units of the Kwantung army appeared to be on the move. There was no guarantee, but even movements were likely to concern the Soviets in the Far East and possibly slow troop withdrawals West.

8 September 1941

His armies were becoming tired as the campaign ground on and the race to beat the rains continued. It was only 19 days to the first rains, perhaps only four weeks before a halt would have to be called.

In the Far North that had already been the case. A thrust on Murmansk had been repulsed and forces there had gone over to the defensive. Near Leningrad, things were more positive. On the 1st Finnish Forces from Karelia had linked with German ones at the village of Potanino, making all four shores of Lake Lagoda a Warsaw Pact preserve. The assault on Leningrad was still a bloody mess. The Luftwaffe was not only dropping bombs but propaganda as well, assuring Russians they would be well treated and given food if they surrendered, as well as claims that Stalin had ordered Leningrad Party boss Kirov killed in 1934. This was a known fact OTL, not that he had any proof at the moment, but it may unnerve some. Progress was still occurring, but was slow and bloody, although well over 2,000 Russian soldiers had surrendered in the last week, many reporting shortages of almost everything, but, in particular, food and ammunition.

In Army Group Centre's drive on Moscow, progress had been made despite fanatical resistance. The two mechanized formations, 1st Mechanized and the Grossdeutschland Brigade had been thrown into the Southern pincer and this had made the greatest progress, Kashira falling on the 2nd and Kolomna on the 6th, all Southern rail lines from Moscow now being cut and his troops being South-east of the Soviet capital. 1st Fallschirmjägers had dropped on the town of Voskresensk and had linked up with his main Southern wing with elements of 1st Mechanized Division only today. To the North of Moscow, Klin had been taken on the 1st and Dmitrov, due North of Moscow, was the subject of current fighting. If the remaining 80-90km gap from his Northern and his Southern pincers could be closed, Moscow would be cut off. The Luftwaffe had been heavily bombing Yaroslavl and Vladimir to interdict the only two rail lines left out of Moscow, to the East and North-east.

In the South, Belgrod had fallen the previous day and his advance units were only 30km from Yalta on the Black Sea. Many units previously employed in the siege of Odessa were being moved forward to assist in a thrust through to Rostov.

20 September 1941

The Eastern Front was becoming bloody indeed as furious engagements were taking place in besieged Leningrad and during the Battle for Moscow, as both sides threw in men and material in an attempt to wear down the other. He had thrown all his remanding reserves, meagre though they were, into the battle to hold the flanks as his armies attempted to close the gap on the capital. All rail lines to the capital had been cut as to the North Hoth's units had reached Merenkino in the face of bitter resistance. Guderian's Southern pincer had broken through on the 10th, reaching all the way to Odintslovo, cutting the last rail line East of Moscow and were holding despite a number of furious counter attacks.

The switching of some Luftwaffe units to Army Group Centre had assisted in keeping aerial superiority over the battlefield and that had proven crucial in itself. The Russian attacks on both units flanks had been relieved by a large push from both Rommel's Polish armies that had taken them to Odintslovo, some ten miles West of central Moscow. His North and South pincers, now well East of Moscow, were less than 30km apart.

He had attempted to prompt Raeder's Kriegsmarine to directly intervene against the Soviet ships at Kronstadt and although they had sunk a minelayer and a destroyer, the battleship Scharnhorst had hit a mine and it was clear the confined waters were no place for capital ships.

Leningrad was still a bleeding sore, however, fighting had now reached the Winter Palace and, more importantly, Russian soldiers were now surrendering in increasing numbers, the enemy's supply of artillery shells, in particular, seemingly beginning to dwindle. Some of the sailors of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, used as infantrymen, had surrendered almost immediately after killing their own officers and commissars.

In the South, progress had been more significant. Voroshilovgrad had fallen on the 16th, almost completely clearing the Ukraine. Yalta had followed on the 17th and Kerch had been reached today, the Russians battling to hold this last city in the Crimea, their last outpost aside from now besieged Sevastopol, so that it's units could be withdrawn over the Straits. Again, 112,000 prisoners had been taken in the Crimea, along with 28 functioning tanks and 188 guns. The fall of Kerch on the 22nd would yield another 18,000 prisoners.

The crucial battle was against the weather, with only a week until light snow and some rainfalls and only two until this became general over the front.

The most important news, however, was from the East, where Japanese forces had crossed the border on the island of Sakhalin and resumed operation in the region of the land conflict in 1939 at Khalkhyn Gol. In addition, the Soviet Pacific Fleet had been attacked at Vladivostok, four destroyers, seven submarines and a number of smaller ships being sunk.

30 September 1941

It seemed in some way inappropriate to be having a party considering the troubles the troops themselves on the Eastern Front had faced and the sacrifices made, however, he had allowed himself to be convinced. Even with the events of the last ten days, there was still much to do and no sign of a Soviet surrender.

Fighting in Leningrad still raged, however, central St Petersburg and the ruins of the Winter Palace had been taken. Resistance was now mainly contained to Vasilyevisky and Petrogradisky Islands and large groups of surrenders were now taking place with Soviet units losing heart. In the last ten days alone almost 40,000 prisoners had been taken. Many prisoners showed advanced signs of malnutrition. It appeared the campaign in the North was entering it’s final stages.

On the 28th Army Group Centre had finally closed the ring around Moscow at Yamkino and had largely held it despite heavy counterattacks. Polish troops had pushed into the Western suburbs of the city before halting at Rumyansevo.

In the South, Kerch had fallen on the 22nd, Rostov on the 28th and Veronezh and Kamesk this very day. Sevastopol had been completely surrounded and much of the heavy artillery formerly used at Odessa was on it’s way to the Crimean fortress.

Light snows had commenced, with some rain in the Crimea. There was little doubt that a halt would soon have to be called for his own exhausted troops, with many formations down to 50% of nominal strength. Fresh Russian divisions were still appearing, although they seemed short of both aircraft and tanks. The Luftwaffe’s operational B-17 numbers had fallen from almost 100 to 44 as regular raids against the Dzerzhinsky Tank Factory in Stalingrad in an effort to suppress its output had taken their toll. The B-17’s had been supplemented by Do-217’s as he had kept up the pressure on the Soviet's main industrial nodes and it had seemed to have had some level of success.

With the offensive part of military operations coming to a close in 1941, it was time to return to Berlin and concentrate on political objectives. With the seeming success so far of the Eastern campaign, all of a sudden Russian organisations now had a desire to talk about political solutions, so he had called a series of meetings commencing on the 15th October. What could be achieved was another matter altogether. Casualties in August and September when the invasion had slowed and street fighting had commenced had skyrocketed and would have to be reviewed in the next few days. Flows of POW’s had also slowed, although these had still continued at a steady rate, many now from Leningrad. There were not much short of a million in Russia, even with efforts to remove as many as possible in the increasing bad weather back to Germany.

He had asked for a complete review of POW statistics, captured material, his own numbers of operational aircraft and panzers. These would help formulate objectives for 1942 assuming there was not a general Russian collapse or the Soviets did not ask for terms. Supposedly Stalin was still in Moscow, although there had been no substantiation of this fact. The weak white wine tasted well enough, but there was no need for a champagne celebration as the job was a long way from being done.

Barbarossa Front Line Map showing front lines at stages of the campaign.

Dark Blue 31.5.1941
Blue 18.6.1941
Light Blue 19.7.1941
Dark Green 13.8.1941
Green 31.8.1941
Purple 30.9.1941

Moscow, Leningrad and Sevastopol remain besieged. New border changes are in lime green, aside from Ukraine and Finnish possessions, which are yet to be established and cleared.

5 October 1941

The first significant rains had commenced on the Eastern Front and the decision had been taken to halt further offensive operations, with the exception of the reduction of the St Petersburg, Moscow and Sevastopol pockets until such time as the ground froze, which may give a sort three week patch in November where operations would again be possible.

He scanned the figures given, firstly those of the Luftwaffe, which were most encouraging. Total aircraft losses on the Eastern Front had been 2786, with a further 296 in Finland and 303 written off due to accidents at home making total losses 3385. Total production for the same period had been 4038 combat types, with another 36 long range bombers purchased for the U.S. This meant he was actually in possession of more aircraft than at the commencement of Barbarossa, which was all to the good as German air superiority and air supply had played a crucial role so far.

In regards to AFV's, losses excluding halftracks and APC's had been 1668, whilst new production had amounted to 1319, which had been supplemented by the use of 88 captured tanks, making a net loss of only 261 vehicles, and this not counting the production of 458 T-26 APC conversions. Casualties had been higher among the older tanks, with AFV numbers on the Eastern Front estimated at 240 Panzer I’s, 440 Panzer II’s, 40 Panzer II Flamm, 80 Panzer III, 130 Pz 35t, 130 Pz 38t, 130 Panzer IV. In addition there were the new types, 790 Panzer V Cheetahs, 1360 Panzer VI Leopards and 80 Panzer VII Lions, 60 JPz Ferdinand, 88 ex Soviet. More of the newer, more capable tanks had taken the place of the earlier types and hopefully by 1942 Panzer I's and the like could be relegated to training. The main current issue was the number of tanks requiring service and repair.

It was the armies of his allies that had suffered from the loss of AFV's and aircraft more than Germany although with aircraft, at least, he was able to transfer some older, second line equipment.

Killed and captured on the Eastern Front had now mounted to 288,000, with many more wounded. Soviet killed in action numbers were estimated at upwards of 900,000, with another 3,667,000 POW's taken, an incredible number. In terms of AFV losses, the Soviet number was hard to quantify, but figures would indicate perhaps some 20-22,000.

With Japan at war with the Soviets, all Pacific ports were blockaded, the Black Sea was under threat, the Baltic closed. Even for anyone willing to ship goods to Stalin, the logistics were now extremely difficult. In addition, the Kriegsmarine was using some of it's U Boats as well as the new battleship Tirpitz and the light cruiser Koln and Karlsruhe to blockade Murmansk as best as possible. With the destruction of both of the Baltic Fleet's old battleships and a modern heavy cruiser, as well as severe losses form mines and air attack, it was now possible to consider moving many elements into the Arctic Sea.

However, the news today from American was that Dewey had proclaimed a total oil embargo on Japan to apply from the 8th had rung all too similar to OTL. Whether it was in response to the Japanese invasion of the USSR and Mongolia or their taking the offensive against Mao's National Liberation Army, which appeared to be collapsing under pressure for Chiang's Nationalists. This had also included some unfortunate incidents against Nationalist forces.

This was an unfortunate occurrence, at least now, as unless something could be worked out, which seemed unlikely considering his almost total lack of influence with Japan, then Pearl Harbor again beckoned, possibly any time from the end of 1941 to the end of 1942. This would force a choice between supporting his nominal ally or pulling his head in waiting for the inevitable. The second option was by far the more palatable and likely to yield success, however, for the moment he had little choice but to support Japan, who were keeping the Russian's distracted and blockaded, respectively, in the Pacific.

6 October 1941

The report of the capabilities of the T-34 was enlightening and aspects of it were surprising. He had seen a T-34 at Kublinka OTL and another in Yugoslavia but had obviously never been in one. In fact, the only AFV he had ever been in was the old M-113. It was a fair tank in squad leader terms, although it suffered from poor optics and a two man turret, with some early Marks not having radios.

This was more detailed and drew comparison to the older Mark III, Mark IV and the Leopard.

"The T-34 has a large problem when it came to internal space that effects crew survival with a successful penetration. The turret also suffered from a lack of space. It was so cramped that it affects movement. There are fuel tanks in the engine compartment and at the sides of the hull. The presence of fuel tanks inside the fighting compartment makes any penetration of the tank likely to lead to the complete loss of the vehicle.

"There is no turret basket for the loader. This effectively meant that the person loading the shells has to follow the movement of the gun and at the same time keep an eye on the floor so as not to trip on spent shell casings. Another major issue is the two-man turret which forces the commander to also act as the gunner. This drastically limits combat performance as the commander cannot focus on leading the tank but instead has to engage targets.

The armor of the T-34 is very hard. This is advantageous in defeating antitank rounds of caliber equal or lower to the armor’s thickness but has the disadvantage that it can lead to spalling. Combined with manufacturing flaws in the construction of the tank this means that the T-34’s crew is often in danger even when hit by tank rounds that do not penetrate the armor.

The Christie suspension has the advantage that it allows for high speeds on roads. Its disadvantages are that it takes a lot of internal space and it had poor stability in rough terrain, although the track wideness makes bogging unlikely. It also has no shock absorbers, creating a difficult and tiring ride for the crew.

The engine is powerful but cannot be used to the fullest due to the 4-speed gearbox. Changing gears requires incredible force on behalf of the driver. The T-34 can use the 4th gear only on a paved road, thus the max speed over cross-country in practice is was only 15km/h because changing from 2nd gear to 3rd is incredibly difficult and often requires hand tools. The tanks gun suffers from low velocity leading to poor penetration and accuracy at long ranges compared to the KwK 40, although it is in all aspects superior to the KwK 36.

Many tanks lack a radio set. The lack of radios means that Soviet tank units have often operated with little coordination. The tank has serious difficulties in navigating terrain and identifying targets. The problem is that the vision devices have made it hard for the driver and the gunner to see what is happening. The quality of Soviet optics combined with the limited visibility from inside the tank affect combat performance.

Many T-34's have been found with a transmission carried by the tank as a spare. The transmission itself is very poor. When it is being operated, the cogs will often break and fall to pieces. A chemical analysis of the cogs on the cogwheels shows that their thermal treatment is very poor and does not in any way meet German standards. Teeth ends on all gears are often battered as the result of clash shifting. Many pieces of gear teeth will break off and are in the transmission oil. The failure is due to inadequate design, since excellent steel is used through the transmission. The deficiency of the diesels is the criminally poor air cleaners.

Overall, despite the impressive list of technical flaws listed above, it is a quite adequate tank that is geared towards being mass produced easily. Without the widespread introduction of the KwK 40 as the standard anti-tank and AFV gun in 1939s it would have likely caused our forces significant issues."

15 October 1941

The advance had finally slithered to a halt on all fronts on the 10th, with a general halt across the front called. In the Moscow area, the front line had been pushed out to Novoye in the North-east, Pokrov in the East and Ryazan in the South-east, all more than 50km from Moscow. As for the city itself, troops had forced their way into all outer suburbs, with positions as close as 6km from Red Square.

The biggest news, however, was the surrender of Leningrad, with another 288,000 POW's(including 70,000 sailors) and 346 guns. Nearly all of the Soviet Baltic Fleet has been scuttled. This would reduce the pressure to the North and allow a redistribution of men to assist in the reduction of Moscow and 1942 campaigns, including a Lapland campaign.

To the South, Rostov had been lost to a counter attack and regained on the 14th after heavy fighting. Sevastopol still held out, although an impressive concentration of artillery was now bludgeoning the city.

Later today he was due to meet the first Russian Nationalist groups and then tomorrow receive a run down on POW's and the possible formation of a Russian Liberation Army. He was also due to meet a Mikhail Meandrov, a former Soviet Lt General who had spent some time with White Russians after briefly being a personal "guest" of Heydrich.

He needed a break as well, the strain of the last five months of Eastern Front operations taking their toll. After this, he would take weeks to two weeks to recuperate.

21 October 1941

He had met two representatives from each group and was now facing them all, a remarkable get together of the representatives of various groups that had not occurred since 1922.

They had come from a variety of different places. Maria Spiridonova, unearthed when the speed of the Panzer's advance had overrun Orel prison prior to her execution, a writ for which had been found at the prison itself. Dressed, fed and restored to some semblance of health she looked gaunt and unhealthy but still represented the "left" SR's. Chernov had responded and sent a thin, pinch faced young man called Alexander Rabanov as a representative of the "right" SR's. Kerensky had sent his Australian wife "Nell" Tritton. Peter Struve represented the Kadets. Of course, there was no chance at all that many of these people would have ever come to Germany, so he had arranged the meeting in Switzerland.

"Firstly, thanks you all for coming. I will keep this very brief by touching on some points of fact as they stand now and then reiterating my intentions, which you may choose to believe or disbelieve as you wish.

In relation to the current military situation, Warsaw Pact forces have captured St Petersburg, you note my use of that word, completely routing Soviet forces in the North. Moscow has been completely surrounded and cut off and will be reduced in the coming weeks and months. In the South the Crimea has been captured, as has Rostov. The Volga and the Caucasus, as well as the oil at Baku, lie open. Make no mistake, I have no intention of allowing Stalin's Soviet Union to get up off the canvas. There will be no Empresses dying and Prussia being saved. I already have one White Russian Division fighting to liberate Russia and intend to raise two more. It seems Comrade Stalin is less than popular with his own troops, shocking though that may be.

Whilst I have talked about Germany and her allies attacking Stalin's Soviet Union, I have not talked as to why. Stalin's Soviet Union had already invaded three of it's neighbors and was preparing an invasion of Poland and Germany. Stalin's Soviet Union had never given up on world wide exportation of it's philosophy and promoted terror around the globe, murdering and kidnapping Russian emigres like yourself abroad. I think Miss Spiridonova can testify well enough as to how they treated their opponents domestically. Or perhaps not, as we have possession of the following document that indicates that Stalin has had 1.2 million shot during the last four years of purges alone." He slammed the folder down on the table, it rather appropriately skidding over near Maria Spiridonova.

This does not include those that have died in gulags or died from being forcibly removed from their homelands. Or starved to death deliberately. Am I any better? No, probably not, you may think. Probably worse, since I am not Russian. Probably much worse, since the fact that I intend to make the Ukraine and the Baltic States independent and will not waver on that point.

So why did I call you here? The last truly fair election in Russia was in 1917, the results even then tainted by the war situation. What I would like to do, even though I fear many of you would make such a task impossible, is to declare a new Russian state, free of Stalin and committed to an electoral process. Seems like horse shit, doesn't it when we don't have this here in Germany? Well, I am slowly moving that way in Germany as well. I intend to declare a new Russian state on the 1st March 1942 or before. When I do I will be asking the League of Nations to not only admit it but guarantee it's sovereignty.

This will happen with or without your input. With your input I am willing to negotiate through our own foreign ministry the potential borders of such a state, including Ukraine. I am willing to negotiate economic assistance and the form any future Russian government may take. My personal preference is that we establish a committee made up of 4 SR's as the largest party in the 1917 election, 4 nominated by Kerensky as the last legitimate Chairman of the Russian government, 4 from the Kadets and 2 to represent the White Russian military since these are the only effective Russian anti communist forces currently existing. These will declare a new Russian state, either a republic or under a figurehead Tsar and arrange for free elections as soon as possible. They may also take an advisory responsibility for Russian POW's held in Germany, Poland and Romania.

If this occurs I will give you a guarantee. Within 24 months of the cessation of war with Soviet Russia, all German troops will have been withdrawn from Russia and all prisoners repatriated.

Without your input I will still do this, but on my own terms. Some of you, perhaps all of you, will be excluded from any voice in the reshaping of Russia, leaving you no choice but to support the Soviets in a war already lost or let other men and women build a new Russia, most of them German. I give you here up to two weeks to decide and send a representative back to Germany with your thoughts. Good day."

24 October 1941

Three days at Lake Constance had been at least part of the complete break from work he had been looking for. The gentle "click-clack" of the train had woken Eva and then, eventually, himself.

Eva wrapped her legs around his head, squeezing as she finished. "Oh Addie, I can't believe the change these last two years, it's like your a new man."
He admired his wife's naked form. Yes, it is like I'm a new man. This sort of thing is what's ironic Alanis, he laughed inside himself. Who would have thought that the real Adolf could not find the little man in the boat? Perhaps that explained his disposition.

Well, the Russians were doing what they did best, arguing. The real upcoming question was what the Soviets would do in regards to a 1941-42 winter offensive. With the timeline diverging, it was now harder to make predictions as to what moves the Russians may indeed make, if any. The dismal failure of their attempt to recapture Rostov and the losses incurred made an operation like the one attempted OTL at Kerch unlikely, although he had taken steps to warn OKW of the possibility.

In any case, this was only a sideshow for what had been the 1941-42 Winter Offensives that the Soviets had launched from 5 December. With Moscow cut off surely they would attempt to relieve it, especially since he had not been able to prove one way or the other as to whether Stalin actually was in the besieged Soviet capital. One thing seemed certain. Surely they could not manage to scrape together a reserve of 58 divisions as had occurred OTL. The very mauling the Red Army had taken, worse than OTL and more importantly, the pressure from the Japanese, would prevent that sort of build up. Never the less, an attack should be expected.

To meet any such attempt, he had an air force far more capable than the Luftwaffe of December 1941 and had reinforced Army Group Centre heavily in preparation for any such attack. In addition, he intended to renew a push on Stalingrad in mid November when the ground froze. Only a brief three week thrust but it should serve to panic the Soviet command if a breakthrough could be achieved seeing the city's strategic importance and also disrupt an attack on Moscow by dispersing any reserves they may have built.

If he could hold his current positions over the Winter, then 1942 operations loomed unless a political settlement could be reached. It was certainly not beyond the bounds of rational thinking that Stalin's capture or death may shatter the USSR into factions or provoke a surrender. If not, then objectives for 1942 would need to be decided upon. Certainly it was easy to see why Operation Blue had been performed. Saratov, Stalingrad, Astrakhan and ultimately, Baku. The loss of these cities, after the loss of Kiev, Moscow and Leningrad, would be the final nail in the coffin of the Soviet Union.

1 November 1941

Hugo Schmeisser showed him around the factory where the guns were being made. It had taken some time, but the first batch of 18,000 guns were being manufactured during November to February 1942 specifically for the two mechanized divisions that had been formed. If successful, the Maschinenkarabiner 1941 would go into full production by the second half of 1942. After some teething problems and "bulging" and jamming, the problems associated with the design appeared to have been largely worked out.

It was not the only war related project that he had taken a personal interest in that was showing signs of life. MG 42 production was due to commence in December, replacing the MG 34. HASAG had had some success with the still experimental Faustpatrone and wished to proceed further and build a large scale version of the rocket. It was early days as yet but it seemed likely that the weapon may be ready by the end of 1942 or early 1943.

Dornier had advised he anticipated a prototype of the "push/pull" design that he had personally requested be called the 335 would be ready by February or March.

Witzelben had informed him that he hoped to have three more Infantry Divisions, two more Mechanized divisions a Static and a Security division available by March 1942. This would be supplemented by four more Italian Divisions, two more Polish, three White Russian, two Bulgarian and one Romanian, giving him an Eastern Front reserve of around 22 divisions that currently was sorely lacking, although with the reduced threat in the North parts of Army Group North were in the process of being deployed further South.

In Leningrad, the haul from the Soviet Baltic Fleet had been larger than anticipated, partly due to some of the crews mutinying and going over to the German forces. Units taken that could be used, were one heavy cruiser(the former Maxim Gorky), four destroyers(two partly complete only), the ex Imperial Yacht Standart, now used as a minelayer, 6 minesweepers, 2 large and two small submarines and 6 various support ships. Much of the rest could be scrapped and provide good steel, including a huge 60,000 plus ton battleship that had been under construction.

4 November 1941

It was probably no great surprise that the Russians had waited until the very last day of the deadline that he had proposed to come back to him. There was a delegation of three, Struve, Kerensky himself and a young man he was unfamiliar with.

It was Kerensky who started. "We have decided to accept your offer to declare a Russian state and, as per your previous thoughts, we wish to begin negotiations as to such a State's final borders before any announcement is made. This does not include the SR's, who have withdrawn from the process."

He was already aware of that. Spiridonova had come to see him the previous day and made him aware of the fact. It seemed the SR's had split into their own factions yet again, one faction interested in engaging in a political process, the other committed to their old ways. Spiridonova had indicated that, after her time in Orel, she formed one of the later but had been unable to move the bulk of the SR's, despite lukewarm support from Chernov, who was only partially active in the party. He was also aware that Struve himself had earned the ire of the last head of the Kadets, Milyukov, who opposed any such deal with Germany.

"So, what do you propose, how do you plan to set up this 'government in exile' until such time as you wish to proclaim a Russian state from either St Petersburg or Moscow?"

Struve responded. "We plan on a eight man committee. I will appoint three, Kerensky three more, Dainilov a seventh. We have agreed on a person to act as a spokesman. Someone not associated with the failures and corruptions of the White armies some 20 years ago, yet someone well connected, well educated, politically aware and articulate."
"Who do you have in mind?"
"This young man, George Pavlovich Ignatieff, will act as our spokesman and nominal head of government until such time elections can be called and/or we can definitively decide on a restoration or a republic."

Well, that was unexpected, he thought, although the exclusion of the SR's was not. He had expected as much, but there was political mileage to be gained from offering them a seat at the table. He concluded the meeting by asking for a list of concerns to be formulated and forwarded to the foreign ministry, as well as a proposed border map and basic constitution of a Russian state. Soon it would be time to return to Memel, as a brief renewed offensive beckoned with the ground likely to freeze enough to gain movement back from around the 13-15th November.

13 November 1941

Memel was not quite so pleasant at this time of year, but it was interesting to see what had so far transpired in terms of foreign volunteers, POW's, the Baltic States, the Ukraine and various Russian formations.

So far 4,019,510 POW's had been taken, 2,082,000 were in POW camps in Germany, Poland, Finland or Romania. 213,000 had died of wounds, cold sickness or exposure. 47,000 had been released to form the basis of a Ukrainian Army, 18,000 for a Latvian Army, 21,000 for an Estonian Army, 28,000 provisionally released for the Russian Liberation Army. 154,000 had been released as agricultural labourers in Germany, 61,000 more in Italy. 6,000 more had joined the Wehrmacht, many in the Brandenburgers or as translators. 18,000 more had been released back to Russia, mainly those permanently disabled. 246,000 were working as Hiwis on the Eastern Front. That left 860,000 men in inadequate conditions in Germany and 274,000 still in Russia. The sheer numbers had created a nightmare and more facilities were desperately needed and, in some cases, still being built, where a second 250,000 men facility on Rugen was under construction.

More POW's should be able to be released and their places taken by waiting men as the recruitment of Ukrainian Divisions had picked up, with a target of 6 Infantry Divisions, 1 Cavalry Division and 1 armoured Brigade, a 130,000 man force. So far, 56,000 places had been filled. Both Latvia and Estonia had offered to provide 2 Divisions for use on the Eastern Front and another for internal security, or a 50,000 men force each and so far both had recruited around half those numbers.

There were also plans in place to recruit Georgian, Armenian and Turkic formations, but these would take time. Time to talk to the men concerned, do a basic assessment of their reliability and the like. One thing that was not lacking in regards to these "Eastern" formations was equipment. Masses of Soviet equipment was available, from four engine bombers and cruisers to rifles and pistols.

Numbers of foreign volunteers were disappointing, in some ways not surprising as neutral countries were reluctant to see their citizens travel abroad to fight in foreign wars and did all within their power to prevent it. 3500 had been recruited in any case, allowing formation of a battalion of Yugoslavians(mainly Croatians and Slovenians), Dutch, Belgians, two battalions of Swiss/Lumemburgish/French, a Scandinavian battalion and a slightly understrength battalion of English speakers including 190 British, a surprising 86 Americans, 44 Irish and 80 Commonwealth.

Skoda had done a sterling job of conversions of captured Russian material, converting 1112 T-26 to APC's and providing 36 more with radios and changed turret cupolas, enough to create three mechanized divisions.

Tomorrow the advance would be renewed, the ground frozen solid in most areas. In Sevastopol and Moscow resistance continued, the Soviet air force paying a high price to keep Moscow partly supplied by air.

4 December 1941

The brief, almost three week long Southern offensive, despite achieving none of it's objectives aside from seemingly drawing Russian units away from the Moscow sector, had served to illustrate two points. Firstly, how drawn out and difficult his own supply lines had become, particularly in winter weather, despite all efforts to ameliorate the situation. Secondly, that the Soviets were also doing it tough. There were numerous reports of small unit surrenders and many of those captured had indicated that their own supply lines, especially in regards to food more than ammunition, were also feeling the strain.

As his own units had surged forward again in mid November, they had pierced the Soviet front line relativity quickly and had eventually been stopped only by the appearance of fresh units that intelligence indicated had come from the Moscow Front reserve. Gains had been made, Polish units capturing the city of Tambov, cutting South to create an encirclement near Borisoglebsk that was never completely closed but yielded 36,000 POW's, 68 functioning tanks and 292 guns. The advance had finally halted only 95 kilometers from Saratov. Further South, units had advanced past Sorovikino, some 95km from Stalingrad.

Both Saratov and Stalingrad had been the major objectives and neither had been taken, however, both were now only 100km from the front line, as was the vital Volga waterway. Discounting the winter weather, both Stalingrad itself and the vital Volga waterway were now well within range of tactical bombers. It had also brought Chelyabinsk into range of B-17's.

The situation in Moscow had also become clearer. Stalin was not in the capital and had evacuated to Kuibyshev, if the information of two captured senior officers was to be believed. As a consequence, some Luftwaffe units were dropping such propaganda leaflets to this effect on the Moscow defenders. His own units had pressed into the city's suburbs both in the South and East, compressing the defenders into a ten kilometre wide space inside the Moscow ring road.

January 1942

Well, there is was, one year gone and a new one loaded and ready to go. Would he ever get back to his own timeline? It sounded awful, but did he want to get back to his own timeline? Perhaps this was an alternate reality and not his work at all, in which case he was still at home, doing his usual thing, writing a few timelines for AH.com. The alternative did not bear thinking about.

The Russians had duly made their pre Moscow ploy, but had achieved no more than a 20km penetration at most on the flanks, penetrations that petered out in the face of heavy losses, losses his own forces had taken as well, unfortunately. They had deployed large numbers of T-34's, however, his own Leopards and the PaK 40, as well as 88's had firstly disrupted and eventually broken their attacks. To the North of Moscow, they have eventually been pushed back and had claimed only a 5km gain. To the South more like 15km.

The big news, however, had came out of the Far East, where Japan had received an approach from Stalin via Sweden. Thankfully, the Abwehr had it's on contacts in Sweden's diplomatic service. They were not flattering terms, the ones put forward by Japan, not quite a second 1918 but humiliating none the less.

They constituted:

1) A correction in the borders between the puppet state of Mengjiang and Mongolia to those claimed by Japan in the 1939 border war.
2) A correction in the borders between the Soviet Union and Manchukuo to reflect those claimed by Japan in the 1939 border dispute
3 ) All of Sakhalin and all of the Komandorskie Islands
4) A payment of 250tons of gold by way of recompense to Japan and as an apology and reparations for the 1938 and 1939 disputes.

The bad news was that this was all too likely to drag Soviet Far Eastern troops back to the European theatre if it was agreed. It would also serve to unblockade the Soviet Union's currently isolated Pacific ports. The IJN had savaged the Soviet Pacific Fleet, so it was no longer a factor.

There was, however, some good news. Tensions would still be high, so units would have to remain in the Far East. 250 tons represented a huge part of the Soviet gold reserve, made even more apparent by reports on the 22nd December that 100 tons of Soviet gold had been found hidden near Kiev. This had complimented the 20 tons recovered from St Petersburg. If Japan was to take 250 tons, that would reduce the Soviet's estimated 400-420 ton reserve to almost zero, taking into account the 45 tons of gold known to have been used so far to buy munitions and aircraft in the USA.

31 January 1942

He had slipped away from the birthday party and the small collection of rambunctious two year olds to his own study. It looked like his own daughter may follow his previous children in regards to height, already 94cm at age two. The constant need to greet people and the obsequious toadying of some, Goebbels wife in particular being a classic example, did not help matters as it became tiresome after a period of time. He had kept the man around for his personal loyalty and because of his turn of phrase. He was a master of the dark art of bullshit, much like a modern day lawyer, and in what was to some extent a propaganda war, that was a useful still. Similarly Hess, good old loyal Hess. A dreamer, not the sharpest tool in the shed, but loyal. As per his agreement with the late Kaiser, Louis Ferdinand would take over the role within five years, but he had taken steps in his own political will to ensure that would be the case immediately upon his own death, if that was to occur.

With the ground war inactive since the 18th January, and seemingly likely to remain so, it was now a case of trying to keep the pressure on via the air, when the weather so allowed. That and determine 1942 objectives, assuming the Soviet's held on, which seemed increasingly likely if the reports coming out of Sweden were correct.

The Japanese had suspended their own ground based operations in the Far East as early as the 12th January, almost certainly in response to the ongoing negotiations, even if they were keeping going with a furious air campaign. Telegrams had been flying back and forth via the Japanese embassy in Sweden, including one where the Soviets asked if Japan would accept 232 tons of gold and 18 tons of platinum instead of 250 tons of gold. They had answered in the affirmative on the 14th. Another message on the 28th had indicated that the Soviets were provisionally ready to accept Japan's terms. Today's message had been the latest. Japan would suspend all operations at 1800 on the 2nd February, not including operations on Sakhalin. Evacuations of Soviet troops and/or citizens and the placement of the gold and platinum in Japanese hands must be completed by the end of February, at which time a peace treaty could be signed.

It was unfortunate, and would make 1942 operations more difficult, even discounting the fact that there would still be a need to garrison the Far East, both against Japan changing her mind and to also maintain control. One thing the note of the 11th January did indicate was that the Soviet gold reserves were seemingly exhausted, hence the need to use platinum in place of gold.

His own forces had captured 100 tons at Kiev and 20 tons of gold and one of platinum at St Petersburg. Also among the items captured were a huge cache of art stored in bunkers underneath the old House of Soviets, almost the complete Hermitage collection. Other items had also been recovered, including the Amber Room for the Catherine Palace. The Soviets had spent 45 tons of gold on war materials in the U.S. Now 232 of gold to Japan and 18 platinum. If they had any reserves left, it was likely less than 10 tons.

The new Latvian and Estonian governments had written to the Swedish, Swiss, French and U.K governments to recover their own gold reserves, largely moved overseas prior to 1940. These could be used to restore their own countries and equip the fledgling armies.

Until a 1942 offensive could be launched, not likely before May, the pressure would have to be applied mainly from the air. Aside from Sevastopol and Moscow, this would involve raids on the main Soviet industrial hubs, namely Gorky's and Stalingrad's tank factories. These were now well within range of bombers and, for Stalingrad, the two 21 cm Kanone 12 in Eisenbahnlafette, were also adding their weight to the fire on the city, albeit inaccurately and at extreme range. When the weather improved, a B-17 raid on the tank factory at Chelyabinsk was also planned.

As for Moscow, air attacks and starvation would take their own toll, both cities suffering from some units beginning to defect, particularly in Moscow where large amounts on anti Stalin and anti Soviet propaganda were taking their toll on the will of many to resist.

Objectives for a 1942 campaign would be discussed at a meeting with OKW generals led by von Runstedt and Manstein next week, however, many objectives picked themselves. For Army Group Centre, Nizhny Novgorod. For the Far North, the completion of the capture of Lapland. However, most objectives lay to the South, where Army Group South and Army Group Black Sea would receive the largest boosts of men and material. Their objectives were self evident, Saratov, Stalingrad, Astrakhan and, eventually, Baku.

24 February 1942

Moscow had surrendered on the 20th. With very few NKVD troops left in the city(most had apparently followed Stalin to Kuybyshev), the Soviet commander Lt General Andrey Vlasov had surrendered the city, marching parts of three Soviet armies, 378,000 men, 29 functioning tanks and 923 guns into captivity.

At a stroke it would release a huge amount of men from Army Group Centre and relieve the Luftwaffe of the need to make what had been constant sorties to attack the city, all of which were prone to cause attrition in the winter weather. It was some of the best news so far of the campaign, and, with Stalin seemingly ready to engage in a peace deal with the Japanese within a few weeks, it would be a demoralizing blow for the Soviet regime.

The announcement of a new Russian government could now be delayed until mid March and be announced, not from St Petersburg, but from the Kremlin itself. As for Vlasov, knowing full well his activity OTL, he had asked for the man to be brought back to Berlin as soon as possible.

10 March 1942

With 120 tons of Soviet gold secured, as well as the Hermitage art collection and now the contents of the armoury in the Kremlin, which also contained 2 tons of gold, the need to feed more plunder into the Germany economy was all too real. Not for nothing had the original Hitler been called "the country poacher." The sad fact of the matter was that fighting the war itself was enormously expensive now that another years campaign loomed it was like a game of jenga, hoping not to collapse the economic tower.

Hence the 75 tons of gold and two of platinum from Japan would prove useful. With the Baltic cleared and the Black Sea closed to German warships, there was only the weak Soviet Northern Fleet to contend with. Losses taken so far had reduced that to seven destroyers and a handful of submarines. It had been one of the biggest military hardware sales ever. The battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gniesenau, the 16 remaining Type 35 and Type 37 torpedo boats, 18 minesweepers, 15 S Boats, the liner Gniesenau and her sister Scharnhorst, which was already in Japan, four tankers full of oil from the Baltic Fleet storage and twenty Fw-200 aircraft.

It would probably piss the U.S, in particular, off, however, two poorly designed and underarmed battlecruisers were no use to Germany at the moment, any more than 16 torpedo boats that also suffered from reliability issues. Battleships were not the future and in any war with the U.S or colonial powers the ships would likely only end up on the bottom of the Pacific in any case. A modern navy could be built post war, assuming a win. In case of a loss, there would be no need for a navy at all.

For Japan, it was not hard to see the attraction. With their U.S assets frozen and an oil embargo in place, a confrontation was almost assured. A seizure of the Dutch East Indies would also bring in at least the U.K, who would consider it an intolerable threat to Singapore. With limited time to complete their own massive naval programmes, these ships represented part of the Japanese Circle 5 Program right now. The irony was, that with three former Panzerschliffe in the Dutch East Indies, German ships could end up fighting each other.

The peace treaty had been signed between Japan and the USSR on the 6th, the ships and aircraft purchased on the 8th. Now, 1942 beckoned. It promised to be the decisive year. At least the Russians had accepted his proposal and George Ignatieff would declare a "new Russian state" in Moscow on the 20th. He had been directing every available train to the city, incoming trains to bring food for the populace and his own troops, outgoing to bring back POW's. This had been mainly accomplished by sea transport to St Petersburg, than rail to Moscow.

24 March 1942

The meeting with Boris III had drawn a Bulgarian promise to provide an extra two Infantry Divisions for the 1942 Eastern Front campaign. It was like pulling teeth and, with 360,000 losses, Germany would likely field less Infantry Divisions in 1942 than 1941, so extra boots on the ground were useful. Of course, with Army Group North's mission largely completed, many of it's units and those German forces involved in the Finnish campaign could be pushed South, actually bolstering the other three Army Groups.

The railway station at Svilengrad had been closed off for the meeting, the first he had personally with Turkish President Mustafa İsmet İnönü. İnönü had expressed his reservations about Italy and her Mediterranean "Mare Nostrum" and also in regards to Germany's potential control of the Caucasus.

He had gone over Germany and Turkey's lengthy association and friendship and the blood split fighting on the same side on the Great War. He then went onto the Warsaw Pact and it's ambitions in the Soviet Union, in particular, Germany's lack of ambitions. In regards to Italy, he stated that he considered that the Warsaw Pact itself may well prove to be a handbrake on Italy's ambitions. It was a defensive alliance, not designed to assist members who initiated wars. If Turkey was to join, she would be theoretically guaranteed protection, as her borders would be guaranteed by other Pact countries. The only other option was to stand alone or join Britain's small alliance, which included her arch enemy, Greece.

Joining the Warsaw Pact would also give Turkey a chance to finally remove the threat that had always lingered over her, Stalin's USSR, much like the shadow of the Russian Empire had always lingered over the Ottomans. With the Caucasus split into smaller republics, Turkey's Eastern border would at last be safe. If she became a member of the Warsaw Pact, her Western and Southern fronts would likewise be secure.

İnönü had proven to be a difficult man to negotiate with, a man seemingly unwilling to commit, probably as a result of the Great War experiences. He had declared the Turkish Army "wholly unprepared for war". It was not until the following day, the 25th, that he had finally signed a secret protocol. If Warsaw Pact forces were to reach Astrakhan or the Caspian Sea, Turkey would join the Warsaw Pact and exercise her claims to the area that he had submitted to İnönü, namely the Nakhchivan region. İnönü had negotiated a slight widening the corridor near Sadark and a small strip of land South of Batum, in addition. However, he had refused to consider advancing any further than the territories that would be claimed by Turkey, finally agreeing in addition to advance and capture Batum for "security reasons." It was a disappointing outcome, but would have to stand as it was, as clearly İnönü would not be moved. He had, at least agreed to step up chromium production and exports and lower the price by some ten percent. In return, Germany had agreed to purchase more Turkish tobacco.

As he boarded the train the following day, his thoughts were back to the Eastern Front and the 1942 offensive, the need to hit the Caspian Sea now even more important. For it had occurred that just because he was aware the Turks had a "stop line" for their territorial expansion did not mean the Soviets would be quite so aware.

April 1942

Allocations of units and objectives for the 1942 offensive, Case Blau, had began two months ago. The objectives, aside from Nizhny Novgorod for Army Group Centre, were all in the South and his forces had been repositioned to reflect this. There were actually a few less German Infantry Divisions than 1941, but more mechanised and armored. He had created 4 mechanized divisions using captured Soviet APC's, T-26's with an occasional T-28. Two extra armoured divisions had also been created, the last, the 26th, using captured Soviet BT-7's. This had been dispatched to Finland.

In a rearrangement of forces away from Army Group North, he had dissolved Heinrichi's Army, the 10th, and placed the General in charge of the larger 6th Army in Army Group South. Army Group South had also been transferred Hoepner's powerful Panzergruppe 4, as well as von Richtofen's ground attack Luftflotte 7, as well as von Kluge's 4th Army, although von Kluge had been promoted to command of Army Group Black Sea. Manstein had been given command of Army Group South, which were going to be doing most of the offensive work in the coming summer.

Army Group Black Sea Italian Forces had been heavily reinforced, from 3 divisions to 10. A new Army, the 11th, had been formed from the former forces used in Finland and allocated to Army Group Black Sea. Finally, his four mechanized divisions had been paired with three Panzer Divisions to make a new Panzergruppe 6 under von von Senger und Etterlin. The 11th Army was still waiting for a commander.

Draft operational unit allocations, Case Blau

Commander in Chief East: von Runstedt
Chief of Staff: Halder

Army Group North(von Leeb)
Baltic Army: 2 Lithuanian Inf Div, 2 Latvian Inf Div, 2 Estonian Inf Div
16th Army(Busch): 8 German Inf Div
18th Army(Kuchler): 8 German Inf Div
Reserves: 3 German Sec Div

Luftflotte 1(Keller)

Army Group Centre(von Bock)
9th Army(Strauss): 14 German Inf Div
12th Army(Vietingoff): 8 German Inf Div
Panzergruppe 2(Guderian): 5 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div, 2 German Cav Div, 2 German Inf Div
Panzergruppe 3(Hoth): 4 German Panzer Div, 4 German Mot Div, 2 German Inf Div
1st Polish Army(J.Rommel): 13 Polish Inf Div
2nd Polish Army(Kutrzeba): 12 Polish Inf Div, 2 Polish Mtn Div
Panzergruppe Poland(E.Rommel): 1 Polish Arm Div, 6 Polish Cav Div, 2 German Arm Div
Reserves: 1 German Inf Div, 1 Polish Inf Div, 4 German Sec Div

Polish Air Force
Luftflotte 2(Kesselring)
Army Group South(von Manstein)
4th Army(): 13 German Inf Div
11th Army(Scholberg): 10 German Inf Div
6th Army(Heinrichi): 11 German Inf Div
Panzergruppe 1(von Kliest): 5 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div
17th Army(von Stulpnagel): 10 German Inf Div, 1 German Mtn Div
2nd Hungarian Army: 3 Hungarian Inf Div, 1 Hungarian Mot Div, 1 Hungarian Cav Div
4th Panzergruppe(Hoepner): 4 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div, 2 German Inf Div
Slovakian Corps: 2 Slovakian Inf Div, 1 Slovakian Cav Brigade
Reserves: 2 Hungarian Inf Div, 2 German Sec Div

Luftflotte 4(von Griem)
Hungarian Air Force
Luftflotte 7(von Richtoffen)

Army Group Black Sea(von Kluge)
Romanian 3rd Army(Dumitnescu): 6 Romanian Inf Div, 2 Romanian Mtn Div, 1 Romanian Cav Div
Italian Expeditionary Army: 1 Italian Arm Div, 3 Italian Inf Div, 2 Italian Mot Div, 1 Italian Cav Div
Romanian 4th Army(Crueorea): 9 Romanian Inf Div
14th Army(von Salmuth): 6 German Inf Div, 4 Bulgarian Inf Div
Panzergruppe 5(Model): 2 German Panzer Div, 2 German Mot Div, 1 Romanian Arm Div, 1 Romanian Cav Div
11th Army: 6 German Inf Div, 2 German Mtn Div,
Panzergruppe 6(von Senger und Etterlin): 3 German Arm Div, 4 German Mech Div
Reserves: 4 German Sec Div

Luftflotte 6(Kammhuber)
Romanian Air Force
Italian Air Expeditionary Force

OKW Reserve:
1 German Mtn Div, 18 German Inf Div(inc 1 Spain, 4 W.Russ), 2 German Para Div

Finnish Command(Mannerheim)
15 Finnish Inf Div, 1 Finnish Cav Div, 1 German Arm Div

Luftflotte 5(Stumpff)
Finnish Air Force

T-28APC(can carry 14 men)

Edit Delete Report

April 1942

In regards to AFV's, since October, losses excluding halftracks and APC's had been 1312, whilst new production had amounted to 2633. This had given him the chance to withdraw many older vehicles of limited effectiveness, as well as create two new Panzer Divisions, albeit one using captured BT-7's. Currently the divisions on the Eastern Front had reported their numbers of panzers to be less than two hundred below strength and this should be brought up to full strength before the planned 22 May 1942 offensive.

The remaining 181 Panzer I's had been withdrawn, allocated in a few cases to Security Divisions, but mainly for driver training tanks. 98 T-28's had been given to Romanian forces, 100 BT-5's to Finnish, and all remaining 328 Panzer II's had been withdrawn to Germany for conversion to Wespe self propelled guns, many now reappearing with Panzer units on the front under this guise.

Ex Soviet vehicles had found a use, 156 T-27/37/38 tanks being converted to ammunition carriers, 1208 T-26's to armoured personnel carriers, as well as 62 T-28's. Currently 16 T-35's were undergoing conversion to 150mm self propelled guns.

AFV numbers on the Eastern Front were estimated at 29 Panzer II Flamm, 62 Panzer III, 100 Pz 38t, 100 Panzer IV. In addition there were the new types, 1210 Panzer V Cheetahs, 2040 Panzer VI Leopards and 120 Panzer VII Lions, 60 JPz Ferdinand.

The newer, more capable tanks now predominated and after a lull this last three months, his Panzer divisions reported good operational availability. Generally, his tanks still maintained a comfortable technical superiority over the Soviet T-34, despite it's up gunning to the longer 76mm gun as standard. Many T-34's were still without radios, which hampered the ability of units to communicate, and the 75mm KwK 40 was enough to penetrate all tanks except the most heavily armoured KV's.

Despite a high cost in heavy bombers and escort fighters, he had ordered the Luftwaffe to go after the Soviet tank factories, particularly Stalingrad, only some 100km behind the front line, in the hope that when summer 1942 dawned, he would have parity or superiority in tank numbers.

May 1942

The coming of summer found the Luftwaffe in an even more improved situation than ever before. Aircraft production had comfortably outstripped losses, the fact that there was no Mediterranean or Western Front a huge boon in terms of maintaining aircraft numbers. In fact, production had totalled 6411 machines in the last six months, as opposed to losses of 2521. Only in long range bombers had the losses been damaging and 36 more B-17E’s had been ordered and delivered, paid for in former Soviet gold.

Many types had been retired from Luftwaffe service, namely the Do-17. Even the He-111 was being phased out. He had stuck by his previous policy of ruthless standardisation. Fighters currently in production were the Me-109F, He-100D3, Fw-190A2 and the Me110. Changes, however, were afoot. The He-219 had first flown in April and had been picked as a partial replacement for the 110. Dornier’s Do-335 had reached pre production stage and would shortly replace the He-100.

I regard to bombers, the Do-217 and the Ju-88 were the standard types, with the four engine Me-264, a not entirely satisfactory aircraft, but with little option, it had just commenced production at a low level in early May. The only other four engine type remained the U.S purchased B-17’s.

The old “Auntie Ju’s” still formed the mainstay of the transport squadrons, although both the Ju-290 and Me-323 was almost ready to enter production. Also an aircraft with limitations, it would at least assist in logistics as his supply lines again became longer. The Fw-190 was still the main reconnaissance machine.

Jet aircraft were still some way off, an engine that had a shelf life of at least 40-50 hours being required before production could realistically be authorized. Despite all the hullaballo about Hitler "delaying" production of the Me-262, the reality was that series production before 1944 was impossible, as the technical problems of the Junkers Jumo 004 had not been resolved until March 1944 and it's competitor, the more efficient BMW003, which was the original designated engine for the 262, was not ready until mid 1944. The third engine, the Heinkel 011, had never even really gotten off the drawing board. Jets would not be able to assist in this war on the Eastern Front, since it seemed likely that the current year would be decisive.

Luftwaffe squadrons had actually increased in the last six months and, as Army Group North had had it’s assets stripped, the Southern Luftflotte had gained strength for the coming campaign.
One thing that the surplus of aircraft had enabled was foreign sales, with almost 280 aircraft sold to Poland, 150 more to Romania, 140 to Hungary, 90 to Finland and small numbers to Lithuania and Slovakia. Some biplanes that were formerly used for training had been given to Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine. Even taking into account these sales, an extra two Geschwader had been allocated to each of the four Luftflotte that would see the most combat, those allocated to Army Group Centre and Army Group South.

10 May 1942

Sevastopol had finally fallen on the 8th, with another 102,000 prisoners, after a final assault preceded by a naval, air and artillery bombardment of increasing ferocity. Russian destroyers had attempted to intervene, but had been driven off by the Romanian navy and the ex German Prinz Eugen. The Soviets seemed reluctant to send larger ships to intervene. This would remove the final stronghold behind Warsaw Pact lines and allow the maximum number of forces to be available for a 1942 campaign, now scheduled for a 25th May commencement.

The interlude afforded by 15 weeks of relative inactivity on the Eastern Front had allowed for the remainder of Soviet POW's to be transferred back to Germany, whilst at the same time recruitment for Russian Liberation Army troops from said POW camps had been strong, surprisingly strong in fact. Vlasov, much like the OTL Vlasov, had proven more than amenable in terms of collaboration in the formation of a larger Russian Liberation Army. Two divisions had already been formed and enough men had been released to form four more, which was currently in progress. This had released 82,000 men from camps and recruitment for the Ukrainian army had released 25,000 more.

It was only a week until an intense air offensive was due to be launched again Soviet ground targets in preparation for the commencement of land operations in 1942.

10 June 1942

He was back in Memel and the war had again become mobile, Panzers breaking through and advancing after some hard fighting to within 35km of Saratov and the Volga. The Soviets had already lost 12,000 men from the encircled 363rd Infantry Division and were throwing everything possible in the way of the advance by von Kleist and Hoepner’s Panzergruppe.

Army Group Centre had started their offensive on the 2nd, so far achieving only a 10km advance against fierce resistance. Army Group Black Sea had so far waited, however, tomorrow they would take the initiative themselves. Some Soviets units had been drawn away for the bolstering of the crumbling position in front of Saratov, the Soviets only too well aware of what German 88mm guns flanking the Volga would mean for it’s vital water traffic.

Model’s 5th Panzergruppe, supported by Graziani’s Italian Expeditionary Corps and the 11th Army, would make for Stalingrad. They would be supported by Hoepner’s Panzergruppe, which would cut South in an attempt to encircle the Soviets troops in a pocket North-west of Stalingrad. The rest of Army Group Black Sea, led by the powerful 6th Panzergruppe, itself reinforced by White Russian infantry, would cut South and South-East, their objectives the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus.

By the 19th, the situation for the Soviets had become precarious, as the German’s controlling the air, had been able to again achieve a mobile environment, the Soviets largely reacting to their movements. Saratov had been reached on the 17th, fighting taking place in the city , Hopener’s Panzergruppe cutting South. Model had been cutting North, taking the steam out of the advance on Stalingrad, but threatening to encircle the Soviet 21st and 6th Armies.

Army Group Black Sea had exploded out of it’s own lines, advancing 130km in nine days, capturing the town of Lista, almost directly South of Stalingrad and only 220km from Astrakhan. Romanian forces had turned South, making less progress, but still gaining over 35 kilometres, nearing Tikhoretsk as they threatened Krasnodar and Stavropol.

By the 19th, bitter fighting from Army Group Centre had taken them to within 40km of the city of Vladimir, itself less than 200km from Nizhny Novgorod. The main effort was not to be made by Army Group Centre, however, and their advance would stop at Vladimir, all logistical efforts going towards the support of the two Southern Army Groups.

2 July 1942

The advances achieved so far had not been the spectacular, rolling success that seemingly occurred every day in the 1941 campaign. The Soviets had seemingly learned lessons from the debacles of 1941, not allowing themselves to be surrounded, aside from what had constituted a disaster for them to the North-east of Stalingrad.

Manstein had judged it best to take the opportunity to destroy the Red Army in the field as a first priority rather than take ground and had subordinated the assault on Stalingrad to achieve the aim of surrounding two and a half Soviet armies in a large pocket centred on the village of Olhovkha. This would surrender on the 9th July, yielding 432,000 prisoners, 216 functioning tanks and 766 guns.

Fighting still raged in Saratov, however, his forces were gradually taking control of the city, the Russians clinging only to a thin strip of land, attempting to reinforce their forces from the city of Engels on the opposite bank. In fact, his forces had advanced to the Volga on a 200km front between Saratov itself South to the village of Suvodskaya, some 85 km North of Stalingrad. Heinrichi’s 11th Army had reached to within 30km of Stalingrad itself, near the village of Prudboy.

Army Group Centre had ground their way forward, reaching Vladimir on the 28th and engaging Soviet forces in a ferocious battle for control of the city itself. To the NorthEast of Moscow, Petrovskoye had been reached, some 75km from Yaroslavl.

In the South, Army Group Black Sea had also achieved good gains. Utta, some 105km east of Elista, had fallen to the 16th Panzer Division only this morning. It was only some 100km from Astrakhan and less than 80km from cutting the Baku-Astrakhan railway line.

Romanian Forces and von Salmuth’s 14th Army were also pushing South, Krasnodar falling on the 28th June, Stavropol on the 30th and Maikop threatened. The Soviet Black Sea fleet was also under threat, two of it’s remaining five ports, Novorossiysk and Tuapse being threatened.

Appearances from the older Soviets tanks, like the BT-7 and T-26, had dropped away, the dominant Soviet tank now seemingly the T-34, now all with the longer 76mm gun. These, along with the KV, formed most of the Soviet tanks now encountered, although a new light tank, the T-70, had seen some service.

The Red Air Force had also proven to be more active than in late 1941, although the Luftwaffe had still proven to be it’s match, in quality if not in quantity and, in most theatres, air superiority had still been able to be gained.

In the Far North, another attempt to cut the Mumansk railway and capture most of Karelia and Murmansk itself to commence on the 4th.

31 July 1942

The redeployment of Hoepner’s Panzergruppe to Army Group Black Sea was due to be completed by the 6th August and it was hoped that this would accelerate the push South when completed. Fighting had commenced in Stalingrad on the 25th, initial gains being rapid, however, this had slowed in the face of heavy resistance. Hopefully the city would not be as large a meat grinder as had occurred OTL.

Saratov had been captured, 22,000 prisoners being taken and Army Group South had captured ground on the Volga up to 20km North of the city itself, joining Army Group Centre which had pushed South of Moscow as far East as Nizhny Lomov.

In the Caucasus, Maikop had fallen on the 9th, Navorossisyk on the 19th and finally Tuapse on the 28th. Further inland, Pyatigorsk had been taken on the 26th. 6th Panzergruppe had reached Liman on the 26th, cutting the rail line from Baku, two days later they had reached Lagan on the Caspian Sea. Further to the North, forces were within 25km of cutting the Volga South of Stalingrad.
On the 30th, Turkish forces had crossed the border, taking Sadarak to the East and Rapidly advancing to Batum on the Black Sea coast, capturing some Black Sea fleet ships that had been damaged and immobilised in the port and were unseaworthy.

He glanced down at the report, from the 4th Mechanised Division.

“31 July 1942

Lead elements of the divisions were approaching the village of Trusovo when a large Soviet barrage commenced, seemingly initially dropping somewhat short of our ‘beetle’ APC’s. Recon company 238 initially assumed that that shells used were perhaps armour piercing, as they did not seem to fully explode upon contact with the ground.

Increasing artillery fire commenced dropping around other elements of the division, without any immediate effect, although some men reported a brownish gas and a smell similar to flowers. A number of exposed men felt almost immediate pain and itching with a rash and swelling. Large, fluid-filled blisters developed on many men some hours later, diagnosed as severe chemical burns.

Many others reported burning pain, sneezing, coughing, vomiting, and possibly bleeding from the mouth and, in some more severe cases, the ears. Some of these were fatal, others had resulted in blindness, either temporary of permanent was currently unknown.

He scanned down to the final two paragraphs. Von Mackensen had withdrawn the 4th Mechanized back 8 miles to regroup. “British military observer Captain William Sidney was amongst the fatal casualties, as witnessed by one of his own officers.”

Well fuck. That had added a new dimension to things.

2 August 1942

Dyhernfurt, Germany

For Max Keller, work at the plant had been routine since it had become fully operational in March. Nothing went in or out of the large complex, finished product was simply stockpiled. The three triple engine Reichsbahn trains had arrived early on the 1st. Care had of course been taken in the loading of the cargo, bright red painted shells and, for the third train, standard grey 500lb bombs with red noses.

It was not until the darkness of the early morning on the 2nd that the trains themselves, fully loaded, moved out of the factory and through the outer twenty foot high wire gates. He had heard one of the drivers indicate that they had been cleared completely through to Moscow on an express route.

Max shivered inwardly. He had seen what "the stuff" could do from just two small spills.

Southwark, London, U.K

Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort sat in his study after another sleepless night. His daughter Yvonne had lost her husband, his granddaughter fatherless. His words to Ironside had been driven by rage and he regretted calling him a "fucking coward," however, the fact remained that he was correct. Britain needed to intervene now, much like she had in Russia in 1918-20. A failure to do so was tacit support for Stalin and if the Soviet regime was to collapse, Britain needed a seat and a voice at the table. A voice that would allow for the punishment of those that broke the 1926 Geneva Protocol, such as the Lewisite attack that had killed his son-in-law.

6 August 1942

Walther Hess rose to address the assembly of the League. “It is with a sad and bitter heart I must report that Germany has violated the Geneva accords which she had agreed to abide by in 1926 in relation to the use of chemical weapons in warfare. I must point out that this has been in response to Bolshevik first use of such weapons in the vicinity of Astrakhan a week previous.

The use of such weapons had always been against the wishes of the German Army and our Fuhrer himself, as long have we regarded such weapons as being the handiwork of the unscrupulous, those who are prepared to sacrifice their own humanity to achieve their goals. It is a regrettable fact, however, that a failure to respond to such barbaric means of warfare can simply lead to your opponent thinking that you cannot respond. This can itself lead to further attacks.

In what I am sure was an immensely difficult decision, our Fuhrer, may whom the Lord protect, authorised the limited release of such chemical weapons on two military only targets on the front of Army Group Centre. I would like to take this opportunity to say that Germany can provide a concrete undertaking that any future use of such weapons will not be authorised unless our troops or the troops of our allies, fighting a just war to remove the threat of Communist aggression, are again attacked by either chemical or biological weapons.

Germany would also like to express her sympathy to the family of murdered British officer Captain William Sidney. Please note that this is statement only and I am not in a position to answer questions.”

The room dissolved into chaos.

6 August 1942

This was not warfare, though Major General Kurt Feldt. His 1st Cavalry Division had been authorised to follow the Panzers later in the day. Everywhere, men in protective suits were stacking up bodies like firewood, which were then burnt, petrol poured over the bodies to provide ignition. Clouds of thick, black smoke permeated the area and the reek was quite unbelievable. His horses were not allowed to leave the main road for ten km past the start point.

The Soviet 90th Rifle Division had simply ceased to exist, the 113rd Rifle Division on it’s Northern Flank, despite not being directly attacked, had killed it’s political officers and an NKVD detachment and either surrendered or deserted, some men had drowned in the Klyazma River, afraid that German Jabo’s had also been carrying chemical weapons.

A week ago Army Group Centre had been static, now it again advanced, the road to Nizhny Novgorod, some 160 km distant, now completely open. On the following day Warsaw pact forces, idle for eight days, resumed their advance, aided in the South by Hoepner’s redeployed Panzergruppe.

31 August 1942

Zhukov picked up the telephone, it was Peter Lozgachev. Apparently Stalin had suffered a stroke and had been found the following morning in his urine soaked pyjamas, unable to speak coherently. He had been requested to go to the villa just outside Kuybyshev.

Yesterday’s meeting had not been a pleasant experience, even though it followed the usual pattern of a late night American Western movie and large amounts of drinking. He picked up the telephone, Mekhils answering almost immediately. “We are ready to move forward” were his only words. Both 2nd Guards Tank and 13th Guards Rifle were within 10km of the city centre, elements of 13th Guard Rifle less than 3km from Stalin’s Dacha. They should be in a position to cut it off completely from all communications within the hour.

It was not only himself that he feared for, it was the Rodina itself. The British landing at Arkhangelsk on the 26th and the skirmish with the Soviet Northern Fleet that had resulted in the sinking of the old battleship Malaya in exchange for four Soviet destroyers and two submarines had been the final straw, as had the cutting of supply through Persia. The British would not withdraw now, they were committed, especially after that sort of loss and Stalin was set on using chemical weapons again, despite initially ordering the execution of Major General Paul Pavlovich for the release of Lewisite near Astrakhan without orders.

He had been called to see Stalin to account for the 1942 “failures” of his defensive campaign. Lev Mekhils likewise to account for NKVD units failing to prevent the desertion of some front line troops, particularly on the Moscow front. Whilst he did not trust Mekhils, he did trust his survival instinct.

The Germans had steadily pushed forward in August, making use of mechanized forces and air superiority in the South. Stalingrad had fallen on the 24th, whilst further to the South Astrakhan had fallen on the 16th, Grozny on the 28th. The Germans had also crossed the Volga and entered Engels on the 20th, counter attacks failing to eradicate the bridgehead. In Georgia partisan anti-communist bands had been active since July. Things were no better on the Moscow front, where German troops had advanced to Dzerhinsk, only some 20km from Nizhny Novgorod, with German advance elements almost at the city itself. North of Moscow, Yaroslavl was also threatened.

In the Far North, Finnish troops had broken through with German armour support and reached Minkhino, on the opposite bank of the Kolskay Zal from Murmansk. The British had occupied Arkhangelsk and the village of Tetrino on the other side of the White Sea.

It was time to try and salvage what could be saved before the Japanese decided to renew hostilities in the Far East. The League of Nations had passed a motion to censure Germany earlier in the month, but it had been no coincidence that the United Kingdom had failed to support such a motion, which had barely passed at all. Diplomatic successes could no longer help Stalin’s USSR any more than the large overdose he had arranged to be administered to Stalin last night of Warfarin could help the dictator. Zhdanov, still sleeping off last night, would be dead within the hour. Voroshilov, would be executed on the spot by Mekhils men at his city apartment. Kaganovich was in the Caucasus. Kosygin was already on side.

6 September 1942

The last three days had seen rapidly increasing gains as the Soviets appeared to be disintegrating. Army Group Centre had taken Nizhy Novgorod in the face of limited resistance, two divisions simply surrendering in place, laying down their arms with barely a shot fired.

Likewise, the Soviets had withdrawn from Engels, pulling back and letting the army establish a large bridgehead on the Eastern bank of the Volga and in the far South his forces had dashed forward and were now less than 200km from Baku at Kasplysk, the remainder of Army Group Black Sea entrenched firmly on the Southern flank of the Caucuses.

There were unconfirmed rumours everywhere, however, it was not until late on the 5th September that a delegation that included General Mikhail Vasilevsky had arrived at Manstein’s headquarters near the village of Kotovo. They claimed to represent the Russian Union and Grand Marshal Georgi Zhukov. Stalin had apparently been deposed and had died, it was unclear as to whether that had been of natural causes or not. Many of his associates had also been removed. As a sign of good faith, they had delivered General Grigory Ivanovich Kulik, who was claimed to be the architect of the chemical attack on German troops. Perhaps more importantly, they wished to negotiate a ceasefire in place and to begin talks on the future of “a Russian state.” Now that was something.

Final Front Line(Black)

8 September 1942

It had been a hastily arranged conference and he had come to Lvov a day earlier than the formal Warsaw Pact meeting to meet with Beck and Skladkowski. Both had presented Poland's point of view, which seemed mainly concerned with keeping her gains of the war.

He had thought long and hard about the best way to deal with the situation. Zhukov had complied with his initial demands, that Russian troops withdraw eight miles from Warsaw Pact troops, who would themselves remain fixed in position and that all air and naval units from both sides remain grounded and/or in port.

There were a number of agenda items that would have to be addressed. Firstly, the territorial changes that had been promised to his Warsaw Pact allies would have to be obtained. There could be no negotiation on those points.

Secondly, the formation of a Ukrainian state. He had drawn up rough borders and shown them to Melnyk, however, there could be some adjustments negotiated. After all, he had drawn a "large" Ukraine, including many areas not part of the former Ukrainian SSR, such as the Crimea.

Thirdly, and probably by far the most difficult, how to try and merge the two distinct groups, Zhukov's rebels, who he had no idea whether they called themselves "Communist" any more or not, and Ignatieff's White Russians. Would there be a need to create two states, a "white" European Russia and a "red" Asian one? At the moment there was too little information to gain an answer to that one.

Fourthly, the Baltic States. There would be broad popular support for their restoration, even from France, so that should be an easy one.

Fifthly, the Caucuses. The fact that Turkey had joined the war when his own forces had reached Astrakhan, cutting off a number of Soviet troops in the Caucasus, had greatly strengthened his hand here, as had the localized anti Soviet revolts that had sprung up like mushrooms in the last two weeks. This should not be hard to sell. All of these entities had been independent in the years post 1917 as national entities. All had been crushed by the Soviets towards the end of the civil war.

After detaching Nakhchivan to Turkey, that left obvious national states including Armenia(as the old First Republic of Armenia), which the Turks were sure to pitch a fit about but they would have to like it or lump it if they wished to gain anything. Then Azerbaijan as a successor to the old Azerbaijani Republic, Georgia as a successor to the Georgian Kingdom/Democratic Republic of Georgia(although the problem with what to do with Ossetia and Abkhazia remained) and finally the former Mountainous Republic of the Caucasus, which encompassed the smaller areas of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Alania and the like.

Establishing these would have a certain legitimacy and could easily be seen as merely establishing the stats quo in regions that had already previously voted to leave Russia years before. The British and French, who wanted to attend the meeting with the Soviets, could hardly object to this. In fact, for both, it promised easier access to Baku oil, so it represented a strategic improvement, particularly for British interests in Persia.

Lastly, there was the question of the Central Asian SSR's. The reality was, that if Zhukov said no, there would be little option to carry on and fight a 1943 campaign. It was not a comforting thought. At the moment his troops were thousands of miles from these areas and had little capacity to influence events there. It was better to let sleeping dogs lie and offer these as a concession.

Then there was the question of reparations. In truth, it was a war he had started and there must not be another Versailles. The best option seemed to be to tie Russia into a series of trade agreements that ensured access to Russian raw materials, benefiting Germany and Warsaw Pact countries but assisting Russia to. Reparations could consist of former Soviet war material, which would guard against a Russian military build up in the foreseeable future.

10 September 1942

As expected, the previous day's Warsaw Pact meeting had gone largely to plan, except that Italy was now, of course, pressing for him to support her claims to some of Yugoslavia's Adriatic Islands now that peace has seemingly broken out. It was something he would have to try and do, but it could at least be placed on the backburner for now, as peace as such had not yet truly arrived. The Pact had voted to admit the new Republics of Latvia and Estonia as full members, and at the same time confirm Turkey as a full member, bringing membership up to 13 if one counted Albania, which was essentially a puppet state. It now consisted of Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Albania. Turkey had raised the expected objections in relation to Armenia, but, joining the war so late, their position was very weak so in the finish they acquiesced.

His meeting with Anthony Eden had been less productive. There was something about Eden that set his teeth on edge right from the start, not least of which was his enormous sense of entitlement. With his upper crust accent and manner of superiority, he was the sort of guy that set your teeth on edge. He had dismissed his own translator and talked in English himself, effecting a thick Australian accent and a common manner of speech that he knew would get up Eden's nose. Britain had been the Johnny come lately, occupying one isolated city. yet to talk to Eden, one would assume they were a controlling partner in a major alliance. Eden had been adamant that Finland were receiving too much Russian territory, probably concerned post war about the U.K's ability to trade through Northern Russia. Eden had indicated that this would be completely unacceptable to Britain, however, he had indicated that it was already a fait accompli, something agreed by all Pact countries. and not only could not but would not be changed

Thankfully, in terms of the independence of the Caucasus countries, both British and Pact policy was the creation of separate entities. For Britain, this creation of "buffer" states would wipe out Russian influence in Persia, giving Britain a free hand and would be likely help Britain's influence in Azerbaijan and it's oil wells as well. Eden had been in favour of setting up buffer states in Central Asia as well and to be honest he was not opposed, but to gain a peace treaty some things would have to be given as well as taken and this seemed one of the most likely trade offs. Things were taking on a life of their own where in Tiblisi Prince Petre dze Bagrationi Gruzinsky had already been declared King of a "New Georgian State". South of Astrakhan large numbers of former Soviet units had simply walked away from their heavy equipment and surrendered to the nearest Warsaw Pact forces, thinking they would obtain better treatment as POW's rather than trying to fight local insurgents. It was important to take control of the situation rather than let it control them.

Eden favoured a unified Russia, where as he himself was not opposed to a "two Russia" split, although the attendant likely instability of such an arrangement also mitigated against it. It would likely also require a constant military presence for years to prop up such a state against incursions from a "Red" Eastern Russia, if there was a two state split, an expensive proposition, both economically and, if it hit the fan, in terms of lives. It was not hard to see through Eden's stance. A unified Russia would, or at least could in time, provide a power block that would counterbalance the Warsaw Pact itself. Churchill's influence was clearly becoming stronger as, much like himself, the British favoured the removal of communism. This may be a hard objective, as Zhukov was seemingly a committed communist, although he clearly did not agree with Stalin and OTL had wanted an Orthodox burial. It remained to be seen which way the wind would blow there. He had a secret meeting with Zhukov tomorrow, before a full meeting on the 12th. The White Russians would also be present, in what promised to be an "interesting" meeting.

11 September 1942

The two Russians were shown in, Zhukov and General Vasily Sokolovsky. It was a sparsely populated room, consisting of only Ignatieff, Kerensky and Struve, two guards and his own translator, since his knowledge of Russian did not go beyond individual words. After the usual greeting he started:

"I thank you all for coming, let me first go over the military realities of the situation, I do this not for vainglorious reasons, just so we all have a firm grasp of the obvious. Warsaw Pact forces, now consisting of 13 separate countries, have been involved in a campaign in Russia against Stalin's former dictatorship. We have succeed in occupying all of Russia West of the Volga aside from the cities of Ulyanovsk and Samara. In addition Warsaw Pact forces have reached the Caspian Sea, cutting off the Caucasus. In the last week almost 670,000 former Soviet troops have surrendered there. Russia has been cut off from her supplies of oil, her Northern and Black Sea ports completely occupied and 8 or her 10 tank production factories occupied, the remaining two, Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk now within bomber range.

In short, the overall military situation is hopeless and Warsaw Pact forces are prepared to conduct a 1943 campaign against what must be a weakened opponent. In the Far East Japan watches and waits. A 1943 campaign will only prolong the war, cause massive loss of life and suffering, particularly here in Russia. All to delay what is in essence a fait accompli."

It was Zhukov who spoke first "What terms do you offer?"
"Well we already have a ceasefire. By far the least controversial would be the reestablishment of the Baltic States that the League of Nations agreed were illegally seized in 1940. Bessarabia and other ethnic majority Romania areas to Romania. Karelia and Lapland to Finland, a small area to Poland.

In terms of non Warsaw Pact countries, independence for the Caucasus countries, although this already seems to be a demand they are fulfilling themselves and an independent Ukraine. We can discuss what borders would be appropriate. A discussion on independence for the Turkic republics in Central Asia."

"This is impossible. I cannot agree to simply cut up the motherland based on a Fascist whim. We still have substantial military forces at our disposal." A look Struve indicated that even he was unhappy with the proposal.

"Grand Marshal, what can occur is I can order our tanks to again advance. We will capture Ulyanovsk and Samara this year, occupying your second "Soviet" capital amidst mass confusion and death, giving us a natural barrier on the Volga from the Arctic to the Caspian. We can then adjust the borders of Western Russia as we see fit, declare the Caucasus republics independent, the Ukraine independent, the Baltics independent. We can then set up a White Russian state containing the bulk of the Russian population and leave the remainder East of the Volga to the mercy of the Japanese or to wither on the vine. Or take the option of a 1943 campaign and push on to the Urals and your next likely capital, Yekaterinburg.

It's in the best interests of Germany to have a divided Russia, a Russia that can never be a threat on her Eastern border. However, perhaps we can be more than that, more than one nation’s best interests, perhaps we can do what is right for Europe. Since the Tsars Russia had had a colonial empire where some minorities have been oppressed. Do you really think that after the holodomor, the mass starvation in the Ukraine that the Ukrainians will go back to a communist government? I think not. How many millions has your Red Tsar killed?

"Stalin's version of communism was a perversion." ”How would a single Russian state work?”
“I would think free elections, supervised by League of Nations representatives, none of whom should come from Warsaw Pact members. It’s not like there has been a free election in Russia since 1917, after all. Yes, and before you say anything I know there have not been free elections in Germany for some time either, however, I also have plans to change that.”

George Ignatieff finally spoke up ”We have received no guarantees from the Germans that we will be able to assume power solely, only that we talk with your own representatives and try and achieve a compromise.”

It took an hour and a half of back and forth before he finally voiced the offer. “I have offered no guarantees as I had thought you might be reasonable enough to want a compromise that re-establishes a unified Russia, not two weakened states. A Russia for Russians, not one with millions of restive minorities. However, much like Wilson, what I can offer is the following 14 points:

1) Warsaw Pact force occupy the lands as shown on the map you have already seen and these will be annexed to these countries
2) The borders of a separate Ukrainian state are to be determined currently by negotiation within the next week but should broadly reflect ethnic demographics
3 ) Free and fair elections within Russia to be arranged as soon as practical, this will obviously take some time as political parties will need to be formed and allowed time to canvas. These elections will be to elect a president, an upper and a lower house, as per the 1917 constitution, but with universal suffrage of those aged 20 plus
4) The current borders separating the powers are to be maintained. Supreme political power in one Russia is to be invested in Grand Marshal Zhukov, in the other Russia in His Excellency George Ignatieff. In Western Russian the Warsaw Pact forces will be responsible for law enforcement whilst a large enough police force and Russian Army can be formed to take responsibility for such actions.
5) The independence of the Central Asian Republics be decided as an internal Russian matter
6) Russia to apologise for Stalin’s USSR invasion of Latvia and Estonia and pay compensation to both countries, at a level to be determined by the League of Nations. The borders of both countries to be acknowledged by a Russian successor state
7) The creation of separate states in the Caucuses, covering at least national homelands for Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians and North Caucasus peoples. Borders for these states can be subject to negotiations, but could broadly be assumed to cover areas from the current SSR’s.
8) The issue of a monarchical restoration is a matter solely for the Russian state
9) Elections to be convened at some stage in 1943. These to be supervised by League of Nations observers that include no Warsaw Pact members and their results confirmed via such
10) Within 12 months of the completion of a free and fair Russian election, Warsaw Pact forces are to be completely withdrawn from Russia soil
11) The Soviet Union is to be formerly disbanded and the term Russian State or Russia to be used instead
12) Due to the monstrous crimes committed in it’s name over the last 24 years and in memory of the estimated 30 million killed by it’s policies the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is to be disbanded and declared banned from future participation in Russian elections. Please note that this does not preclude other leftist or socialist parties from contesting elections
13 ) A guarantee of religious and political freedoms and freedom of speech in both areas of Russia
14) Upon agreement of points 1) to 13 ) above, Germany will immediately sign a Treaty of friendship and trade with Russia, guaranteeing payment for Russian oil and raw materials in exchange for German export of manufactured goods and hard currency. This treaty of friendship will also guarantee Russia’s current borders from attack from any external power. This will likely extend to other Warsaw Pact members as well.

Gentleman, we have a meeting tomorrow with all Warsaw pact members, I will step out and let you Russians talk over lunch. We can talk again after it.”

11 September 1942

Zhukov and Vasily Sokolovsky talked quietly as the puffed on their cigarettes. Zhukov spoke first.
"Well Vasily Danilovich what do you think?"
"Take it my friend. It could have been much worse. Tank production is at an all time low, aircraft production not much better. We have no navy aside from what's left of the Pacific Fleet. In either case, we have no oil and only enough reserves for six months of fighting, only enough money to buy two more months of supplies after that in hard currency. They control all the major cities and we have salvaged a mere 100,000 of the 850,000 men in the Caucuses. Then the Japanese may come back. This provides security, even if it is provided by the fascists. We have passed the point where we can hope to win this war and we have no friends, thanks to ex comrade Stalin."
"The Ukraine will hurt."
"Yes, reduce it as much as possibly by negotiation. What we must also do is try and secure Baku-it's a mostly Russian area in any case. If this Hitler means what he says, they will want Baku to be under Russian control so as to tie access to our oil to Germany, far better than dealing with an unstable new small power. As for the Ukraine, we can pull them back into Russia's orbit when we regain our strength.

The other acreas are less vital and, in most cases, full of restive minorities, that much is correct."

"What about the whites?"
"Free elections may make us all 'whites'. Can it really be such a bad thing? Would it be worse than the last six years of purges?"
"No, perhaps not. It's not like we will be getting the Tsar back, after all."

On the 15th September, a formal peace treaty was signed acknowledging Hitler's 14 points between representatives of all Warsaw Pact countries and the Provisional Republic of Russia(White) and the Russian State(ex Red). It was endorsed two days later by the Republic of Ukraine, Andriy Melnyk being unhappy with the border changes that involved the loss of the Crimea but not really being in a position to do anything about them.

Russian reparations were set at US $4 billion dollars, an amount that was able to be paid over some ten years via exports of oil and other strategic materials, including gold and platinium. This did not include US $250 million each to Latvia and Estonia. It was a surprisingly light amount considering what was levied at Versailles. The Russian state was also obliged to surrender large quantities of war material and keep an army at a strength of less than 60 divisions.

The Caucasus was divided into eight separate countries, Russia retaining Baku through a narrow corridor. These being the already self proclaimed Kingdom of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Azania, the North Caucasus Republic, Republic of Karachay-Balkar, Dagestan and Abkhazia.

The second Great War was over, although millions of soldiers remained in occupation in Russia.

Map of post war Eastern Europe, September 1942

Map of the Caucasus Divisions agreed upon

September 1942

It was actually a pleasure to be back in Berlin, perhaps a sign he had become used to the place. Now that the peace treaty had been signed, the withdrawal of some units from the East could commence and others could start rotating men through leave. The total cost in terms of casualties had been high, 680,000 men, no small amount. The Russians had confirmed they held 68,400 German POW's alone.

He had over 7 million POW's and had signed an agreement that these would be transferred back to Russia(or what was now their country of origin) in stages, commencing in April 1943, comprising 600,000 men per month. Likewise, the Russians would commence returns at the same time at 10,000 per month. From April next year, after winter, many of the POW's could be used on construction projects under minimal supervision and many of the camps shut down as they awaited repatriation.

Another issue that had been brought to his attention was the amount of soldiers who had Russian "significant others" and children they in some cases wished to bring home. Despite the army's objections, he could see little problem here, particularly when a soldier was discharged. What he then did with his own life and money was no business of his, and he had already signed an order allowing immigration of "war brides." At the same time, he had asked about the Volga Germans and it had been agreed that any that wished to leave Russia could do so. Perhaps the Curonian Lagoon project, which would soon be completed, and the Baltic Islands could provide the necessary resettlement land.

Schacht had been to see him in regards to the transfer of the 42 tons of former Soviet gold. However, if the chance was not taken now it may never come again. The deal with Leopold III's government was well advanced, the gold itself plus 50 tanks, 2 destroyers and 60 aircraft. He did not plan to announce the details until January 1943, when many of his Eastern Front troops had returned. France would no doubt be furious, having tried to block such a deal 15 or so years ago, but Eupen Malmedy would be returned to Germany.

The other Hitler had added Austria and the Sudetenland to Germany, as well as Bohemia and Moravia. He had given the Czechs back their country but had still added 47 square km in Ostrava and Pilen, 202 square km in Eupen Malmedy, 19 square km from Poland and a massive 1081 square kilometres from his Curonian Lagoon project, 1966 square kilometres from Danzig and 2869 from the Baltic Islands of Muhu and Saaremaa. 6184 square km in total. This would have to do for Lebenstraum, as he planned no other expansions.

21 September 1942

He looked out over the vast crowds at Nuremburg as he took a small breath prior to commencing his speech. This one would be off the cuff, fresh from his recent thoughts on the Eastern front.

“National Socialists! Perhaps more importantly, Germans. As you know doubt know, in conjunction with our noble allies within the Warsaw Pact, we recently completed operations in the former Soviet Union. This was a long, violent campaign against a brutal regime in which I could offer you little except blood, sweat and tears. I can now categorically say that that campaign is over, that the war in the East is completed and both Stalin and his hateful Red Empire have been dismantled. Yes, there is more to do, but we have reached the end of active operations. Now we must think in terms of taking our place as the leader of a new world order in Europe.

Before I speak more on this matter, we must acknowledge the superb performance put in by not only our own armed forces, but those of allied powers. What we must do is acknowledge the contribution of the 672,600 German men and 179,000 allied troops that made the ultimate sacrifice in a war to free Europe from the Bolshevik tyranny. How can we best honour their memory so the contribution they have made will be forever meaningful, not tarnished by the harsh mists of time?

In truth there is only one way that this can be achieved and that is for Germany to win the peace as well as the war. This can only be achieved by leading other nations onto the path where individual freedoms, individual thoughts are valued, where we have a society that reflects the will of the citizens that live in it. To that end, we have enabled ethnic minorities in Russia to form their own governments, we have let a country that has to long been oppressed by the tyranny of one man chart it’s own course. At the same time we have removed a grave threat to Germany, her allies and indeed the world.

I say we have allowed democracy to return to Russia, but what does this mean to Germany? I think back to where we were in the 1920, crushed beneath the heel of vengeful powers. I think of where we were in 1927, bankrupt and on our knees with our former enemies still demanding more. I think of where we were in 1933, too diffident and afraid to occupy our very own territory in the Rhineland for fear of retribution.

I ask you, what was required to change this insipid weakness, what was need to mould Germany into a great state again? Strong leadership, single minded leadership that allowed us to make sacrifices to personal liberties in pursuit of the goal of a better, greater, life for all of us. We obtained this via a strong party, a strong leader and strong policies, policies that involved sacrifices from all of us. I can tell you now my fellow friends, that sacrifice, it has not been in vain. We now stand on the edge of a golden era for both Germany and yourselves. We need only reach out and take it. However, to pass from an era where Germany need to be made great into an era where Germany needs to stay great, we need to see a change in our own policies.

We now need to move forward look at how we can build a better German society, how we can take our place respectfully but as a leader in the international world. These tasks will require the input of all Germans, not just some of us or an elite, therefore, I will take this opportunity to announce that the German states, the borders of which we voted upon some two years ago, will conduct in the first half of 1944 elections involving all political parties. With the experience thus gained, we will hold a national election for the Reichstag at a later stage, likely in 1945.

To circle back to our magnificent exploits in Russia, I wish to make two further points. Firstly, in relation to the new states that have been created and indeed Russia itself. We need to nurture the flower of intellectual thought, culture and political thought, to make these countries friends of our own great nation. One can never have to many friends. For there are still others that look on us with envy, who would deride our success, pull down the structures we have built.

Secondly, our servicemen will be returning, perhaps not as fast as we may wish. With them will come POW’s who have suffered the worst of deprivation. In addition, Volga Germans, cousins who left for Russia in kinder times, may also return to Germany, cruelly uprooted in the country they formerly called home. Our troops may bring back their own wives and children, many born in Russia. From now on we are all Germans, we must all band together to protect the miracle we have created in this country, we must all be equal before the law.

Finally, with this in mind, the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour and the Reich Citizenship Law will both be reviewed with a view to being abolished before the end of 1942. In addition, the Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring will also be reviewed by 1943. These measures were perhaps necessary when Germany was sick and decrepit, now she is at the centre of a modern Europe, we need to show not only strength but an appropriate level of compassion.

May the Lord God keep both yourselves and Germany."

October 1942

Well, it promised to be UFA’s Magnum Opus, a huge production in three parts using a huge ensemble cast, the first to be called “The Red Menace”, the second “The Big Lie” and the third “Blood is the Harvest”. This would be different, however, as some of the main characters would follow the lives of real people, who would also be interviewed at the conclusion of the film.

There had been objections, of course. Films were considered more entertainment than social commentary in the 1940’s and most of the less seemly aspects of life were often not shown. This would be a brutal production, but how better to show Stalin’s regime? Winning the propaganda war was as important now as it had ever been and Carl Froelich would actually direct the film himself and step down as President of the Reichsfilmkammer for the period concerned.

Without a doubt one of the main strengths was the cast, helped by the high profile return of Marlene Dietrich, who had agreed to star in this one-off production. Ever since the first of the gulags had been discovered the project had been in his mind. The discovery of all the meticulously detailed records at NKVD headquarters at Lubyanka Square had added fuel to his enthusiasm and now it could proceed. The film project itself could be backed by the release of some of the juicier tid bits of what had occurred in the cellars. Particularly well cast was the Russian born UFA actress Olga Chekhova and, in particular, Tatiana Okunevskaya, who spoke conversational German and was a real life rape victim of Beria and a concentration camp victim herself. It was easy to say, and more than a little ironic, but he was sort of hoping for a 1940's "Schindler's List", however, great ideas did not always make great films, so it remained to be seen.

Heydrich was busy at Wansee, where quite literally tons of documents recovered from the Soviet Union were being examined. At this stage every effort was being made to highlight “disappearances” that involved other countries citizens or had occurred outside the former Soviet Union, which was also helping to win favour.

He had ordered his military commanders to give carte blanche to the International Red Cross in regards to inspection of former gulags and current prison camps in Germany and Russia, aside from some high profile ex Soviet officials who were being held without charge. Most were ex NKVD and there was more than enough evidence of wrongdoing to allow the “disappearance” of each and every one of them, but perhaps a leaf out of Stalin’s book and some “show trails” would be better.

The strain on the logistical resources of Russia would be great over the coming winter, not helped by the horde of starving, displaced people, some homeless, some emerging from gulags after years of incarceration. Zhukov was not assisting in any meaningful way either, releasing all gulag inmates, most of whom had drifted into the German section of European Russia in search of aid. It was a problem that was not going to be solved quickly and whilst most of the fighting had stopped, low level guerrilla warfare between the factions in the Caucuses was an everyday affair. Warsaw Pact troops were doing the best they could and he had at least removed Turkish troops from the equation, having moved over their own border, but various irregulars roamed, often with little rule of law and in many cases being little more than glorified bandits.

Now was the time to try and call in the League, both to gain international recognition , to assuage fears of German political control and puppet states and to flatten the crushing financial burden that a lengthy occupation would surely entail.

December 1942

As the year came to a close, it was interesting to review the progress of Germany back to some sort of democracy, or at least the first cautious steps back to it. Parties had been required to register with the newly formed German Electoral Commission to participate in the March 1944 elections. He had personally instructed the Electoral Commission to make sure that the SPD or even the KPD were not banned. After the truth of what had occurred in Russia came to light and Goebbels finished going to town on it, the KPD would be wiped out electorally in any case.

All the main parties were back, starting in order from left to right, including: KPD(Communist), SPD(Left), DVP(Centre-Left), Zentrum(Centre), DSP(Centre-Right), DNVP(Right/Conservative), NDSAP(far Right). In addition, there were two regional parties, the BVP(Bavarian Conservative) and OCP(Austrian Nationalist and Centrist).

It would be interesting to see whether the NDSAP retained the electoral initiative with truly fair elections, especially in the more conservative, Catholic South. Truth be told, he hardly cared whether the party retained it’s electoral hold or not. It was time to move in another direction, or soon would be. That was why he had delayed the State elections to early 1944 and the Reichstag elections to 1945. Hopefully by that stage the army would be out of Russia and the problems of a peacetime, rather than wartime, world would dominate the agenda.

The announcement of the Eupen-Malmedy purchase on the 6th December had sent shockwaves around the French government that had resulted in the fall of Édouard Daladier’s increasingly embattled government and the ascension to the Prime Ministership of Paul Reynaud who had immediately issued a statement “deploring this backyard deal” and promising to “limit German expansionism and aggression.” It was time for a well overdue meeting there as Reynaud was a much more dangerous character and would have to be mollified in some way. It may be possible to take some such steps in the new year when both himself and Reynaud would be present for a special League of Nations meeting on the Russian question, where aid and admission to the League would be debated for some of the former USSR states. Things were also growing increasingly difficult with Mussolini and the lack of communication with Rome was hinting at all sorts of things he did not want to think about. First and foremost of which was Greece-or Yugoslavia. He had made no commitments at all in regards to support for any Balkan operation, stating to Mussolini that “the time was not right with Russian commitments in play.” He had also indicated that he would not join a war against Britain and France under any circumstances, unless it was in defence of an attack. It seemed that, much like OTL, that this would not stop Mussolini “having a go himself.” He had even attempted to delay that process by slowing the return of Italian units from Russia. Whether it would be possible to unseat Mussolini and replace him with someone who was a more practical thinker remained to be seen, perhaps Balbo or even Ciano.

Militarily, things were still dangerous. Aside from 56 deaths in Russia from accidents last month (mainly traffic), there were still 96 killed in small skirmishes, mainly in the Caucuses. One thing a suspension of military operations had brought was a chance to focus on new designs and equipment. Raeder’s Kriegsmarine had sent a mission to the U.K to study carrier design. Von Braun’s V-2 had provided a launch to 196km and gradually some of the technical aspects of the rockets were being ticked off. Turbine blade failures still plagued jet engine production but these were getting closer to being solved. The new Do-335 was already in pre production.

Based on experiences in Russia, new generation tanks were also under investigation, although he had been sure to limit the potential size of any such vehicles to 60 tons maximum, 45 tons maximum for any main battle tank. For the moment, he had an excited almost three year old to deal with on Christmas Eve.

December 1942

So much for a peaceful Christmas. It had taken no time at all for the situation in Europe to go tits up again. As he had strongly suspected, Mussolini had crossed the border and invaded Yugoslavia. This had come without any support at all from other country's and his main immediate concern was twofold.

Firstly, the obvious was that Britain, who had guaranteed Yugoslavian independence, would declare war, possibly followed by France. Secondly, that this sort of conflict had the very real possibility of splitting the Warsaw Pact, not a great state of affairs with occupation troops still in Russia.

Bulgaria and Hungary were both prime suspects to possibly support Italy at Yugoslavia's expense, however, Turkey and Romania were bound to assist Yugoslavia in the event of an attack by either as part of the 1935 Balkan Pact and he was scrambling to get his own diplomats to make sure neither joined in such an attack and triggered an all out war.

Mussolini had clearly gambled that Britain would not go to war over Yugoslavia, however, that was already proving to be an erroneous assumption and Halifax had, on the 19th December, given Italy until 0500 on the 21nd to withdraw from Yugoslavia or be at war.

It was a war most Italians seemingly did not want and today's visit by Ciano was proof of that. He had made it quite clear that with the current strategic situation in Russia as it was, there was no question at all that Germany could not support Italy in what had been a ambitions war that she had started entirely on her own with limited or no provocation or no consultation. He had, however, indicated that Germany would assist in any way necessary diplomatically to try and avert what could well be a disaster for Italy.

It seemed Edda was the one who wore the pants in the relationship, as when she had indicated that it may be better if her father was replaced as Duce rather than lead Italy into a disastrous war. Ciano had hesitated but she had not. It mattered little at the moment, in any case, as Mussolini was studiously ignoring him, much like a child would a parent when he/she was aware they had done wrong. There was no way he could currently get him to Germany and therefore no way any such plan could be implemented.

Halifax had contacted him the previous day to ascertain Germany's attitude in regards to supporting Italy. The answer that had been given by the Foreign Office was typical diplomatic double speak, but Halifax could read between the lines well enough. He supported Italy's territorial integrity but the invasion of Yugoslavia was an internal matter for Italy alone and Germany would not be drawn into a war in support of it.

It was a shit sandwich either way one looked at it and if he had known of the decision taken in Tokyo on 24th December he would have been even less happy. Japan, drip fed oil at all time high prices from the U.K and other small sources, had failed for months to break the deadlock with the U.S in relation to it's oil and strategic materials embargo. Now it had decided to make it's move and had a plan to do so that it hoped would only involve fighting the U.S and the Dutch. As one campaign finished, others were on the verge of starting.

25 December 1942

It appeared that Prime Minister Tojo had gained approval from the Emperor for the commencement of operations, probably based on the brand new Mediterranean war. Not that Tojo's plan as it stood called for war against either Great Britain or France.

Yamamoto was not confident, even assuming that war could be avoided with Japan's old ally, Britain. French Indo China was to be avoided, as were the other French Pacific possessions. Likewise Britain's Pacific colonies. The U.K would be mainly concerned about any possible isolation of Singapore, hence the need to mollify them with any Pacific adventure.

The Dutch East Indies were to be carved up into a nominally "independent" Indonesia, whilst the Easternmost territory, all of Central and Northern Sumatra would again become independent under the Sultanate of Aceh. The ex Sultan's son, Tuanku Raja Ibrahim, was already on Formosa and could be transported to the island at the correct time. He was aware of the strategy Japan wanted him to follow. Declare independence and the ask for British protection. Whilst occupation of most of the Netherlands East Indies might alarm the British, it was hoped the setting up of this and a Papuan independent state may remove a reason for war, especially considering Britain's own Mediterranean problems.

The real prizes were the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies oil and, possibly, Hawaii. If Japan could take Hawaii and the USA had no allies, aside from embattled China, mounting a campaign to retake their lost Pacific possessions would be no easy task, perhaps even an impossible one.

The navy's carrier arm had been sharpened for such a sortie and now consisted of 9 fleet and 5 light carriers and 12 battleships, including two super battleships. An initial devastating blow with the seizure of both Wake and Midway could be followed by a full scale invasion of Hawaii. The Philippines and the Dutch East Indies could then be mopped up at leisure. Or perhaps with the Americans smashed the Dutch would turn the oil tap back on. In either case, in Yamamoto's mind the most important objective was to lock the USN out of the Pacific. Failure to do so would lead to eventual defeat. Others could not see it, but he could. Yet if, a big if, they could lock the Americans out they would be hard pressed to mount a campaign to retake Hawaii all the way from the U.S West Coast.

It was ambitious and Yamamoto was of the opinion waiting may have been better, but it was not impossible and if successful would ensure Japan's place in the sun, for a win here would likely send the U.S back into isolationism. That would place Japan in a position of domination in the Pacific against Europe's waning colonial powers.

January 1943

The news from Italy had been sketchy so far but it appeared that a week after New Year’s Day Mussolini had been arrested after being deposed by a secret meeting of more than 2/3 of the Fascist Grand Council, with the assistance of handpicked troops selected by Badoglio. Balbo had been selected as the leader of a five man interim administration, consisting of himself, Badoglio, de Bono, de Vecchi and Ciano.

The fact that three days later Italy had signed an instrument “deploring the invasion of Yugoslavia”, which it had stated was due to the “political intransigence” of the previous Duce. It had been a less than glorious campaign in any case, eleven days having seen a gain in territory of less than 10km in most instances and in fact a net loss in and around Zara where Yugolslav forces had launched a counter attack.

There was little question that not only had the British declaration of war on the 1st January, followed by the French on the 5th, panicked Italy, but also that the British had known full well of the coup attempt. The Treaty of Friendship signed yesterday on the 10th January between Italy and the United Kingdom, only three days after the coup, was a clear indication of forewarning on the part of the English. The announcement that Mussolini had been flown to Malta to be held outside of Italy was even more of a pointer.

Now the question was what camp were the Italians in, if any? Technically they were still a Warsaw Pact member, yet they had now signed a treaty of friendship and co-operation with the U.K. Quite possibly the English were trying to move Italy way from Germany, to act as a counterweight to German aggression, much like their general foreign policy prior to the Abyssinian crisis. They had apparently not realised that Germany had more than enough issues of it’s own solely in Russia, with a landmark election due in 1943 and the commencement of huge prisoner exchanges in 1943, plus ongoing civil unrest, particularly in the Caucuses.

Britain seemed to be the focus of extensive diplomatic activity at present, with Japan offering out of the blue to sign a similar treaty with the U.K, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and France that guaranteed the territorial integrity of the colonial powers possessions in exchange for a similar guarantee of current Japanese borders. It was a curious move considering that relations between Japan and their chief Pacific rival, the U.S, seemed to have reached an all time low.

23 January 1943

Well, the Japanese had done it, hitting the U.S Pacific Fleet base at Pearl Harbour two days ago with the combined forces of 9 fleet carriers, their 1941 OTL force plus two Junyo Class ships and the Aso, the ex German Graf Zeppelin. Damage to the Pacific Fleet and it's infrastructure had been reported as "severe", with 6 of it's 13 battleships apparently sunk or grounded and two of it's four carriers also caught.

The Japanese had moved quickly, occupying Batan Island off the Northern tip of Luzon, as well as Guam and there were undoubtedly further operations planned. Japan had followed with a "regretful declaration of war against both the United States and the Kingdom of the Netherlands" in conjunction with "The Unitary Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines and the Sultanate of Aceh" and accused the United States of "suppressing the Asian people" and being against "the very principles of peace and self determination", saying at the same time that they wished to keep their "bonds of peace and fraternal relationships" with all other Pacific powers.

It was an attack that had seemingly caught most world powers by surprise, with no response as yet from either the English or French aside from a statement "deploring the loss of human lives." President Dewey had called it an " a filthy backstab by a rogue state, the wolf of the Pacific" and promised to "leave no stone unturned to make sure that such unprovoked aggression was repaid a thousandfold."

He had instructed the Foreign Ministry to issue a statement that indicated briefly that Germany deplored the commencement of a new war and was available to facilitate any peace initiates from either side. He had indicated to both the French and British ambassadors, both of whom had called today, that Germany would be in no way involved aside from it's possible use as a peace conduit.

One thing was for certain, with no Two Ocean Navy Act and Japan having largely completed her Circle 4 Naval Plan, perhaps even commenced Circle 5, things would be tougher for the USN, at least initially.

1 February 1943

George Kennan had been the first U.S ambassador to Germany since 1938 and the Kristelnacht episode. He had only been appointed in August 1942, when it was clear that with the Soviet Union was likely to fall, the United States needed diplomatic representation at the highest level in Germany regardless of opinions in relation to previous events and Germany’s less savoury policies. He had been in Germany much longer, since 1939, however, so had some understanding of the winds of change and the fact that Germany policies had undergone a dynamic shift.

For Kennan the summons from Hitler had come at an opportune time. He had been instructed to contact Hitler from Washington to gauge Germany’s position in relation to the new war that been inflicted on the United States. It was clear to Kennan that although Dewey himself and most of the military establishment were calm enough, panic had struck the Foreign Office and indeed sections of the public at large, fearing the Japanese were going to come sailing into San Francisco harbour. As it was, things were bad enough. In two weeks the Japanese had gained significant footholds in the Philippines, where MacArthur seemed to have botched the use of his air assets and additionally occupied Wake, Guam and Midway, although the later had clearly come at a cost of at least one aircraft carrier, possibly two. It did seem that there was now an arrow pointed at Hawaii, where furious attempts were being made to build up the air defences that had been ravaged by the January attack and also to transport more equipment to the island.

Personally, Kennan was less concerned. His brother was a regimental commander with 1st Armoured Division, slated to move to the Philippines in March 1943. Macarthur’s loss would be Hawaii’s gain and it’s presence on Hawaii gave the islands three divisions, with the 25th and 24th Infantry. These would take a lot of enemy troops to dislodge. Many aircraft and large numbers of Atlantic Fleet units were also on their way to the Pacific.

Hitler had been welcoming enough and had quickly gotten down to business, expressing both his shock and sympathy in the wake of the attack on Pearl. Hitler had started speaking, using his curious rapid fire accent in English.

“I was both shocked and saddened to hear of the attack that struck your Pacific Fleet with so little warning. After the events of the last two years you will probably not believe me, however, in 1941 Germany and our allies were fighting for survival against an enemy that was quite clearly planning to attack us. When it is life or death you do what is necessary to ensure your survival, be it not pleasant. This was clearly not the case last month, where an opportunistic attack slaughtered so many with no warning.

To that end, I wish to offer the United States whatever support Germany is able to provide. Quite obviously, with our own situation in Russia and the Ukraine, we cannot even begin to consider direct military support, however, I will be announcing tomorrow an official end to the “Pact of Steel”, at the same time deploring the attack as an action that Germany cannot support. This is a direct result of not only this attack, but the unprovoked attack on Yugoslavia.

I have considered ways in which Germany can assist the United States and I can offer the following. Firstly, Germany has large stocks of up to date military equipment for an army and air force that are currently contracting. We are happy to sell some of this equipment to the United States or her ally China at more than generous terms. Secondly, to assist the United States wartime economy, Germany is happy to purchase more U.S oil at market price. Lastly, I would like to make a gesture that directly helps the victims of Pearl Harbour and to that end have available a unit of English speaking doctors and nurses that can be utilised on non combat duties by your own War Department as seen fit.”

Kennan had been somewhat in shock as to how much support Hitler had offered, especially when he had initially expected he would try and justify Japan’s attack on the oil embargo. He had thanked Hitler for his concern and prepared to leave, indicating that he would get back to him in regards to his proposals.

Hitler had asked him to hold on a minute and had come back with two cream envelopes, one addressed to Dewey himself and another to Royal Ingersoll, who had replaced King as Chief of Naval Operations in November. Kennan had no idea what was in either envelope.

April 1943

It was time to focus back on Russia, even though events in the Pacific had continued to throw up surprises. Japan had made their play to gain ascendency in the Pacific by attempting an ambitious operation to subdue Hawaii and invade the island. Supported from newly captured Midway, it had been a costly failure of epic proportions that had badly hurt their opponents but had failed achieve it’s main objective, the capture of the island itself.

They had been met by an American fleet that included five carriers, all of their remaining strength aside from the newly commissioned Essex and three escort carriers, as well as four modern and nine old battleships, supported by both navy and USAAF aircraft from Hawaii.

In a slugging battle with what was seemingly ten aircraft carriers, five Japanese carriers had been sunk in exchange for three USN ones and when Japanese surface forces had attempted to force the issue the U.S forces had lost four battleships, the Japanese three. It was enough to dull the ardour of the Japanese landing force, enforced even more after losing two heavily packed transports to long range American bombers and two more to submarines, all with heavy troop losses.

The Pacific War was now seemingly at a stalemate, with the Philippines campaign going badly for the U.S and Japan landing troops in Northern Borneo. It was likely their next move would be on the oil they so desired in Java, Borneo and Sumatra, where they would face the three Dutch pocket battleships amongst other forces.

The British and French had both sat still, not deigning to be involved in the war in the Pacific. The Italian’s had drifted into the British camp, not that much of a surprising turn of events considering their interests lay in the Mediterranean and the British had much more to offer them there than Germany possibly could. Mussolini had been tried in a show trail and convicted for “unsanctioned abuses in Abyssinia”, being held in “prison” at his mansion on Leros, where he was forbidden to leave the island.

He had met Zhukov in March in Bucharest where a final agreement had been arrived at for an election on August 31. Last week the League of Nations had indicated that, in a response to a request from both Germany and the Russian State, they would provide observers for the election to ensure it’s fairness. Zhukov had agreed to allow political parties, which would have to be registered by the end of May 1943, to campaign unmolested. It had been agreed between Zhukov, himself and Ignatieff that proportional representation would be used, with any parties that failed to obtain 5% of the vote excluded, the later a device to get rid of minority ethnic representation, not that democratic true, but Russia likely needed strength and unity now rather than further bouts of chaos.

He had indicated that he had every intention of sticking by his timetable in regards to troop withdrawals from Russia itself, commencing September 1943 and hopefully completing April 1944, although he had indicated that peacekeeping troops would probably be required in the Caucuses independent states long after that.

The railways would be busy again. The use of former POW’s on the Curonian Lakes project had caused this to leap ahead and it had also been of great assistance in building infrastructure on the acquired islands of Saaremaa and Muhu. This had been of great assistance as population transfers had commenced between Russia and Germany as of the 31st March, with 600,000, the first of 7.1 million Russian POW’s scheduled to depart for Russia in April. In return, Germany would receive the first 10,000 of 68,400 POW’s back, as well as 45,000 of 498,000 Volga Germans and their families, most of which had opted to leave Russia and well as a one off transfer of 1,689 Baltic Germans in Russia that wished to leave. He planned to settle most on the islands or the Curonian Lakes, which were now ready for habitation as virgin land.

State elections had been set for exactly a year from now, 1 April 1944 and for some parties campaigns were already underway.

Economically, things in Germany were seemingly turning around. The U.S had declined to purchase any German military equipment, but, under pressure in the Pacific had suggested Germany supply to China, where U.S money would probably ultimately do the purchasing in any case and Milch had offered to supply the latest equipment, including Leopard tanks and the new Do-335 fighter and Do-217 bomber. These offers had all resulted in contracts, except China had asked for the less complicated Me-109 instead of the 335.

Dewey had, however, accepted an offer to buy more oil. This was a useful state of affairs for Germany as well, as synthetic oil was more expensive to produce. Likewise, he had accepted a deployment of a German field hospital, with yet more casualties on Hawaii which had again been heavily bombed. These had left on 16th March and had arrived only three days after the Battle of Hawaii.

Dewey had responded to his note expressing his regret he could not do more to assist and relations seemed, well if not cordial, at least not strained. Ingersoll had not replied until yesterday, when he had asked how he could possibly have known that the Mark 14 was consistently running deep, let alone that the magnetic exploder was faulty. He had already crafted an excuse to explain that away, however, so would use that in his reply.

12 July 1943

Well Japan had achieved their strategic objectives, at least mostly. Both Java and Sumatra had fallen, the Japanese setting up a Sultanate of Aceh in all but the most Southern part of Sumatra. The USN had fought another expensive engagement against the Japanese, losing an aircraft carrier, two cruisers and all three Dutch pocket battleships in exchange for a Japanese carrier and three Japanese heavy cruisers. The Philippines had also fallen, a process that had taken slightly longer than OTL. Captain Doug had gone down with his ship, killed by a bomb in the fighting on Bataan.

Whilst the Japanese had seemingly achieved their wartime objectives, even occupying Attu and Kiska as per OTL, they had lost between 7 or 8 carriers since the start of the war, as well as four battleships. Yes, they had inflicted much damage on the USN, much more than OTL, but now they faced a major problem. They could not take Hawaii with their dwindling forces and every day that passed they slipped further behind a navy that ordered 18 new carriers and 3 battleships in January 1943, as well as a plethora of smaller ships.

The biggest surprise had been Australia under Prime Minister Curtin, who had authorised the occupation of Western New Guinea and Timor as an Australian protectorate.

In Russia, preparations were underway for a July election. So far 2 million POW’s had been repatriated back to Russia, allowing some of the camp accommodation to be used for Volga Germans coming back from Russia.

Tests on the Junker Jumo 004 engine had finally resulted in the fixing of blade vibration problems. Although expensive to build in terms of strategic materials, the engine could now be frozen and produced, the airframe already being ready for testing. It seemed likely that with proper testing the aircraft could be ready for service by late 1943/early 1944.

Export sales of war material to China had picked up, 146 bombers and 300 fighters being contracted, as well as 80 other aircraft, 300 Leopard tanks and 120 halftracks.

Now that things seemed, at least on the surface, to be settling, he had made the decision to free the funds to allow the construction of three carriers. Rather than rely of Germany’s own naval architects and the possibly horrendous design that had produced the Graf Zeppelin, the carriers would be a slightly enlarged Implacable Class, the plans of which the British had agreed to part with if one unit was built in a British yard. The British built unit had already commenced, the other two units scheduled to start within a few weeks.

August 1943

As the ancient Ford bus spluttered to a final halt, Franz-Josef Beerenbrock was able to take in his surroundings. It would take some time for his squadron to become operational here in Lanchow, where they would share facilities with the volunteer “Flying Tigers”, much of the equipment having to be flown in.

Beerenbrock’s squadron would be a much smaller outfit than the “Flying Tigers”, 20 Fw-190’s supported by 2 Ju-52 transports. The Fw-190 had been selected as the most reliable airframe for a tropical deployment and the A-5 were equipped to be used as “Jabo’s as well, or would be when a full load of equipment arrived.

There would be plenty of fighting, which suited Beerenbrock after a year’s inactivity in Russia. The accommodations looked spare but clean and the aircrews had the unusual situation of having their wives with them, in at least five other cases. His pilots were a mixed bag, 20 Germans, 3 Poles, a Finn, 2 Hungarian brothers and an American that had been kicked out of Chennault’s Flying Tigers for disciplinary reasons but had managed to convince him he had passable German and Chinese.

His own wife Irina’s command of German was not perfect either, but he at least spoke Russian. They had mused on the way over what to call the unit, as an unofficial collection of volunteers. Originally to be called Condor Legion, that name had been vetoed by Berlin and in the finish, with a view to the traditions of the Great War, it had been called Beerenbrock’s Flying Circus.
___________________________________________________________

Leopold Peter Erik Georg Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein looked around his small cubicle in the Trippler Army Medical Centre. His deployment at the station was due to come to an end on the 8th September, when the unit would have a week’s leave before boarding the clipper for Sydney and, eventually, Germany.

The work had dropped in the last two months and the American military had mobilized enough men to cope with their own needs and no longer needed his unit’s four doctors and thirty nurses. Hawaii had been a revelation, surf, sun, informality, so different for a German aristocrat. He had a wife at home, but for some there would be a number of tearful partings, he would think.

September 1943

The Pacific struggle seemed to have become a stalemate, the Japanese having taken the Philippines, Wake, Guam, Attu and Kiska, Midway and the Dutch East Indies minus Timor and West New Guinea. For the U.S, it was time well spent. Eight months post Pearl Harbour, the first of their carrier programme would be hitting the combat zone in 12 months’ time. Then they would no doubt be moving forward, growing ever stronger whilst Japan grew ever weaker as she incurred losses that could not be replaced with the same rapidity.

Europe’s sympathies seemed to be with the USA and Japan was placed under a trade embargo by a number of countries, including Britain and the Commonwealth, as well as France. Mindful of U.S submarines and the like as well as Japan’s isolation, as well as Germany’s smaller cargo carrying merchant fleet, he had expressed the impossibility of trade to Japan rather straight out indicating an unwillingness to do so.

Russia had held it’s landmark elections on the 31st August, generating some surprising results. As expected, they were far from decisive, creating what was sure to be deep divisions within the country for some years afterwards. Of the parties that had received more than 5% of the vote, giving those parties seats in the 600 seat Duma, the following featured:

Great Russia (Nationalist and leftist) 9%
Rodina (Isolationist and leftist) 5%
United Socialist Party of Russia (Socialist) 33% Leader: Mikhail Pervukhin
Christian Democratic Party of Russia (Centre) 7%
Constitutional Democratic Party of Russia (Centre Right) 18% Leader: George Ignatieff
Liberal Party of Russia (Centre-Left) 5%
Monarchist Party of Russia (Right) 9%
Turkic People’s Party 6%

The real surprise had been how well the rightest parties had done, although the leftist parties had garnered enough support to control the Duma. The referendum on a monarchy versus republic had been much more decisive, 78% to 18% but election for provisional president had been much closer, the charismatic George Ignatieff of the Kadets defeating Zhukov’s preferred candidate Mikhail Pervukhin of the United Socialist Party, who was quite uninspiring, 36% to 33%.

It was a situation fraught with instability, however; hopefully it could be made to work. Zhukov would be the real power behind the throne, the army the main force in Russia after the withdrawal of Warsaw Pact forces and the Duma having more power than the President in any case.

His agreement with Zhukov specified the new government would take the reins on 1st October, with troop withdrawals to commence from that date. Then it remained to be seen if, like the OTL Hitler had said, “one kick and the whole rotten structure would fall down.” At least in the Ukraine things had settled and Andriy Melnyk seemed to have a handle on power, the elimination of Stepan Bandera and many of the ultra-nationalists assisting the process.

If the process worked out according to plan, which little seemed to do, within 6 months’ time the only garrisons Germany would have left would be in the Caucuses and the Ukraine and repatriation of POW’s would be completed.

In October he was scheduled to personally travel to the Caucuses to try and bring some sort of solution to the constant border battles that had plagued the region for the 12 months since hostilities had ceased, battles that had claimed the lives of or badly injured 212 German soldiers.

September 1943

It was a surprising hot late summer day at Zossen as he had gone over with Manstein the plans for a peacetime army that would be considerably reduced from it's current size. Having a much smaller army would mandate having the best equipment and to that end from early 1944, hopefully near the end of the Russian occupation, the army would undergo a sweeping change to make sure it's equipment was the best in the world. With Russia defeated, the only power that could currently hurt Germany in a land war was France, who's current main tank was still the Char B1-ter, although a new tank was in the wings.

It was set to be reduced to a nominal component of 50 divisions, although this would be held at 60 until the end of 1945 in view of occupation duties required in Ukraine and the Caucusus. This would consist of 9 Panzer, 9 Mechanized, 1 Paratroop, 28 Infantry and 3 Mountain Divisions. In addition, their would be 9 heavy Panzer Battalions, 2 heavy artillery Brigades and 6 Independent Companies trained in commando tactics.

The standard infantry rifle would be the new StG 43, the standard machine gun the MG42. Anti tank guns would remain the 2.8cm PB41 and the Pak 40.

He had watched with interest the three new prototype vehicles. The new 48 ton tank designed as a "standard" had a main armament of the "long" 88, the armoured personnel carrier was based in the exact same chassis and capable of carrying a crew of 3 and 18-20 men a mounted the new 3cm MK108 cannon. Even with a reduced army, planned procurement for Panzer and Mechanized divisions would exceed 1600 tanks alone, APC's likely more.

The third vehicle was a proposed heavy tank destroyer mounting the 128cm gun. This would be a limited run for heavy tank destroyer battalions, perhaps 120 or so.

He was soon to depart for Tiblisi in an attempt to get together all of the leaders in Southern Russia to try and sort out a negotiated ceasefire and an agreement for population transfers, if required. The pull out from Russia was also due to commence within a week, the handover to the new Russian Republic government to commence from the 1st October. The fiscal burden of carrying such a large army and garrisoning such a large territory would soon be reduced.

Arms sales were continuing, 8 submarines to the Dutch being the largest, 6 Do-335 to the USA being the most unexpected.

So far, 3.6 million Russian POW's had been repatriated. Large numbers were working on farms in Germany, with a smaller amount still in Italy. This left 3,468,000 men and 39,000 women as POW's. A large amount had been allocated work on the Curonian Lakes project and the East Prussian tunnel, almost 800,000 being employed on these projects alone. One problem that had emerged was, what about those POW's that did not wish to return? Currently, they were simply "kept" and others substituted, but this could not continue indefinitely. Seemingly anywhere between 2-3% did not seem keen to return, having gotten used to life on farms, or having developed relations and so on and that would be an issue that would have to be addressed at some stage.

Volga Germans were still arriving from Russia and the last shipment of German POW's would arrive within two weeks or so. In many cases, the former camps set up for POW's were in use as transit centres for these people.

New tank, tank destroyer and APC designs

New "1943" carrier design

October 1943

He skimmed the document the Milch had sent over, the RLM being the original source. It contained a list of designs to be concentrated on for post June 1944 production, not including flying boats. It consisted of:

Do-217(medium bomber and anti shipping through Fritz X units)
Do-335(fighter and ground attack)
Me-262(jet fighter)
Ju-187(due to cease production when ground attack variants of the 335 ready for production)
He-219(night fighter)
Fi-156(liaison)
Ar-234(reconnaissance and medium bomber-jet)
Ar-232(transport)
Ta-400(heavy bomber)

The Luftwaffe would also be reduced by cutbacks from mid 1944, however, not as drastically as the army. However, much like the army, it was important to make sure that the equipment was ahead of any likely competitors. The Me-262 was already in small scale production, the first unit likely to form in January. Likewise, the Ar-234 jet bomber was likely to be operational by March.

His personal train was on a long journey to Georgia, where all the various factions, including the new Russian Republic, had agreed to sit down and talk. He had studied the maps and read dossiers on the various personalities. It was going to be no easy task, no easy task at all. As he read, he sipped the Goldwasser. It really was magnificent stuff, although whether the gold was really any protection against arthritis remained to be seen. It was expensive stuff, so it was certainly an instance of it "being good to be the King." One of his biggest concerns was his own health, not wanting to be a physical wreck like Hitler was OTL by 1945. Firing the learned Dr Morell had probably helped. In addition, he was careful to maintain a balanced diet, walk an hour a day, receive a massage twice a week. His night-time activities were helping his fitness as well. So far, there had been no sign of physical weakness, aside from the one caused by possession of a much smaller body than he was used to.

14 January 2016

Ingrid Johanna Zahringen, Grand Duchess of Baden, nee Hitler, was greeted only by the doorman as her heels clicked over the marble foyer of the Hitler Institute in Karlsruhe. It was an enormous building, built and funded by so many donations to her late father.

She herself, although nominally Chair of the institute, generally only concerned herself with it's charitable arm, Europa, the influential think tank Janus was run completely separately from this and contained many notable and influential figures among it's advisers, including two former Chancellors. Her own cousin by marriage, Prince Charles, had even give a speech to the institute only three months ago.

She considered herself intellectual enough, the legacy of two University Degrees, but not well enough to participate in think tank policy and discussions. Her father had bequeathed the Chairmanship of the Institute to her upon his death in 1958, meaning that she had held the Chairmanship for 57 years. That would change in 2016, when she would hand over to her own granddaughter, who at 26 would be ready.

Her own father had run the Institute after his retirement from politics in 1952, a year before the third “new era” election in 1953 and the first election of the new Fourth Reich when the NSDAP had crashed out of power. It had become an increasingly difficult chore from 1956, when he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and the February 1958 air crash that had killed him may have been a blessing in disguise, despite the fact that at 75 years of age, she still adored her father, much like many if not most Germans, although for many his actions of the 1920’s and 1930’s made him a controversial figure, particularly outside of Germany. No 20th Century figure had spawned more books or documentaries and the very fact that he had never given a formal interview sparked endless speculation on his apparent about face in German policy in the 1939-40 period.

It was one of the most enduring legacies of the 20th Century, it’s very strangeness only heightened by her father’s request to be buried in a remote location in far off Australia, a location that he had finally taken the time to visit once only in 1952.

There was little question that he had made the German Empire into the economic powerhouse of Europe, surpassing both France and the U.K and laying the foundations for the modern Eurocon, taking a moribund penniless state in 1933 and changing the face of it.

She looked up to see her own granddaughter Charlotte making her way forwards from her own office. She was virtually another daughter, her mother dying from breast cancer at a young age and her father being killed in a hunting accident. She had been forced to raise the girl. Her other three children had done well, her second daughter a naturalist, her son the Grand Ducal heir, her youngest son an executive and former pilot with Lufthansa.

October 1943

General Eduard Wagner’s figures had been updated to show the final amounts of ex Soviet material that had been taken by the Wehrmacht as war booty. The sheer amount was staggering when added to what had already been taken on the Eastern Front campaign.

The Quartermaster General would now be in charge of farming material out as required, for most was surplus to requirements. Some had already gone to the new Ukrainian state and pledges would also be made to both Georgia and Armenia, likely to other states as well. Some would likely go to China. These commitments would likely still only scratch the surface of the vast mountain of material at hand. Hitler was very keen to sell as much as possible and had even suggested military missions to South American countries. On hand were:

16,400,000 rifles
840,000 sub machine guns
1,100,000 machine guns
690,000 pistols
158,000 anti tank rifles
89,000 mortars (many small 50mm types)
22,300 guns
1,920 tanks/SPG’s

They were huge numbers and what could not be sold would in many cases be scrapped. Many of the almost 2,000 aircraft would suffer that very fate, a few sold for civilian use after being disarmed, some of the older biplanes being popular for this. With the planned decrease in size of the German army, there was more than enough ex Wehrmacht equipment to form a weapons reserve.

A number of naval vessels were also on the market, including one heavy cruiser, six destroyers, 36 submarines, 34 torpedo boats and over 130 other vessels of more than 30 tons, as well as 28,000 tons of civilian shipping. In many cases condition was poor and these were the left overs that had avoided scrapping so far.

To that end, he had formed a small group of four officers with good technical backgrounds to function as virtual “door to door” salesman, two for South and Central America, one for Europe and a final one for the Middle East, all authorised to cut deals for the sale of equipment for cash or raw materials imports.

October 1943

The meeting had taken place in what was the newly minted Royal Palace of Georgia, based on the bizarrely Stalinist architecture of the former institute of Marx, Lenin and Engels, it was surely the strangest Royal palace in Europe and indeed perhaps anywhere.

As had been predicted, agreement had been hard to come by, however, it had been established very early on that the borders in relation to both Turkey and Russia were fixed by treaty and therefore not open for discussion. This had taken some time but Ignatiev’s, or more likely Zhukov’s representative, Andrei Gromyko had actually been of some assistance in that respect, making it clear that Russia would aggressively defend her current, agreed, borders. In fact, given some of the cross border activities that had occurred he did not blame Zhukov for taking steps to police the nominal agreed borders at all.

In the finish, in return for German assistance to build their own fledgling irregular forces into a proper army, both King Peter of Georgia, President Mahmud Aliyev Ismayil of Azerbaijan and President Grigory Arutyunov of Armenia promising to guarantee the borders as set, although minor variations were agreed between Azerbaijan and Armenia and one small adjustment between Georgia and Armenia. This alone took four days. Each country would have a brigade of German troops assigned as advisors and security troops.

Similarly the other five smaller political units. All would all host a brigade of German troops as peacekeepers as part of the agreement. The most difficult personality without a doubt was the North Caucasus Republic’s Mairbek Sheripov, who appeared to favour revolutionary rather than consensus solutions. His was the only country of the eight that contained some oil reserves, however. In addition, it was ethnically “pure”, with very little in the way of Chechnyan majority areas lying outside it’s borders. That being the case, Sheripov had little real choice but to agree.

Others were easier to deal with, such as the young President of Azania, Oleg Penkovskyand and Abkhazia’s new King, Aleksandr Shervashidze who were more than happy to see German troops stationed as security. The later, along with Georgia, had some bargaining power as they would control the only Black Sea ports aside from Russia and Turkey’s. Dagestan’s President, Nasreddin Murat-Khan, was happy enough to have German troops in a country that was probably the most unstable and had actually asked for a full division, which may yet be granted. The Karachay-Balkar Republic likewise raised no objections.

It had taken 18 days, but finally a map had been agreed upon that involved small changes only for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Dagestan. In the finish to speed things up, after telegraphing Moscow numerous times Gromyko had agreed to a series of minor border changes with Azerbaijan. As he boarded the train back to Berlin, he was exhausted, the news that the Japanese had fought a bloody little battle with the USN in the Aleutians even failing to rouse his enthusiasm.

Post War Caucasus

November 1943

Ernest King had been called out of retirement to take charge of a badly battered United States Navy. It was an undeniable fact that the Japanese had been stopped, however, the cost had been huge and the loss of part of the Aleutians, the Philippines, Midway, Guam and Wake had been too much for his predecessor to shoulder.

Dewey had felt an experienced hand would be best and so King was again Commander in Chief. He hated to say it, but it sure would help in the British entered the war. With the losses suffered by the USN, the Royal Navy had surged to the fore as the largest fleet in existence, with 11 Fleet Carriers and 22 battleships.

The USN's losses had been severe, the battleships Pennsylvania, West Virginia and California destroyed beyond repair at Pearl, where the Nevada, Washington and Oklahoma had been badly hit and were still under repair. In addition, the North Carolina, Indiana and South Dakota had also been sunk off Pearl, the Texas sunk by a submarine and the New York sunk by ex German battlecruisers off the Aleutians.

With the new arrival Iowa now in the Pacific, he had only three modern battleships left, along with the slow battleships Maryland, Colorado, Tennessee, three New Mexico Class ships, Arizona and Arkansas.

The situation had become so desperate he had ordered the old Wyoming rearmed and two new battleships of the Iowa Class had been ordered, despite the shortage of carriers. His carrier force had been reduced to two, Ranger and Essex, however, these had just been supplemented by two more Essex Class ships, however, it would be some time before more could be expected. The one consolation he had was the Japanese had been hurt just as badly or perhaps even worse. Time was on his side, although allies would also help.

December 1943

Christmas was fast approaching and at least he had achieved his primary objective in that Europe was at peace. The same could not be said in the Pacific where the USA was having difficulties against the Japanese with support only from the Dutch and Chinese. The recent sinking of the U.K merchantman Doric Star, however, seemed likely to bring the British into the conflict. If that was the case, the 22 battleships and 11 fleet carriers of the R.N would surely prove to be a decisive factor.

He looked down at the lists that he had painstakingly made from memory, and then proceeded to make notes. It helped to keep a frame of reference in relation to both events and people in his own mind for reference just so he could be sure as to what had changed and be alert for possible implications in regards to that.

He started to make notes against the list:

Wolfgang Abel- Still employed at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
Otto Abetz- Posted as German ambassador to Haiti
Humbert Achamer-Pifrader- Shot 1940
Gunther Altenburg- Embassy Secretary in Rumania
Josef Altstotter- Fired from the Department of Justice 1942 for embezzlement
Ludolf von Alvensleben- Whereabouts unknown-wanted for arrest since 1939
Max Amann- Removed as head of the Reich Media Chamber upon it's dissolution in 1942
Hans Aumeier- Shot 1939
Artur Axmann- Deputy Head, Hitler Youth
Richard Baer- shot 1939
Rudolf Batz- Captain in the army
Gottlob Berger- shot 1939
Helmut Bischoff- shot 1939
Paul Blobel - missing
Martin Boorman- Still Head of the Party Chancellery
Phillip Bouhler- Ambassador to Paraguay
Victor Brack- Removed from Civil Service and working for the railways in Essen
Otto Bradfisch- shot 1939
Karl Brandt- Not in civil service- now a private doctor in Munich
Rudolf Brandt- Shot 1939
Walter Buch- retired 1943
Kurt Daluege- shot 1939
Richard Darre- Sacked for incompetence
Carl Diem- Minister for Sport and Recreation
Kark Donitz- Vice Admiral, head of submarines
Theodor Eicke- shot 1939
Goddfried Feder- Dead 1941 natural causes
Freidrich Flick- Still head of Daimler Benz
Carl Frank- Governor of Moravia
August Frank- Shot 1939
Hans Frank- Governor of Austria
Roland Friesler- Ambassador to Denmark
Wilhelm Frick- Prime Minister of Bavaria
Walther Funk- Arrested 1939 and sentenced to 20 years for anti state activities
Karl Gebherdt- Arrested 1939 and shot 1940
Karl Genzken- shot 1939
Obilo Globocnik- shot 1939
Josef Goebbels- Head of the Reich Propaganda and Communications Directory
Herman Goring- Died in plane crash 1940
Rudolf Hess - Deputy Fuhrer
Reinhardt Heydrich- Head of the Hitler's personal security detachment
Heinrich Himmler- shot 1939
Hermann Hofle- shot 1939
Otto Hofmann- Shot 1939
Karl Holz- shot 1939 as being an associate of Streicher
Rudolf Hoss - shot 1939
Kark Jager- missing
Friedrich Jechelin- shot 1939
Ernst Kaltenbrunner- Assassinated 1941
Wilhelm Keitel- retired 1939
Max Keogel - shot 1939
Erich Koch- assassinated 1942 by partisans in Russia
Kark Koch- shot 1939
Hans Lammers- Minister without portfolio
Robery Ley- Assassinated 1943 by agents of Heydrich to avoid the embarrassment of corruption charges
Werner Lorenz - shot 1939Martin Luther- shot 1939
Erhard Milch- Head of the Luftwaffe
Heinrich Muller- Head of the Criminal Police
Arthur Nebe- Head of the Orpo
Konstantin von Neurath - Foreign Minister
Carl Oberg- missing
Franz von Papen- Ambassador to the UK
Ozwald Pohl - Shot 1939
Helmut Poppendick - Shot 1939
Hans Prutzmann- shot 1939
Erich Raeder- Head of the Kriegsmarine
Joachim von Ribbentrop- Ambassador to Japan
Alfred Rosenburg- shot 1939
Bernhart Rust- forcibly retired 143
Martin Sandberger- shot 1939
Fritz Sauckel- forcibly retired 1940, working as a tailor in Munich
Gustav Scheel- shot 1939
Walter Schellenberg- Deputy to Heydrich
Hjalmar Schlacht- Head of the Reichsbank, minister of Economics
Baldur von Schirach- Head of the Hitlerjugend
Franz Schlegalberger - Forced to retire 1941
Arthur Seyss-Inquart- Governor of Austria
Franz Six - shot 1939
Albert Speer- Minister of Production
Julius Streicher -shot by Hitler himself in 1939
Wilhelm Stuckart- Dismissed from government service -working as a lawyer in Darmstardt
Fritz Todt- Head of the Todt Organisation
Werner von Braun- Head of rocket research
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski- shot 1939
Otto Wagenar- Governor of Saar
Robert Wagner- Arrested 1939, shot 1940
Ernest von Weizsacker- Secretary of State to the Foreign Office
Christian Wirth- shot 1939
Karl Wolff-shot 1939
Franz Zieries- shot 1939

Many of the most ardent or most criminal Nazi's had been shot in the 1939 purge or sacked, retired or posted overseas. Hopefully during 1944 he would be in a position to move on some of the remainder. It was still a balancing act that required him to retain those fanatically loyal to him so as to retain his own hold on power and enable the gradual implementation of change. It was a daunting task which ever way one looked at it.

Domestically his next main challenge would be the elections at state levels in March 1944 and the phased return of Russian POW"s, due to complete in April 1944. He had been holding back those that did not wish to return and had still not formed a definite position on this. In terms of foreign policy the Caucasus states, the Pacific war and Germany's deteriorating relationships with Japan(fuelled by her lack of support for her erstwhile ally), the defection of Italy and the hostility of France were the main concerns.

December 1943

It seemed the Warsaw Pact conference due to commence on the 8th was likely to be difficult, mostly due to the new Balbo regime in Italy, which, after the humiliations of the Yugoslavian campaign, had conveniently duck shoved the blame onto a lack of support from Germany, and, specifically, himself. Technically this was true, at least to some extent, but he had no desire at all to violate the Balkan country's sovereignty and start yet another pointless war, let alone one likely to drag in the English and almost certainly the French.

He had already been told unofficially through Abwehr sources that Italy would use the conference to claim a lack of support and would withdraw from the pact formally, taking their Albanian puppet state with them. It was a concerning blow, but perhaps not a critical one. With the campaign in Russia completed(aside from occupation duties), the need for Italian support was limited given his utter lack of ambition in the Mediterranean.

Ironically, the revealed weakness of the Yugoslavian military had created it's own divisions, the country itself literally falling into civil war between four or five opposing factions, one the royalist Belgrade government, two favouring Croatian independence, one led by Vlado Macek, the second by the Fascist Ante Pavelić. To the South Metodi Shatorov - Sharlo was calling for an independent Macedonia and demonstrators had spilled onto the streets. It seemed like the beginnings of yet another shit show and with the British having intervened once it was going to be hard to broker any solutions.

The situation with Italy was enough to make him review the rest of the Pact members, however, there the situation was looking better. Poland continued to be a duopoly, however, both President Ignacy Mościcki and new army head Sikorski had benefited greatly from both the Soviet campaign and the alliance as a whole and were firmly in his camp.

Romania was also tied fairly firmly to Germany's cause. She had received some of the largest gains from the Soviet war and Carol II's virtual royal dictatorship was marginally popular for this very reason. Romania had also benefited economically from such a union and had surged past her traditional rivals Hungary and Bulgaria in power and influence.

Hungary remained one of Germany's closest allies although it seemed that the now 75 year old Miklos Horthy was starting the process of handing over the powers of Regent to his son Istvan, who was less disposed towards the alliance. Hungary had received three awards of territory since 1938, but only the first Vienna award was significant.

Bulgaria had received the provinces of Durostor and Caliacra from Romania in exchange for Romanian expansion into Bessarabia. It was a small reward but Boris III's Bulgaria was a reluctant Eastern Front participant. Despite this, the Bulgarian government was seemingly happy with her presence in the Warsaw Pact and, with her traditional enemies in Romania and Turkey Pact members, her security could at least be guaranteed.

The three Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were firmly in Germany orbit, both economically and militarily. They owed their very existence to the Eastern Front campaign and despite territorial losses to Germany in Estonia and Lithuania's case, had little choice to throw their support behind Germany. Konstantin Pats Estonia was probably the closest to Germany.

Mannheim's Finland had drifted much closer to Germany as a result of her large territorial gains in the East. In fact, Finland's final decision to push on Leningrad had been crucial to the fall of the city. Mannheim was so popular he had been declared Head of State for Life.

Tiso's Slovakia was a loyal Germany ally. That left the two newest Warsaw Pact members. Turkey had jumped in to secure territorial gains in the Caucasus when the USSR had started disintegrating. Mustafa İsmet İnönü's government had objected strongly to the creation of an Armenian state and was still smarting from being shut out of the occupation of the Caucasus's states, yet this was a policy Germany had no choice but to follow.

Lastly, the newly formed Ukrainian state under Andriy Melnyk remained closely tied to Germany. Still going through the "honeymoon period", Melnyk had proven himself a skilful administrator and had avoided two assassination attempts so far. He had rapidly built up a Ukrainian Army that now consisted of 8 divisions of well equipped troops and upon the death of his wife had converted to Orthodoxy and married Olena Skoropadsky, giving rise to a suspicion that the Hetmanate may be reinstated.

He pushed these thoughts to the back of his head as Traudel Humps, his secretary, brought him the news he had been expecting. It had been confirmed some time ago that the Royal Navy moved a number of fleet units to the Far East, however, the Australian newspapers had reported the arrival of HMS Howe, Anson, Vanguard and Renown, as well as the newly modernised and transferred HMAS Repulse, along with the carriers HMS Victorious, Indomitable and Indefatigable in Sydney. The reports had not mentioned war yet the implications seemed all to obvious. The announced declaration of war indicated that the U.K would consider itself at war with Japan from 0500 on the 9th. No doubt the other Empire countries would follow.

December 1943

Well, in perpetration for the 1944 elections he had finally removed almost the last of the barriers that had been built up since even before the 1935 Nuremberg Laws. With three exceptions, Jewish Germans had been restored full rights, including citizenship and the right to vote. Now their only exclusions remained that they could not run for political office, join the defence forces or "full blooded Jews" could not marry "racially pure Aryans", whatever the fuck that meant in any case.

The later definition was becoming again more murky with the dissolution of the race and resettlement office of the former SS and the cessation of racial propaganda in late 1940. Anti-Semitism was still alive and well in Germany, it was simply that the rabid edge that come with state sponsored policy had been dulled somewhat. People really were sheep in so many cases, following blindly in the direction pointed.

He had also come to a solution in regards to Russian POW's that wanted to stay in Germany and had also reached a similar agreement with Romania. This amounted to, in fact, a not insignificant number. In all 188,968 in Germany, 17,654 in Romania and Italy had already agreed some months ago to allow 27,549 to stay.

It seemed like perhaps the best approach was simple honesty and, with 1.62 million Russian POW's to still be returned to Russia, a process likely to be completed in late March or early April, he had simply provided an exhaustive list of POW's which would indicate that the non returnees did not constitute and particular demographic or political view. Their labour would be missed on the East Prussian tunnel, construction of which had leaped ahead with so many workers and was much more than half completed.

From mid January, political campaigning would gain resume in Germany in preparation for the State elections. The real question would be how would the respective parties go?

December 1943

Well, no great surprise. Italy had duly pulled out of the Warsaw Pact. There was at least no histrionics; they had simply indicated that the alliance itself no longer fulfilled their strategic interests. Mussolini had been “retired” to Rhodes with both his wife and mistress, an interesting combination. In all honesty, the Italians had a point. Their main strategic interests, the elements they desired, were in Africa really.

Once he had made it clear that he had no intention of being drawn into any African adventures, Italy and Germany’s interests had already started to diverge. Balbo could see that. Mussolini seemed to lack the brain power. That left Yugoslavia or Greece, the former of which had come unstuck spectacularly.

The smaller powers seemed very keen to stay, probably both as protection from not only from fellow pact members but also from a resurgent Russia. The real question now was whether the Latin sisters would be able to put aside decades of rivalry and attempt to pressure Germany. Abwehr reports indicated that the French Air Force and armour was a long way behind in technical expertise so the worries he did have were hardly acute. The Russian campaign had allowed the reducing German army and Luftwaffe to retain a hard core of combat veterans with the latest in equipment and that would be a major advantage in any likely conflict as well.

He had made a visit to JG2 on the 20th December where the pilots had presented him with large loaf of stollen. The unit had just been partially reequipped with the first of the new Me-262’s, partially replacing the Me-109G’s they had formerly been operating. The first Ar-234 squadron was only weeks away from forming as well.

His mind also wandered back to his list of a week or so ago. It was time to make a few more moves, at least two. At this stage probably the Franks as Governors were the most likely. He could then use the vacancies to place Boorman, finally removing his loyal but pervasive presence and Hess, who could be moved from Deputy Fuhrer. He could then place Louis Ferdinand as Deputy Fuhrer and start his apprenticeship for the top job, training him in the role as he prepared Germany for transition to a British style constitutional monarchy on the way to what would hopefully be real democracy.

It was certainly a move that would be welcomed by the army and indeed the aristocracy, which retained so much power in Germany itself. Indeed the more power that drained away from the Nazi Party the better. Gradually the British, much like a reluctant stray cat, had come to restore a basic level of trust in Germany and his word. Officially, he was going to Britain on the 4th January to inspect the first of the Kriegsmarine’s new carriers, called the Graf Zeppelin like it’s predecessor which was now in the Pacific. Unofficially the British had requested talks, no doubt seeking support for the war they had initiated against Japan.

It was a conflict that held no real, tangible benefits to Germany in terms of land or plunder. However, the diplomatic or for that matter economic, advantages of selling equipment and/or technology to either/or Britain, the U.S or China could potentially be great indeed. Far too great to be ignored. In light of his previous visit, it was somewhat ironic that he would be visiting Blenheim Palace to conduct the negotiations. Besides, he had his own agenda as well.

There was little doubt that things in Yugoslavia had really fallen into the crapper, ethnic tensions causing the country to fly apart into nationalist factions. Something needed to be done before a real disaster, the sort of disaster that occurred OTL after Tito 50 years on. What was it about civil wars that made them even worse than normal ones? What was really required was for the League to authorise a peacekeeping takeover of the country and a proper plebiscite in the various regions. The real question was, could the British see that? He had not asked the Bulgarian’s. It went without saying they would be keen to expand their influence in Macedonia. Well, he would see.

He had made a similar but shorter list of the historical figures from the former Soviet Union that were no more:

Stalin, Molotov, Khrushchev, Beria, Voroshilov, Malenkov, Zhdanov, Kalinin, Kaganovich, Mikoyan, Vyshinsky, Baghirov, Kulik, Malinovsky , Budyonny and Rokossovsky. That would no doubt produce a myriad of butterflies to.

January 1944

As the bulk of the Tirpitz nudged her way into the Solent Rear Admiral Lindemann looked at the two brand new RN battleships Lion and Temeraire which were there to greet him. They were large, powerful ships and two more were under construction, the last two cancelled and replaced by orders for large carriers. This appeared to now be the norm, carriers seemed to be taking over from battleships as the preferred capital ship, the Japanese Pearl Harbour raid making a huge impression on the world’s navies.

The same imperative had also been followed by the Kriegsmarine. The reality of the war on the Eastern Front had mandated no naval construction and the navy had undergone severe downsizing in 1939-41, two battlecruisers, 3 pocket battleships, one aircraft carrier, 3 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers and a number of destroyers and submarines all being sold. Now, thankfully, Lindemann could see that trend reversing itself after victory in the East. One aircraft carrier had been ordered from the UK and three more had commenced in Germany. In addition, the navy had received approval to build a single battlecruiser based on a modified pre-war “P” Class design to utilize the spare three twin 15inch guns turrets in stock, this being laid down in November. A new submarine design was also on order, one that promised a revolutionary increase in underwater speed.

The current fleet comprised only two each of battleships, heavy cruisers and light cruisers with accompanying destroyers and submarines but was now being expanded back to a more reasonable level.

The Fuhrer had come up onto the bridge of the battleship for the final part of voyage and had been proven to be far more personable than Lindeman had perhaps suspected, perfectly relaxed with his officers as he carried his four year old daughter around the bridge and officers had pointed out various features of the ship itself and also landmarks on the shore. The girl was of an age with his own daughter and was clearly in a stage of high excitement.

Lindemann had noticed the change in his native Berlin, particularly in the last year. The city had settled back comfortably into civilian life, yet a different, more relaxed life. Cabarets had stayed open later, become more liberal and bawdy. Some of the tension seemed to have left the city, perhaps assisted by a much less visible police force and a large cut to the virtual incessant propaganda.

These were changes not welcomed by some, yet almost certainly welcomed by others where the Berlin queer scene was just starting to again reappear. Personally, on balance Lindemann was in favour. Germany had had far to few moments of prosperity being combined with freedom in the last 30 years.

Lindemann had been anxious about the Eastern adventure, yet after taking his wife to see the second instalment the tripartite series, “The Big Lie”, which followed on from “The Red Menace.” Unusually, the second film had shown a teaser trailer for the final film, “Blood is the Harvest.” They were challenging, thought provoking and, in some scenes, gut wrenching films, with incredible performances from Marlene Dietrich and, in particular Tatiana Okunevskaya. The series itself had proven to be a worldwide hit. For Lindemann the realisation of the atrocities committed under Stalin had solidified his opinion that the Eastern war had been a must.

January 1944

The trip to Blenheim Palace had been a slightly different duck than usual. He had held a series of meetings with both Halifax and, in particular, Churchill. It was a curious social set that was present at the palace itself and the British seemed to be at pains to make the visit itself as much of a social one as political, with a strange mixture of “hard” diplomatic negotiations and music, games, conversation and the like of a night.

From the latter point of view, one of the strangest meetings had been with Ian Fleming, who had accompanied Laura Charteris, who seemed close to the 10th Duke of Marlborough, Churchill’s cousin. He had stayed up late a number of nights, Fleming attempting to engage him in conversation as to what was happening in Germany, quite obviously in his capacity as a Naval Intelligence officer. For his own part, he was more than happy directing the conversation back to that of novels and novel writing. It was interesting to see in 1944 how well formed the essential character of what would be James Bond was in the man’s mind eye. Perhaps Bond had been based on Fleming himself, as the man was clearly a rake and, despite his affability and the pleasure he gained from talking with him, could also be a bit of an arse, dismissive of women and self-centred. A bit of a conundrum, really. Despite this, they had spent hours talking about Sydney Reilly, in particular, Fleming recalling his conversations with Bruce Lockhart in relation to Reilly himself. He had been so inspired, in fact, that he had undertaken to write to Zhukov to try and determine Reilly’s fate from NKVD archives, assuming that his fate had not already been documented in the mass of files that still resided at Wansee that had originally come from Lubyanka Square.

He had also been invited to go on a couple of shooting parties, but considering that his own views mirrored OTL Hitler’s in terms of shooting animals just for the sake of it, he had politely declined. What he had enjoyed was the estate walks, even in cold January, but, in particular, the night time games of euchre and bridge partnered with Eva and snooker with the men. Eva had been shown to be a surprisingly adept card player, or perhaps she was just lucky as she seemed to be able to pull needed cards out of her arse when required. Either way, as a partner, he wasn't complaining. The later he had showed his skills in easily, defeating nearly all opponents. Indeed, it had been a pleasant 10 days break, his daughter enjoying the company of children near her age, her perfect English even at age 4 not holding her back from conversation although she remained surprised that the other children could not understand her when she slipped back into German.

In terms of why the British had requested the meeting, he had spent much time with von Neurath going over likely British proposals. The most likely reason was an appeal to Germany to assist in some way in the Pacific. That and possibly Yugoslavia, where a full scale war was currently raging. He had already fixed a position for Germany in regards to both issues.

There would be no involvement directly in the Pacific War. It was something that represented too much of a departure from Germany’s pre war position and none of her interests and desires lay in the Pacific at all. In addition, with the situation in Russia still uncertain and army divisions still garrisoning Eastern allies, the thought of another war was intolerable. That did not preclude Germany assisting China or indeed even Britain materially in terms of supplies or logistics. As for Yugoslavia, he was privately committed to an invasion and the imposition of martial law until such time as a plebiscite could be conducted on the country's future, whether this was as a federal kingdom much like that envisaged by the former KuK potential Emperor Franz Ferdinand or the countries dissolution into sovereign successor states.

The political talks undertaken with Churchill and Halifax had gone well. For the Pacific, the British had realised the impracticality of Germany actually declaring war on her erstwhile ally, but had been interested in gaining Germany’s assistance logistically, diplomatically and for propaganda purposes. To that end, he had agreed to step up exports of military hardware to China, in fact a doubling of exports, the second half of which he agreed to supply at cost and provide German ships at gratis to transport materials to Burma, the supplies themselves being transferred via the Burma Road. Diplomatically, Germany and Warsaw Pact powers would support the League of Nations resolution calling for an independent Korea and finally Germany would expand it’s Condor Legion contribution to two squadrons and host a BBC film crew to cover their contribution to the war in China.

The situation in Yugoslavia had become even more murky with Greece gathering forces on the border and George II publically stating that Greece needed to protect the rights and property of their “Macedonian cousins.” These developments had provoked a response from Bulgaria, where Boris III had bluntly stated that a Greek move to annex Macedonia “will mean war.”

Armed with the delicacy of the developing situation, as well as the disintegration of central government in their erstwhile ally, Britain had not been as resistant to interventionist proposals as they may have been. However, whilst his original proposals had been for an occupation by German and British troops, he had ended up agreeing to a League of Nations “peacekeeping” force consisting of not only German and British, but French and Italian forces. The British were likely keen to mollify the French and develop their newly cordial relationship with Italy. It would still have to receive League of Nations approval, but with all four major powers backing it was likely a fait accompli. They had worked on four broad occupation zones and discussed details of a likely plebiscite. It was likely to be a lengthy commitment, 12-18 months of occupation, possibly longer since hostilities between regions would not disappear overnight. Hopefully when this was announced within the next 2-3 days it would forestall any intervention from either Greece or Bulgaria.

As he lay in bed, Eva splayed out over him, he reflected that it had been a rare event, a personally enjoyable as well as politically rewarding trip. He had messaged Guderian, indicating that the army was to prepare for a peacekeeping mission in the provinces of Drave and Save under a possible League of Nations banner, with a kick off date within two-three weeks. His plans to reduce the army to 60 divisions by June 1944 may have to be modified to perhaps 65 or even slightly more.

31 January 1944

It was a curious battle, thought Halsey, one where both sides through in much of their remaining strength, the USN to finally gain the definitive initiative, the IJN to try and hold their perimeter and try and deal a decisive blow that would stave off the pressure on their Southern flank by the huge R.N build up.

Upon the news of the USN invasion of Midway, Yamaguchi had sortied his carriers and Nishimura his battleships, hoping to crush the American invasion fleet in an aggressive bear hug and crush their transport fleet.

His carrier force was a fraction of the glory of January 1942's Pearl Harbour attack force, consisting of his flagship Kaga, the ex German Aso, which had proved disappointing in service, plus the six light carriers Ryuho, Ryujo, Chiyoda, Shoho, Zuiho and Nisshin.

Land based air had sunk one American carrier, however, his eight carriers had scored only a single hit on one of the remaining three fleet and four light. In exchange, the Kaga had been damaged and the Aso, Ryuho, Ryujo, Chiyoda and Zuiho had all been sunk, the American carriers operating a new type of dive bomber and a new type of fighter, the later with performance well in advance of his A6M's.

The suffering of his carriers had at least allowed the advance of the battleship force under Nishimura, consisting of the Yamato, Musashi, Ise, Hyuga, Hiei and Nagato, as well as six heavy cruisers. These had been met with eight old USN battleships, supported by 8 heavy and 11 large light cruisers.

This had also proven to be a disaster. Losing three heavy cruisers and the battleship Nagato to air and submarine attack, Nishimura's force had received a pasting of the first order, losing the Hiei, Hyuga and ultimately his flagship Yamato in a fruitless remorseless advance characterised by haphazard gunnery and poor ship handling, as well as three more heavy cruisers. They had drawn blood, sinking the USS Oklahoma and New Mexico, as well as a heavy and a light cruiser, but they had failed to break through and destroy the American fleet.

By the end of February, Midway had been secured and the IJN shattered, the complete defeat of the Southern Fleet off Indonesia, where three escort carriers and the battleship Fuso were all sunk in exchange for the small carrier Hermes and the battleship Howe on the 14th and 15th only confirmed the eclipse. The cost in IJN land based air to achieve this result had been horrific.

By the end of February the USN still had two operational fleet carriers and a third under repair, as well as four modern and seven old battleships(with two more under repair) and six more light carriers. The IJN, by contrast, consisted of a brand new fleet carrier, another under repair and two light carriers, as well as three battleships, two ex German battlecruisers and a handful of heavy cruisers.

The USN had four battleships and nine carriers building, and 3 more each of fleet and light carriers working up. Meanwhile the R.N was still moving ships to the Pacific. The Pacific War still saw Japan in possession of large swathes of territory, but now lacking the means to defend or supply such outposts.

February 1944

Carl Diem had enjoyed his time in Lausanne, it was a pleasant distraction from his normal duties on the Reich Olympic committee. Recent events had called into question the 1944 Olympics, however, with Europe at least at peace(with the exception of Yugoslavia), the London games had been finally green lit. In addition, Detroit had been confirmed as the site for the 1952 games, after Helsinki, which had secured the 1948 ones.

Germany had won the medal count at both the 1936 and 1940 games and Diem hoped that history would again repeat itself in 1944. It would be a somewhat reduced compliment of nations, Japan being banned from attending and both China and the USA likely not sending teams.

For the first time since before the Great War, Russia would be sending a team, the demonstration sports being lacrosse for men and netball, a new sport that had become immensely popular in Germany with Hitler's personal support, for women.

February 1944

The island of Sarremaa had been renamed Osel and already work was underway to construct a permanent land bridge to Muhu, itself less then 500m away from the larger island. In the winter, the island was in some way a wonderland, like the set of Frozen. the movie He had toured the meteorite craters, the wooded meadows, now so rare in Europe. With a background based on the extensive development versus Green battle in Tasmania, he could almost feel the age of some of the ancient trees on the island.

The development of the island, which was slated to house 10,000 plus Volga Germans, would have to be careful in the extreme so as not to despoil the incredible natural features of the island itself. Tourism, if the proper infrastructure and transport were provided, would be a leading possibility. Fishing another. Sustainable forestry on a small scale. Limestone was abundant, as was dolomite. However, the huge success of his Velcro factory in Ostrava demanded another facility and the island could use another industry. It seemed the logical choice and could be supported by an increased and expanded harbour and a regular modern ferry link.

March 2016

Phillip I placed his signature to the document, which pledged to reduce Germany's nuclear arsenal to the agreed limit for Europe's four nuclear powers. The U.K, France, Germany and Russia had all reduced their arsenals to 400 warheads, in accordance the latest version of the European Nuclear Agreement. With the reduction in the U.S arsenal to 1500 warheads it represented a significant reduction in the number of such weapons globally.

In Germany's case, this represented a reduction from 600 warheads and would remove the last of the land based missiles and retain only the four nuclear "boomer" boats of the Baden Class, with two of those slated for modification to launch some cruise, as well as nuclear missiles, a fifth being converted to a "special purpose" transport submarine for special forces. As the leading economic power in Europe, it was Germany's duty to try and remove as much of the nuclear threat as possible and Phillip hoped that eventually most powers would follow Italy's lead and scrap their nuclear arsenals, however, the rise of the nuclear arsenals of both India and Pakistan, as well as China made that unlikely in the short term.

The treaty itself had actually been signed some two months before by Prime Minister Phillip Rosler, the role of the House of Hohenzollern being purely ceremonial for more than 50 years since the restoration in 1952, the date Adolf Hitler had retired from politics. It was a national holiday, as was Hitler's birthday, despite his death now being 58 years in the past. The Hitler name still carried iconic influence even now in Germany, despite a tide of opinion to the contrary in leftist politics and the Hitler Institute, now run by his granddaughter, was one of the two leading "think tanks" in Europe.

Even the Stadtschloss, where the signing was taking place to pass into German law, was not in use as a functioning palace, only for ceremonial occasions. The Emperor himself and his seven children actually lived at the much smaller Orangerieschloss at Postdam.

February 1944

Hauptmann Alfred Grislawski leaned forward in a defeated fashion and vomited violently out the back of the Borgward B 3000 truck as it swirled around yet another tight corner. As the operations officer of "Squadron 2", he had been forced to make the land journey from Rangoon as opposed to the lucky souls that were able to fly their aircraft direct from Burma to China.

He was also violently ill after the constant torturous twists and turns on the Burma Road. The unit itself had been equipped with the Fw-190, although three of the new Do-335's had also been supplied to use as recon machines.

It had been an interesting trip up and both himself and his men had had time to talk to RAF pilots that were based in Burma, many conducting training before moving on to Malaya. Rumors abounded of a large upcoming operation in South-east Asia. As for his own pilots, all now non Luftwaffe volunteers, they would be joining the existent "Flying Circus" squadron in China, it's exploits newly chronicled in the last documentary film he had seen in Dresden before shipping out.

By the time Grislawski had finally arrived at Hsian, the rumors had been proven to be more than true. British forces had landed in Sumatra in late February, coinciding with United States landings simultaneously at Tarawa and in the Aleutians.

March 1944

The Japanese appeared to have suffered a series of disasters in the Far East, according to Ribbentrop, the Gilbert Islands and Tarawa taken, a series of retreats in Sumatra before the British and Canadian troops, Australian troops landed in Borneo.

In Germany, the upcoming state elections loomed at the end of the month, political advertising, banned more than three weeks out from an election, now having commenced in earnest for the first time since 1933.

In Yugoslavia, three occupation zones had been established, the Italians being the last to occupy their zone after a particularly tardy advance out of Albania and Zara. Casualties during the advance had been low, one tank lost, 46 killed and 108 wounded. Indeed, in many areas local civilians seemed more than happy to greet the occupation troops after many months of chaos and ethnic violence. German and British troops had met at Belgrade on the 27th February, brushing aside very light resistance. France had been offered a chance to participate in the occupation, but declined.

He had kept up a regular correspondence with Zhukov and Igantiev in Russia and for the first time, in March, the numbers of retained Russian POW's had dropped to less than one million(in fact now only 680,000), now all retained in Germany, all of Italy, Romania, Poland and Finland having returned their last POW's.

The Russians seemed unconcerned that 200,000 wanted to stay, but considering their own difficulties 200,000 extra mouths to feed were probably the last thing they needed. The final shipment of returnees would depart in the first two weeks of April and the 188,000 that remained would finish work on the Polish corridor tunnel before being brought to Berlin, where he would make a speech on 20th April, his birthday, each man or women being given German citizenship, a month's basic language training and 135RM, as well as the option of continuing work with the Todt Organisation. As a propaganda opportunity alone it was unrivalled.

He would also use the occasion to declare an official end to the Eastern war, even though occupation forces consisting of nine divisions worth of troops still remain in the Ukraine and the Caucasus states.

Yugoslavia occupation zones, Germany Black, UK Blue, Italy Orange

March 1944

The first of the state election results made interesting reading. So far, only four of the 20 states had voted, however, three of the four completed results were from states that dominated Germany, namely Prussia, Austria and Bavaria.

What was quite clear was that in the South, traditionally conservative and Catholic, support for the NSDAP was lower than even he may have anticipated. The NSDAP had used his name and image remorselessly to push their cause, despite his own determination was to avoid involvement as much as possible. Indeed, despite a speech that was even described, in a remarkable departure from the usual adulation by the German press, as "tepid" in Munich, he had made only one other speech in Berlin, claiming distraction with foreign events, notably Yugoslavia.

The formerly high profile KPD had done even worse, the revelations of the excesses of the Soviet regime, combined with sensational finds in the Soviet embassy in Berlin, where baths used to dissolve bodies as well as ovens to incinerate them had been found, among much gory press conjecture. Even almost three years on, these revelations had killed the KPD as a political force and had also splashed onto the SPD, weakening their vote. Under the new agreed system, which would also apply to the 1945 Reichstag's elections, a 4% threshold applied for a party to be able to gain seats, although this was reduced to 2% for ethnic minority parties in a reciprocal deal worked out with Poland to allow German minority parties access to the Sejm.

The results so far were:

Austria(165 seats):
OCSP(Austrian Christian Social Party(Zentrum aligned) 66
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 64
SDP(Socialists) 35

Bavaria(121 seats):
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 46
Bavarian People's Party(BVP)(Zentrum aligned) 44
SDP(Socialists) 22
BBB(Bavarian Agrarian Party) 9

Prussia(305 seats)
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 152
Zentrum 90
SDP(Socialists) 45
DDP(Liberals) 12
PKDP(Polish) 6

Saxony(89 seats)
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 40
Zentrum 20
SDP(Socialists) 19
DDP(Liberals) 8
PKDP(Polish) 2

The largest political achievement had been the fusion of the moderate elements of the old DNVP and the DVP with Zentrum, along with the alignment of the Bavarian BVP and Austrian OCSP, to form a coherent opposition to the Nazi Party, along with the SDP. This is been led by Joseph Joos and his deputy Konrad Adenauer.

The German Communist Party, the KPD, was close to the 4% threshold(at 3.9) only in Prussia so far, although support would most likely be highest in Hamburg and Bremen. In no areas so far had the NSDAP won a majority(although in Prussia they had gone very close), making for an interesting time in German politics.

April 1944

Strange times indeed make strange bedfellows, in all aspects of both politics and life. The open air rally at Oberbaumbrücke near Berlin would hopefully bolster his own position at a time when the NSDAP's was waning.

The results of the elections were declared on the 6th and it was not good news for the Nazi Party. They had retained power only in Prussia, where they had been able to manufacture an alliance with the Polish PKDP, at a cost of numerous concessions in terms of Polish languages schools, media and the like. Zentrum and it's allies would dominate the government in each of the other 19 states, although this also promised to be a strained marriage.

Whilst Zentrum was less reactionary that it was over ten years earlier, a number of the older, aristocratic and strongly monarchist elements had retired, however, their major coalition partner, the SDP, was widely divergent itself, picking up some moderate ex KPD deputies that had viewed the writing on the wall for the Communist Party even before the election and had "jumped ship" to the SDP. Consequently, there was a yawning gulf between the left of the SDP and the right of Zentrum, which would make for interesting times. It would be interesting to see if this was a precursor to a similar political shift when the Reichstag elections finally arrived in May 1945.

He was looking forward to the 20th April birthday celebrations and the open air rally that would make over 181,000 ex Russian and Ukrainian men and 892 women German citizens. It promised to be fine political theatre that would hopefully help contribute towards keeping him in the drivers seat until democracy was finally bedded into Germany. He also planned to announce the elevation of Louis Ferdinand to both Deputy Fuhrer and Archduke of Germany, anointing him as his designated successor as Head of State, although he hoped to start gradually devolving power back to the Reichstag if things went according to plan in 1945.

It was time to start thinking about the shape of a future, post Hitler constitution, although that would take time, consultation and good will. He could afford the first to-the later was always a nebulous and hard to find commodity. In the meantime, Yugoslavia was going to be a mess, things having rapidly deteriorated and his troops likely caught between the feuding parties much like a policeman at a domestic dispute. Only Slovenia promised to be easier, the other areas were so ethnically and religiously intermixed and murky that a solution was always going to be hard to find. Horthy was now making noises as well and the Bulgarians were annoyed at perceived Greek favouritism.

May 2016

Charlotte Zahringen had taken this last opportunity for a holiday, going to Monaco for the Grand Prix to support her boyfriend Nicolas Hülkenberg. It had been a good break and she had run into friends there and even met Princess Beatrice. No 7 in line to the U.K throne meets No 686, she had thought with a chuckle.

Her grandmother had been asked to write the forward for a book on Germany's modern history since the Great War. There had been a succession of chancellors ever since her Great Grandfather had retired in 1952, but most had come from Zentrum, making German politics remarkably stable. Zentrum, whilst always able to maintain their position as the dominant party, had been forced into coalition a number of times, mainly against the SDP in later years, in contrast to their early years in coalition against the NSDAP, until the Nazi Party's vote had started to collapse between 1954 and 1964. By the 1980's the NSDAP were no longer able to obtain the 5% threshold in many parts of Germany, having no Reichstag members at all from 1994 to 2014, until they were again able to elect deputies in Prussia. The SDP had also had periods in government, many of their policies attempting to mirror that of Germany's neighbours, the Scandinavian "cradle to grave" states. These had been well received by the electorate at times, but had also placed stresses on the party's own internal structure, the party itself having "centre-right", "centre left" and "left" wings, often with widely divergent views.

Post 1952 Chancellors were:

Joseph Joos 1952-1954, loses a vote of confidence after making too catholic politics, which even leads to his end as Zentrum chairman
Kurt Schumacher, SPD, 1954-1958, his death shortly before the elections meant that
Konrad Adenauer, 1958-1965, became chancellor
Ludwig Erhard, 1965-1969, (indeed no party at first as he was never member of the Zentrum until 1967) became Adenauer's successor and had been a very successful economy minister but was a bad chancellor (as in OTL) so
Kurt-Georg Kiesinger, 1969-1974, became his successor, starting the Grand Coalition of 1970.
Helmut Schmidt, SPD, 1974-1988, manager of several crisis, stopped by his own left leaning party wing so
Helmut Kohl, 1988-1990, became Zentrum chancellor. Because of being considered not very capable replaced by
Gerhard Stoltenberg, 1990-1992, in the 1990 party convent. Lost the 1992 elections to
Gerhard Schröder, SPD, 1992-2001, who started several reforms, which finally were not accepted by the SPD left wingers. A vote for confidence he lost intentionally to force new elections and to keep the left wing at bay. He lost the elections to
Wolfgang Schäuble, 2001-2007, who was shot by a crazy fanatical crying Heil Hitler! while firing. The fanatical was shot by the bodyguards.
Edmund Stoiber, 2007-2013, the only Bavarian chancellor of the smaller BVP, which is in a common faction with the Zentrum. Lost the 2013 elections due to an éclat done by the minister of health, Horst Seehofer.
Angela Merkel, 2013-, SPD, first female chancellor, protégé of Helmut Schmidt, both from Hamburg.

Whilst their had only been two restored Kaisers:
Louis Ferdinand I 1952-94
Phillip I 1994-

Germany remained a confederation of three Kingdoms, one Grand Duchy and 16 republics two special territories and during the last 80 years had risen to be the leading economic power in Europe and indeed for many years the second of the world's economic powers by GDP until recently challenged and passed by China and was a leading member of the G-7 and G-22.

May 1944

The delegation that met in May 1944 at Kreisau was, for the first time, holding the meeting without the customary cloak of secrecy. Many were SDP members and had been disappointed with the party's poor showing in the recent elections. However, one thing that could not be denied was that the process seemed outwardly fair. This seemed a precursor to a similarly fair process in a year's time, when the Reichstag would again be re-elected and take a semblance of power in Germany back.

Helmuth von Moltke himself was no longer prepared to listen to any talk of assassination, however, more importantly, Beck himself was directly against such a move. The elevation of Louis Ferdinand to Deputy Fuhrer, the April 1944 state elections going through with little in the way skulduggery and the looming Reichstag election in a year's time were reasons more in favour of not rocking the boat than violent intervention. The same state elections appeared to indicate that the power of the NSDAP was on the decline, with the party swept from power in all states except Prussia.

In any case, the war in the East was won, Germany was gradually working her way out of economic debt(although there was a long way to go), the remaining garrisons in the East had started to be withdrawn last month and only the Yugoslavian adventure had placed German troops back in the firing line.

Germany was supreme as the major power in Europe and rather than being isolated now had strong allies. The recent Fuhrer birthday rally had proven that his personal popularity was at an all time high. To move against the man would discredit his opponents to the extent that anyone associated with them could never hope to aspire to power in Germany. Hitler was a fixture in German life, his face on beer steins and tea towels, his name used in advertising. His wife and daughter adorning the covers of almost all fashion magazines. Even abroad, it was the broad view that he had stamped out the red menace in Europe and saved many from the excesses of the Soviet regime under Stalin.

It would, in fact, be their final meeting, the group itself splintering into their own ideological factions, Zentrum or SDP in almost all cases. The political imperative that had brought them together was beginning to dissolve.

June 1944

Admiral Yamaguchi looked at the assembled Combined Fleet. It was a poor showing compared to the forces available in January 1942. The Kaga had been repaired, giving him two fleet carriers, Kaga and Taiho. Two more light carriers, Nisshin and Shoho. The hybrid battleship Hyuga. The battleships Musashi and Kirishima. The ex German battlecruisers Satsuma and Kawachi. The heavy cruisers Chikuma, Tone, Ibuki, Haguro, Ashigara and Chokai.

It was in no way a sufficient force to stand against the Americans, let alone the Americans and the British. The Americans had retaken the Aleutians, as well as Midway. They had also attacked and taken the Gilbert and Marshall islands.

The British had taken Sumatra, the Australians had taken Timor. Borneo was more than half captured, threatening the sources of fuel for his capital ships. Java was likely the next British target and the Philippines were under threat. Even an ambitious attack by the army in China had largely failed to achieve it's objectives.

He could expect no reinforcements until September, when the first two of the new Unryu Class carriers may be available. By the end of the year he would have a third and the battleship Shinano. Then he could perhaps sortie, but by then would it be too late?

July 1944

It had taken much diplomatic jockeying but finally there was an agreement between Italy, Germany and the U.K on Yugoslavia. To that end, he had kept Germany's demands very modest indeed and championed Hungary's instead. It was probably more than past time that someone did so, and, in any case, he had also made a secret agreement with Horthy that involved the transfer of the town of Sopron and it's small border enclave, which was ethnically German in any case, to Germany in the event of a successful outcome in Yugoslavia.

There would be a series of "initial" plebiscites in August 1944. These would cover the possible transfer of a small area each to Germany and Greece, respectively, two areas to Hungary(the second quite substantial), two to Bulgaria and the Kosovo area to Albania. The remainder of the country would then asked in September whether they wished to create national identities for Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia along regions based on ethnic majorities.

Any no vote would be taken as a vote to stay part of Yugoslavia(or Macedonia, if in existence, for the Greek enclave in the South)(or Slovenia, if in existence for the two small Northern enclaves voting to join Hungary and Germany). The voting itself would be overseen by League of Nations observers drawn from Sweden, Norway Switzerland and Denmark.

Map of initial plebiscite areas

Area 1(Germany)
Area 2 and 3(Hungary)
Area 4 and 5(Bulgaria)
Area 6(Greece)
Area 7(Albania)

August 1944

It would seem that in the Pacific that Japan was on it's last legs. The U.S had announced the fall of the islands of Tinian and Guam some 10 days before. The British had landed in Java on the 28 July, establishing and then expanding a beachhead. Dutch, British, U.S and Australian forces had taken almost all of Borneo and forced the Combined Fleet to flee in early July, the Japanese re basing themselves in their own home islands. His own spies indicated to him that U.S sources suspected that the Russians were supplying the Japanese with some fuel oil. With the U.S now having bases that enabled them to strike at the Japanese home islands, this would now become a much more hazardous operation.

The next operation would clearly be at the Philippines and it was one that surely must attract the attention of the remainder of the Japanese fleet, which had been largely lying doggo, probably hoping to rebuild. Clearly, however, many Japanese factions realised the hopelessness of their position as many had indicated this to von Ribbentrop in private. Kamikaze attacks had also commenced, the British losing a carrier off Java to just such a tactic, the old HMS Furious. It was clear that the next operation would likely be the Philippines and that with the fall of the Marianas and Borneo it was likely that the depleted IJN would face a USN and R.N combined armada.

In what was clearly going to be the former Yugoslavia, all seven areas had indicated a liking to succeed from what was left of the country. Only one of the small areas in the South rejecting joining Greece. There were two minor variations in the proposed borders, both in favour of Belgrade over Hungary and Albania respectively. Both had been agreed to by the major powers.

Next would follow the major vote on the advisability of partitioning the country into a Macedonian, Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian state, followed by a final vote on whether Montenegro should be restored. There had been, of course, objections from King Peter and members of the former Yugoslavian government, but this was in any case in turmoil. What was broken could not be put back together and from his own 2015 experiences, this was likely the better way.

It was not like Germany had benefited in any really meaningful way. A small strip of land. 102 square km of land with 14 tiny villages, almost all 70% or more ethnic Germans. By contrast, Hungary would gain over 5,000 square km, although Hungary had agreed to part with a further 153 square km including the good sized town of Sopron. This would all take effect on the 16th November, giving time for any population transfers if these were wished to be made.

September 1944

It seemed like he was spending regular amounts of time in London as he had brought his family to the British capital for the 1944 Olympics, which had gone ahead despite the war in the Far East. The United States had sent a reduced team and, of course, Japan was not represented. Some of the costumes were amusing enough, especially the outlandish getup of the sole representative of the small Kingdom of Abkhazia.

The hotel was as good as ever, security of course being tight. It was a delicious thought that, as his wife rode him to completion, that probably along with Dewey, he was perhaps the most powerful man in the world, certainly the most powerful in Europe. It was the thought of that alone that should perhaps have made him a happy man, although the sight of the sweaty blonde straining for her own completion as she bucked and writhed on top of him should have helped as well.

Despite all these thoughts, he was still subject to periods of black depression that he had taken care to hide as much as possible. He missed his family, he missed his home and the thought of what could or was happening at the parallel universe, if indeed that was what it was, if not constant, then was certainly ever present. Did those people even exist anymore? Did they exist in another universe where an alternate version of himself still dwelled? Fuck knows. That was the problem.

All he was left with was a new life and a responsibility to make the best of it, for himself and, taking into consideration the position of power into which he had been placed, others as well. When he had started this little adventure, survival had been the goal, both from a personal point of view and also to allow him to complete some objectives that he hoped would forestall the Nazis and World War 2 in it’s entirety.

He was well down the track of defusing the Nazi threat and had removed Stalin from power as well. Yet for all that, he had redrawn national boundaries and started wars that had killed over a million, as well as doing nothing to help the situation in Asia in any meaningful way. Germany was still a harsh, right wing state where the congenitally disabled were euthanized, although that would shortly change. There was still work to do. It was not like he wanted to create a Scandinavian socialist state or was so idealistic that he expected to create a utopia. However, he did have a social responsibility to do his best. It was a world of hard choices. At times in the last 5 years what was best was not what was conventionally or even morally right. He had arranged assassinations, broken agreements, lied, had men arrested and executed, even shot a man in the face himself. Yes, many were Nazi’s, yet in a sense he had used the very machinery of the state he himself created to provide no more than cursory justice.

He had avoided the prosecution of a German nuclear programme, 100% due to the fact that he may have failed, Germany may have fallen back to the Nazi’s. The thought of mating a Nazi regime with nukes was utterly horrific. Now, that threat at least seemed to have passed. When he returned he would green light nuclear research, albeit with low level expenditure. Von Braun’s rocketry would still be given priority over nuclear research. After all, Germany had the lead there.

He moved off the bed and his own inner thoughts and moved to his daughter’s room. The four year old girl was splayed out on the bed in a way that reminded himself of his other daughter, her golden brown hair splayed over the pillow. One sure cure he always had for any feelings of depression was to play with the girl. As he tucked her back in, Ingrid’s big blue eyes opened and then closed and she murmured “Papa”, producing a tug on his own heartstrings and an instant surge of affection and love.

He went back to the bedroom, seeing Eva splayed out on her stomach over a pillow in her nightdress. It highlighted a lovely derriere. Oh well, at least he was a bit of a sexual deviant in both worlds. Once more into the breach, dear friends.

It was a timely reminder on the day that he left when a man stepped forward and fired twice at the limousine as it slowly negotiated Piccadilly Circus. Thankfully the thick bulletproof glass deflected the two slugs from the pistol. They were very near to his head. When arrested, it turned out he was a Serbian political agitator that had come to London. A timely reminder that those with great power also have numerous enemies. Whether this was a response to the news three days ago that the plebiscites in Yugoslavia were overwhelmingly in favour of the creation of separate Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian and Macedonian states remained to be seen. Only the Montenegrin question remained.

November 1944

Much like OTL, the Japanese had fought their last Trafalgar at Leyte, committing their combined fleet in a plan that very closely resembled their OTL effort, probably because it was personally put together by Toyoda. In this case the "main body" was led personally by him from the new super battleship Shinano.

Predictably, the Japanese had been crushed, although Halsey had again let himself be distracted by the Japanese carriers. It had been a poor start from the Japanese, losing the light carrier Nisshin and the heavy cruiser Chokai to U.S submarines. Heavy air attacks by the R.N had devastated Formosa, removing any chance of reinforcements for Japanese air units in the Philippines.

The Japanese plan involved the neutralisation of Halsey's carriers with their own carrier force of five fleet carriers with fully stocked decks. At the very least this was meant to draw off the U.S fleet carriers. It succeeded in it's primary plan, in the fact that it did draw Halsey's attention, however, these five carriers had no hope of defeating the ten fleet and seven light carriers of the USN. Yamaguchi's force was duly destroyed, almost in it's entirety except for light forces. The USN lost only the light carrier San Jacinto.

A diversionary force made for the Seraglio Strait consisting of the escort carriers Kaiyo and Shinyo and the old battleships Hyuga and Settsu, which had been rearmed. These had taken heavy air attacks, which had sunk both carriers, then been crushed by the USN old battleships.

Although the Musashi had taken a torpedo the only substantial losses in Centre Force had been the battleship Kirishima, which had had exploded violently after two torpedo hits and the light carrier Oyodo, also sunk by air attack. This had allowed him to move through the San Bernadino Strait with two heavy battleships and the two ex German battlecruisers, as well as five heavy cruisers and light forces. They faced only three escort carrier groups, guarded only by the two oldest battleships in the USN, the Arkansas and the Wyoming, rearmed at the start of World War 2, the R.A.N heavy cruiser Canberra, four destroyers and 4 DE's, in addition to the carriers own light destroyer screens.

These ships had been left behind from the bombardment force as being too old and slow, but now they faced two giant super battleships. Thankfully their guns were still good, whereas the Japanese gunnery was appalling. For the loss of the Arkansas and two escort carriers, as well as four destroyers and DE's, the battlecrusier Kawachi and four heavy cruisers were sunk, as well as two light cruisers and four destroyers in a truly heroic defence.

Air attack the following day was to sink more light forces, leaving the IJN with only one battlecruiser, the heavy cruiser Ibuki and two super battleships. The Japanese capacity to protect their empire was gone. By December they had committed the remaining big ships to stop the Mindanao landings, losing both Musashi and Shinano to USN air attack, both ships still not fully repaired from some 12inch hits suffered at Leyte, leaving a meagre force of a single ex German battlecruiser. By the start of 1945 it was simply a matter of how long the Pacific war would go. There was no question at all as to it's outcome. By then end of February 1945 the Russians had abandoned their brief oil selling sojourn with Japan and Japan itself had only domestic supplies to rely on. The end was nigh.

November 1944

His meeting with the new Polish President, Leon Kozłowski, had gone well. All of his 1939 agreement main players, Mościcki, Edward Rydz-Śmigły and Beck had all departed the stage, the former retired due to ill health, the letter two now dead. His visit had been to serve a duel purpose, since he also attended Beck's funeral.

Poland was almost Germany's closest ally now so it was a relationship that was crucial to maintain. As well as further defence co-operation, he had agreed on a toll payment for the soon to be completed East Prussian tunnel, Poland to receive 15% of the 1RM per vehicle transit fee. They had also discussed the situation in the Ukraine, which, despite the presence of nationalist partisans seemed to be becoming more stable. Andriy Melnyk had used that stability and his recent marriage to name himself Hetman of the Ukraine. He himself was due to visit both Melnyk and Romania early in 1945, so it would be interesting to see how Melnyk's aspirations were working out at that time.

It was indeed ironic that he was able to conduct a rather chilly open air parade in Warsaw, where he was seemingly more popular in the country than Kozłowski himself.

January 1945

The two leaders had come to Budapest two days after he had initially met Horthy and his son István to discuss the recent developments from what had been the total breakup of Yugoslavia. Montenegro had also elected to go it's own way resulting in Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and Albania being awarded swathes of territory based on demographics, as well as the formation of Montenegro(currently seemingly undecided as to whether it wished to be a republic or kingdom), the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Macedonia.

Hungary had received a significant reward of territory, even taking into the account the small strip transferred to Germany. Horthy was quite congenial, very fit for a man of 75. He was clearly grooming his son to take over the Regency there. His son István was more reserved, yet seemed to warm more as he discussed the policies he intended to follow in the coming years in Germany.

Both Ivan Šubašić from Croatia and Miha Krek from Slovenia had both come for the same purpose, at his invitation. Both wished to join the Warsaw Pact, which would be put to the next meeting of the Pact itself, which he would attend himself, in Bucharest on 1 February 1945. He assured both men that he could see no issue in regards to their admittance. Via Boris III in Bulgaria he was aware that Macedonia was also going to petition to join the League via it's provisional President Ivan Mihailov. This would undoubtedly assist in Serbia's xenophobia in relation to being "surrounded" by enemies, but from his own point of view all three countries wanted to join the Pact simply based on their own fear of Serbia, so were unlikely to embark on any aggressive adventures in their own right. He had indicated that once all three countries received formal League of Nations representation, due in four days on 22nd January, then admittance should be formality. It would bring the Pact up to 14 members, namely Germany, Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia. Of course, Germany was now the only power of real significance in the group but she had succeeded in gaining a network of allies that ranged from client states to those with a shared mutual interest.

The breakup of Yugoslavia had been most advantageous for Italy, which had gained large swathes of territory via additions to Albania, which was effectively it's client state, as well as an increase in area around the city of Zara. This had required some hard negotiations for Italy to obtain these, the U.K were opposed. Balbo had proven to be a more practical man than Mussolini to deal with, however, and he had been able to negotiate with him a return to Germany of the Vinschgau area of South Tyrol to Germany for the same sum Eupen-Melemy had been purchased from Belgium for, 175 million Gold Marks. It was an area that was populated by 98.8% ethnic Germans, however, only about 10,000 in any case and had no strategic value whatsoever. IT would be much more difficult to pay for as well, this would have to involve German gold, not captured Russian metal, however, from the point of view of national prestige it was perhaps worth it and economically whilst things were far from fixed they had turned around.

After the meeting in Romania, he was to return to Germany, the next major event looming the opening of the East Prussian tunnel, scheduled for April 1945, the month the real Hitler shot himself, funnily enough.

View attachment 275498 Europe Map January 1945

February 1945

It had been a productive month so far. In the Pacific the Japanese had lost control of Java, which had been invaded by the British, as well as Iwo Jima, which had been invaded by the Americans and conquered in only three weeks. This had apparently involved a number of Japanese actually surrendering, against the trend of what had occurred in so many Pacific battles so far.

February's Warsaw Pact meeting had voted to admit Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro. All three nations had received a percentage according to population of the 71.5 ton Yugoslavian gold reserve and with the threat still there from Serbia arm's sales had commenced to all three. Vinschgau had been occupied and added to Austria, it's small population seemingly ecstatic to again be part of this state. Germany had started his sojourn with a total area of 633,786 square km. He had added 47 square km in Ostrava and Pilen, 202 square km in Eupen Malmedy, 15 square km from Poland and a massive 1084 square km from his Curonian Lagoon project(now finalised), 1966 square km from Danzig, 2870 square km from the Baltic Islands of Muhu and Saaremaa(which were now joined by a land bridge), 1442 square km from Vinschgau, 12 square km from Slovenia and 112 square km from the Sopron enclave, in addition to 9 square km from small land reclamation projects. In total Germany's new land mass was now 641,535, an increase of 7,749 square km, no small amount.

He now had before him the sustainable resources act, which he would sign in to law later that day. It mandated a number of points that would hopefully assist Germany to become more "green", a program ironically enough that may have obatned some support from the previous Hitler in peacetime. The main points were:

- fishing catch limits for commercial fisherman at what a best guess for fish stocks were, as well as strict restrictions on fishing in German territorial waters for other countries boats. THis may involve the need for a creation of a coastguard type organisation
- all forest cutting to require mandatory reforestation efforts, except in the cases of land planned to be cleared
- an increase in state tax on petrol, certain to be unpopular but a tax that would mainly affect the rich and would greatly assist in raising revenue that was badly needed
- steps to attempt recycling, not only of metal products but glass as well
- changes to city planning schemes requiring planning approvals and placement of green areas within planned new suburbs

He had alluded to some of these changes at the last Warsaw Pact conference and received some lukewarm interest from some, however, it appeared that in most cases countries were simply not ready for such measures.

April 2 1945

The celebrations in Danzig were not in any way muted as the first car driven through the completed East Prussian tunnel was his own Mercedes 770. It was to keep pace with Reichsbahn locomotive that made the transit at the same time via what would be the new rail main line. It was an incredible engineering achievement to have 9.4km of tunnel completed in only 4 and a half years and would not have been possible without the labour of so many Russian POW's and for that very reason he had made sure than 12 such workers that had elected to stay in Germany were to be accommodated in Danzig free of charge for a week at the best hotels and feted at the opening.

His own daughter was almost bouncing up and down in the back of the car with excitement and had to be contained by her mother. To be honest he had rarely seen such mass hysteria and acclaim, perhaps only at Nuremburg. There was little doubt that the tunnel itself would provide an enormous economic benefit to East Prussia as whole. IN fact, with both this project as well as the Curonian Lagoon reclamation, East Prussia had probably drawn more benefit than any other state in recent times from civil projects.

In the Pacific, what had been termed the Japanese Empire war, as opposed to his own Russian Front War, was clearly drawing to a close. Okinawa had been stormed by U.S forces in March, Japan not even deigning to send ships to it's relief. In fact, Ribbentrop had reported the previous day the beginning of peace feelers from the Japanese government and he would send von Papen to Dewey to place them before the U.S President. As of yet, it scarcely represented the unconditional surrender which both the U.S and U.K had asked for.

In Yugoslavia, the fragile peace was holding, likewise in the Caucases where Germany forces were now starting to reduce their garrisons commencing this very month. The next major issue loomed as a domestic one, namely Reichstag elections in June, designed to achieve a first sitting on the 1st August. He had mandated no political advertising until within three weeks of the poll, which would be on 16th June. That meant from late May what he had been trying to avoid would be inevitable, election campaigning on behalf of the Nazi Party. There was no real excuse not to do so now, although it was hardly a delicious prospect.

April 4 1945

Dewey snapped open the letter from Hitler whilst von Papen waited. von Papen himself indicated that he was unaware of it's contents. It was not lengthy and merely outlined the text of the Japanese surrender proposals, which essentially involved no occupation of Japan, no prosecution of war criminals(although Japan had promised to "investigate breaches of the etiquette of war", whatever the hell that meant), a return to the 1937 status quo in terms of territorial control.

It was unacceptable to Dewey, who's forces had already taken the last step before an invasion of Japan. Hitler had commented in his summing up

"I have placed these proposal's before you in exactly the condition they have been received by Germany herself. As I wrote to you in 1942, this is not Germany's war and therefore all I can offer you is good wishes and the friendship one great country may offer another.

You must of course make up your own mind about both the sincerity and scope of the Japanese offer. However, from our own experiences here in Germany I would counsel that the failure to defeat fully an opponent can lead to a dangerous myth. The myth that the country was "stabbed in the back", that in fact they were not totally defeated at all, but could have prosecuted the war to a successful conclusion. No matter how impossible that outcome may be, it is a mirage that will be attractive to nationalistic supporters. I suppose, in essence, the crux of the matter is whether a continuation of the war to crush those potential thoughts and to regain enough territory to again remove China from under Japan's colonial yoke is worth the potential cost. I faced that decision in 1941. You face it now. Much like myself, it is a decision you must take on your own reconnaissance."

Adolf Hitler
Chancellor

Dewey sat deep in thought. It was to take only half an hour. There was really no question on the matter. It would be a betrayal of those who had died so far in this noble endeavour to do anything else.

April 1945

The results of the October 1944 census that had been designed not only to assist in urban planning but also to provide a guide to demographic representation to the Reichstag for the 20 states and one special district that comprised Germany. Reichstag elections would be based on proportional representation with a 4% threshold being used to elect a number of representatives for each state. These representatives and states were as follows:

Prussia, Capital Postdam, Population 21.46 million, Reichstag Representatives 108
Bavaria, Capital Munich, Population 9.42 million, Reichstag Representatives 47
Austria, Capital Vienna, Population 7.29 million, Reichstag Representatives 38
Saxony, Capital Dresden, Population 6.68 million, Reichstag Representatives 34
Westphalia, Capital Munster, Population 4.55 million, Reichstag Representatives 23
Hanover, Capital Hannover, Population 3.73 million, Reichstag Representatives 19
Wurttemberg, Capital Stuggart, Population 3.37 million, Reichstag Representatives 17
Rhineland, Capital Koblenz, Population 3.26 million, Reichstag Representatives 17
Hesse-Nassau, Capital Frankfurt, Population 2.85 million, Reichstag Representatives 15
Baden, Capital Karlstruhe, Population 2.69 million, Reichstag Representatives 14
Schleswig-Holstein, Capital Kiel, Population 2.09 million, Reichstag Representatives 11
Hamburg, Capital Hamburg, Population 1.83 million, Reichstag Representatives 9
Bohemia, Capital Pilsen, Population 1.62 million, Reichstag Representatives 8
Saxon-Anhalt, Capital Magdenburg, Population 1.46 million, Reichstag Representatives 8
Thuringia, Capital Erfurt, Population 1.37 million, Reichstag Representatives 7
Saar, Capital Saarbrucken, Population 1.31 million, Reichstag Representatives 7
Mecklenburg, Capital Schwerin, Population 1.22 million, Reichstag Representatives 6
Oldenburg, Capital Oldenburg, Population 0.92 million, Reichstag Representatives 5
Moravia, Capital Ostrava, Population 0.72 million, Reichstag Representatives 4
Bremen, Capital Bremen, Population 0.51 million, Reichstag Representatives 3
Osel Special District, Capital Arensburg, 0.04 million, Reichstag Representatives 1

It totalled 399 representatives. Demographically Poles were the only truely significant ethic minority in Germany, although Russians, Czechs, Danish and Masurians also were in some numbers number. Less than 150,000 of others groups were in Germany, headed by Lithuanians which numbered about 120,000. There were now almost 300,000 Russians living in Germany as an aftermath of the Eastern War, most spouses or ex POW's.

June 1945

Japan was still reeling under a remorseless series of hammer blows, Okinawa being secured in May and now RAF Lancaster's as well as B-17's were roaming across Japan, adding to their earlier carnage from B-29's. Aerial mining and submarines had reduced Japan's merchant fleet to a trickle of supplies and one wondered how much longer it could all go on.

Domestically, he had removed some he was keen to see the back of, including both Franks. Bormann he had finally moved away from his direct circle. He remained head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, however, he had indicated to Bormann in January 1945 that with open elections looming there must be seen to be a separation between himself as Fuhrer and the party machinery as a whole, that whilst he could campaign for the party and remain a member he could not afford to be seen to be favouring it in the rule of law. This had thankfully reduced the all pervasive influence of Bormann on his own life and he was to see much less of the man. He had also formerly retired Hess from the role of Deputy Fuhrer at the same time, replacing him with Louis-Ferdinand. He had indicated to Hess that he would likely be required as President of the Reichstag in the advent of a NSDAP dominated Reichstag and so this had proven. Now he could finally start training the young man, who was already a father of five, to succeed one day into the role of Kaiser.

The election result had resulted from the 16th June 1945 poll had resulted in a NSDAP dominated Reichstag, no huge surprise he supposed. It was in direct opposition to the state elections where only in Prussia had the NSDAP held on to power. He had done some campaigning in this election on their behalf and their vote had been fully 7-12% higher than at recent state elections, something he would greatly reduce at the next election. For now, it was more important to again reestablish a chamber that at least functioned like a democracy should. The final results in the 399 member Reichstag were:

NSDAP 207
Zetrum Alliance 113(consisting of Zentrum 82, OCSP 15, BVP 15)
SDP 68
DPP(liberals) 5
BBB(Bavarian Agrarian Party) 3
KDP 2
PKDP(Polish) 2

Despite the large NSDAP vote, it would require only a small swing to likely oust them from power, as Zentrum and the SDP would likely all to do so if given the chance, as they had done recently in most state elections to provide alternative governments. This had not been without it's problems, with a number of spectacular splits and disagreements, one of which had restored the NSDAP to power in Mecklenburg.

July 1945

He had held talks with Wilhelm Kleinmann, who would replace Julius Dorpmuller as Minister for Transport now that the later had succumbed to cancer. The ministry, in a reshuffle, would pick up responsibility now only for rail and roads, but also air transport and airports, previously under the now defunct Ministry of Aviation, Goering's old all pervasive portfolio.

He had made it quite clear to Kleinmann that the ministry as a whole would be expected to support all three modes of transport, in particular aviation, which he was swell aware would be such a large part of the future. To that end, he had spent time reviewing the strategy that he had talked for some time with Dorpmuller about. In relation to airports, six were to be concentrated on as being able to take the heaviest aircraft and with facilities suitable for modern passengers, these being Berlin's Templehof, Frankfurt, Munich's Reim, Breslau, which would need upgrading and the military presence moved, Hamburg, which would need upgrading and Konigsburg's Devau airport, also in need of an upgrade.Aspern airfield, servicing Vienna, would need the first upgrade.

Aside from the ever reliable Ju-52 and Ju-252 fleet, aircraft under development or entering service included the jet powered Heinkel-16, which had made it's first flight and the huge six engine Junkers EF-100, which had made a number of test flights to both Newfoundland and lastly New York, the later among a blaze of publicity in May. It likely signaled the beginning of the end for the two giant zeppelins left, LF-130 Graf Zeppelin and the bigger LF-131 Ingrid Hitler, who had each made a flight a year to South America the last five years and one to Cape Town in 1940. Perhaps he would try and take some steps to preserve LF-131, which actually had the range to fly direct to Sydney.

In terms of rail, with the completion of the high speed rail line from Berlin to Stettin to Danzig to coincide with the opening of the Polish corridor tunnel, it had been agreed the next priorities were the extension of this line through Konigsburg to Memel, as well as the extension of the Munich line though Linz to Vienna. These would be followed by a Stettin-Rostock-Lubeck-Kiel connection and an extension of the Saxony line from Beuthen to newly renamed Ostrau.

Ju-EF100

July 1945

The festival had been designed to celebrate the reopening of the Reichstag as a viable political force three days hence and had commenced with a pre-screening of the third of the UFA trilogy, “Blood is the Harvest”. Marlene Dietrich herself had been the main guest at the pre-screening and the film had finished to rapturous applause from the audience. One thing for certain, the film did not pull any punches and for a 1945 affair no expense had been spared with the sets, so important in the pre CGI days. The acting was great and it brought into question whether in would receive any attention from Hollywood. Unlikely, considering the heavy diet of Pacific theatre war films coming out of Hollywood at present.

He had taken the opportunity to talk to Louis Ferdinand about the future, indicating that he did not wish to continue as Fuhrer past 1954 at the latest, giving him time to learn the role until such time as he could potentially be restored as Kaiser. This would require him to abdicate as King of Prussia, which he had indicated he would pass to his brother Prince Hubertus.

The Pacific war was still plodding on, Japan seemingly unable to admit that they were beaten. He had been invited to the U.K for the launching of the Kriegsmarine’s first “second generation” carrier, what would be the often built in alternate history Peter Strasser. Two more were building in Germany, along with two modified “O Class” battlecruisers that incorporated a number of improvements on the original designs, not least of which were the deletion of the pointless torpedo tubes and a reduction in aircraft handling capacity. These would require only the hulls, the main armament of 6x15 inch guns already on hand from previous cancelled orders.

Luftwaffe production had scaled back, concentrating on the Me-262 and Ar-234 types, with the Ar-334, using 6 jet engines under development as a strategic bomber. Probably the most interesting project was the “flying wing” Ho-229, which was still in the testing stage. Von Braun’s V-2 was now, if not perfected, 70% reliable and could be frozen for production, although with no immediate likely opponents it would probably see little military service. The possibilities for space travel now existed, however.

There were now only four Divisions on duty in the East and six in Slovenia, leaving the army at 56 divisions with a long term target of 50. The country had sold huge amounts of military hardware in the 1939-45 period, almost unprecedented amounts in fact. One positive in terms of the drawn down of army numbers had been an ability to equip what units there were with the very best of equipment. The Wehrmacht was no longer reliant on horses. Mechanised divisions contained all self-propelled artillery and their own organic self-propelled anti-aircraft elements in many cases, as well. Panzer divisions were totally mechanized. The sheer advantage of not having enormous aircraft losses over the U.K in the Battle of Britain had proven decisive in the Eastern war. Likewise, the sheer advantages of not having to maintain an enormous army, let alone the investiture of billions of RM in both the Atlantic wall and anti-aircraft defences to offset the RAF/USAAF bomber offensive had proven a godsend to the German economy.

October 1945

Still the war in the Pacific dragged on, Japan being bombed and starved into submission, her ability to hurt her opponents seemingly diminishing by the day. He had spent the day at Aachen, inspecting the 26 Infantry Division and had also had a chance to see the new Leibermuster, which would become the standard field dress for all Wehrmacht formations, as well as all Luftwaffe airfield defense forces.

It had taken almost a year, but he had finally secured an appointment to see Paul Reynaud, with a visit booked to Paris in November 1945. The French had avoided the war altogether, however, they were having issues of their own, with recent revolts in their Indo-China provinces. Revolts that were not likely to go away, he would have thought.

Perhaps one of the greatest achievements had been what Schacht had reported. So far in the calendar year Germany had run a surplus of 98 million and was on target for a surplus of 125 million. This was still a net debt if one counted the Italian purchase earlier in the year, but this was strictly a one off event. He had raised taxes on cigarettes and expected 1946 to produce a tidy surplus, possibly an even bigger one if the Pacific War continued.

He had just come back from the Ukraine, where against all odds Andriy Melnyk had somehow managed to consolidate his hold on power. This had probably been assisted by the death of Danylo Skoropadskyi in a road accident in 1944, convincing his father to throw his weight behind Melnyk’s claim via his daughter Olena’s children, especially his grandson. Pavlo Skoropadskyi had died in early 1945, naming his grandson Marko his heir. He had not for a moment believed Melnyk would survive, even less so after he had named himself Hetman, however, after at least eleven assassination attempts, he had somehow not only survived but seemed to be entering calmer waters.

November 1945

The U.S invasion of Japan had likely now been delayed by the huge cyclone that had hit Okinawa in October, sinking or damaging hundreds of smaller ships such as landing craft. He wondered if Japan would ever surrender despite von Ribbentop's thoughts that "there was hardly a brick standing on another in Tokyo. The damage to the wooden section of the city did not bear thinking about-it had essentially ceased to exist.

As he looked at the proposal he thought again about the old quote. "Sport is without doubt the most important thing that doesn't matter." The transport links were now there and the game was as popular as ever. There would be twenty teams each in the new Gold and Silber leagues that would commence in September 1946, operating on a promotion/relegation system. For some cities it would require an expenditure of money to upgrade existing facilities, however, some of this would be repaid by the clubs over time. Contracts would go forward to provide for radio coverage and for some games even the new medium, television.

Initial gold league teams included two from Berlin, one from Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Breslau, Danzig, Essen, Dortmund, Stuggart, Dusseldorf, Bremen, Hanover, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Konigsberg, Ostrau and Salzburg.

Silber league teams were again one from Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and Munich and then one each from Mainz, Darmstadt, Braunschweig, Graz, Stettin, Karlsruhe, Memel, Leipzig, Dresden, Bonn, Saarbrucken, Leverkusen, Erfurt, Magdeburg, Aachen and Kiel.

Modified "O Class" battlecruisers

May 2016

Charlotte Zahringen had always enjoyed London and had decided to spend the remainder of here three week holiday there. The main attraction was sport. It must have been in her blood, because, ever since her Great Grandfather, the family had always been sport obsessed, including both her Uncles, her Aunt and her three cousins. Since the 1966 losing World Cup final, every year Germany's winning Good League team had met the winner of the English Premier League in the May Day game for the Fahland/Kirkby Trophy, always played in late May to coincide with the end of the German and English season. This year's match featured Bayern Munich, the gold league's most successful club, winning three of the last four championships, stopped only the fairy-tale season in 2013-14 of VfB Königsberg, who had won their first championship. It paralleled the story of Bayern Munich's opponent, Leicester City. She would be supporting the German side, of course, although her own football passion, FC Phönix Karlsruhe, had just been relegated to the Silber League. The German League system consisted of 20 teams in the Gold League, 20 more in Silber, with promotion and relegation for two. Below the Silber League was two 20 team Bronze Leagues, East and West. The champions from the Bronze Leagues were promoted to Silber, along with a third side, the winner of a playoff between the second placed side in East and West. The bottom three in Silber League were relegated.

The two countries had always shared a solid sporting rivalry, especially in football, although Germany had generally come out ahead. She had won five World Cups to England's one and again five European Championships to one. She thought of Gary Lineker's famous quote "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win." The match would be proceeded by a women's match, again featuring Bayern Munich. The women's league followed a similar structure to the men's, but with 10, 10, and two 10 women teams rather 20 team leagues. Again, Germany had had much success, including three World Cups since the first in 1983.

One thing her Great Grandfather could not be accused of was not trying to do enough for women's sport. He had made sport participation if not mandatory then expected in schools and provided funding for indoor gymnasiums for most. Among German men the most popular team sports were firstly football by a long way, then handball, ice hockey, basketball and field hockey. Among women firstly football, then netball and field hockey. She was also here to watch the England-Germany netball, which had become as popular as the clashes between their two Southern rivals, Australia and New Zealand. Increasingly, Germany was emerging the winner. It was a sport she herself had played much of.

It had been a busy year so far, taking over the institute in late January and then immediately flying to the U.S for the 70th anniversary commemorations to mark the end of the Great Pacific War in February 1946. After this trip she would briefly return to Karlsruhe to celebrate the 210th anniversary of the Grand Duchy of Baden, which was duly restored in 1958 after a hiatus between 1918-58, the only such restoration after the 1941 plebiscites.

24 November 1945

It was hard to believe that they had actually carried the plan out, considering the level of madness it would have taken. On the morning of 11 November 1945, six aircraft had hit hit San Diego and three more Los Angeles. Two more were to hit Singapore the following day. The allies had been caught by surprise, their air defenses no longer expecting an attack from an opponent they considered prostrate. All Japanese aircraft used Kamikaze tactics. However, some carried strange bombs, ones made of ceramic that seemed to have no high explosive component. Crews were of course called in to clear away debris. It was only seven days later that U.S authorities in both cities were able to report cases of bubonic plague.

Only two of the six submarines assigned to Operation Cherry Blossom would make it back to Japan, but that was almost incidental. Von Ribbentrop had left Japan with all embassy staff some two days before. He had addressed the Reichstag earlier the same day before calling in the Japanese abbassador to advise that Germany would be at war with Japan from 25th November. Any country that used such tactics deserved to be stopped at all cost. Within a week most of the Warsaw Pact had followed. That same day two massive raids hit Nagasaki and Kyoto, both fully equipped with firebombs. The two cities, hit by B-29's and Lincolns/Lancaster's respectively, were bombed every night for a week, creating uncontrollable firestorms that swept both cities. Total allied losses were 12 aircraft. The same day the Chinese reopened their 1945 offensive, making hard fought gains against the Kwantung army, itself, exhausted and short on supplies. The Great Pacific War had stepped up a notch, even though it was in it's death throes.

November 1945

The meeting with the French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud had finally taken place. This was one in particular where it would pay to roll over and show one’s belly. That being the case he had elected to take as little in the way of military presence as possible. That being the case, he had taken only his naval adjutant, Rear Admiral Lindemann with him. The remainder of his entourage consisted entirely of civilians. He had also taken his own wife and daughter with him. There we things to discuss. Much like Germany, France had also declared on Japan and entered the Pacific war.

The French, perennially worried about Germany had extended the Maginot line another 45 kilometres and beefed up their own defences all the way to the Channel. The French had been suspicious and almost hostile; however, he had stuck to a simple creed, pointing out his release of the Czech Republic, his lack of Russian or Yugoslavian territorial demands and his support for Alsace-Lorraine remaining French.

To that end he had suggested the signing of a treaty in regards to Alsace-Lorraine, both to guarantee minority rights and to yet again guarantee the borders as unequivocally fixed. His own recent changes in Germany in regards to cosmetics and luxury goods in 1940 had meant that there was an enormous potential market within Germany for these goods, along with luxury French foods and wines. These items had been restricted under the Nazis and were now in greater demand than Germany, which had wound back or closed these industries prior to 1940, could ever produce. Trade had been at low levels, but German steel could be provided cheaper to France than she could make it herself. He had attempted to get Reynaud to see that the two countries could do more together than they could ever do apart.

This was difficult, as France had sat back since 1939 and seen Germany achieve her objectives and grow stronger whilst France had become more inward. She viewed the British as being less than supportive and had viewed a war with Germany as being the only way to break her growing strength. This the English had been loath to do and consequently the relationships between the two had cooled. Now France was still isolated, not a Warsaw Pact member and not really a member of Great Britain’s “mini Entente” either. Consequently, Reynard felt he was isolated and was embittered into the bargain. The fact that her situation was largely the result of insipid French foreign policy was a truth it would not pay to point out.

He had stayed in France ten days in the finish, taking the time to spend four extra days wholly as a tourist so as to attract French media attention. It had not been as successful a trip as he had hoped; there was simply too much suspicion and likely envy there as well. In any case, it had not been a total washout. Reynaud had agreed to step up trade, the advantages for France were simply to great not to. The most surprising thing the French had agreed to was the proposal he had made to send a joint fleet to the Far East, consisting of the battleships Gascoyne and her remarkable sister, Clemenceau, which had been modified as an AA battleship mounting 21 6 inch guns and 20 quadruple Bofors. They would be accompanied by the carrier Joffre and the Tirpitz and the heavy cruisers Seydlitz and Lutzow, currently being readied for Pacific service.

12nd February 1946

It was the first operation for the Tirpitz, the huge battleship being in a “fast division” with the British flagship HMS Hood, no longer such a pretty ship with her “Queen Anne mansion” block superstructure after her reconstruction. They were accompanied by his two heavy cruisers and the British HMS Edinburgh and Belfast and screened four fleet carriers. If he was truly honest, he had not expected to be steaming in the centre of a Royal Navy task force a few years ago, nor participating in operations against Japan, Germany’s erstwhile ally.

After the air strikes the battleships had moved to within 12km of the Japanese coast, targeting the city of Nobeoka. There was limited real concern about doing so. The Japanese navy had for all intents and purposes ceased to exist, a U.S destroyer sunk back in November by submarine it’s last victim. The Japanese air force was now a mere shadow. There had been waves of Kamikazes in July as naval forces pressed inshore and again in December and early January as the USN and RN had pressed inshore and swarmed the Japanese home islands with both aircraft and ships. Now even the Kamikazes seemed moribund. Allied bombers very rarely encountered fighters any more. In many cities, even the AA guns fired only fitfully. Only Tokyo seemed to retain an AA umbrella. Japan itself was under round the clock incendiary air raids, city after city hit in so called “four day raids” that continued by night as well as day. Afterwards, another city would be targeted and the process would repeat itself. He had no idea either how or why the Japanese were holding on.

In America, the plague outbreak was being brought under control, with no new cases reported in the last week in either San Francisco or Los Angeles, where 162 and 309 people, respectively had died. In Singapore, plague was still active, having claimed 516 victims so far, although numbers of new cases were now declining.

28 February 1946

Well, the Pacific War was finally over, just as he had dispatched the Grossdeutchland Division on board the liners Europa and Bremen. With enough troops already in the Far East of other powers, the ships and the troops themselves would be recalled. It was finally on the 25th of February that approaches had been made via the Swedish Embassy with a view to securing a termination of hostilities and this had come into effect at noon on the 28th.

From all accounts Hirohito had been killed in an air raid on the night of the 23rd and his brother Nobuhito, in his capacity as Regent, had insisted on the acceptance of all allied demands, in effect unconditional surrender. V-J would be proclaimed on 15th March 1946 and for the first time that he could remember for quite some time, the world would be at peace, although in China a civil war still likely loomed. Without Soviet support, it remained to be seen how much traction Mao and his splinter supporting forces, consisting of his own men and a few hard line ex Stalinists from Russia, could achieve.

Germany’s forces from the Caucuses would be fully withdrawn by the end of April except for some key advisors, leaving only two divisions in the Ukraine. Small units were still present in Slovenia and Croatia, but Germany was on target to reduce it’s army to 52 divisions. This represented a considerable budget saving and had allowed for more agricultural subsidies that had seen the country almost break even in this area, which was a significant improvement on it’s previous parlous position.

Domestically, there had been much in the way of spirited debate in the Reichstag, although with the NSDAP in majority and with Hess as President of the Chamber, things were still quite controllable. In a couple more years, he could look to commence transitioning out of his own role, with hopefully the other parties looking to push the Party out of power. Then perhaps retirement and a “normal” life.

April 1946

With the sudden outbreak of peace across Europe it was perhaps time to look at a number of commercial concerns that had fallen into state hands that would more than likely be better off in private enterprise. As an old Labor voter he had had never been a believer that enterprises ran more profitably and provided better services to the public simply because they were privatized. Public ownership of things like rail infrastructure, even communications and power delivery had it's advantages, despite what the modern day Eric Abetz's of the world may say with their ruthless quest for privatization at any cost. However, there were limits and he could see no reason at all why the state would own car manufacturers, coal mines, steel mills and the like.

Therefore, in the next 18 months a number of state owned business would come onto the market, the sale of which would help provide the budget surpluses needed to reign in debt. These included Saargruden AG, Reichwerke Herman Goring, VEBA AG, N.H AG and finally, Volkswagen and Skoda. There should be no lack of interest in an increasingly bullish economic environment.

As for his own provision for the future, he had hand picked a representative to take the trip to Los Angeles and undertake the negotiation on his behalf. When the deal was finally signed in October 1946, it gave both William Hewlett and David Packard the cash to expand their business and go public with the company in April 1947. It also delivered him an 18% share of said company.

April 1946

He was fairly pleased with his choices for the cabinet in the aftermath of the post 1945 elections. The cabinet itself had been reshaped and comprised some 21 positions, namely:

Fuhrer of the German Reich - Adolf Hitler(NSDAP)
Deputy Fuhrer - Archduke Louis Ferdinand(None)
Foreign Affairs - Konstantin von Neurath(NSDAP)
Interior - Rudolf Hess(NSDAP)
Justice - Helmuth Graf von Moltke(Zentrum)
Finance - Fritz Schäffer(Zentrum)
Economics - Hjalmar Schacht(None)
Agriculture - Adolf Schärf(SDU)
Industry - Albert Speer(NDSAP)
Labour - Fritz Todt(NDSAP)
Transport - Kurt Ernst Carl Schumacher(SDU)
Defense - Erich von Manstein(None)
Post and Communications - Paul Joseph Goebbels(NSDAP)
Forestry and Fishing - Arthur Seyss-Inquart(NSDAP)
Housing and Urban Planning - Joseph Joos(Zentrum)
Economic Cooperation - Friedrich von Trott zu Solz(Zentrum)
Health - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler(Zentrum)
Science and Technology - Hanns Blaschke(NSDAP)
Education - Herbert Frahm(SDU)
Family, Women and Aged Affairs - Wilhelm Külz(Liberals)
Sport and Recreation - Georg Bachmann(NSDAP)

He had tried to minimise the Nazi influence as much as possible, but with a clear Reichstag majority it had been necessary to appoint a number of Nazi's to cabinet posts, whilst at all times making sure that these were the ones with moderate views or the easily led, such as Hess. With the war the the Pacific now wound up, it was important to secure Germany's economic future in a post war world as a great power and attempt to make sure that, unlike the U.K in OTL, her global influence did not wain completely.

23 February 2014

Charlotte Zahringen looked around the Palais des Congres Acropolis in Nice, awaiting, like many others, the draw for Euro 2016, which had been awarded to France for the third time, behind only Germany's four hostings(although two of those had been in conjunction with the Swiss. She was keen to see the groups read out and finally the announcements were made:

Group A
Czech Republic
North Caucasus Republic
Republic of Turkey
Kingdom of Netherlands
Faroe Islands Dependency
Republic of Latvia

Group B
Kingdom of Spain
Hetmanate of Ukraine
Republic of Slovakia
Principality of Monaco
Principality of Liechtenstein
Kingdom of Scotland

Group C
German Empire
Republic of Poland
Kingdom of Norway
Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Malta
Republic of Azerbaijan

Group D
Kingdom of England
Swiss Republic
Republic of Slovenia
Republic of Estonia
Republic of San Marino
Republic of Lithuania

Group E
Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Hungary
Northern Ireland
Kingdom of Montenegro
Principality of Andorra
Kingdom of Greece

Group F
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Republic of Portugal
Republic of Armenia
Tsardom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Abkhazia
Gibraltar

Group G
Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Denmark
Kingdom of Georgia
Kingdom of Albania
Republic of Iceland
Republic of Dagestan

Group H
Russian Republic
Republic of France
Principality of Wales
Republic of Cyprus
Karashay-Balkar Republic
Republic of Croatia

Group I
Republic of Ireland
Kingdom of Sweden
Kingdom of Belgium
Republic of Finland
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Republic of Azania

June 1946

It was heading into summer, the first summer of what he hoped would be a peaceful world. In the Pacific, the small Kriegsmarine detachment that had been sent in late 1944 had arrived home on the last day of May. Germany would not contribute to the occupation of Japan and he had little influence in China so it was probably best to see how the situation developed all by itself. In Korea, Kim Koo had declared a Korean Republic. The Americans, concerned with events in China, had largely ignored Korea in their attempts to assist Chiang's Nationalists in what was a developing civil war. Russia appeared to have largely kept out of events, happy to draw in Mongolia as a puppet now that Chinese attention was elsewhere and Japan was prostrate. What would be come of Japans overseas empire was still uncertain, although Formosa and the Chinese mainland enclaves had been returned to Chiang.

In Germany itself, it was time to make another denouncement. The State election had been held in 1944 before the Federal one quite deliberately. He wanted to see what the results of the State elections were before a Federal one was attempted for the Reichstag. He also wanted the first Reichstag to "settle in" with the least amount of worries. Hence when the 1944 State elections produced a minority for the NSDAP and the Reichstag a majority, he knew it had been a good idea not reconstitute the Bundesrat at the same time. The first NSDAP government would last only until 1948 and this would bring State elections and Federal Reichstag elections, as well as the establishment of the Bundesrat. This would ease the complaints of some of the smaller states of the domination of Prussia. The term "Gau" had continued on post 1941, each of the three larger states having 3-5 of them and an intermediate level of government. Below this were individual Kreis, in what constituted local government.

Whilst the Reichstag was elected according to population, the Bundesrat would give more representation to smaller states. One representative per state was to be appointed by it's monarch or Governor, the remainder by it's respective Prime Minister. He looked again at the map of 1946 Germany and the 1945 population figures. Proposed numbers of members for the Bundesrat were:

Kingdom of Prussia, King - Hubertus I, Capital Postdam, Population 21.46 million, Gaus- Brandenburg(Postdam), Berlin(Berlin), Pomerania(Stettin), East Prussia(Konigsberg), Silesia(Breslau), Reichstag Representatives 108, Bundesrat Representatives 6
Kingdom of Bavaria, King- Rupprecht I, Capital Munich, Population 9.42 million, Gaus- Bavaria(Munich), Franconia(Nuremburg), Pfalz(Speyer), Reichstag Representatives 47, Bundesrat Representatives 5
Austria, Capital Vienna, Population 7.29 million, Gaus- Tyrol-Salzburg(Salzburg), Austria(Vienna), Styria-Carinthia(Graz), Reichstag Representatives 38, Bundesrat Representatives 5
Kingdom of Saxony, Friedrich Christian II, Capital Dresden, Population 6.68 million, Reichstag Representatives 34, Bundesrat Representatives 5
Westphalia, Capital Munster, Population 4.55 million, Reichstag Representatives 23, Bundesrat Representatives 4
Hanover, Capital Hannover, Population 3.73 million, Reichstag Representatives 19, Bundesrat Representatives 4
Wurttemberg, Capital Stuggart, Population 3.37 million, Reichstag Representatives 17, Bundesrat Representatives 4
Rhineland, Capital Koblenz, Population 3.26 million, Reichstag Representatives 17, Bundesrat Representatives 4
Hesse-Nassau, Capital Frankfurt, Population 2.85 million, Reichstag Representatives 15, Bundesrat Representatives 4
Baden, Capital Karlstruhe, Population 2.69 million, Reichstag Representatives 14, Bundesrat Representatives 4
Schleswig-Holstein, Capital Kiel, Population 2.09 million, Reichstag Representatives 11, Bundesrat Representatives 3
Hansa City Hamburg, Capital Hamburg, Population 1.83 million, Reichstag Representatives 9, Bundesrat Representatives 3
Bohemia, Capital Pilsen, Population 1.62 million, Reichstag Representatives 8, Bundesrat Representatives 3
Saxon-Anhalt, Capital Magdenburg, Population 1.46 million, Reichstag Representatives 8, Bundesrat Representatives 3
Thuringia, Capital Erfurt, Population 1.37 million, Reichstag Representatives 7, Bundesrat Representatives 3
Saar, Capital Saarbrucken, Population 1.31 million, Reichstag Representatives 7, Bundesrat Representatives 3
Mecklenburg, Capital Schwerin, Population 1.22 million, Reichstag Representatives 6, Bundesrat Representatives 3
Oldenburg, Capital Oldenburg, Population 0.92 million, Reichstag Representatives 5, Bundesrat Representatives 2
Moravia, Capital Ostrava, Population 0.72 million, Reichstag Representatives 4, Bundesrat Representatives 2
Hansa City Bremen, Capital Bremen, Population 0.51 million, Reichstag Representatives 3, Bundesrat Representatives 2
Osel Special District, Capital Arensburg, 0.04 million, Reichstag Representatives 1, Bundesrat Representatives 1

Germany Map 1946-courtesy of Samuel Von Straßburg

August 1946

He had been in need of a holiday for quite some time so the two week Baltic cruise would provide just such an opportunity. It was a sturdy ship, it's sister ship unfortunately lost during the Eastern campaign. The ex Robert Ley had had it's name changed after it's namesake was shot and now operated under the name Germania. His daughter was almost unable to contain her excitement at the though of being on board.

The Kraft durch Freude organisation as a whole had been disbanded in 1945, but would not be officially defunct until 30.9.1946 as many had booked and paid for holidays that would have to be honored. The Germania would undertake three more cruises until her ownership changed. She had already been sold to the Hamburg Amerika Line but would not operate under their flag for another eight weeks. With the advent of free elections in 1945, he had implemented policies to sell off assets that were primarily owned by the NSDAP. Along with much heavy industry, the KdF had been one of those organizations. The most profitable sales were the Germania, but also the huge Prora beach resort on the island of Rugen, designed to accommodate up to 20,000 holidaymakers and including it's own wave pools, cinema, theater and dock. It had been purchased by Steigenberger-Remplin Hotels. The eco tourism resort built by the KdF on Osel had also been purchased by the same company. All 44 Thingplatz had also been sold, as had all three Schulungsburgen to become private schools. The Reichszeugmeisterei had been sold in 1939. It was only the party rally grounds at Nuremburg and their vast series of structures that had escaped the axe. The state had no business running cruise ships, tourism companies, manufacturing conglomerates and the like and the revenue gained by their sale was well spent retiring debt. The German economy was still strong and still required Polish worker to make up numbers as even with women having more freedom to stay in the workforce unemployment was only running at 0.7%.

Fiscally, these sorts of acts and the savings thus ensued had assisted the German economy to come back on track by retiring some of the enormous public sector debt that had accumulated by 1939. Foreign military sales had been a massive boon, as had cutting defense spending, as well as pointlessly huge public works programs. Foreign trade was well in surplus, the continuing war in China providing excellent opportunities to sell more material to the Nationalists, as well as continuing sales to Warsaw Pact members.

For all the fact that Germany was doing well and for all the fact that he had sold KdF tourism facilities, one area that had been troubling him was tourism. OTL, Germany did not receive as much tourism as it probably should. In this area France was way out in front, with some twice as many visitors going to France as Germany and Austria combined. Germany needed to boost those numbers. Sure France had beaches in the South that Germany would never have, even if by Australian standards they were covered in shitty black pebbles and were not real beaches at all. At least the Mediterranean was warm and lovely to swim in, even worth a dip in winter in Spain. However, it was not just that. How many people went to Paris compared to Berlin? Restoring the monarchy would help a bit. It had a certain mystique that attracted tourists when they knew it wasn't just part of the past, like the U.K and London. As would not losing so many building to bombing that occurred OTL. However, an Eiffel tower equivalent would be great, without actually ripping off the Eiffel tower by building a simple duplicate. It couldn't be something as ruinously expensive as the madcap Volkshalle either. Perhaps a 1946 equivalent London eye type structure in both Berlin and Vienna? He would think about it more as the cruise developed.

August 1946

It had been a great cruise and he had found himself seduced quite literally away from thoughts of work. Ingrid slept the sleep of the fully fed and exhausted in the adjoining room, the little girl falling asleep as soon as she had returned to the cabin. His own security had retired, with just a guard on the door. His wife had been waiting when he returned to the main cabin and things had quickly become heated.

He looked up at her and smiled then heard her say in a slow drawl from a few too many Pina Coladas, as he had had himself. "I know what you want, and you love it when I let you do that don't you?" Eva said. He nodded his head, every movement heightening his own need for her. "But I'm not going to just give it to you this time, I'm going make you work for it. Do you think you can do that?" He nodded and moved to kneel between her legs. It was later when he was trying to think non sexy thoughts to delay his own completion that he found himself running through his 1939 list of objectives.

1) Kriegsmarine cut back-to and regain trust of British?
He felt this had been achieved and whilst relations with Britain were not cordial that were at least comfortable. With Churchill replacing Halifax in March, the results of the October 1946 election would be interesting
2) France-what to do. Alsace ? How to stroke them and make them secure
This had only been a partial success, although the removal of parts of the Siegfried Line had helped ease tensions, as had the recent treaty signing
3) German women- potential to work? Not used just as brood mares?
This had seen some success. German women were no longer removed from occupations and their workforce participation had doubled. He had also funded women's sport and trumpeted a number of women as role models that worked or had careers of some sort
4) 26% of GDP of armaments-unsustainable
The percentage of GDP spent on arms had dropped to 6.6%, a more equitable figure
5) Have to get the Jews out of Germany, probably, How? Where? Jo Witties, Gays, Gypsys, The same? All would need some sort of protection, but what?
Aside from some marriage restrictions, this had been a gradual process, but Jews were essentially full German citizens again. Of course, after so much propaganda, they were still viewed in a negative light. Now the question remained, would there be an Israel in the current world environment with no holocaust?
6) Czechs-what to do to ensure they are not fully fucked
Well, this had been resolved. Both the Czech's and the Slovaks had their own homelands
7) Dismantle camps already in existence
This had been accomplished. Any political prisoners convicted of violent crimes were now held within the normal prison system, the last camp closing in 1944, all others gone by 1940
8) How to stop the economy overheating and collapsing?
9) Balance of trade? Not enough exports
These were coming along and collapse itself had seemingly been averted
10) Benny? What to do with his stupidity so as not to encourage him?
This problem had largely solved itself with his own stupidity in terms of Yugoslavia
11) How to get rid of Himmler and the worst of the offenders and replace them with “moderate Nazis-is there such a thing as a moderate Nazi?
The purge had taken care of this. Sure, he still had people like Heydrich, Goebbels and the like in positions but these were the remnants and would have to be removed democratically. Hopefully by the NSDAP losing the next election
12) Poland and the corridor and Danzig
Resolved
13 How to shore up the Baltics and Finland against that other monster Stalin
Well, Stalin was no longer a concern his corpse moldering in a Russian forest
14) Foreign relations-how to regain trust? Who to use to regain it?
Relations with most powers were now normal, only the Czechs, the French and Yugoslavia harbouring serious anti German feelings
15) Axis allies. What to do with that perennial problem. Balkans?
The Warsaw Pact and the breakup of Yugoslavia had assisted Germany here and for the moment the Balkans appeared stable
16) Keep any army strong enough to defeat Stalin if it come to it.
Defeated he had been and this had allowed him to downside the army and assist in placing the German economy back into the black
17) Need to keep it secret. Have to bring Eva out in the public eye. Can’t be pretending 24/7 so I will need someone I can lean on in case I forget things, even though I can’t tell her the truth
This had worked more than well. It was such a fantastic tale none would ever believe it in any case. As for Eva, she had more than performed her role, he thought, looking at her glistening back
18) Speer? Who else is intelligent and moderate? Canaris and Oster and his crowd? Can the “Old Guard” nobles be used to lever out those they resent? If so, in exchange for what?
The inclusion of members from other parties in the ministry, the restoration of Louis Ferdinand, had helped to bring both the Liberals and the aristocratic "old guard"one side. This was so far along he could sense his own retirement
19) How to gain control of a force just loyal to me so if I chip away at the foundations bit by bit when a revolt comes, which it must as I roll back Nazi institutions, I can crush it. Loyalty oath will only go so far with Nazi backstabbers.
The Nazi's left fell into three categories. Moderates, those not ideologically committed at all and happy to follow where the wind blew and lastly those so loyal that if he proposed a Marxist state tomorrow they would follow orders. Those not in any of those categories had been weeded out, shot or dismissed
20) If a war comes with Russia, how to win it? Allies? Strategy? Go to be more to it than “World in Flames” or “Fire in the East.”
Resolved
21) Pact of Steel? Due to be signed. He had told the Foreign office he wanted it aimed at France and Britain. That would not do. God, there’s a thought. Japan? Japan? Dump them? Support then? For God sake, he was an Australian. Can’t support them. Could he leak their plans to regain British support and if so, how? Or will they be needed if at war with Stalin?
Well the Warsaw Pact had served for Europe and the Japan war was over. Now only the China war remained, and he was committed to support the Nationalist cause
22) Goering? Keep or discard? Luftwaffe? Cut back and improve quality.
fate had taken care of this
23) What the hell was happening in his own life. How to get back to it?
This was the one huge unresolved element, one he thought of often. Who knows?
24) Health. Check reliably. Not Morell.
He was getting plenty of exercise, having a child and running after her, a vigorous sex life, once a week golf, everyday walks of at least an hour. Healthy eating. Medical care from someone qualified. As yet, he was fit and healthy
25) This ridiculous mustache. Can it be shaved off without a shitstorm?
Yes, yes it can

He collapsed on top of Eva in completion. It was fair to say that life, just at the moment, was not too bad at all.

August 1946

At the completion of his Baltic cruise he had felt better than he had for some time and had also enough spare time to turn his thoughts back to tourism.

For Berlin a T.V tower seemed a likely attraction, perhaps one that would be able to accommodate some tourists and height wise something that would attract attention, so Empire State Building height would be a good starting point.

For Vienna, he proposed a large amusement park that also accommodated giant water slides and the like. This could be accommodated out of the city centre.

For Munich, a large development similar to the London Eye and lastly for Hamburg had would make an offer to the British Admiralty for HMS Implacable, hopefully saving the grand old ship from destruction and, pairing her with the Standart, the ex Russian imperial yacht, two of the three Japanese ships allocated to Germany in the aftermath of the Pacific War, a few older Kriegsmarine ships and some of Stalin’s ex Baltic Fleet, this would create a maritime museum.

June 2016

One of the more mundane tasks of the administrative head of the Hitler Institute was reviewing the many documents that came through. Some were of great interest, many of them minimal. Charlotte Zahringen was skimming through a number of them now.

She smoothed down the front of her charcoal business suit and reached for the cup of Earl Grey tea, a particularly English affection that she had inherited from her Grandmother. She liked it so much better than the standard German beverage, coffee.

The latest German population figures gave the country a total population of 106.1 million, placing it 15th in the listings of countries by population.

There was also a folder detailing countries by GDP. After the U.S on 18.55 trillion, Germany on 6.0 followed, then Japan on 3.6, the U.K on 3.15, France on 2.4 and India on 2.1. The ruinous nine year civil war in China that had seen the country balkanize into seven successor states had seen the Asian economy stagnate for much of the next ten years after 1945.

In terms of purchasing power per capita, Germany ranked 13th, behind the oil rich states, but 5th in Europe behind Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland and Ireland, in that order.

December 1946

As Christmas approached, he went to Kiel for the ceremony to celebrate the arrival of the new ship. The large carrier was in essence an Improved Implacable Class, however, the hangers were double story to allow more modern aircraft to be carried and as a consequence she was not only a greater tonnage, but beamier and carrying a larger draft. She was 12 feet longer as well. In all, the carrier was closer to the original Audacious Class design than any other. Named Graf Zeppelin, she would hopefully have a more auspicious career than her previous namesake, now lying on the bottom of the Pacific after being sold to Japan.

Her first compliment of aircraft would consist almost entirely of Do-335 that had been navalised, the versatile aircraft being able to act as a torpedo and conventional bomber as well as a fighter, although it was anticipated the Me-262 would be converted for naval service at some stage over the next 18 months. The carrier had two sisters that were building in Germany at present, both of which should complete in 1948, along with two O Class battlecruisers, bolstering the Kriegsmarine back to some sort of naval parity with powers such as France and Italy.

January 1947

It was the aftermath of his daughter's birthday party and he was thinking about his upcoming meetings. Firstly a trip across the Atlantic to see President Dewey to discuss a possible treaty to govern the application of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. It would be interesting to see who would emerge as the Republican nominee in the 1948 election, as well as the Democratic one. Dewey had proven to be a popular President, although he had taken some criticism from certain quarter who felt he had left the country ill prepared for the Pacific War, hence the first 12 months being such a close shave for the United States. He would then drop in to see Churchill, now confirmed as the new Prime Minister after winning an election in 1946.

Germany retained large stocks of Tabun and Sarin gas, which when mated with von Braun's V2b would be a devastating weapon. It required a chemical weapon's treaty to regulate and to be honest he wasn't certain the Americans had any clue just what a deadly weapon was on hand. It was time to bring it out into the open, unlike von Braun's other project, Wasserfall, which had been tested successfully and would become operational in 1947. That could remain secret.

November 1947

It had been a year of mixed success so far. He had met with Dewey in March and Churchill in April and, surprisingly, the tone of both meetings had been very cordial. Dewey had clearly been surprised by the possession of Sarin gas and a demonstration in Germany in May had been more than enough to convince his science envoy, Linus Paulding, of it's lethal capability. It was post May that Dewey and Churchill had both written to propose a summit to strengthen the Geneva Accords and to expand them to include Biological weapons, which Churchill also conceded the U.K had some expertise and development of.

October had seen the signing of the Berne Accords, which required the renunciation of the use of both chemical and biological weapons as an instrument of war. It required Germany to dispose of her stocks of Sarin and Tabun gas, as well as significant stocks of mustard gas. There was no mention of nuclear weapons. At thus stage only the USA possessed such weapons, but, although it may take time, it was simply a matter of time before Germany and the U.K obtained such weapons. He had discussed at the conference the possibilities of nuclear power and the safeguards that would be needed if such power generation was to be attempted, but it was early days and these were not seen as major issues at that stage.

There were failures to. Palestine was certainly one of those. His attempts to speak to Churchill about Palestine were rebuffed. Churchill was still smarting from the independence of India, Burma, Ceylon and Pakistan earlier that same year and was desperate for something to boost British prestige. He was certainly not prone to advice on Palestine and probably felt, hardly unjustly, that Hitler advising him on a Jewish solution was hardly worth listening to. More Jews had come to Palestine than ever before OTL, amidst an ever increasing cycle of violence and it seemed now that Britain was on the verge of pulling out. The creation of Israel seemed just around the corner, with all it's attendant problems.

In China, a bloody civil war had taken off. At this stage Chiang's KMT forces seemed to be the stronger, although they faced concerns of their own. Tibet had claimed full independence and in the Far East muslim rebels had declared an East Turkestan Republic. There were also anti KMT riots in Canton. At this stage Germany was still selling arms to the KMT, seemingly a better option than the communists.

In terms of family, Eva had expressed and interest in having a second child, but there had been little in the way of success there either. 1948 would be a key year, with State elections in April and Reichstag elections in June. Then the Olympics in Helsinki in late July, followed by the U.S Presidential election.

April 1948

He had made it clear the previous year that his involvement with State politics was at an end and although he would be available to endorse NSDAP canditates in the upcoming Reichstag elections he would not be actively campaigning in the 1948 State elections. Support for the NSDAP was even further eroded, their vote dropping in all states and the party losing support in all states. April 1948 was to see the last NSDAP state government, that of Prussia, swept away, Zentrum becoming the new political force and topping the vote count in every state aside from Prussia and Hannover, both of which the NSDAP had barely obtained the most votes in. The party had proven to be an unattractive political coalition partner, however, and in every case a Zentrum/SDP coalition was to take power.

The KPD had still proven to be spent force, however, the DDP had gained ground and achieved seats in most state parliaments.

The results in the major states so far were:

Austria(165 seats):
OCSP(Austrian Christian Social Party(Zentrum aligned) 78
SDP(Socialists) 49
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 38

Bavaria(121 seats):
Bavarian People's Party(BVP)(Zentrum aligned) 50
SDP(Socialists) 34
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 28
BBB(Bavarian Agrarian Party) 9

Prussia(305 seats)
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 122
Zentrum 102
SDP(Socialists) 59
DDP(Liberals) 15
PKDP(Polish) 7

Saxony(89 seats)
Zentrum 28
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 26
SDP(Socialists) 22
DDP(Liberals) 10
PKDP(Polish) 3

Westphalia(67 seats)
Zentrum 27
SDP(Socialists) 22
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 12
DDP(Liberals) 6

Baden(55 seats)
Zentrum 23
NSDAP(Nazi Party) 13
SDP(Socialists) 12
DDP(Liberals) 7

It was an interesting foretaste of the Federal election that was due in July and marked a significant fall in electoral popularity for the NSDAP. His plan at this stage was to make the 1948 election the last he would campaign in, planning to retire from politics by 1952 to spend more time with his own family. By taking his own image off stage he was hoping to electorally kill the NSDAP. Prolonged good economic times also dealt against extremism of all sorts and the upswing the German economy was also proving to be a killer for the causes of xenophobia, aggressive foreign policy and restrictive laws. It was a gradual process, but this election, after the results of the last, proved the the NSDAP was swimming against the tide in German politics. Extremism required enemies, either foreign or domestic and at the moment Germany was handily free of either.

July 1948

The June 1948 elections had again produced a swing against the NSDAP, probably compounded when he himself had "by mistake" announced that he intended to retire from politics before the next such election and stand down as Fuhrer at that time during an interview. This had completely dominated all news coverage and, whilst intended to derail the NSDAP campaign, may have actually assisted it, both by providing a rallying point for Nazi nostalgia and secondly by "blacking out" the media criticism of NSDAP policies and previous decision in the hysteria a retirement announcement generated. It had been a mistake, but once out of the bottle the genie could not be put back in. Due to the fact that the NSDAP had been swept at the state elections, a NSDAP Reichstag would likely face a diagrammatically opposed Budesrat and so it was to prove.

The final results were:

NSDAP 198
Zetrum Alliance 122(consisting of Zentrum 92, OCSP 15, BVP 15)
SDP 70
DPP(Liberals) 4
BBB(Bavarian Agrarian Party) 3
PKDP(Polish) 2

The result was less than pleasing to the NSDAP, which had been forced to go to the minor parties to secure a government, making a number of concessions to the BBB, including the promise of two Ministerships in Agriculture and Forestry and Fishing, to get them to join a pro government coalition. In addition the BBB demanded a number of other government changes to legislation. It was felt like this was a better option than allying with the PKDP, which had proven a very difficult marriage politically in Prussian State politics, considering the PKDP had set itself up as a champion of Catholic ethnic minorities.

The Bundesrat representatives, however, were appointed not by popular vote, but 52 of the 73 by State Prime Ministers, 21 by State Minister Presidents or Monarchs. The results were vastly different, being:

Zentrum Alliance 59(consisting of Zentrum 51, OCSP 4, BVP 4)
NSDAP 8
SDP 5
DPP(Liberals) 1

He had tactically miscalculated and for that reason alone the NSDAP would probably cling onto power for another four years. The party itself, however, had been emasculated. Without himself to campaign electorally, it was likely their 1952 vote would be drastically reduced. In the meantime, they would have to pass any legislation by the BBB to gain the numbers and therefore approval for it to transit the Reichstag, whilst the Bundesrat would be an effective voice against anything too extreme. In the meantime, the various sates were already under Zentrum aligned governments, with the SDP also increasing their vote. One pary that appeared electorally dead was the KDP, gaining only 2.3 percent of the vote nationally.

November 1948

It seemed that whilst Europe had gotten over it's period of chronic instability, in other areas of the world, post what had passed for "World War 2" in this timeline(actually two separate wars), along with the twilight of colonialism and the waning of "great power agreements", the rest of the world had become chronically unstable.

He had attended the Olympics in July, seeing Germany win the total medal tally but finish behind the U.S in numbers of gold medals. He had taken the time to confer with Dewy about China, but the results of the discussion had not borne fruit in the wake of the disintegration of the country in late 1948. With the 1948 Presidential election resulting in Harold Stassen beating the Democratic nominee James Farley this process would need to be repeated again.

Germany was riding high on the crest of an economic wave, post war demand for luxury goods at an all time high, stimulating trade with France and America in particular. Indeed, Europe had been remarkably stable. He had anticipated issues within Russia, but this had proven to be stable under Zhukov and even the Caucasus small states had provided a status quo.

It was in Asia, the Middle East and Africa that events had taken a turn for the worse and the League of Nations, indeed the international community as a whole had proven ill equipped to do anything about the deteriorating situation. In Africa, the National Party had gained power in 1948 and were busy laying down the first steps to apartheid, a situation seemingly not condemned by anyone. The Morocco, the removal of the King by French colonial authorities had touched off riots that had continued for the last 6 months, complete with shootings and "disappearances". Because of Germany's delicate relationship with France, he felt ill equipped to criticize the French and aside from some noises from Washington, gain, little was being done. In the Middle East, events in Palestine had gone exactly as per OTL. The declaration of a Jewish state had brought a war to Palestine, one that Israel would seemingly emerge victorious from. Because of events that had occurred in Germany, this was a war that he was also locked out of discussion on.

If these things were bad, in Asia they were much worse. India and Pakistan were locked in a war that had already gone on more than 12 months for possession of Jammu and Kashmir. League intervention had been weak and the British had attempted to broker a ceasefire without success. In Bengal, there were noises that indicated East Pakistan, unhappy with the war and indeed the situation overall, may try and pull away from Pakistan, a situation of course wholly supported by India.

In Indo China the French were facing a full on bitter colonial war to try and retain control of the territory. In the Netherlands East Indies likewise. He had tried influencing the Dutch to get them to see the sense of the Indonesians going their own way but these approaches had been rebuffed. If any of these things were bad, in China they were worse. The country had simply flown apart from the pressures placed upon it and had dissolved into 13 areas, all claiming independence. The Communists, having lost their leader Mao, had been pushed into Manchuria, however, the Nationalist forces. formerly under the KMT, had disintegrated back into virtual warlord-ism. Korean forces had crossed the Yalu River and sized certain Korean majority areas of Manchuria, in the North Lin Biao had declared his own "Kingdom" and gained Russian support. Likewise in Canton, where independence had been declared under a Despotate, whatever that meant. Shanghai had declared independence, as had inner Mongolia. Xinjiang had declared an Islamic Republic, Tibet had taken ground beyond it's traditional borders, Formosa and Hainan had declared separation. It had all come apart at the seams. When he had talked to Dewey the Americans had been inclined to support Chiang still as "their man in China", but things had gone beyond that. Much like Humpty Dumpty, China could not be put back together, at least in the immediate future. The British had supported Li Zongren, the self declared Despotate of Canton, and been rewarded by a 99 year lease extension on the new territories. Yunnan had also gone independent, declaring their support for the Indo Chinese peoples in the "war of liberation".

The flow of German arms to China had halted when the Nationalist cause had fallen apart, now it had resumed again to all parties except the Communists and Lin Boiao's "Kingdom". The situation had become so chaotic, the great powers having their own favoured "legitimate Chinese state", that their was on one hand no will to intervene in what would be a gigantic military commitment, so each power simply meddled or sat back and watched developments.

Even the Americans were not blameless, overseeing the rise of the great Caribbean dictators. In Haiti, Léon Dumarsais Estiméc had been removed as President after a coup organized by American interests after he had nationalized certain businesses. In Cuba, Batista was on the rise.

March 1949

It had been almost ten years since he had found himself in this new and, initially at least, unfamiliar environment. Handling the pressures and what came with the job these days was now routine and rarely got to him at all, however, with Ingrid now getting older it was probably time to think about getting out of this life and becoming a private citizen so he could spend more time with his own family.

The last few months had been chaotic enough; indeed the whole of last year had been filled with constant questions as to why he wished to step down from the role of Fuhrer. Family had been the reason he had given, but in honesty, much like he felt in his other life, seemingly so long ago, work was not all there was to life. He owed it to himself and those he had grown to love to take some time, explore, and enjoy life as well. To that end he had been talking increasing to Louis Ferdinand about a timetable for him to transition into the role of Head of State, with the office of Fuhrer to be abolished before the next Reichstag election in June of 1952. To that end he had proposed what everyone loved, a coronation of Louis Ferdinand and Kira as Emperor and Empress and the pageantry that went with that in late May 1952. In the meantime, a new constitution would be drawn up for Germany giving the monarch only some reserve powers and a largely ceremonial role, very similar to the Belgian model. Real power was to be vested in the Chancellor. The Reichstag would be dissolved in mid-May, he would step down as Fuhrer at the time of the coronation and assume a role as Chancellor pro tem until such time as a new Chancellor emerged based on the results of the 1952 election, effectively marking his retirement. Whatever came or went, communism and 45 years of global hegemony had at least been avoided, or so it seemed at this stage in any case.

Germany and indeed many of the Pact countries were benefitting from good economic times. GDP figures for 1949 in economists so called International dollars were:
U.S 1,455,000
Germany 629,000
U.K 382,000
Russia 327,000
France 238,000
India 222,000
Italy 181,000
Japan 148,000

The real surprise was the rise of Poland, now behind only Germany, Italy, France, Russia and the U.K in Europe at 94,000. Also Romania, not far behind the Netherlands and Spain at 55,000 in ninth place in Europe. Sweden rounded the top 10.

June 1949

What was also progressing rapidly was Germany’s transport links. The last five years had seen the completion or near completion of high speed rail lines to Vienna, Graz, Stettin, Danzig, Elbing, Konigsberg, Memel, Salzburg and Ostrau. Kiel, Innsbruck and Pilsen would complete the plans and all should be done by 1952. In regards the railways, electrification had also commenced. He had specifically written to cities to implore their own local governments not to abandon the use of trams, which would be more effective and “greener” than busses, especially when petrol prices climbed 20-25 years later.

Autobahn construction had also continued apace and he had insisted that the land laid aside would allow for a future lane expansion if required. There was now a regular air service from Hamburg to St Johns, Ottowa and New York using the JU-EF100B. In two years of continuous operation, only one had been lost, although another had suffered a bad landing and casualties in fog at St John’s earlier this year.

Zeppelins were remarkably still operating from Frankfurt, so much so that a third machine had been built, LZ-132 Eva Hitler being a slightly enlarged version of LZ-131 Ingrid Hitler. All three in use plied the so called “Southern routes”, the two larger, longer ranged machines flying Frankfurt to Rio or Frankfurt to Sydney, the smaller and older LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin Frankfurt-Cape Town. They had proven an extremely popular way to travel with those that could afford the exorbitant passage costs, allowing those with the money to depart Germany in winter and holiday in a Southern hemisphere summer.

In regards Germany’s nuclear program, progress was slow and not spectacular. He was unwilling to spend a fortune to achieve nuclear capability for a country that already led the world in rocketry and chemical weapons. With the passage of time, nuclear capability would be easier to obtain.

December 1949

As the new decade approached technology was changing as well. The Heer had reequipped with assault rifles as the standard, even reserve units now having dispensed with older types. Squad based anti-tank weapons were also the norm, via an upgraded version of the Panzersherek. Towed anti-tank guns had been phased out except in reserve units, almost all artillery being self-propelled.

The Kriegsmarine had commissioned the last of it’s heavy ships in November and now consisted of a modern fleet of three aircraft carriers, two battleships, two new battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers and a light cruiser. It had also commenced a run under licence of the USN Gearing Class destroyer, purchasing four incomplete from the USN and planning to build eight more. Two Sangammon Class escort carriers had also been purchased to use as training ships and aircraft transports.

The Luftwaffe had been busy developing new types, some radical, some evolutionary. The Do-335 was one of the few propeller driven types still in service, the conversion to jets for front line bombers and fighters being quite rapid. The main fighter was still the Me-262C, the main bomber the Arado 234, however, newer types were now making inroads here as well. A new type, the Fw-185, was now entering service, a single engine swept wing fighter design. Extensive testing had also seen the Go-229 enter service, although only in small numbers. In regards to bombers, Arado had contributed two more. The Ar-560 was a four engine 234 variant that had seen service since 1947. Lastly, the Ar-555 was a revolutionary large delta wing design with the range to bomb across the Atlantic.

All were designed to cement the technological edge of German armaments.

FW Ta-185

Ar-555

May 1950

He watched the girl chase down the loose ball and pass off to Wing Attack, which was to result in a goal. This was something he was familiar with from his old life, so it had a certain comfort. Ingrid was not tall enough to play inside the circle but was very fast and would probably become a good player. He had come to Hertha BSC the previous year as they provided their own junior competition for girls and proper games commenced in the ten and under age bracket, so this washer first season playing and she had done well.

He had even assisted last year, running some training sessions, which had created quite a stir. In 1948 he had arranged funding to provide facilities for every Bundeliga gold side of gyms for their players and rehabilitation facilities and the like such as indoor pools. This had been contingent on the sides also accepting, promoting and competing sides, commencing 1950, in a national basketball and netball league. It was in it's infancy but at this stage seemed to have progressed well.

In terms of his city based projects, the television tower in Berlin was almost completed, the large amusement park at Vienna already so, as was the "eye" in Munich. His Hamburg based maritime and Eastern war theme park had also been completed and was awaiting it's last and largest purchase, ex HMS Hood, which had been saved from scrapping at a purchase price marginally above scrap.

He was now entering the last two years of his time as Fuhrer, in reality the last year in many ways as he had indicated to Louis Ferdinand that whilst he would stay as titular head, from early 1951 he wished him to make most of the active decisions in regards to everyday business and he would rubber stamp them as long as they seemed sensible.

Events in China and indeed Indo China were still chaotic and confused, although perhaps these last few months the pace of offensive operations had seemed to die down, all sides seemingly exhausted. India and Pakistan had agreed to an international partition line in Kashmir, Pakistan seemingly motivated by the pulling away and declaration of independence of what was now Bangladesh and a desire to end a war they were loosing. Indonesia to had finally expelled the Dutch and gained independence.

The other question he had been pondering was where to live? Not Berlin. Once out of the political limelight, he had no desire to return to it. Perhaps a return to Vienna? The Rhine would be nice. Or Salzburg, which was lovely. Bavaria? Memel was an attractive town as well. It bore some thought.

March 1951

The amount of prominent historical Nazi’s that were still active was now quite low and he had used the fact that he was responsible for appointments of foreign ambassadors to “get rid” of many overseas as well. When he stepped down in 1952, many of these would no doubt have their status reviewed in the NSDAP lost power. He mulled over the list he had left.

Wolfgang Abel- removed from his position at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
Otto Abetz- buried as ambassador to the Dominican Republic
Gunter Altenburg- working privately
Artur Axmann- Head of the Hitler Youth
Martin Boorman- Head of the NSDAP
Phillip Bouhler- Killed whilst in China 1949
Carl Diem – Minister for Sport and Recreation
Freiderich Flick – Still head of Daimler Benz
Karl Frank – NSDAP member, Reichstag
Hans Frank-Ambassador to Spain
Roland Friesler- Died in a traffic accident 1947
Wilhelm Frick- retired
Josef Goebbels- Minister for Communications
Rudolf Hess-Leader of the NSDAP in the Reichstag
Reinhardt Heydrich- Head of Hitler’s personal bodyguard
Hans Lammers-retired
Heinrich Muller-Ambassador to Paraguay
Arthur Nebe-Head or the Orpo
Konstantin von Neurath-retired
Franz von Papen-retired
Joachim von Ribbentrop-Ambassador to Portugal
Walter von Schellenberg- Deputy Head, SS
Hjalmar Schlacht- Minister of Economics
Baldur von Schirach – Ambassador to Egypt
Arthur Seyss-Inquart- Reichstag member
Alberts Speer-Minister for Industry
Fritz Todt- working for IG Farben
Otto Wagener-retired

Only Axman, Boorman, Karl Frank, Goebbels, Hess, Heydrich, Nebe, von Schellenberg, Schlacht, Seyss-Inquart and Speer remained in Germany in positions of power and Nebe, Schlacht and Speer were not hard core Nazi’s or not Nazis at all in one case. Axman, Boorman, Frank, Hess and Seyss-Inquart relied on the power of the party. If that disappeared at the next election, their influence would be broken.

Heydrich and von Schellenburg had proven loyal enough and Heydrich in particular knew things that could prove embarrassing. Thankfully both were well motivated by financial rewards and that would probably be the best solution in 15 months time when it would be time to bid both goodbye.

October 1951

The meeting in Geneva had been good fortune. He had sat with Churchill as the League of Nations tried to establish a suitable compromise in regards to China, and, for that matter Indo China. France had finally agreed to come to the negotiating table in August and finally a timetable to independence had been agreed for the Indo-Chinese states, Vietnam to be first in November. The war there had died down to the odd angry shot.

In China it was still “live”, however, the participants were now willing to talk, probably because they had fought themselves to exhaustion. Independence for Tibet and East Turkestan was a given. In regards to the remainder of Han majority China, reunification was an unlikely outcome and it seemed the preferred position was a ceasefire along current “national boundaries”. It was a position supported by both Germany and the U.K and, after some reservations, by the Americans as well.

It was Churchill who had started the conversation.
“So, it appears we are to be both on the scrapheap.”
“I was aware that you had lost to Atlee.”
“Yes, only another week in the job, this will be my swansong.”
“Do you intend to go on?”
“No, I think not, I have health issues and have served my time. Four years seems a long way away. What about yourself?”
“I’m pulling the pin in March as Fuhrer, just staying on long enough to see the new government take office. I want to walk away young enough to enjoy some sort of retirement.”
“You will miss it, no doubt. I assume you are hoping for a Nazi Party win?
”To be honest I don’t think I’ll miss it at all. My private life is full enough. As for the election, I’ll deny it publically, but privately I’m not sure I care anymore.”
“That so? Germany a monarchy again?”
“Why not, it’s important to honour the past, as important as it is to move forwards.”
“Yes, I believe so.”
He could not resist a dig. “How are ‘tube-alloys’ going?”
Churchill looked at him sharply. “How do you know about that?”
“Rumours, old boy, rumours.”
That sat in companionable silence for a time before he resumed.
“Maybe we will see each other post retirement?”
“Perhaps so. I never expected to like you, thought you were a complete ass.”
“Now you are not so sure?”
“Not certain, no.”
“Well, I have enjoyed our conversations Winston. Goodbye and good luck.”
“You too dear fellow.”

He heaved himself to his feet. As fate would have it, he was to see Churchill only once more, in 1955.

16 July 2016

It was the anniversary of her Great Grandfather's death and, as usual, there were the inevitable interviews to be given in commemoration. Usually they concentrated on her Grandmother, but, as the new Head of the Hitler Institute, increasingly it would fall to her to answer questions on a man she had never met.

She had chosen the site of the Ost-Prussian tunnel, which also housed the backdrop, just across the border in Poland, of the huge Polish-German friendship statue built in 1952 to commemorate Hitler's retirement and the introduction of the then Central European Economic Union in 1952, Hitler's last major act as Fuhrer. These countries, all Warsaw Pact members, had quickly been joined by the Benelux countries in 1953, then Italy in 1955 and eventually France and others.

It was the forerunner to the current European Economic and Customs Community, commonly known as E squared C squared, which encompassed most of Europe and had a single currency since 2002 for 80% of the members, of which Germany was the largest economy.

It was not like she had no knowledge of her Great Grandfather. Of course, she had talked to her Grandmother and her Great Grandmother when she was still alive. There were some private interviews done by her Grandmother, tapes that had never been released to the public. Plus, his second book, "Mein Erfolge", released in 1956.

31st March 1952

He sat in the front row of the Berlin Cathedral as the ceremony that would crown Louis Ferdinand as Kaiser Louis Ferdinand I continued. It had been a grand affair that had attracted not only most of Europe's crowned heads and Germany's nobility, but also a goodly portion of world leaders in general. He had greeted the new Queen Elizabeth, as well as Georgi Zhukov, who had made a rare visit outside of Russia. He looked across at his wife and daughter, in pale blue and green, respectively. It was time to concentrate on other matters.

He had officially resigned as Fuhrer, a supposedly lifetime title, the previous day, instead taking the reigns now simply as Chancellor. The Reichstag had gone into recess some two days before and he had delivered a closing speech promising a new era for Germany. He would stay as Chancellor until the results of the 1st June poll were made clear, then he would be officially retired and was already planning trips, firstly one to the Baltics and Russia, then on to Australia for the summer. Finally, back via the United States and finally, Spain, Portugal, Italy and then back to Germany via Switzerland.

Had it really been 13 years? Were the changes made for the best. Considering the huge death toll world wide in the Communism versus Capitalism wars, one could only hope so. Now that the future had diverted so much from what had occurred OTL, that "special knowledge" he once had was not as effective as it once was, so it was perhaps time to leave the stage for that reason alone. He was, at least, confident that he had broken the power of the Nazi Party at least. Bormann had come to him in mid March, desperate for him to campaign actively for the party in the June election, with early opinion polls showing a large drop in support. He had refused, the meeting had become quite acrimonious, much to his secret amusement.

No, there would be no going back now, as he watched the what he been slightly modified but was still essentially the old Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire raised and lowered onto Louis Ferdinand's head, followed by a smaller version onto Kira's. The Nazi's were finished, as dead as Stalin's communism in Russia. The Central European Economic Union had been his last act, the lead up negotiations taking most of 1951 before the signing in February. Germany was on the verge of a new age, the number of foreign workers and refugees from the Eastern war having softened public opinion and toned much of the xenophobia out of the general populace. What had really quietened extremism was prosperity. There was no greater killer for extreme political views.

He put his arm around both his girls. Another twelve or thirteen weeks and this would all be over. Already there was talk of a title upon retirement, probably as a Count. The Reichstag had voted that he should retain his salary, even after retirement, until death. Berchtesgadan had been gifted to him and he retained an apartment in Munich. In addition, there was another reason to move on. Despite his physical fitness regime, last month he had had at least two bouts of involuntary trembling in his hands in really cold weather. It had passed at present, but was a worrying sign.

June 1952

Well, he had gotten this election correct. He had anticipated that Bormann's personality would scarcely endear him to an electorate that could vote as their conscience dictated in an election increasingly covered by not only radio but television in it's infancy. The NSDAP has been swept from power quite spectacularly, not only in state election, held in April 1952, where they had lost further ground, obtaining only a high water mark of 29% in Prussia and as little as 18% in Austria.

The results of the 1952 elections had been decisive, Zentrum running a very effective campaign on whether Bormann, Hess and Goebbels could be trusted in the wake of the Fuhrer's retirement. It was amusing really, when one considered the angle. Centre-Right parties, containing many of the intellectuals that had been Hitler avowed enemies OTL, using the slogan "you can't trust them now Hitler's gone". Bormann had lost his temper in a number of interviews, further reinforcing these opinions, dooming the NSDAP to 21% of the vote in the Reichstag elections and third place in terms of seats won. Many of their votes seem to have gone to the SDP, strangely enough, which had set itself up as the new protector of German workers and the disadvantaged, as well as minority groups.

The final results were:

Zetrum Alliance 163(consisting of Zentrum 128, OCSP 18, BVP 17)
SDP 123
NSDAP 98
DPP(Liberals) 8
BBB(Bavarian Agrarian Party) 4
PKDP(Polish) 3

It had been a shock to may hard core NSDAP members and their had been street demonstrations and clashes with police in Berlin, Breslau and Nuremburg, in particular, however, the result itself had the full support of the army, which was glad to see the monarchy restored and police acted when he called on them to quell such demonstrations, which were somewhat half hearted in any case except in Nuremburg. Things had quickly died down and in two days time has was to hand over the reigns of power to Joseph Joos, the Zentrum Chairman and soon to be new Chancellor.

The Bundesrat representatives also reflected the new state of play, being:

Zentrum Alliance 55(consisting of Zentrum 48, OCSP 4, BVP 3)
SDP 14
DPP(Liberals) 2
NSDAP 2

Two more days and he would leave the Chancellery and whilst he was happy with what had been achieved, he had reached a stage, even in this truncated half life, where he was ready to move on.

20 June 1952

The trip to the Stadtschloss had been brief but in it's own way poignant. All of the Chancellery staff had been lined up to greet him and he had dispensed a small keepsake to each person, some more significant than others. each would also find a bonus in their next pay. The military guard had come to attention and given him a "hurrah" as he entered the limousine for the short drive.

He had rose and congratulated Joos and shaken Louis Ferdinand by the hand, before posing for the inevitable press photographs outside, some with his own family. He was now Adolf von Hilter, or so it seemed. Eva looked smart in a new blue suit and he climbed back into the limousine. They had another five days days at the Chancellery before they packed and moved. It would be Salzburg, where he had picked out a lovely estate and travel to Berchtesgaden would not be difficult. Perhaps he could learn to paint or indeed if Hitler had any real talent at all. God knows he never had any in his previous life.

That night he summoned Heydrich and Schellenberg for a final time. No Fuhrer meant no bodyguard post March, when the SS had been disbanded, but both had stayed on until June. He had a briefcase for both, 150,000 RM for Heydrich and 90,000 for Schellenberg. For the later he had arranged a posting as ambassador to Portugal. For the former, he would be Ritter von Heydrich and he had managed to find a commission for him in the newly formed coastguard. It was enough to keep both men's mouth's shut. Both knew from previous conversation that they were to avoid all entanglements with the NSDAP or any of it's active members, which no longer included Bormann, kicked out like a dog that had piddled on the carpet after his disastrous 1952 election loss.

That night, in a role reversal, it was him who scooted over to Eva and drew her close to him. One more game of golf tomorrow to take out any pent up frustrations, and then packing. In four day's time he stepped into the Mercedes and looked forward to a new life, one unencumbered with the pressures of office, the pressures of war, even the pressures of being possibly shot. It was a glorious prospect.

September 1952

Things in Germany were good and it appeared he had not been missed, Joos settling well into the role of Chancellor and democratic government finally returning after almost 20 years. He had spend some time in Poland, where his love affair with the Polish media continued. They had announced the building of a huge German-Polish friendship statue near the Ost-Prussian tunnel to honor the ties between the two countries.

His trip through the Baltics had been relaxing, although there was the inevitable civic functions as well. Finally, he had traveled to St Petersburg in time to catch the tail end of the "white nights" and had been met by Zhukov himself. He had been polite, if not friendly, but had detailed a guide to show them through the Winter Place, the Summer Palace and the amazing Amber room, so much better than the rebuilt version. They had been trailed around by a male and female agent from the KGB, of all places. Apparently this was the new name for the Russian state security services and they had provided bodyguards for them, another irony.

He had settled into his new home in Salzburg and had even become a regular sight in the town to such an extent that he was no longer followed by crowds when doing everyday task. He would head back there before leaving in early November for what he was really looking forward to after so long, Australia.

December 1952

As he gazed out from the top of the hill, all he could see beyond the cemetery and his great grandfather's grave was was rolling, pure green fields even in summer, the smell of eucalyptus and the sun hard on his back.

He thought back over the day. He had purchased a second hand car in Launceston that he could sell when they were ready to go. The drive to Ringarooma was certainly different, so much of the road gravel rather than bitumen. He had driven to the farm and passed himself and his family off as possible buyers of land and been invited inside and fed. It was beyond strange to be sitting with his Grandmother and Uncle, then not being aware of who he really was inside. He could not do this with his parents back in Launceston, his mother so long dead, as he did not think he would be able to hold his emotions.

He clicked back to the present. This was where he wanted to be buried. Where no crowds would gather, just peace, eucalyptus, cows and sun. Among blue singlet, working class people. This was where it had begun, it should be where it ended to. He remembered his Uncle's funeral, whom he had seen just a hour ago. It was then the tears started to come.

He walked back to the car. Eva noticed straight away.
"Adi, what's wrong?"
"Just me being silly. It's OK, my love. I feel a connection with this place. Does that sound silly?"
"No of course not."

He would spend two more months in Australia, never to return again until after his death.

1957

Retirement had been good, at least the first four years of it, at least. They had travelled extensively, U.K and Ireland, taken the Zeppelin to South America in 1953. It was the dawn of the jet age for passenger transport and the vulnerable Zeppelin’s days were numbered, although the two largest still plied the trade to South America. In 1953 he had used his now considerable financial resources to found a private think tank, the Hitler Institute, which had rapidly become influential in political and economic circles, as well as humanitarian. He was nominally the Head of the institute and still conducted talks at functions for it, however, Schacht had become it’s first head, although he had made provision in his own will for his daughter to be willed the Chairmanship of the Institute upon his death.

Mostly, however, he had been happy to play some golf, play some cards and enjoy life. Germany was still powering ahead economically and indeed had launched the first satellite into space the previous year and finally become a nuclear power with an underground nuclear test in March 1957. Jospeh Joos has been forced out as Chancellor due to his too pro Catholic views in 1954 and been replaced by Kurt Schumacher in 1954, who was the present incumbent. The 1956 election had dealt another blow to the NSDAP, whose vote had fallen to 14% nationally, which had delivered them a mere 61 seats out of 399. Zentrum had risen to 194 seats, almost gaining full government, and had formed a coalition with the Liberals(16 seats), that gave them a majority.

In the winter of 1956-57 the Parkinsons had come into it’s own, rapidly advancing and making some aspects of his life increasingly difficult. It was then he had made the decision to write a follow up to “Mein Kampf”, not that he had ever actually written that tripe, of course.

He looked over to see his daughter honey blonde mane of hair as she typed with her back to him. At 17, she was a vision, intelligent, sharp witted, sporty and with a social conscience. Much like his other two daughters, she was also as stubborn as a mule. Ingrid had completed school a year early and, since she did not wish to immediately go to University, he had offered her a job helping him compile a second book to sequel “Mein Kampf”. This one was titled “Mein Erfolg”, or my success.

They had made a number of recordings, his daughter acting as interviewer, sometimes asking questions he had pre scripted as 'Dorothy Dixers' and sometimes questions she wanted answered of her own violation. The things that were simply narrative had had dictated chronologically, the things that required expression of points of view had taken longer.

His thoughts drifted back to yesterday’s interview. His daughter had brought up what, of course, was the key question.

“What about you own words in relation the Jews in your previous book?”

“Every struggle needs a cause to garner support. If that cause has an identifiable face, a specific enemy that one can blame for one’s misfortunes, so much the better, as this provides a rallying point. You cannot imagine what now what it was like to live in post Great War Germany. The country was desolate, shorn of self-respect. Inflation had wiped out all savings, people were starving.

It is a standard political tactic to demonize one’s opponents. The Jews were never popular in Germany as they, in many cases, represented a financial success story. When people have nothing, others being comfortably off is a source of friction. Did I demonize the Jewish people? Yes. Was it a politically cynical tactic to whip up support? Again, yes.

I was influenced myself by my own upbringing. I had feelings whilst a young man in Vienna for young woman, a young Jewish women. These were not returned in kind and I fancied myself heartbroken. It hardened my heart against the Jewish people as a whole. The Great War hardened my heart still further. It was not hard to find like-minded people post the Great War. Adversity breeds extreme opinions, after all.

Hence, it was a popularist call after the Great War. Germany had been betrayed, of course this could not be by Germans, it could not be by the monarchy or the army, at least not to the Prussian Junkers that retained so much power. Who could it be? The Jews were a convenient scapegoat.

Once a movement gains momentum, it is hard to jump off the freight train of onrushing opinion. The NSDAP was set up in a strictly hierarchical formation. Individual thought was not encouraged, blindly following was rewarded. Once a policy was in place, reversing it was 100 times more difficult than implementing it in the first place.”

“And homosexuals, Jehovah Witness, Gypsies, communists?”

“These groups were already reviled in many quarters of German society. It was natural that they were also rolled into the groups that were persecuted. In truth I had nothing against any, except the communists.”

“What about expansion to the East, Lebensraum?”

“That is more complicated. Did I believe that the Slavs were sub human? That they needed to be enslaved. No, not really. But I did believe that Bolshevism was the biggest single threat to human civilisation. I had seen the Red terror. Seen how that abducted their opponents, killed them in Embassy cellars even in foreign countries. I was convinced, I believe with complete justification that Stalin would invade and destroy our own revolution, would send many Germans to the Gulags he loved so well. Make no mistake; Germany had been through a revolution.

Whilst the methods used had been questionable, the rigid structure of the NSDAP, the persecutions of the Jews, the xenophobic treatment of foreigners and the appeal to German nationalism had galvanized the country as nothing ever had before. Germany had obtained it’s economic miracle, and, more to the point, the average German had been the one to benefit, not the wealthy elite. That created a powerful political force, one that was able to build a war machine capable of overturning the vast, ruthless Soviet machine. Yet it was in 1939 that I realised I had been a fool on so many fronts.”

“How so, papa?”

“Just as one cannot go through life without friends, a country cannot look inwards; it must be part of the international community. Like a relationship, one cannot always ask ‘what is good for me’, but ‘what is good for us’. So I reached out to Poland and this was the first step in creating a network of alliances, creating a network of friends, nearly all of whom felt uneasy with Stalin’s Soviet Union. It wasn't Russian land we needed, just for the threat of aggressive global communism to be eradicated and for Germans to be free and united under their own flag. I tried to make any border adjustments consistent with demographic and subject to a vote by the people concerned. Democracy, I had come to realise, was a flawed system, but perhaps still the best available.

Also, in relation to the ethnic policies of the NSDAP, I had come to the realisation that these were bunkum, a product of my own hate and that of others. We had made the bulk of Germans proud, the bulk of German better off, yet in so doing had stripped others of any dignity at all. Whilst I could never apologise for breaking the Communist Party, who were nothing more than lapdogs for the Moscow regime of Stalin, all these other group had been pushed down and vilified for no reason. Our revolution had been achieved, but at the expense of others.

For that reason I attempted to reverse previous policies, at least as quickly as the inertia of bureaucracy would enable me to do so. Not all agreed. The SS rebelled and were purged, some also in the party. I attempted to put aside my own long held prejudices and came to realise they were foolishly held.

Your mother helped. It meant so much to have unconditional love, to come home to unconditional support. I had shut myself off to that for so long and as soon as I opened myself up to the possibility that I could love, or even better, be loved, then it allowed me to question why I had ever made some of the decisions I had made in the past. Then you came along and made things even better. I love you kiddo.”

February 1958

The talk given in Lisbon had been slightly controversial, urging the Salazar government to free up some of the crushing restrictions placed on the Portuguese people. These sorts of trips were increasingly becoming a chore as the advance of his disease was making them a physical strain. He had been able to visit Sintra again, such a beautiful spot. Ingrid had not come back with him, as the date clashed with her University schedule and Eva had been sick.

The institute had provided staff, of course. He was thinking about his daughter as the aircraft levelled off after it’s initial climb. The Comet jetliner would proceed to Hamburg, then on to London. She had come home from University gushing about how “handsome and well mannered” Max of Baden, whom she had met at the University, was. Already he wasn’t sure he liked the kid.

It was then that the aircraft lurched sharply to port, alarms cutting across the cabin like a buzz saw. It didn’t take long to see it was bad, really bad, the aircraft going into a flat spiral downwards, ever downwards. He thought of Eva and Ingrid, time seemingly to stand still and the noises of the screams, the alarms seemingly fading. Then he thought of his other three children, of Tasmania, of the summer sun. A quick glimpse through the window of the maddeningly corkscrewing aircraft showed they were below the cloud cover and the ground, near a beach, was coming up fast.

He had been asleep in his own bed last he remembered. Now he was thrust into some whirling dervish of what was seemingly an aircraft. How had this happened? Where was Bormann? People his did not know were screaming, seemingly in any language other than German. A young man next to him with “H.I” on his suit was ashen, his lips drawn back in a rictus of fear, mumbling a prayer in German. What the fuck had happened? Why was he here and not at Berchtesgaden?

He glimpsed out the window at the ground rushing up, just as the alarms commenced a piercing wail. He added his own voice to the cacophony of sound, screaming in terror.

May 2014

Man, he felt stiff, like he hadn’t for a long time. He opened his eyes and his first impression was one of smell. The bed smelt different. Horrible dream. Who dreams they are in an airline crash for God’s sake?

It was then he opened his eyes enough to look at the ceiling. They did not have down lights in 1958 and this room had a cream ceiling, not the blue of the Hotel Metropol in Lisbon.

Dear God, this was his old bedroom, I mean his old, old bedroom, in Launceston. He threw out his right arm, bumping the bedside table and saw his mobile and, beyond that, David Irving’s “Hitler’s war” where he had tossed it. Of course, it must have been all a dream. He picked up Irving’s book and like all good readers flicked to the last page.

Fuck. I mean Holy fuck…….

March 2017

He sensed rather than saw the presence of someone else. It was like that sometimes when all the background sound one heard was the slight thrum of dragonflies in the summer heat. He remembered a similar feeling walking in the open meadows of Osel, so long ago seemingly in another life. He looked up to see the girl, mid to late 20's, a real looker with a mass of loose dark hair in jean shorts and tank top. He heaved himself up from where he was weeding around the grave. German, for sure, he thought. A lot of Germans, particularly young couples, visited Ringarooma and the graveyard site. So much so, the local pub had picked up and even offered what it fondly considered "German food", including Wiener Schnitzel and the like.

Yet when she spoke their was no German accent, no accent at all really, if anything perhaps a hint of Oz.
"You look after the grave?"
"Yes, I come very two weeks to weed around and place some flowers." He was still not sure why he ritually did this task. It was not like it was his body, after all. Yet it now represented a link to a life that he missed as much as his previous one when he WAS Hitler.
"You knew him?"
He laughed. "Young lady, I'm only 53. How old do I look?"
She looked abashed and he quickly thought back. That would be the best story to tell, after all, no one sane would believe the other.
"No, I did not know him, however, my grandfather did. I think they were important to one another."
Charlotte was intrigued. She had come to Tasmania alone after seeing her boyfriend, well now fiancée, Nicolas Hülkenberg race in the Australian Grand Prix.
"How did they know one another?"
"Western Front 1918. My grandfather was captured by the Germans but he saved Hitler's life in some way not long after his capture, I don't know the details sorry. Taught him to speak German after the war in secret. He stayed in Germany after Versailles for some time before coming back, apparently."
Charlotte had heard the story about the mysterious Australian from her Great Grandmother, yet no more details than that.
"Where are you from in Germany? I gather you are German?"
"Yes, from Karlstruhe."
She walked over to the simple black marble grave. I did not take long to tear up.
"You OK? You now you speak English almost with an Australian twang."
Charlotte looked at his seemingly kind face through teary eyes. "Yes, he was my Great Grandfather you know. When I was a child my Grandmother arranged an Australian English tutor for me, said it's what he would have wanted. I'm Charlotte Zahringen."
Hells bells. He came slightly closer and looked again at her eyes, shining now with tears. Those crystal clear, oh so blue eyes. In addition, there was a similarity around the eyes and nose that reminded him of his daughter, although this girl's hair was raven tresses, not honey blonde like Ingrid's. He felt a wave of emotion almost like a physical force wash over him and looked back up with tears in his eyes himself. Zahringen. Bloody Max of Baden, he knew that kid was trouble, although the Zahringen family was well known even know as being one of the most affluent in Germany.
"I have a farm just a few K's down the road. Would you like to come and have some lunch, meet my son and two daughters and what I have are a number of old photos. I can show you a picture of my Grandfather if you like. You can follow my ute."
"K's?"
"Kilometers."
For some reason she just seemed to feel at ease with the man. "Yes, of course."

The lunch had been simple but delicious and she had conversed easily with the man, John, and in particular with his two daughters, a tall sandy coloured girl called Isabelle and a duskier skinned dark haired girl, Anna, obviously adopted or from a different mother. The family laughed and joked with one another, she had talked netball with both girls and after lunch John had pulled out a photo album and talked about his Grandfather, although he had never met the man personally, much like her own Great Grandfather.

It was not until very late in the afternoon that she had left to walk out to the hire car. John had followed her out.
"Thanks for staying for lunch."
"Thanks for having me."
He stepped forward to kiss the girl's cheek but instead received a hug.
"You must come to Germany and meet my Grandmother. I can arrange it. Here are my contact details, please be in touch, I'll pay for the air fare and you can stay with us."

As she drove of down the off down the lane he thought to himself it sounded like a wonderful prospect, see the daughter he had not seen in so long. To see the new Germany.

TIMELINE COMPLETED. THANK YOU ALL.

ADDENDUM 1 of 3

GERMAN EMPIRE FLAG 2017

View attachment 280406 View attachment 280403 View attachment 280399 ADDENDUM 2 of 3 WORLD MAP 2017
View attachment 280396

ADDENDUM 3 OF 3

The family of Adolf and Eva von Hitler

Adolf Hitler, later Adolf von Hitler(1889-1958) m 1939 Eva Braun(1912-2000)

Issue(Generation 2):
Ingrid von Hitler(1940-) m 1963 Max Zahringen, Grand Duke of Baden(1933-), 2 sons, 2 daughters

Generation 3:
Children of Max Zahringen, Grand Duke of Baden and Ingrid von Hitler:

Marie Louise(1964-1989) married Laurie Cunningham(1957-1989), 1 daughter
Berhard(1965-) m 1996 Isabella of Austria, 2 sons, 1 daughter, Bechold(1998 - ), Friederich(1999-), Amalie(2002-)
Eva Marie(1967-) m 2001 Gerold Rahmann, no issue
Leopold(1971-) m 2004 Agata Buzek, 1 son, 1 daughter, Michael(2007-), Karolina(2012-)

Generation 4:
Children of Marie Louise of Baden:

Charlotte Zahringen(1988 - )

EPILOGUE:

July 2017

The choice for a companion for the trip was easy enough. His eldest two were both working full time and had no holidays to take, his eldest daughter coming back from 12 months in Europe only in January and his son having gone for four months in 2013. He would take his youngest, Anna, newly 14 in June, still young enough to be terribly excited without the teenage angst. Dad was only on the verge of not being cool, without being firmly embarrassing as yet. She had only been to India so far so a trip to Europe was a pretty exciting prospect.

First step was a stop at one of his favourite cities, Istanbul, for a four day stay that included a day at Gallipoli, a rite of passage for all Ozzies really and he wanted Anna to be able to experience it as well. He then flew to London where they did the touristy thing and then he hired a car for a four day round trip Arundel Castle, Stonehenge, Oxford and Blenheim Castle and finally Windsor. His thoughts drifted back to the second last day. Firstly the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the most English of English tour guide, who could have been an extra in Dead Poets Society. Then they drove on to St Martin’s Church at Bladon, near Blenheim Place. His mind wandered to his last conversation with Churchill, 62 years ago supposedly but still only 3-4 years ago in his own mind. He found now that his Hitler memories were clearly defined post 1939, yet increasingly hazy prior to that. Conversely his memories were usually clear, yet sometimes jumbled, seemingly altered at points. It had been at Blenheim Palace hat he had seen Churchill last, Eva driving him up to see the ex Prime Minister, by then still an MP, but in poor health and reducing his workload.

Churchill had characteristically gotten straight to the point.
“Brandy? Cigar?”
“No cigar thanks. I won’t say no to a brandy, though.”
“Thought you were a teetotal?”
“No, I just don’t like drinking to the extent where I feel impaired.”
“I feel sorry for those poor devils that don’t drink at all. When they get up it’s the best they will feel all day.”
“Yes, well there is that.”
“Retirement, is it all it is cracked up to be?”
“If I’m truly honest I miss the power, I miss driving change. Does it sound conceited to say I miss the prestige? However, do I miss the stress, all of the sheer horseshit that comes with it? No, I think not. I’m happy enough. I was fortunate to do what few politicians are able to do, fulfill my agenda.”
“I too miss being at the center of it to. I despair at what is occurring to Empire. India gone. Britain is coming to a crossroads. Do we try and hold onto Empire. Do we form an Empire wide trading block or do we seek a place in Europe some 40 years after ‘splendid isolation’ ceased to be a viable policy. Now what was your agenda?”
“To be honest just to place pride back into a country and people that had lost theirs. Don’t get me wrong. Germany waged an aggressive war in 1914, perhaps not started by them but they stepped on the train quite happily none the less. One cannot do that and then commit the cardinal sin of any military adventure, losing, and expect to escape punishment. However, sometimes punishment can be cruel and unusual, more punitive than it needs to be. Deigned to humiliate rather than teach. Plus, I had come to realise that ethnic theories are simply horse shit to. If you wish to redraw national boundaries there is only one legitimate way to do so, based on demographics and the will of the masses.”
“Fair point.”
“In regards to England, I think you must, eventually, go with Europe. As countries grow closer together, as indeed they must with increased communications building ties and breaking down traditional borders and the national interests that go with them, Britain’s main daughter colonies will increasingly go their own way. Australia and New Zealand in Asia, Canada’s ties will be to America. South Africa is probably already lost. If not culturally, then economically, these countries will pull away.”
“So, play second fiddle to the Jerries in Europe eh?"
"Better than being a Johnny come lately and being third fiddle to the Frogs.”
Churchill actually belly laughed. “Quite so dear boy, quite so.”

He snapped back to the present with his daughter bumping his arm.
“Dad, you are looking as vacant as the village idiot.”
“Yes, sorry, just thinking about Churchill and past events. Long time ago now.”
“Just a bit.”

Perhaps not as long as you think, he thought, as he climbed back into the Skoda. Car manufacture was something else that Germany dominated. Daimler, BMW, Skoda, Porsche and Maybach were all large car manufacturing companies. He remembered wistfully something his own father had told him. "Life becomes hard when you wake up one day and realise you know a lot more dead people than ones that are still alive." How true. The vast bulk of those he had known in 1939 were long dead. Goering so long ago in a plane crash. Himmler shot on his own orders. Hess in 1990, long before politically irrelevant. Boorman, in obscurity in 1962 from a stroke. Heydrich had risen to deputy head of the Kustenwache before retirement in 1964 and death in 1975 from lung cancer.

He had wanted to make the next part of his trip privately before he met up with Charlotte and the Zahringen family at Salem in Baden. They had taken a Norwegian Air flight to Konigsberg’s Devau airport. The airport was so different to what he remembered. Since he had last seen it in 1953, this was no surprise, but still. The turboprop aircraft flew them to the island of Osel. It had not lost its magic. It was full of lovely forest meadows and wild seashores. The island itself had firmly reinvented itself as a tourism mecca, attracting those interested in bushwalking and nature. Many of the inhabitants were descended from the Volga Germans that had been settled there in numbers in 1944, now so long ago. After some five days, they had finally flown back to Konigsberg and then spent a day at the small 35,000 person city founded in 1956, Hitlerberg, built on the Curonian Lagoon land reclamation.

They had then flown to Karlsruhe, being met at the airport by Charlotte. The greeting was more than friendly and the trip to Schloss Salem had his daughter's eyes bulging out of her head, having never seen a European palace before this trip.

Charlotte stated on the drive that her Grandmother would be absent initially, currently on a trip to France. Perhaps that was for the best at the start, as he had worked his own emotions into a frenzy thinking about it.

If Charlotte had been surprised by the depth of his questioning in regards to German politics, then she had not indicated so. After Anna had gone to bed, they had talked long into the night in regards to conservation, land use, politics, Germany's foreign relations, defence and the like. She had also not commented on his German, perfect but with the characteristic "rolling r's" of Austria and the South.

The information gleaned had been interesting and had backed up some of the reading he had been doing in the last six months. Dear God, some of the puff pieces on his supposed motivations ranged from insightful to beyond fanciful.

Germany had been one of the first countries in Europe that had developed a strong political following based on environmental issues. "Green" parties had been in existence since the late 1950's, some ironically, considering their left wing agendas, both praising and reviling the Hitler image. Germany, along with Switzerland and Slovenia, had been the first three countries that first saw the rise of an environmentalist vote. They had been quickly followed by Latvia, Estonia(which had steered a bizarre post 1958 history) and Lithuania. It had taken the remainder of Europe 15-20 years to catch up, but the Green Party had been the junior party in a number of coalition governments since 1974. Most German cities had efficient public transport, trains and trams were preferred to buses, recycling had been the norm for many years and there were strict protocols governing sea pollution and forestry.

Power generation followed a strict hierarchy of preference, solar, hydro and tidal, followed by wind and nuclear, biomass, and lastly natural gas, much of the later of which came from Russia. Coal now amounted to only 5% of Germany's power needs, although all reserve power needs were still anticipated to be provided via coal.

Germany had also been one of the leaders, in conjunction with Scandinavian countries, in protecting fishing rights, assisted by the formation of a coastguard. Wildlife had been protected and in the more remote areas of Germany, particularly East Prussia, both Bison and wolves had started to thrive.

Politically, German politics had been quite stable. Governments had mainly been supplied from Zentrum, sometime in coalitions with the Greens or Liberals, sometimes in majority. The SDP had twice taken government, once in coalition once with the Greens, another with the Liberals and other minor parties. The NSDAP had faced a slow electoral death, dropping to 16% of the vote in 1956, only 9% in 1960, finally 5% in 1964, before a vote of 3.8% in 1968 had seen it fail to gain entry to the Reichstag at all. It was only in 2012 that a vote of 4.1% had seen it regain Reichstag representation, stirring on the back of immigration policy.

Louis Ferdinand had ably stepped into the role as a constitutional monarch, being succeeded by his 15 year old Grandson Philip in a regency in 1994. Although undertaking largely a ceremonial role, the family had become well regarded due to Louis Ferdinand's work and they had largely avoid the controversies that had plagued the Latin monarchies.

In regards to economics, Germany was the second most powerful country in the world behind the U.S and it's per capita income, ignoring micro states, was the fourth best in Europe behind Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland, it's status as the leader of the European community unchallenged. It was a nice place to be.

In terms of airlines, Lufthansa was the world's largest, at least by income. Jet airlines had finally seen the retirement of Zeppelins in 1960, with a farewell around the world flight in August 1960. Whilst European car manufacture was centered in Germany, Airbus was headquartered in France, where tensions between France and Germany had eased after the late 1950's, allowing a large degree of economic co-operation. Rail transport via Reichsbahn in Germany was still the favoured form of transport, with many high speed trains. Government subsidies even now mitigated against bus travel and helped the railways run at a modest profit. Most Germans were car owners, however, many cities had pedestrian only zones in central city areas to encourage the use of transit, walking or cycling to get to work. Germany, indeed Koblenz, was also the headquarters of the European space agency.

Militarily, Germany's defense spending was not that much more than the U.K's or France's and in fact slightly less than Russia's, however, whilst Russia spent 5.2% of GDP of defense, France and the U.K 2.2 and 2.1%, Germany did this by expending only 1.25% on defence spending. For all that, she was able to maintain a 290,000 strong defense force, all of well trained and professional regulars. There had been little in the way of wars in Europe since 1958. Only the brief 1960 border war between Serbia and Croatia, the 1969-70 Albanian war of independence, a 1970 and 1984 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a 14 day war in 2004 between Russia and Chechnya. Only the Albanian conflict had been prolonged struggle. On the flip side, decolonization in Africa, in particular, had been slower and there had been a number of colonial conflicts fought in the 1960's to mid 1970's until Africa had been decolonized, only the collapse of Portugal's post Salazar regime finally freeing the last colonies in 1976, only a year or two after France and the U.K divested themselves of their own empires.

Germany had urged both the U.K, Spain and France and to try and remove themselves from colonial entanglements, both domestically as via her role as a League of Nations Control Council representative. The Control Council had been set up to deliberate on major world matters and to provide peacekeeping forces, if required, in the aftermath of 1945. Coming into existence in 1948, it consisted of the U.S, Germany, France, the U.K, Italy, Russia and a seat has been reserved for China. The later had proven problematic after China's dissolution, a final vote in 1953 awarding a seat to the Despotate of Canton. Russia had favoured Manchuria, the U.S a rump China, the U.K the despotate, Germany the Shanghai Trade Union, Italy the Fuzou Republic. In the finish the French had voted with the U.K simply to deal a blow to the Americans, who had condemned their colonial war in Indo China. Germany was also one of the world powers that possessed nuclear weapons, along with the U.S, the U.K, France, Russia, India, Pakistan and Israel. The first five also possessed submarine launched weapons, or "boomers."

Demographically, Germany by 1958 had contained large numbers of Poles, however, with the increasing prosperity of Poland itself as well as a slowing of the birth rate in Germany, number of Poles had dropped and immigration increased from two sources, Ukrainians from the Hetmanate and Turks, the former commencing in some numbers from around 1960, the later, after extended negotiations, in 1965. By 2017, Germans had proven themselves to be highly mobile, some 7.9 million living abroad. Inside Germany, the largest ethnic groups were still Poles(2.2 million), Ukrainians(2.0 million), Turks(1.1 million), Russians(950,000) and Italians(700,000).

He was left to wonder whether the changes he had made to the world history timeline had been of net benefit or not in his blacker moments. It was certainly a fact that with no Korean or Vietnam war, the death tolls from these conflicts had been significantly less. Also a truncated World War 2 had caused far less casualties. Likewise the global war on communism, indeed the whole cold war. No "cultural revolution", "great leap forward", no Pol Pot. Perversely, the slower pace of decolonisation meant that some African countries seemed more stable post independence.

On the flip side, the Chinese Civil war had been a disaster, with estimates of 10-12 million killed. There had been increased pro independence clashes in Africa. Terrorism in the Middle East was very much still a thing. Overall, on balance, he thought the decision that had been made had been for a better world. When that involves deaths that had not occurred OTL, it was still a bitter pill to swallow.

They had commenced their German tour by flying to Berlin. He had viewed the Stadtschloss, used only for state occasions and primarily used as a museum and art gallery, the TV tower and the like. The look on Anna's face when Charlotte had indicated that she would introduce them to the Kaiser had been priceless. Philip retained many of his Grandfather Louis Ferdinand's features and his wife Carmen had also been charming, especially with his own overawed teenager. Their everyday residence was the Glienicke Palace. There had been much controversy when Philip had married the Estonian model and chess player Carmen Kass in 2006, but the birth of two children, Wilhelm, in 2008 and Katarina, in 2012, had seen this die a natural death. They clearly knew Charlotte well.

It was his visit to Hamburg that had given his the most excitement. Not only was his
"Maritime/Eastern war museum" a proven success, but to see HMS Hood and her old OTL rival, Bismarck, moored next to one another had been more than exciting to a naval buff. Generally, Germany seemed to be thriving, and for that he was more than glad.

They had traveled to Austria, gone on the Vienna Eye, and then moved back to Salzburg. He remembered the house well, the former Hotel Gmachl at Elixhausen that he had purchased in 1952 and converted back to a villa. That night, he looked at the study door, where the marks made by his pen knife showed his daughter's name and height alongside an age. Last was made in 1956. Intermixed were similar but newer marks with Charlotte's name.

Tomorrow would be the final chapter. To Berchtesgaden to meet his so long not seen daughter. Then back in Salzburg for a night, on to Vienna and a Qantas flight home.

To be back to the top of the mountain, the place that it had all started, for what reason he was still not sure, was incredible. Of course, he had been here once before, in another life, in another timeline. The quaintness was still the same. One had to back the car in, the ride in the huge brass doored lift. He stepped out of the annex and into the living room. The resemblance, even after so many years, was unmistakable. Of course, of course she would have aged, when he somehow incredibly had not. Yet it was a shock to see a 77 year old woman with grey hair in front of him instead of a 18 year old with honey blonde hair. She looked fit, none the less. Trim, in a powder blue pencil skirt and white blouse.

He had given his story over tea and they had chatted, amazingly, even in a different time, a different body, that easy connection seemed to be there. Later they had walked up to the open area overlooking the mountains.

"So, your father, what was he like?"
"Oh, I was the stereotypical daddy's girl and I adored him as only a child can. Looking back, a quirky sense of humour, quick to anger, quick to forgive, soft at heart, yet self contained, able to do what needed to be done. Loyal to those loyal to him. His final two years were difficult and I think in many ways he would not be unhappy with the way things ended, although of course, at the time, I was devastated. You know you remind me of him."
He clasped his hands behind his back and looked out over the mountains as tears shimmered in his own eyes.
"So, Ingrid Zahringen, how did one become a Grand Duchess of Baden?"
"Well, I knew Prince Max during University, I was planning to talk to my father about him. He was a tower of strength after papa's death and one thing led to another. We married, amidst intense pubic scrutiny. Agitation post our marriage to restore the Grand Dukedom became intense and eventually in 1964 the government decided to run the 1940 plebiscite on government form yet again. Baden was restored. Austria was the only other state that came close. I think the Hapsburg's would have actually accepted if it had come off."
"Were you happy?"
"I had to grow up very young. Papa dying thrust me into center stage, nominally at least in charge of an important organisation at a very young age. But, yes, I was happy. I had a job I found challenging, a name to live up to, a man I loved, children I adored. The death of Charlotte's mother and father hit me hard. My father was concerned about my marrying Max, but it worked out all too well."
"I think you father would be glad you followed your heart. The truth is there's no sense living your life without love. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. I think somewhere your father is smiling down on you."
"You are a curious man, John. I see what Charlotte saw in you. You have a way of knowing what to say, so I'm going to break protocol and tell you something I haven't told Charlotte as yet, indeed anyone. I have cancer. There is nothing to be done, or so I am told, four to six months."

The tears came unbidden to his eyes and Ingrid spoke again.
"Don't be sad, because I can tell you another secret. "I wish that all people could have a life as lucky as mine, where you can wake up one morning and say, "I don't want anything more." It's been 77 years and it's gone by in a flash.

He could not say anything but was on the verge of breaking down himself. He hugged his daughter goodbye, the last time they would meet. He remembered his own grandmothers words at his mothers funeral, 34 long years ago. "No one should outlive their children." How true. Then he looked his darling Anna, so full of life at only 14. There were reasons to live, reasons beyond even his own happiness.

The following night he hugged Charlotte goodbye. How many people would have the opportunity to have such a beautiful, intelligent great granddaughter at such an age? They had the rare treat of a limousine drive to Vienna before their final flight home. He thought of his two beautiful children at home and then looked across at Anna, her jet black hair shining in the car's artificial light.

"Ani?"
"Yeh Dad, amazing trip."
Yes, he thought, it was. Crazy amazing, the whole thing was crazy amazing really. Then he felt another wave of emotion come over him.
"Ani, I want you to know how much I love you, that you've given a purpose to my life that I never expected, that no one can ever take from me. That goes for your brother and sisters to."
"Dad…"
"No, for once, I am really serious. I love you so much. Don't want you to ever worry about me. I've had the perfect life. I have no regrets.."

As his daughter came in for what was now a rare hug, her own eyes shining, he knew life, for all it's foibles, was good and that one could only enjoy the journey, no matter where the river of fortune flowed.

FINIS

February 2017

The initial tests on the new plane were very promising and it was only natural for the VSTOL DASA-22 to be tested on one of the two Kaiserliche Marine's carriers. At 44,000 tons they were smaller than the supercarriers of the USN, but suited Germany's needs and were backed up by two more amphibious assault ships. The new aircraft was a quantum leap from the older DASA-1, which was the first aircraft designed after the mergers in the 1970's and 1980's that created Deutsche Aerospace, eventually Messerschmidt, Dornier, Heinkel and Daimler Benz air division all amalgamating. Only Blohm and Voss and Junkers were still separate.

Werner Schwesig was delighted to get the chance to fly her off the carrier, although these first trials were to be conducted with the ship securely anchored in the Brietling. The DASA-22 was quite possibly the most modern fighter in existence and had the capacity to operate unmanned if required. DASA had indicated that they considered it a "quantum leap forward" and superior to to the US F-2 and F-35, the Russian Sukhoi and anything the French had. In fact, it was likely to garner exports ales through Europe, both the RAF and the Armée de l'air expressing interest. At the moment civilian techs were all over the craft, but he was looking forward to finally taking her into the air.

DASA-22 on board SMS Adolf Hitler

October 2016

The 14,600 ton cruiser nudged past the statue of liberty on Liberty Island. The SMS Friedrich der Grosse was a singleton unit, the only modern cruiser in the world outside of the Russian navy. She was the flagship of the Amphibisch Flotilla, based in Rostock. The Kaiserliche Marine had three bases, Wilhelmshaven, Rostock and Memel, both of which contained the 1st and 2nd Flotillas. Each contained an aircraft carrier, a pair of air warfare destroyers and attendant support and escort ships. The Amphibisch Flotilla was based on his own ship, two amphibious assault carriers based on a smaller version of HMS Ocean and attendant support ships. Other major ships were the four Baden Class “boomers”, also based in Rostock.

The service was nowhere near the size of the United States Navy, but was on par with the Royal Navy or the Russian Fleet and larger than that of the French, Japanese or Italians. His own ship had been designed to conduct shore bombardment in support of landings or to act as the centerpiece of an intervention group herself. In addition to her two 170mm gun, she carried a variety of missile for surface to air and surface to surface engagements.

Personally Captain Hans Voller as looking forward to the visit to New York, a city he had not visited since the early 1980’s when he was still at school. German ships made regular visits to European Economic and Customs Community ports, especially those of Warsaw Pact countries, however, visits overseas were less common.

SMS Friedrich der Grosse

May 2017

The first large exercise of the year was to take place in East Prussia and would also involve some units of both the Polish and Lithuanian armies. Major General Johann Langenegger's 1st Panzer Division had moved by rail all the way from Oldenburg. The Deutsche Heer had been downsized to only 4 Corps since the turn of the new millennium, three divisions. Three of the Corps consisted of an armoured and a mechanised division each, the fourth a mix of a special forces division and a light airmobile one. A nominal fifth and sixth Corps consisted of Army Reserve formations, consisting of one infantry and a mechanised division each. Corps HQ's were at Frankfurt(rapid response), Oldenburg, Graz, Konigsberg, Veitshöchheim(reserve) and Berlin(reserve).

It was still one of Europe's largest armies, despite the lack of conflict in the continent. With the United States generally isolationist, it had been German military units that had performed much of the peacekeeping missions required since the early 1960's. With the army traditionally Germany's senior service, one thing that had been ensured was that the equipment that it operated with was at the cutting edge. The next step in that cutting edge would be on display for the first time, the Heer's new tank had commenced field trials with 1st Armoured. The new Pz XII Panther was a revolutionary design mounting the new 125mm Rheinmetal smoothbore gun as well as a 20mm chain gun. For the first time since the experimental PZ VIII, missiles had been fitted as standard to a main battle tank, the Panther being fitted with 8 tubes capable of launching a single Spike NLOS missile, each missile having a range of up to 25kms. There had been much though about removing the need for a loader and automating the turret, however, the risk of shock knocking out the tanks electronics and leaving it helpless was judged too great.

In Johann Langenegger's time the nature of the army itself had changed dramatically. Conscription had been largely removed(although it was still enacted on a small scale for those who wished to go to the army in preference to working for social security payments), the command and control structure had become less rigid and the upper ranks of the service was less dominated by those who claimed a "traditional Prussian military" background. Pay had also increased dramatically now, as it needed to as the army competed with private industry for skilled personnel.

Artist's rendition of PZ XII Panther

September 2017

It was the largest motor show in the world since it had commenced in 1983. In Germany automobile manufacture was a huge industry, with over a million people directly employed and many more in related industries. The industry was dominated by nine "majors". Audi, based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. BMW, based in Munich, Bavaria. Ford Werke, based in Cologne, Westpahlaia. Maybach, in Friedrichshafen, Wurttemberg. Mercedes Benz, based in Stuggart, Wurttemberg. Opel in Russelsheim, Hesse. Porsche, in based in Stuggart, Wurttemberg. Volkswagen, based in Wolfsburg, Prussia. Finally Tatra, based in Pilsen, Bohemia.

There were many large industries in modern Germany, but perhaps none was as influential as the automotive one. Many famous foreign brands were now wholly owned by German companies. What German cars had gained a reputation for was unparalleled excellence in engineering. Not only cars were produced. Tatra in Pilsen operated at opposite ends of the market, making scooters and trucks exclusively. Maybach luxury limousines and trucks.

The International Motor Show in Frankfurt attracted both manufacturers and visitors from around the world, indeed some 1.2 million plus visitors. Some of the more advanced cars in the world had made their debut here and now a number of alternative drive vehicles were on show, from electric cars to two of the newest solar powered models, one capable of 140km/h.

German cars dominated the European market, only the large French companies of Renault and Citroën, as well as the Italian Fiat and Swedish Volvo were of the same size as the German manufacturers.

July 2017

It was one of Berlin's iconic features, the Castle Tour, in fact, tours of German castles was one of the main reasons why Germany was barely second only to France as a tour destination in Europe, just in front of Spain.

For Berlin, there was public access to not only the Bellevue, Charlottenburg, Kopenick, Kronprinzenpalais, Monbijou, Ordenspalais, Prinz-Albracht Palais, the Sanssouci, Schonhausen Palais and finally the City Palace at Potsdam and the Stadtschloss in Berlin, as well as others.

In Bavaria, there were a series of "Ludwig's follys", including Neuschwanstein and Linderhof. In Vienna, there was the Hofburg, Schonbrunn, the Belvedere and many others. Not to mention the numerous castles visible from a simple Rhine cruise. At Sanssouci one could be the Faberge museum with fully 24 of the famous eggs. It also contained a number of items formerly held at the Hermitage in Russia prior to the Great Eastern War. Of course, also in Berlin was the Chancellery, the lower parts of which, namely the Vorbunker and Fuhrerbunker, were open as the Adolf Hitler Museum, which also existed in Memel, Braunau am Inn and Salzburg.

Whilst people came to France for the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, they came to Germany for castles and palaces, or castles and palaces, art and history.

Despite Berlin's history, it was a sleek modern city, populated by vehicle free zones, sleek new Tatra trams, the huge new TV Tower and the like. Like London, it was a mix of old and new that seemed to work. The routes around the tourist areas were populated by "hop on hop off" busses, as well as heritage trams. There was a daily "tourist train" to Postdam, consisting of various steam driven locomotives. Also in the grounds at Potsdam was the Zeppelin Museum, housing the LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin, retired in 1957. At Frankfurt was housed the LZ-131 Ingrid Hitler, which had made her last flight from Sydney to Frankfurt, arriving back on 1st September 1960.

For Zala Gorjup, the two year long exchange that had seen her move from Kranj to Berlin to write for the Germany's largest magazine, Die Tat, had been a transformative period in her life. She had adapted well to city life, going from a city of 40,000 to one with 6.1 million inhabitants.

The work with the magazine had allowed her to go all over Germany, visiting 18 of the 20 states. Her German was flawlessly fluent and she could pass quite easily for a native of the South. German was the most common second language in Slovenia, challenged only in later years with the rise of the internet by English. Indeed German was a common second language for many of the former "Pact" countries. The Warsaw Pact had had a long life, not finally being dissolved until the late 1990's, ten years after Russia's government had become completely democratic and it also became obvious that for Russia, sale of oil, gas and raw materials into Western Europe was the future. Until such time, Germany, Turkey, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Finland and Bulgaria retained close ties, not only militarily but politically.

The enigma that was Hitler was a constant in German society. Many left wingers remained highly critical of the man, so much so that they had a name, "apologeten." In her own mind, she was not so certain they were not right. Yet Hitler's rapid 1939 about face had been undeniable, his remorse seemingly real. He had carved out national identities for her own country, the Ukraine, Croatia, among others, defeated Stalin's horrific regime. These were no small things. Perhaps to achieve such goals, one needed to do bad things. Personally, she would like to think that was not the case.

In any case, she was here at the Glienicke Palace to conduct an interview with not only the German Kaiser and his family but also the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to cover the British Royal Visit. It was the sort of puff piece she did not normally do, however, her colleague Margarite was sick and one had to fill in where required. She was shown into the large sitting room with it's well lit open bay windows and large, comfortable looking cloth sofa. The Kaiser was still a youngish man, 38 with grey hair at his temples but a full head of hair. His wife Carmen a year older, tall, blonde haired and green eyed. She was holding her daughter Katarina whilst her nine year old son Wilhelm played on the floor.

The Kaiser retained only Glienicke as his residence, aside from Hermesvilla in Vienna and Dwaseiden Castle in Sassnitz, living in effect quite modestly. Like the Westminster system, the Kaiser technically had the power to suspend the Reichstag, although it was unlikely to be used. Bills did not require royal assent and the Kaiser was not the commander in chief of the armed forces either, which reported to the organs of government, however the Kaiser still appointed Foreign ambassadors and had the power to grand royal pardons. The Kaiser and his immediate family were also immune to prosecution.

Kaiser Philip marrying an Estonian foreigner had been a source of some disquiet in German media and indeed the public as a whole, however, the family had done much to boost Germany's profile abroad, in particular in regards tourism and trade. The meeting was an example of the closeness that had developed between the two countries in the last 20 years, the post Hitler years signally the commencement of the bridging of the gap between the two countries, both of whom joined the European Economic and Customs Community at the same time.

12 February 2018

Good evening, I am Peter Kloeppel and welcome to F und A, or question and answer, tonight on the 60th anniversary of his death, we deal with what seems to still be the major enigma in German society, namely former Chancellor, then Fuhrer and again Chancellor Adolf Hitler. 60 years later it seems fair to say the mystery of Hitler is still alive and well. More books have been written about the man than any other 20th Century figure and he has provoked more debate than any other figure as well, some of it very divisive. For that reason we have attempted to put together a panel reflective of a wide range of views. Please welcome:

Former Chancellor Edmund Stoiber, former Vice Chancellor Rudolf Scharping, Andrea Fischer, former Greens Leader, Margarete von Rechtenburg, former Liberal Party leader, Hitler's great granddaughter and Chair of the Hitler Institute, Charlotte Zahringen, historian Ian Kershaw, former actress and model Silke Heydrich, herself the daughter of Reinhard Heydrich, Chief Rabbi of Germany Michael Biberfeld, Bundesliga CEO and German Olympic Committee member Christian Siefert and Chair of the University of Frankfurt Birgitta Wolff.

In front of tonight's audience we will hold a debate about the Hitler years before finally throwing things open for our characteristic question and answer period from tonight's audience.

12 February 2018

"Hello everyone, my name Christoph Ruth from Munich. All my life I've had a rather strong love for history and one of those major areas of interest being that of the chancellor, or Fuhrer as some like to call, Adolf Hitler. In many ways I admire the man in how he was able to pull Germany straight from the economic depression, his turning of the Wehrmacht into the greatest military on the planet, the glory of the Communist Crusade, and his rather brilliant diplomatic crafting of the Warsaw Pact. Yet looking back at his career there are many, how should I say, discrepancies in his work. In Mein Kampf there is an completely open antisemitic hatred of the Jewish people with extreme emphasis placed on the Final Solution. What exactly the Solution is called is up for debate but some like to argue that this was an extermination for all Jews. This is something I myself feel strongly conflicted as my mother is herself Jewish. Then again we can look at the Weimar period of our dark history where Hitler used regular fascist tactics of brutally targeting the opposition and flat our calling democracy a failure, which he later restored voluntarily. Between these two periods I've noticed that there is one key divergence from Fuhrer Hitler to Chancellor Hitler, the annexation of Czechoslovakia. My question for our distinguished panel tonight is this, why did Adolf Hitler annex Czechoslovakia if he was simply going to return it afterwords? In my opinion the man could've just stayed with the Munich Agreement and only take the Sudetenland, Eastern Europe was still relatively supportive of him and the Polish government had been considering an alliance with Germany for some time. Why openly risk a war with both France and Britain if the end result was just to return back to square one?"

"Thank you. Since this is a mainly political question, I think we will start with Edmund Stoiber. Herr Stoiber, what would motivate Hitler to invade the Czechoslovakian rump state on 15th March, yet seemingly have a change of heart as little as six weeks later according to the Bormann diaries. Why not honor the Munich Agreement?"

Edmund Stoiber: "The question is a good one and for all of it being debated extensively, there is still no clear answer. Certainly Tiso and the Slovak People's Party were impressing on Hitler their desire for full independence. I think it's not completely true to say things went back to square one. Hitler was to annex Ostrau and Pilsen, which included the Skoda works he probably felt he needed for any future Eastern adventures. In addition, he was to pass the top 2/3 of Friedburg province to Poland, paving the way for the Polish Corridor deal and the commencement of a rapprochement with Poland. The real question was just how far did he think both France and Britain would go in defense of the Czech state? It was certainly a gamble, yet one that seemingly proved, in the long run, to be correct."

"Ian Kershaw, your thoughts."

Ian Kershaw: "I think that in April 1939 Hitler, possibly as early as the commencement of the month when he had made plans to celebrate his birthday, had in his mind that events whilst seemingly calm on the surface were not moving according to the plan he had envisaged. Domestically, opposition that had been crushed in 1933-35 was again on the move. Economically, Germany was on a path that could only lead to ruin if continued. I think he realised that his main goal, the destruction of Communism, lay perhaps as far away as it had ever been. To wage an aggressive war against Russia, he needed to be allied to Poland in common cause or step over her prostrate corpse and I think he knew the latter would again invite a world war, most likely against not only Britain and France but also Stalin's USSR.

To Hitler I think that was too much of a gamble to take. I think he wanted his hands free to deal with Stalin's regime and that to do so he needed the West's if not support at least indifference. I also think he foresaw the need for allies, a task aided by the fact that Stalin's regime as so hated and feared. Allies would have been seen as a useful tool, not only because he feared the collapse of the German economy at that time and needed to minimise Germany's war effort, but also the greater number of allies, the greater the international legitimacy any military action against the USSR would assume. The return of the Czech Republic to a League of Nations mandate not only threw the British and French into confusion, it moved them one step back from the brink of war, thereby allowing dialogue to resume. It also paved the way for a return to the League of Nations for Germany and her allies, giving her the legitimacy needed when she was later to invade the USSR.

Continuing the theme of allies, it seems he made the same decisions domestically. Reaching out to the allies he wanted, discarding or purging those he did not. There was without doubt a streak of ruthless practicability about the man. Hitler had rode the Nazi ideology into power. He hated the Communists and inured himself to be as tough or tougher than they were to seize power in what was essentially a power vacuum in the Weimar Republic. However, I believe he also realised that Nazism could not itself survive the fall of Communism, that without the terrors of the reds so feared by many that Nazism would collapse in upon itself, much as most ideologies that rely on fear always require a demon to be afraid of. Plus the more extreme elements of the party were never going to be accepted by the Western powers, the same powers Hitler needed to sit on their hands whilst he dealt with Stalin.

Therefore, for Hitler the need was to steer a middle ground. Chip away the extreme elements of the party, move away from war. It was in this period he moved back from war and reached out to allies, not only foreign but also domestic. This was in preparation for a ruthless sweeping away of all those he saw as opposed to that middle ground, the hard right of the party, the SS. It was at this time he brought Eva Hitler into the limelight. I think it signaled a reaching out, a change. Was that part of the plan also or simply something that precipitated it? That we may never know."

12 February 2018

"Hello. I am Konrad Gauke from Wien and I would like to ask your distinguished guests what is their opinion of Markus Heiden's theory that Adolf Hitler had died on his 50th birthday and had been subsequently replaced by one of his doubles. I know that many consider this to be a conspiracy theory but it would explain his massive change in character. Thank you."

"Thank you. Since this is a mainly a more personal question, I think we will start with the person who should be in the best position to know. Charlotte Zahringen, you were raised by your grandmother, the late dowager Grand Duchess of Baden, was this ever discussed?"

Charlotte Zahringen: "How could it not be Peter? As I am sure you are all aware, this theory has done the rounds for years, especially when gaining credence after David Irving's unfortunate publication. The fact that the crash of Flight 46 left no remains that could latterly be tested had undoubtedly only added to the speculation. Much like the supposedly missing Romanov children, the truth is much more mundane. My great grandmother lived until 2006 and we had many conversations about her husband. Yes, she said, he changed in 1939, she could never put her finger on a reason why this was, but in her mind there was no question he was still the same man. When you sleep next to someone, shared what they did, I think you would be a hard person to fool.

Secondly, the Nazi's were notorious record keepers and even worse gossips. Hitler was hardly ever alone. When could this have happened? How could no one know? Besides, Hitler's first double, Julius Schreck, died before the Great Eastern War. The second, Gustav Weller, went back to his family in 1946. Lastly, and perhaps most definite, my Grandmother had genetic tests done upon her death in 2006 that clearly determined within a 99.9% certainly that she is of the same family line as Paula Hitler who had a small DNA sample taken when her grave was moved in 2005. If she was a Hitler, then her father certainly was. There were also his paintings. Go to the Hitler Museum in Braunau am Inn and see his early works, then travel to Salzburg and see those painted in retirement. Differing themes and mood, but the brush strokes and raw technique are still the same."

"Secondly, Silke Heydrich, your father knew Hitler well and you yourself had a close relationship?"

Silke Heydrich: "I never saw much of Hitler personally but I know my father thought it a great honor to serve the Fuhrer. He never commented on the possibility of a double, however, he often stated that it was impossible not to be drawn to Hitlers voice but in particular his eyes. He said he would know the Fuhrer's eyes anywhere. To me that would preclude any possibility of a double."

"Now there is also the theory that Hitler changed medications, what do you make of that?"

Charlotte Zahringen: "In regards to this there may be more than an element of truth. When my great grandfather fired the quack doctor Morell in 1939 he had been on a regime of various drugs administered by injection or tablet, including methamphetamines. According to my great grandmother from then on he had a complete about face. In fact, when in his last two years he was proscribed pills he would not take them. "No bloody pills", he would always say, strangely in English rather than German. Instead, he always made sure he exercised every day by walking or golfing, stayed away from all meats aside from some chicken and fish, ate large amounts of fava beans. From that, he took no drugs at all. This must have made a difference. I think that is a given."

12 February 2018

“Hello, my name is Hans Schmidt and I'm a student at the Humboldt University in Berlin. My question for you is, uh, why did Hitler - or whoever was responsible - kill so many prominent members of the Nazi party on the Night of the Disappearances? Are there any evidence of Hitler having had big disagreements with those men in the days leading up to that night? Was there a secret conspiracy going on inside the Nazi Party that prompted the purge? What are your opinions? Thank you.”

“I’m going to turn this over to anyone on the panel that wants to comment.”

Andrea Fischer: “Well I think for a start one can say there was no question Hitler was responsible, no question at all. The party was blindsided. Even Bormann, when interviewed later in life, indicated he had no idea that the operation was underway until Hitler locked himself away that night and the phone calls started to come. Hitler bypassed the party, bypassed the police and instead used a small cadre of the SS, but mainly the army, to purge the SS.

It must be remembered that much like the Night of the Long Knives, or Operation Hummingbird, in 1934, 1939’s Nacht der Verschwundenen, or Operation Woodpecker was prepared in total secrecy. Communications flowed direct from Hitler to firstly, Heydrich, but mainly, the Heer leadership. Like in 1934 the SS purged the SA, in 1939 the Army purged the SS. Had there been disagreements between Hitler and the SS prior to that time? Possibly.

The evidence that the SS were actually plotting a coup against Hitler, so certain at the time, has eroded with the march of time and, in fact, it seems that such evidence was likely fabricated. Hitler wanted Himmler and the SS out of the way and the Heer was only too glad to comply, much like in 1934 the SS was glad to remove the SA as a rival. This elimination of a rival regained Hitler the unshakable support of the army.

Whatever can be said about Hitler’s reasons to draw back from the extreme right, the fact that those killed were people who many would say represented the worst in German society, the summary execution of so many without trail or resource to justice represents an unspeakable crime.”

Rudolf Scharping: “However much we debate the morality of the actions, and I think we can all agree they would have no place in today’s Kaiserreich, what occurred post 1939 clearly indicates a shift back to the center of the political spectrum, an end to far right Nazi extremism.

I think Hitler saw this as the first move forward towards this goal and reached back to his political roots, viciously purging those whom he felt would hinder that move forward, those that would threaten that move forward.

I think that it was Hitler’s successful 1939 visit to the UK that signed the death warrant of the SS. With Hitler seeing a way forward to conduct an Eastern war, he needed to dispose of those elements who would want to conduct such a war using the principles of Mein Kampf, which by that stage he had seemingly disavowed. Additionally, he needed the support of the Army and moderates domestically, which the destruction of the SS would give him. Lastly, he needed a free hand domestically. The destruction of the SS created a power vacuum he could fill with his own men, or men from moderate backgrounds that would appease others.

We know from the daughter of the former Maria Poliakova, Zuli von Gronhagen that war with Stalins’s USSR was formed in Hitler’s mind as early as 1939.”

“Anyone else?”

Michael Biberfeld: “For the Jews in Germany it seemed like 1939 was a watershed, one moment moving to ever darker policies, yet at the end of 1939 these policies commenced being watered down.

I have pondered if Nacht der Verschwundenen was the commencement, or if, in fact, it was the shooting of Julius Streicher in April 1939. Later testimony indicates Hitler practiced with his Luger a number of times that week, something he normally took no interest in. Did Hitler plan to execute Streicher personally? Despite my opinion of Hitler, which is well known, I can struggle to feel sympathy for such a man as Streicher even if Hitler did in advance decide to execute him personally.”

12 February 2018

Hello, Uli Stoller from Graz. What do you think of Hitler’s support for sport in Germany, especially women’s sport? Also, what about his charitable contributions and causes?

“Well I think the logical starting point here is with Christian Siefert. Christian, this is your area of expertise.”

Christian Siefert: “As you now, it was at the urging of Hitler that the Deutche Liga was first formed. In fact our present structure of the 20 teams gold league, 20 team silver league and two twenty team bronze leagues is in essence unaltered since 1946 as the first to third tiers in German football. He was also instrumental in the pre-season Ausscheidungskampfblitz knockout State of origin competition that has become such a popular feature to start the season in the first week in August. He was also instrumental in organising the end of season cup match against the English Premier League champion.

All this strengthened German football at a time when other countries had no such mechanism to bring the best of their players together to complete regularly. Hence, the game in Germany benefited exponentially and we have won five World Championships.

However, I personally believe that his biggest contribution to women’s sport as well as grassroots sport. It was at his insistence and with the help of the government that sports facilities were provided at schools. It was at his insistence that women’s sport had facilities provided for it.

Whilst the tying of both basketball and netball to Deutche Liga sides was later to create problems, it the early days the status of these sports skyrocketed as people gained exposure to them and top class facilities were provided. Hitler actively promoted physical activity for woman at a time when women’s sport worldwide was very much a second class event at best. That is probably why the 60’ and 70’s were a golden era for German women’s sport.

He was almost solely responsible for the introduction of netball, which has gone on to become the second most popular women’s sport in Germany today, as well as spreading to Holland.

So overall, I would say he made a massive contribution to German sports, perhaps as much as anyone.”

“What about his charitable contributions?”

Birgitta Wolff: “Well, there are many documentations of the charities that Hitler supported and they were considerable. However, some outside Germany are more obscure. The royalty revenue from the sale of his two books made him a rich man, not taking into account a number of gifts from the government. Aside from that, his investment in the Hewlett Packard business was to set his own family up financially for life. I am sure Charlotte can give a clearer picture, however, the net assets of the Hitler Foundation alone, not the Zahringen family, have been reported at over 1.2 billion USD. These assets were used to support many charitable institutions, not least of which were support for war wounded and war orphans, not only in Germany but in other countries as well. In addition, his support for war widows was unstinting. He also strongly supported organisations assisting displaced people.

Christian Siefert has touched on his sporting contributions, in addition the Hitler Institutes scholarships schemes are well known. His support for Beyond Blue, the organisation dealing with men’s depression and suicide was also well known. What is perhaps less well known was his funding of Pioneer Building and their charitable building works in Russia and his personal assistance to fund German language lessons for war brides from the East.

12 February 2018

"Hello, I am Eva Hagen of Frankfurt, what effect do you think Hitler had on the right wing, especially in Europe?"

"Well that is certainly a good question and one I will turn over to our panel."

Margarete von Rechtenburg: "Well I think in some ways that this is almost a two paced question. I think there are two sides to a right wing agenda. Firstly, extreme right wing politics such as Nazism, such as fascism. Now both fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany did not survive the 1950's. The former did not survive the 1970's in Spain and Portugal. Yes, Hitler was a NSDAP politician, yes that was the platform he was elected on, yet in later years he steered a course away from Nazi politics, actively campaigned against the Salazar regime in Portugal and Franco in Spain. So in that sense, I think in the terms of extreme right wing regimes, his influence led to the thought that although a dictator "a strong man", may take over and achieve results, that eventually basis freedoms and democracy must prevail. As Hitler wrote himself in "Mein Erfolg", authoritarian government can only be a government in times of crisis. In some ways that tallies well with historical president, with the growth in support of left and right ring extremism most marked during periods of "hard times" either economically or socially in countries that have experienced this.

In terms of the second side, right wing populism and right wing nationalism, I think that the presence and success of Hitler's years in power have strengthened these agenda's in Europe for sure. In fact, I would say it's even strengthened left wing nationalism. What has happened is that whilst the modern superpower, the United States, has been busy these last 60 years concentrating on the Middle East, Africa, and, in particular, the Pacific and the chaos that was China for so many years, their involvement in Europe has been peripheral at best. Over the last 70 years it has been Germany that has led Europe. This has resulted in a coming together of Europe in a way never seen before. Instead of nationalism being focused on the differences and border disputes between European powers, there has instead developed a culture where Europe has become more inward looking and nationalistic as a whole towards the rest of the world. Witness the unseemly haste that colonialism was ended, where it is now thought that some countries gained independence before they were really ready. I think much of that is a legacy of Hitler."

12 February 2018

"Hello, Donald von Reaver from Hamburg. What do you believe Hitler's true view of the Jewish people was and why his view seemed to change so dramatically? Plus overall, what do you see as the Hitler years effect on Jews in Europe or indeed world wide? To the panel as a whole for each of your opinion."

"Well, this is bound to be a controversial one so perhaps we will ask all the panel, but for brief answers only."

Edmund Stoiber: "Well this is all speculation to a large degree. Clearly prior to 1939 Hitler seemingly had a policy of demonizing not only Jews, but homosexuals and other groups. Then in 1939, not long after Czechoslovakia, we see this policy change and it's like he is trying to protects them to a degree. What are the motivations of this huge change? I cannot say. In terms of events world wide, there is little doubt that the Hitler years in Germany were a catalyst for more emigration to what is now Israel and the creation of the Jewish state. However, there are still over a million Jews in Poland, over 800,00 in France and 350,000 here in Germany. Many have endured, as they have endured terrible treatment in the past. Ultimately, one must remember that Hitler's 1949 post war reparations bill allowed for the compensation of property and assets seized as well as jobs that had to be vacated. Clearly by this stage his mind must have swung around."

Rudolf Scharping: "Edmund has covered it well enough."

Andrea Fischer: "Well obviously Hitler held anti-Jewish views. That much is certainly. The toll from Kristallnacht alone was estimated to be over 300 dead, not counting the hundreds that died in camps that may well have survived in better conditions. Life was cheap in Nazi Germany, witness the ten of thousands that died in makeshift camps of exposure or wounds before they could be transported back to Germany after Hitler's Eastern adventure. Latterly, Hitler seemed to change his mind. Again, I cannot say why."

Margarete von Rechtenburg: "I can add nothing further."

Ian Kershaw: "Again the key seems to be April 1939 and Hitler's extraordinary turn around in opinions. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps Hitler had made up his mind some time ago that the Nazi ethos was not really his preferred form of government, that it's creed of hatred of the Jews and racial superiority was not really what he believed and that he was actively looking around for way to rid himself of the more extreme form of Nazism, or perhaps Nazism as a whole."

That it took until April 1939 for the ex- Fuhrer's mask of invincibility, of being never wrong, to be popular enough for him to have his hands on nearly every lever of power in Germany, to take action and ruthlessly purge that very philosophy and to drag the country into being simply an authoritarian right wing populist and nationalist regime, without all the baggage that went with Nazism."

Silke Heydrich: "I only knew him in later years and never heard him say disparaging remarks about the Jews at that time."

Michael Biberfeld: "Much like Herr Stoiber has said, there is little doubt that the events prior to 1940 formed a large part of the desire on the part of Jewish people to move from Europe post 1943 and this was mainly to two destinations, the USA and Israel, although I note that many German Jews were encouraged to go to Australia in 1940. Jewish people moved in large numbers post 1943, and although Hungary, Poland, France and indeed Germany maintain large populations, this is the reason why both the USA and Israel have populations of over 7 million and 8 million Jewish people, respectively. After so many years of persecutions, Jews finally had a place to go free of such things and many would not risk a repeat of 1938, only worse.

In regards Hitler, his crimes against German Jews are well known. What changed his mind, his philosophy? Was it guilt? I think quite possibly."

Charlotte Zahringen: "My Grandmother once said to me that Hitler's initial hate of the Jewish race was based on his advances being spurned by a Jewish women in Vienna back in the days before the Great War. That it was whipped up further by the view that whilst many Germans starved during the the hyper inflation years, Jewish families in many cases remained wealthy and well off. The facts do not stack up on the latter, but when are desperate people rational? Certainly Jew baiting in politics in the early years served him well as a cynical political tactic."

"Yet I know first hand from my own family that he was not an unfeeling man and that he felt guilt about not only the way Jews in Germany had been treated under his own regime but even in regards the huge casualties the Great Eastern War engendered. I know he felt remorse. Maybe in 1939 that had grown to the stage he felt like he had to act, to reverse course before it was too late to do so?"

Edmund Stoiber, ex Chancellor

Charlotte Zahringen

12 February 2018

"This is Markus Krähe from Karlsrühe. Do you think that the only reason Hitler reinstated the monarchy was as a way to further turn the army to his side? Was this only meant as a political tactic to gain allies or might there have been other reasons and influences for his decision such as the failure of Weimar Democracy or another figure to rally around once he retired?"

"I think I will turn this over to Charlotte Zahringen, as the only member of a current monarchical regime."

"Markus, nice to hear from someone from my own home town. Well, in answer to your question, I think all three of these points are correct. Firstly, there is little doubt that the army, filled with aristocrats at the highest level in 1940, would have welcomed a restoration and that this would have brought them onside. Likewise, many of the most fervent opposition were also monarchists.

Secondly, the Weimar Republic, either rightly or wrongly had been tarred with the brush of failure. Any return to such a system was almost impossible as in 1940 Germany, at least from the viewpoint of the average German, was prosperous and influential. The Wiemar Republic represented poverty and failure.

Lastly, I think that yes, he wanted there to be another figure for the country to rally around rather than just the Reichstag. He had taken control of the Reichstag in 1934 and abolished representative government. I think he wanted a handbrake on such a possibility existing again and felt that with a monarchy in place that would provide a bulwark against such a happening again, where, if necessary, the Kaiser could dismiss a Chancellor and call elections with enough public support. One thing my grandfather has often said is that in a monarchy neither the parliament nor the monarch can survive if the other institution and the general public are hostile.

This is the reason I think the restorations at a state level were canvassed by referendum first. To test the waters for a restoration of the position of Kaiser with the public as a whole."

12 February 2018

"We have a question from the audience. Was the Warsaw Pact beneficial or detrimental to Eastern Europe?"

Rudolf Scharping: "I think it served it's purpose, that being to to keep the peace. In that respect, I think any alliance or military treaty that involves NOT going to war has essentially been successful. During the period of instability in Russia after the retirement of Zhukov in late 1968 until it's transition to a moderate democratic state in 1984 it kept the peace and there was little doubt that delivery systems such as the Osel Class submarines also played a part in this.

It also served to foster military and economic ties between the countries that formed the heart of the Pact and eventually laid to rest decades of suspicion and, in some cases such as Hungary and Romania, hatred between it's own constituent parties."

12 February 2018

"We have another question from the audience, namely what do you think is the most unexpected 21st Century political development inspired by or drawn from Hitler's reign and life? Well that is an interesting one. I'll throw that out there."

Birgitta Wolff: "Well I think we can all agree that the most significant is the collapse of global Communism. The most unexpected? The rapprochement with Poland or the creation of Israel for me. Both stem directly from Hitler's policies. Does anyone have any others?"

Edmund Stoiber: "Well I think the aftershocks of 1942 and the alliances formed have helped to keep Europe at peace for as long a time as any, no major wars in 75 years."

Ian Kershaw: "You may recall that my other major autobiography is on a figure that I also consider quite remarkable, who's position derives purely from the policies of Hitler. To me Andriy Melnyk was a remarkable figure. Installed by Hitler as "the lesser of two evils" in the Ukraine, he stabilises a fractured country, consolidates power, marries the daughter of the last Hetman, reinstates the Hetmanate and the Ukrainian State, somehow survives 108 assassination attempts, twice by shooting his own assassins, comes through the whole thing unscathed and dies peacefully in his own bed in 1967, passing on his legacy to his 22 year old son who is still there, having built a modern state on the back of iron ore, agriculture and coal. If that is not a remarkable and unexpected story I don't now what is."

12 February 2018

"The third question from the general audience poll. Could you explain more about how the Fuhrer came to a seemingly out-of-the-blue affinity for Australia, to the point where he chose to be buried there?"

"Well this has been the subject of so much speculation and has pretty much left everyone empty handed as far as answers are concerned. Charlotte, you have family stories and access to some files that have never seen the light within the Hitler Institute. Can you shed some light here?"

"Perhaps to some degree. What I can say for certain is that my Great Grandfather loved his trip to Australia and according to his wife he had been talking about going for years before they finally done so. I also know that he loved what he saw at that time, especially Tasmania and especially where he is buried. I can see why. I have been myself twice and loved it both times. However, there is more to it than that. There is the story of Thomas Forsyth, the man he befriended post war, a man who, incidentally, has a grave in Belgium, yet clearly lived later in Germany and seemingly never went home to Australia for some reason, although I can find no record of a burial in Germany either. Considering the poorness of records in 1918-22, this is not a complete surprise. Clearly he felt an affinity with this man. He possessed flawless English, so must have spent much time with him in private.

"Perhaps another reason he wished to be buried abroad is he did not want people to fetish his memory. When he retired he was glad to go from politics, he wanted to be the past, not the future. I think he felt in some small way that if he was not buried in Germany, it would diminish any "cult of personality" that may follow.

Certainly it has been a boon locally and also in general for Australia. It is a highly popular destination for German tourists as you well know. This has been reinforced by early Zeppelin tourism in the late 1940's and 1950's and the emigration of many German Jews in the early 1940's."

12 February 2018

"Hello, my name is Nathan Stoiber. How credible are the theories that claim that Hitler was only acting as a member of the Nazi Party as a matter of convenience? Many people I know believe that Hitler only joined the Nazi Party as a stepping stone to get to power, that his championing of its hateful ideals was a decades-long ruse to fool everyone, and that he in fact hated fascism as much as communism. Could Hitler's 180-degree-turn in 1939 have been borne out of confidence that his power base was secure enough to not fear the backlash? Thank you."

"Well that would assume a level of Machiavellian cunning that few have ever been attributed. What is the panels thoughts on that?"

Margarete von Rechtenburg: "Well if that was the case then he was certainly a remarkable actor. Plus the contents of "Mein Kampf" are so well known that surely one could not express those views unless one sincerely believed in them. I am more inclined to think he changed his mind. But then one must question why? That is something there is no easy answer to."

Ian Kershaw: "Well I think you need to look at Hitler's life as a whole. The first major event that effected him was the death of his brother Edmund. They two boys were very close and Adolf took it very hard, becoming morose, detached and rebellious. Then in 1907 the death of his beloved mother and rejection of his chosen profession, art. Hitler painting may bring big money now, but back then his rejection hurt. Plus he was suffering the effects of grinding poverty.

These are the things that that breed extremism, poverty and the thought that you have been hard done by. If what Charlotte said is true and he professed his love for a Jewish girl and was rejected then this would only have added to his extremist thought. In addition, Vienna, as the centre of an unstable but ethnically and religiously diverse Empire was a hotbed of racism. This is what drove Hitler into the Bavarian Army rather than the Austro-Hungarian one. Then came a crushing defeat in the Great War and the stab in the back myth. Then more crushing poverty, the Beer Hall Putsch and then prison. It is not hard to see why he was embittered and for that reason alone I think his views in "Mein Kampf" were honestly expressed at the time, although, probably like most literary works designed to sit on the fringe of opinion, embellished.

However, when Hitler actually had full power finally devolve onto him with the death of Hindenburg in 1934, he was then faced with the prospect of actually implementing the agenda that he had written. It's very easily to write populist garbage, far harder on the soul to actually carry it out. Worse still, many wanted him to go even further than that. It must have been some time between these two periods, August 1934 and April 1939, that Hitler realised that things had gone all to far, that the agenda he had originally preached was far to frightening to pursue and that rather than being carried along by the tide he would have to cut free. This required an unquestioned power base. He did not have that in 1934. By 1939 he did. The very terror unleashed had crushed his opponents and given him access to every lever of power in the state and therefore, with careful planning, he could purge those elements that planned an extreme agenda he no longer wanted. I think by that stage his creed was purely nationalistic and anti communist, no longer based on eugenics and other quack racial theories."

12 February 2018

"Hello, Wilhem Seidel from Munich here, What can you tell me about Hitler's opinions on Jewish matters, especially with the newly established state of Israel?"

Birgitta Wolff: "Well Hitler went on record as saying he whilst he had no objection to the concept of a Jewish homeland he thought the creation of the Jewish state in Palestine would be a destabilising influence on the Middle East for centuries. To some extent, ignoring the suffering of the Jewish people over many centuries, this has been true."

12 February 2018

"Hello, Arman from Graz. "Does anyone know the direct impacts Adolf von Hitler had on the Middle East specifically the creation of an Armenian state, indeed a number of smaller states, despite opposition by his Turkish allies, and his personal approach to it?"

"I would like to invite any of the panel to have a go at answering this one."

Edmund Stoiber: "Well there is no question Hitler is 100% responsible for this one, as the borders drawn in 1943 at the Tbilisi Conference between Hitler himself and Andre Gromyko are essentially still in effect, each of the eight nations brought into existence still exist today. Mustafa İsmet İnönü was certainly against the creation of an Armenian state, and this tallied with public opinion in Turkey at the time.

However, there was more at play than just that. Turkey was uncomfortable with Stalin's Soviet Union on it's border and would have preferred a group of smaller buffer states, just not necessarily an Armenian one. This related back, of course to the events of 1915. Turkey could also see the advantages of Hitler's offer of the enclave of Nakhchivan. I think that at the end of the day the benefit's outweighed the risk and for that reason they accepted Hitler's offer, although of course all that actually occurred was that they invaded the areas they intended to annex and little more and then settled into an uneasy peace with their new and unwanted neighbour. Over the years that hostility has gradually dulled, flaring up at times as more redical elements bring up the events of 1915. Hitler certainly remained aware of these hostilities and it was likely for that reason alone that of the eight states created, only one, Armenia, was invited to join the Warsaw pact over Turkey's objections in 1947. With both countries as Pact members, any hostility one felt towards the other could be more easily controlled.

Now one well known quote of Hitler's is famous. When asked in London if he as a 'country poacher', Hitler replied 'Well, if so I am the only poacher who returns what he poached.' Again when asked about conquests and determining spoils he was again quite straightforward, saying 'I look at a reliable demographic map and split it along ethnic lines. It's a poor solution but the best available."

Look at these countries now. Azerbaijan 5.2 million inhabitants, Georgia and Armenia both 3.5 million, Nth Caucasus Republic 1.8 million, the rest 1 million or less, Abkhazia as little as 380,000. Yet things are stable enough."

12 February 2018

Peter von Bergen: How did Hitler work to stop the "Ostflucht", the loss of so many people moving into the West?

Rudolf Scharping: "Well of course this was a problem dating from well before Hitler came to power, in fact reaching back into the 19th Century. The fact of the matter is that as time has gone by there have been less and less jobs in rural areas, particularly in agriculture and more and more in industry, although this has been mitigated in recent years by the growth of tourism. For the East of Germany, this has created a net movement West and this is something that policies can mitigate but not stop. Let us get some figures up for Germany broken up not only by state but lets include all 29 Gau's. What we have here is GDP per capita:

Hamburg 68,200
Austria 54,100
Bremen 52,200
Bavaria 48,000
Wurttemberg 47,800
Hesse-Nassau 47,300
Franconia 47,200
Baden 44,500
Styria-Carinthia 44,000
Westphalia 43,000
Berlin 42,600
Salzburg-Tyrol 42,100
Saarland 41,200
Rhineland 40,400
Pfalz 39,200
Hannover 35,900
Schleswig-Holstein 33,400
Saxony 33,300
Moravia 32,900
Mecklenburg 32,700
Brandenburg 31,800
Thuringia 31,500
Silesia 31,200
Oldenburg 30,500
Saxony-Anhalt 30,400
Osel 30,000
East Prussia 29,900
Pomerania 29,400
Bohemia 28,800

This shows without a doubt that the wealth, and therefore the best paying jobs in Germany, have been concentrated in the West and far South in modern times. Therefore, the population migrating for better economic times is no surprise.

Now if we look at what Hitler has done in his time in power to combat that, we have a variety of methods:

1) His attempts to stimulate the agricultural sector, a vital part of the economy in the East
2) Commitments to the shipbuilding industry in the East
3) Expansion of the industrial works at Pilsen and Ostrau
4) All his land reclamation projects were to the East, dragging new settlers there
5) The vast bulk of the new immigrants from Russia post 1945 were settled in the East, including Volga and Baltic Germans
6) An unequal distribution between states of the receipts from his goods and services tax, favouring the poorer states over the richer, a practice that continues to the present day
7) Much of the military basing was to the East, creating expenditure there

These are only a few, of which 6) is probably the most significant."

12 February 2018

"Another audience question. How did Great War generals such as General Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck, who was so critical of Hitler early, essentially telling him to go to hell when he asked him to be the Ambassador to Britain in 1935, did he keep his antagonism toward Herr Hitler during the 1940's or did he have a slight change of attitude as he watched the changes under Hitler unfold. In fact, what was the attitude of other higher echelon officers about Hitler and the Great Eastern War, especially Herr Rommel, Manstein and Guderian and his change of political and cultural attitudes that brought honour and victory at great cost against Stalin's Soviets. We have no military people here so I will throw that one open."

Silke Heydrich: "Certainly I can say with confidence on the back of discussions with my own father, who maintained many naval contacts, that Hitler was very popular with the navy, especially post the Great Eastern War when funding was again provided to the Kriegsmarine, as it was then."

Ian Kershaw: "Well Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck was no longer a serving officer but he remained suspicious of Hitler his whole life I think, probably exacerbated by the death of his eldest son Rudiger on the Eastern Front in the 1942 battles. In terms of the other generals mentioned, you are talking about three successive Chiefs of Staff of the Heer, Manstein until 1946 when he retired due to persistent eye issues, Guderian from 1946 to early 1950 and finally Rommel from 1950 to 1953 until Walther Wenck's almost 8 year stint. Whilst Hitler seemingly liked to be involved in the logistical side of operations and also the development of new weapons, he stayed well away from direct involvement in the Great Eastern War and for that reason alone I think was able to cement cordial enough relationships with his senior generals. He stepped in at times to smooth things over diplomatically as disputes arose, especially among the various nationalities manning the Eastern Front, however, he had a reputation of not playing favourites or mincing words and I think his senior commanders appreciated that as it let them know where they stood. Aside from setting the strategic objectives for the 1941 and 1942 campaigns, he did not involve himself in day to day operations, although he was, of course, kept fully informed."

"Karl from Cologne, how much effect has Hitler had on the environmental movement, both in Germany and throughout the world? Would sustainability have become an integral part of politics and life without his influence? What prompted Hitler to embrace environmentalism so fully in the 1940s and 1950s, when things like climate change weren't even acknowledged in the wider scientific community yet?"

"Well I think this falls inside your area of expertise Andrea."

"As you are all probably aware, in Germany the Greens are themselves split into two lines, the so called Olivgrun and Dunkelgruns. Among the later Hitler is widely revered, among the former largely reviled and this has been a source of friction within our own party essentially since it's formation.

Now in regards to your question as a whole. There is little doubt that the ex Chancellor loved nature itself, I think that is an undisputed fact. He ate meat sparingly, was no great believer in hunting and was one of the first world leaders to even consider sustainable fishing. In terms of forestry, his 1949 forestry bill made clearing forest within 200m of rivers or streams illegal and any harvesting was to be immediately followed by replanting. This is everyday best practice now but that the time these measures made him very unpopular with the fishing and forestry industries, yet they have proven to be correct. He also created five national parks from 1939 to 1952. Wildlife protection laws have assisted species such as wolves, bears and lynxes.

In regards Hitler's influence on industrial development and our cities, again this must be seen as a positive. He introduced recycling in municipal areas long before and such thing was considered elsewhere, likewise he started almost immediately post war to introduce systems of power generation that moved Germany away from coal based power, even introduced solar power onto the roofs of non heritage government buildings in the 1950's. He specifically wrote to mayors advocating the retention of trams over buses, the benefits of which we are still reaping. Bike and walking lanes were encouraged, as well as the introduction of the first pedestrian malls. In 1951, the first nation wide planning scheme was introduced for new urban development, advocating green belts in suburbia.

Hitler never mentioned climate change at all, yet many of the practices he put in place have set up Germany to combat the effects of it all too well. Although he remains a controversial figure, Hitler's contribution to the environmental movement must be considered highly significant."

12 February 2018

"Hello again, Peter Kloeppel and we come back to wrap up tonight's session of F und A, on the 60th anniversary of Hitler's death, I hope tonight has given some further into what is a great enigma but also the most important figure in the shaping of modern Germany. Before we go, I will cut to Charlotte Zahringen to comment if possible on the private Hitler, the one that existed inside the family home, the family man, before finally asking all the panelists to respond to the following in brief: How do you view the Hitler years-positive or negative?"

Charlotte Zahringen: "Well, from what my grandmother told me, which is all I can go on aside from his own day to day diaries and some family letters, he seemed a loving man to his own family, very much so. He had a quirky sense of humour, lot's of jokes that would be deemed politically incorrect now, yet compassionate to people's needs. He regularly sent money to former Olympic star Jesse Owens to help him out of tight spots. He could be very cold and at times quick to anger and able to be quite ruthless , but was also quick to forgive. Yet my grandmother said he was naturally soft at heart, so easy for her to get around. I think she said he was every daughter's dream father.

Yet whilst he was close to his own daughter, he never contacted his own family much at all. Occasionally sending money to his sister Paula in Munich and his other sister Angela in Dresden. Yet no contact. Each of Angela's two children had a single son who never married. In regards to his half brother Alois, it seemed that relationship was broken and hence when Hitler died in 1958 the talk of the title being allowed to continue via William Patrick Hitler was discussed but rejected by my grandmother as she was well aware of the fact that Adolf Hitler despised his half-brother Alois. William Patrick moved to New Zealand from England, later married and had three daughters, so you see no one bears the Hitler name anymore.

In regards to the Hitler years, I regards the period as huge positive. We go from a country broken economically and in spirit to a progressive state with democracy restored, financially secure and ready to assume a role of leadership in Europe."

Edmund Stoiber: "Overwhelmingly a positive."

Rudolf Scharping: "Yes, I would have to say positive as well."

Andrea Fischer: "Whilst we must never forget the abuses of the period speaking purely without emotion, they were a period that advanced Germany into what we know today."

Margarete von Rechtenburg: "Positive."

Ian Kershaw: "I think it has to be positive doesn't it. Germany today is a successful state and this was the transformative period that created it."

Silke Heydrich: "Well my father always described him as the greatest man he knew or indeed knew of."

Michael Biberfeld: "I do not agree that the perception of progress in some way should allow us to forgive the way in which we arrived at that end. In the common vernacular they say the means justify the ends. I am not convinced that they do. I am not convinced that we could have arrived at where we are know via more compassionate, more inclusive means."

Christian Siefert: "Definitely positive."

Birgitta Wolff: "Overwhelmingly positive as I see these years shaping the modern German state."

"Well that is all for us here tonight, I would like you to thank our learned panel and it's goodnight from us all."

12 October 2016

Captain Kurt Fischer brought the huge bomber down for her final approach to the Luftwaffe inactive aircraft facility at Landau. It was the last flight for this aircraft and it was a bit of a struggle to bring her to a stop on the smaller airfield, even with the deployment of the braking parachute, now an anachronism in 2016. However, the big bombers landing speed was equivalent to that of the retired Concord, more when loaded which she currently was not. Even virtually empty the huge aircraft still weighed in excess of 60,000kg and was over 48m long and Landau's runway was not normally designed to handle a jet this big, let alone an aircraft with a reputation for being such a piggish lander as the MBB-202.

The big bombers were an anachronism, built for a war that had never occurred, namely round three versus Russia. Firstly hitting squadrons in 1974, they had been capable of Mach 3.2 but because of concerns about Russia's improved SAM coverage, both in terms of numbers and altitude performance, by that time stealth technology was being seen as a better option than pure speed. Orders were cut from 180 to 120 to a final number of 62, later brought up to 64 by refitting two of the prototypes to A standard. It equipped two wings, one at Interburg in East Prussia and a second at Horching in Austria.

The original design had been to provide a strategic bomber for use against targets deep within Russia in the advent of a conflict. They had also produced when first deployed a thrill of horror in the USN with their capacity to deliver large Penguin anti shipping missiles at such high speeds, mitigated only by the small likelihood of any such conflict. With the watering down of the Russian threat in the 1990's one wing had been disbanded in 1994, some of it's aircraft converted to tankers. The second had gone in 2003, not long before it's civilian equivalent the MBB-212 had been retired in 2006 from it's Frankfurt to New York, Frankfurt to Washington and Vienna/Singapore/Sydney runs.

They had soldiered on as tankers until 2010, when only two aircraft were then retained as a reserve and these had gone this year. Landau contained a number of decommissioned aircraft that could technically be brought back into service,but with many older aircraft retaining analog systems and outdated electronics in general it was unlikely that any more would do so. MBB-Manfred von Richtofen would survive in reserve, her sister Ernst Udet to be a static display at the Luftwaffe museum at the old Templehof Airport.

MBB-202

December 2017, Ringarooma, Australia

Christ it was hot. He flopped back onto the modular lounge with an enormous pitcher of lemon squash and ice. He was the only one at the farm and had just completed bailing the ten acre paddock, a notoriously painful job that involved constantly checking on the baler behind the tractor to ensure it was keeping straight lines and not picking up anything it shouldn't, in other words driving whilst looking behind half the time. He had taught both his daughters and his son to drive, but his son was in the Philippines, his oldest daughter in Hobart and his youngest with her mother in Launceston. He had nothing to do until the neighbours arrived to play a few games of snooker in the mid afternoon and the cricket was not on either, that being the case he had settled back with some cold sausages and lamb chops for yesterdays barbecue and the lemon squash. Not the most elegant of lunches, but what the hell. Besides, he had his own guilty pleasure, Die Tat for political and cultural news, Bunte for gossip. He was quite certain the lady at the post office thought he was mad when it had first started, but now she was used to the weekly arrival of the package from Berlin with the two magazines and the national newspaper Neue Freie Presse.

His German remained fully functional and he had a basic knowledge of French as well. He picked up Die Tat first. The refugee crisis in Turkey was first on the agenda. Despite the fall of the al-Assad government some two years ago and the final commitment of troops in 2016 that had seen ISIS pushed from Syria in 2017, many of the millions of refugees concentrated in Turkey and the Balkans did not wish to return to a country left devastated by war, also afraid that when the forces from Germany, Turkey and their allies withdrew, ISIS, which still clung on in far Northern Iraq, would return. Personally he thought that unlikely. They seemed on their last legs and were suffering many desertions, people in their own territory finally turning on them.

Although the European Economic and Customs Community, or Eurocon, consisting as it did of most of the states of Europe, indeed only Switzerland, Russia, Andorra, five of the Caucasus states and the Vatican, making in all a federation of 42 countries. Travel without a passport was allowed for any country, as was up to 2 years of work in any foreign country. There was a European parliament, but no set of common laws via the Eurocon, or an attached judicial arm, or a combined military force as such. Nor was there a common currency, so thankfully the ridiculous situation that occurred OTL where the Mediterranean countries were forced to run deficit budgets to say on the Euro, always staying under the same economic pressure to compete with the stronger economies of Northern Europe.

He also so loved gossip so picked up Bunte. Pictures of German Empress Carmen with her daughter Katarina at the pre screening of the first season of the late Robert Jordan's fantasy epic "The Wheel of Time", all filmed in Bavaria, Baden and Austria. With the global phenomenon of "Game of Thrones", securing funding had been less of a problem and the German government had provided generous funding. Like "thrones" it would likely see a long run and employed a number of well known German as well as European actors and actresses. There were certainly enough books to do. 14. Plus the author had actually finished them, unlike Martin. Repudiation of the fact that nude photos of new Zentrum leader Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen existed. A brief on an upcoming F and A session for Hitler, or his own he thought with a chuckle, 60th anniversary death. Charlotte Zahringen would no doubt be a guest. He was looking forward to her visit for a few days. The Kaiser having to have surgery to have tonsils removed after suffering chronic tonsillitis most of his life.

So many things had changed, not only Germany, but especially the China split. Even Australia purchasing East Timor from Portugal in 1946. Italy retaining her 1939 borders. Ukraine. Romania so much larger, as were Finland and Poland. As he drifted off to sleep he missed his involvement with Germany, but it appeared things were well in hand.

Empress Carmen and Princess Katarina at world opening of "Wheel of Time" season 1 in Munich

5 March 2017

Anton Drygala was working on the wiring for the main control units of the power station. Siemens, his employer, regarded this as the future of nuclear power. The small 180 MWe reactor could be moved and assembled on site, as a modular plant. The design had proven to be popular with other countries as well

While the small power output of the reactor meant that electricity would cost more per MW than it would from a larger reactor, the initial cost of building the plant was much less than that of constructing a much more complex large nuclear plant, making it a lower risk financially. Safety features in the Gen 3+ reactor included a natural cooling feature that can continue to function in the absence of external power, as well as underground placement of the reactors and spent-fuel storage pools, which provides more security.

Nuclear ranked after solar, wind and hydro as the next most popular source of energy in Germany, followed by biomass/waste. Combined they provided 57.4% of Germany energy needs and this figure was still rising slightly. Nuclear power took up much of the slack, accounting for another 30.2%, leaving only two large coal powered stations in Saxony and Saxony-Ahhalt to take up the slack, although some power was purchased from Slovenia, which, with German assistance was a net exporter of mainly Hydro power. It was planned that a network of smaller nuclear plants would mostly replace the older Gen 2 plants in operation at present.

10 September 2017, Stassnitz, island of Rugen, German Empire

The results of the 2017 election were now in play and it was Zentrum that had increased their vote at the expense of the SPD. Germany's proportional representation had given six parties representation in the Reichstag's 699 seats, including the NSDAP for the second time running, this time with a slightly increased vote. The threshold for proportional representation was 4% and the party's that had exceeded this were, in order:

Zentrum Alliance 245
SPD 235
Greens 71
NSDAP 64
Left 51
FDP(Liberals) 33

It was the imperative of a hung parliament that had brought the two leaders together for discussions. Neither Zentrum or the SDP fancied a coalition government with the NSDAP or The Left(the later particularly in the case of Zentrum who's traditional allies, the Liberals, had taken a beating). This is what had brought Angela Merkel and Ursula von den Leyen together for the meeting with Philip I. He had spoken to both separately. Firstly asking von den Leyen if she could form a government, then, when the answer was no, he had gone to Merkel as the SDP was the party that held the second amount of seats, even if it's leader was the current Chancellor. Now he would see them both.

10 September 2017, Hotel Normandie, Sassnitz, island of Rugen, German Empire

Angela Merkel reflected on the conversation she had had with the Kaiser and the one that would again have to be had on the morrow. After having held the position of Chancellor for 5 years she was of course reluctant to surrender it. She considered both herself and the SPD as a party had more that they wished to achieve. Yet it was an undeniable fact that Zentrum had won more seat at the last election, albeit narrowly. The Kaiser had simply appealed to both herself and Ursula von der Leyen to work together to achieve a good result for Germany, a not to subtle hint as to the the formation of a Zentrum/SPD coalition. It was not like such a thing had not happened before at a state level but at a Federal level not since the 1950's, before the threat of the NSDAP had receded. Yet now it again reared it's ugly head to a small degree. The collapse in support of Zentrum's traditional allies, the Liberals, had left them short of the required numbers as well.

She stepped out onto the private deck of her suite on what was formerly the liner the SS Normandie, now an exclusive private hotel since she had been purchased by Steigenberger, Hotels after two years laid up in 1964. She had retained her beautiful art deco interior and complimented the budget Prora resort also run by the same chain. In fact, she could make out the lights of the gigantic Prora Beach resort, for many years the largest hotel in the world, but now with a reduced number of rooms with many rooms now being combined into "family suites." Sassnitz was now a hugely popular resort, it's profile only raised further by the fact that the Kaiser himself had purchased Dwasieden Castle in 1955 from the the last member of the von Hansemann family.

Perhaps it was time to take a back seat and guide a new successor. By the next election she would be 66 and she had tagged a retirement in 2020 in any case. Her career had been a long one. Born in Danzig, her father had taken up a post in Cieszyn in 1954 and she had grown up speaking as much Polish as German for the first six years of her life until the family had moved back to Berlin. Her initial political flirtations were at University, where she became a member of the PKPD, influenced by her own Polish ancestry and her time in Cieszyn. However, by 1984 she had become an active member of the SDP, committed to causes such as wage and income inequality as well as a status of minorities. She had become a protege of Helmut Schmidt, whom ironically lost the Chancellorship in the same 1988 election that saw her elected to the Reichstag for the first time. Politics had been her savior, the need to get away from science field after her breakup from her first husband in 1984. She had felt pressured by family expectations to stay in the marriage and had agreed to have children to stabilise it. The birth of her son in 1983 had seemingly only driven them further apart, however. It was in politics that she had shone, becoming leader of the SPD(in opposition) in 2005. She won the 2013 election and would likely have won in 2009 if it was not for the aftermath of support for Zentum in the wake of the Schäuble assassination.

Merkel looked at the calm water and then at the stars. There was really only the one option, it was time to put selfish feelings aside and do what was needed. The idea of The Left, or 100 times more so, the NSDAP being part of government was a horrifying one, even as junior coalition partners.

10 September 2017, Dwasieden Castle, Sassnitz, Island of Rugen, German Empire

The small fire that spluttered just helped to take the edge of the night air as summer drew to a close. The man's solid frame and salt and pepper black hair was in contrast to his companions spare thin frame and shock of blonde hair. A chess board on a glass table sat between the two comfortable looking settees. It was the women who spoke first in low tones.

"Well Walther how did that all go? Did not take too long."

Phillip I smiled at his wife's long held nickname for him and then tuned his eyes downward to look at his daughter, sound asleep with her head in his lap. He gingerly leaned forward to make his next move. "Well enough I think. I tried, as much as propriety would allow, to point out the obvious benefits of working together."

"So you are going with a Dutch defense. Interesting. How likely do you think it is they will be able to work in coalition? Especially after so long being on opposite ides of the benches. Zentrum will want the Chancellor to come from their party and after winning the most seats they have the inside running surely?"

"Well I have to try something, your FIDE ranking is more than 1900, while I don't get the chance to play these days, except against you. I don't have to appoint von der Leyen as Chancellor, but I would have to have an excellent reason to assume she would not be hold a stable government together in the Reichstag not to do so. If they form a coalition with the SDP, those reasons do not exist. So I think it must be von der Leyen if a coalition is agreed to, which I think it will be. I have spent the last four years receiving weekly briefings from Merkel, she's a clever operator. I owed her at least an extra day to come to those conclusions herself." He moved his rook onto the F file but his wife's response was almost instantaneous, seemingly attacking on the diagonals whilst quickly punching the clock again.

"Hopefully it will be resolved tomorrow. It may have seemed like it was a good idea to do this here rather than traveling back to Berlin but it's a media circus out there. Two females in charge, that will be a test for you my love."

"I'm used to being under the tyrannical rule of women."

Carmen snorted. "Ya, you are so hard done by. Who else might be in cabinet?"

"Well it will have to be a fairly even split, although Zentrum will want to bring their traditional allies the Liberals in as well, more than likely and I find it hard to think the SDP will object to that. Gabriel and Seydlitz for sure, probably also Klug and Leitner. From the SPD Gaskel, Maas, Schwesig, Faymann, Holt. It's hard to say for sure. Possibly one of Rosler or Sudig from the Liberals."

"It does not seem like a bad bunch."

"Yes well the real worry just between you and me and the politically neutral walls, is the rise in vote of the NSDAP. They stand for everything we don't want and don't need in this country. It is not just that they are anti immigration, that is a cross that many bear. It's only natural to prefer the status quo to change, to turn your back on disadvantage like changing the channel when an advertisement about starving children somewhere else in the world comes on. That is apathy. For many of those in the NSDAP, this is something else, a rumbling of old."

"Globalism and the economic slowdown must bear the most of the blame. Extremism loves uncertainty and moribund economic data."

"That is why I think Merkel and her attempts to stimulate the economy are on the right course. We are still far and away the richest country in Europe. Like Roosevelt said with his China policy, when your neighbor's house is burning, surely you can lend him a hose."

"I think you are getting into trouble in this game. What about The Left and The Greens? Could the SPD, in particular, get the seats there?"

"Yes, theoretically, however, Merkel's jobs policy flies in the face of the "dark green" wing of the Greens. It would be an alliance headed for disaster eventually. As for The Left, those on the far left are essentially Marxists and that flies in the face of someone who sits on the right wing of the SPD like Merkel, so I think no. It's easy to view whole party's as monolithic facades, but in facts divisions exist within party's as well. The Left, in particular, are quite widely spread."

"Well, I see mate in four moves from here. So, a coalition seems likely. When do we have to go back to Berlin?"

"If we arrive at an agreement tomorrow, maybe two more days then swearing in. I'm sure that is not right. Mate in four?"

"That should work in well, the children have to go back to school and I strongly felt that I was being scolded when I removed them for a week. I did promise to home school then but Mrs Becker came back with 'But you are not a school teacher Mrs von Preussen'."

"I think you are afraid of Mrs Becker."

"Shut up."

"Well I am afraid of Mrs Becker."

"Here is some girl's gossip for you. The SPD has approached Charlotte about running in the next election."

"What Charlotte Zahringen?"

"Yes of course. She turned down the NSDAP flat four years ago but is considering it for the SDP for 2021. Merkel made the approach herself. Mate in two now I think."

"Shit it is mate in two. Well the Hitler name, that still means something. It's a powerful connection even now. Attached to any political party I am sure the spin doctors would have a lovely time."

"It's late. We had better go to bed. You mister can take your sleeping daughter upstairs and put her to bed. Your son went hours ago. Then maybe it's not to late for us play at something else I can get on top at."

12 September 2017

Angela Merkel sipped on her coffee as she studied the women across the table from her. In her opinion it would be a coup for the party to obtain a candidate with a high profile connection to the Hitler name. Not only that, but the young woman was smart, intelligent and would be a strong communicator.

“So, what made you accept an offer from the SDP when you turned down the NSDAP in the past?”

“I think the SDP is more suited not only to my own world views but the previous world views of my Great Grandfather for that matter. Income equalisation, state ownership of essential services, social justice, solidarity, these are messages I identify with. I want to be known as something other than a poor little rich girl born with not only one but two silver spoons with the Hitler and Zahringen names. My time at the institute has only sharpened my desire to try and play a meaningful role.”

“What about the institute?”

“There are others that can fulfil the basic administrative functions, probably others that are as well or better qualified. I want to do something that more directly influences my ability to assist people and drive change rather than analysing and pulling apart policies.”

“Well we now just have to await an opportunity. What I can say, confidentially, is that I intend to retire in 2020. This may give you the opportunity to step into an existing seat.”

“What about the current accommodation? You have talked to the Kaiser, Zentrum and the SDP itself?”

“Well there were the usual naysayers within our own ranks, but I think we did well enough in negotiations. Zentrum have 9, including of course the Chancellor, namely Chancellor, Interior, Defence, Energy and Mining, Economics, Cabinet Secretary, Health, Transport and Sports&Arts. The Liberals have Education. We have Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Affairs, Justice, Labour and Social Affairs, Food, Forestry and Agriculture, Environment, Science and Technology, Economic Cooperation, Finance and Family Affairs, Women and Youth. Swearing in is in two days’ time at the Reichstag. Final results from the Reichsrat indicate that we will likely have a near majority there, although the Heads of the States have yet to finalise their final nominations.”

2 July 2017, Bundeliga Haus, Berlin

Sebastian Kurz looked over the composition of the two leading Bundeliga Leagues for 2017. Last season had seen a remarkable win by VfB Königsberg to cap a fairytale season that resulted in their first ever championship win. It had been a subdued season opener and draw, far less razzamataz than the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Bundesliga the previous year. These were:

Gold League:

Hertha BSC Berlin
BFC Viktoria
Sportclub Rapid Wien
Hamburger Sportverein
Bayern München
VfR Köln 04 rrh
FSV Frankfurt
Breslauer SpVgg 02
Fortuna Düsseldorf
Borussia Dortmund
Stuttgarter Kickers
SV Werder Bremen
Hannover 96
1. FC Nürnberg
FC Augsburg
VfB Königsberg
TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen
1. FSV Mainz 05
GfL Darmstadt
1899 Hoffenheim

Silber League:

TeBe Berlin
SK Admira Wien
MSV Duisburg
GfL Darmstadt
Eintracht Braunschweig
Grazer SC
Stettiner SC
FC Phönix Karlsruhe
VfB Leipzig
Dresdner SC
FC Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen
VFB Ostrau
SC Erfurt 1895
FuCC Cricket-Viktoria 1897 Magdeburg
Holstein Kiel
SV Neufahrwasser
SC Freiburg
Borussia Monchengladbach
1860 Munich
Salzburger AK
VfL Wolfsburg

It had been quite a journey since Hitler essentially ordered the creation of such a league. Initially, the forty teams selected for the 1946-47 season had been designed to try and spread football exposure to the widest possible areas, taking into account representation by most states as well. Over the years since some sides fortunes had waxed and some had waned, however, certain “power” sides had emerged, namely Bayern Munich, who had 27 wins, followed by BFC Victoria with 13, Rapid Wien with 9, Borussia Dortmund and SV Bremen with 4, Hamburger SV with 4, Hertha Berlin and VfR Koln 2 and FSV Frankurt, Borussia Monchengladbach, VFB Leipzig, TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfB Königsberg with 1.

Football had also been essential to the development in the early years of other codes as well, with the development of both basketball and netball, as well as women’s football, being tied to government funded facilities provided for clubs. In later years, starting in the 1970’s onwards, this had, in some cases, provided difficulties as other codes wanted to go their own way, yet many netball, basketball and women’s football teams still maintained their original club ties, with the three most successful clubs growing to be huge concerns.

21 February 2016, Port of Memel, German Empire

Kurt Torster was a long term employee of the Reichsbahn. At 64 he was on the verge of retirement and had seen many pieces of equipment and employees come and go. He was a rarity in terms of not only his ability to manoeuvre the small shunting locomotive, but also in terms of his skill set. He was operating an old Soviet 9P steam shunter, captured in 1941-42 in large numbers and in Germany ever since. Officially, there we no steam locomotives on the Reichsbahn network, aside from historical trains they had been retired in 1980, the only regular service the once fortnightly “historical” Orient Express between Berlin and Istanbul, as opposed to the normal thrice weekly electric service. Two of the old shunters had survived to do the work in port, however, it not being deemed worthwhile to obtain replacements for locos that were still operating well enough 80 years after they were built. It was a vastly different operation from the sleek high speed trains that formed a large part of the Reichsbahn passenger services.

Here in Memel, things were different. As the Easternmost city in Germany, it was the gateway to the Baltics and Russia and not only ferries operated from the port, but also a regular train ferry service from Memel to Riga. These used the Russian gauge, as opposed to the standard gauge used by all other Reichsbahn services and only applied from the port to the number 7 ferry terminal. It was in fact, the only non-standard gauge Reichsbahn track in Germany aside from some narrow track in Austria. The train ferry’s were a regular feature to Riga, going on towards either Moscow or St Petersburg or Tallinn in most cases.

6 October 2015

Kaiserin Carmen looked down at the small baby girl as she held her before returning to her mother. Of course it was all academic, however, here in Odenburg, a city of 78,000 right near the Hungarian border, it had been deemed by the powers of computer technology that Germany's 100,000,000th citizen had been born. It made Germany the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, well ahead of Turkey's 82 million. It was now a modern state that essentially drove much of Europe's foreign policy, maintaining her borders as they had been settled but the Hitler years, the final adjustments coming from the Vinschgau purchase from Italy. Odenburg itself was also a late acquisition from Hungary as part settlement of the Treaty of Belgrade that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia. German cities of over 150,000 population numbered 71, by order of population and showing the relevant state these were:

City Population State
Berlin 4.64 million Berlin
Vienna 2.17 million Austria
Hamburg 2.08 million Hamburg
Munich 1.49 million Bavaria(Bavaria)
Cologne 1.15 million Rhineland
Frankfurt 829,000 Hesse-Nassau
Essen 705,000 Rhineland
Stuggart 703,000 Wurttemberg
Breslau 700,000 Prussia(Silesia)
Dortmund 694,000 Westphalia
Dusseldorf 677,000 Rhineland
Bremen 648,000 Bremen
Hannover 624,000 Hannover
Leipzig 592,000 Saxony
Dresden 586,000 Saxony
Nuremburg 584,000 Bavaria(Franconia)
Duisburg 580,000 Rhineland
Konigsberg 551,000 Prussia(Prussia)
Danzig 536,000 Prussia(Prussia)
Stettin 445,000 Prussia(Pomerania)
Bochum 442,000 Rhineland
Wuppertal 430,000 Rhineland
Ostrau 392,000 Moravia
Bielefeld 375,000 Westphalia
Mannheim 369,000 Baden
Memel 324,000 Prussia(Prussia)
Karlsruhe 322,000 Baden
Gelsenkirchen 317,000 Rhineland
Bonn 307,000 Rhineland
Weisbaden 306,000 Hesse-Nassau
Munster 305,000 Westphalia
Monchengladbach 303,000 Rhineland
Augsburg 292,000 Bavaria(Bavaria)
Chemnitz 290,000 Saxony
Braunschweig 279,000 Hannover
Aachen 279,000 Rhineland
Halle 270,000 Saxony-Anhalt
Krefeld 269,000 Rhineland
Graz 267,000 Austria(Styria-Corinthia)
Magdeburg 260,000 Saxony-Anhalt
Kiel 256,000 Schleswig-Holstein
Lubeck 251,000 Schleswig-Holstein
Oberhausen 247,000 Rhineland
Freiburg 238,000 Baden
Linz 231,000 Austria(Austria)
Erfurt 230,000 Thuringia
Hagen 229,000 Westphalia
Kassel 227,000 Hesse-Nassau
Rostock 226,000 Mecklenburg
Gleiwitz 222,000 Prussia(Silesia)
Pilsen 219,000 Bohemia
Mainz 217,000 Rhineland
Hindenburg 213,000 Prussia(Silesia)
Saarbrucken 208,000 Saar
Hamm 201,000 Rhineland
Allenstein 193,000 Prussia(Prussia)
Herne 193,000 Rhineland
Mulheim an der Ruhr 193,000 Rhineland
Leverkusen 186,000 Rhineland
Solingen 185,000 Rhineland
Oldenburg 185,000 Oldenburg
Osnabruck 184,000 Hannover
Ludwigshaven an Rhein 183,000 Bavaria(Pfalz)
Neuss 168,000 Rhineland
Salzburg 167,000 Austria(Tyrol-Salzburg)
Paderborn 157,000 Westphalia
Heidelberg 155,000 Baden
Darmstadt 153,000 Hesse-Nassau
Postdam 152,000 Prussia(Brandenburg)
Elbing 150,000 Prussia(Prussia)

30 September 2016, Duisburg, German Empire

Andrei Beerenbrock inspected the pipe, looking for signs of any rust or corrosion. Despite the fact that the huge Duisburg plant, capable of 6000 tons of output per day, the plant and for many years the only synthetic oil plant left in Germany, had experienced many upgrades many parts of it, much like himself, were old. The plant itself still produced very high grade product and with the devolution of Brabag in 1967, had been purchased by the government and remained the only synthetic oil plant left in Germany, the only one in the world using the Bergius process. Originally built due to it's closeness to the Zollverein Coal Mine, it now sourced it's coal from elsewhere but sold most of it's products to the German military where it's excellent quality product was well received, the remainder going to private concerns

Beerenbrock was due to retire within the next month, as he had done twice before, but there was always seemingly work available for good mechanical engineers and the attractiveness of short term contracts had lured him away a number of times. He had spent a great deal of time away from Germany over the years, with large stints in both Argentina and Australia. He considered himself very much a citizen of the world, although he still maintained a house in Olfen that had been his fathers. He had been born in China in 1945, both his mother and father being part of "Beerenbrock's Flying Circus" for three years until such time as Germany finally declared war on Japan late in the Pacific War and the until was finally brought under the umbrella of the Luftwaffe. His father had obtained 109 victories over the Soviets and added 43 more against the Japanese. His mother had been a clerk from Orel that his father had met, married and taken with him to China after the completion of the Eastern War. Both him and his brother Hans-Adam had been born in China, his four sisters following along after his return to Germany in early 1947.

His own command of Russian was reasonable without being excellent. At home, his parents, when alone, spoke to him and his siblings almost exclusively in Russian, to which they had answered back in German, consequently his understanding of Russian was excellent but his ability to speak it only fair and his writing and reading skills poor. It had been a good childhood in post war Germany, with little in the way of need and want and he had quickly proceeded on to University, followed eventually by all his siblings with the exception of his older sister, who became a nurse.

14 April 2017

The service as the St Virgin Mary Cathedral was coming to an end. For Polish President Andżelika Borys it had been a satisfying year, firstly coming to the Presidency and secondly being able to celebrate Christmas back in her own home town of Minsk.

Minsk had been part of Poland for over 70 years, the statues of Adolf Hitler and Erwin Rommel, commander of the Army Group that had captured the city adorning Freedom Square in the city center near the cathedral. It was not far off the size of Warsaw, the Polish capital and Minsk both having between 2 and 2.4 million inhabitants, so much so that some government departments, most notably agriculture, were based in Minsk.

Poland had expanded after the Great Eastern War, from 389,682 square km’s to 428,769 square km’s. It had produced a net outflow of Russians, although most had stayed and Belorussians comprised the largest ethnic group in Poland’s 57 million population at 5.8 million. Next came Jews at 2.2 million, followed by Germans at about 800,000.

The country itself was now well and truly a modern industrial state. Along with Spain, the two countries sat behind the “big four” in Europe in a separate grouping of two, well ahead of the Netherlands. After the last of the “strong men”, Sikorski, stepped down in late 1953, the country had undergone a peaceful enough transition to democratic government.

Relations built during the Hitler years had remained strong afterwards when both countries had made the transition to democratic government within a year of each other. This was not only military relations via the Warsaw Pact but also close economic ties. Germany provided expertise and development money for many infrastructure projects within Poland, particularly in the under developed East. In return, she was able to provide Germany with furniture, agricultural products and machinery, tobacco and copper.

The country had shown a consistently expanding economy for many years until the 2008 Global financial crisis, which had effected all of Europe to varying degrees, especially to the South.

Poland, Lithuania and Germany had an education and trade agreement that allowed citizens of either country to work for up to 2 years and study for up to five in the other, all without the application of fees that normally applied to foreign students or taxation that normally applied to foreign workers, so there was a degree of mobility between the populations.

Although the Warsaw Pact had been dissolved in the late 1990’s, Poland maintained a strong shipbuilding industry and competent armed forces, with an army of 6 divisions that contained over 1000 tanks, these mainly Polish types aside from a few German heavy tank destroyers. The navy consisted of four large Polish built destroyers, eight frigates and six submarines.

Map of Poland showing 1939-43 gains in yellow

7 April 2017

Pavlo Melnyk looked out over the gardens of the Maryinsky Place in Kiev. It was the 52nd anniversary of his Grandfather’s death and hence a national holiday in the Ukraine. He had heard it said in a Time magazine article that the survival of the Melnyk dynasty was one of the more remarkable stories of the 20th Century. Certainly the number of assassination attempts his Grandfather had survived had been legendary enough.

The Ukrainian State had survived trouble and turmoil from Russian pressure to republican pressure to Polish and Russian partisans to communist bands. Somehow it had all washed over his Grandfather and by the time he died in 1965, the country had started to normalise. Prosperity, traditionally agriculturally based, had shifted in the 1960’s with the exploitation of the countries enormous natural resources had taken place. In addition, the country had become the key transit point for Russian oil and later gas, one pipeline crossing through Romania on it’s way to Italy, the second transiting through the heart of the country on it’s way to Germany. These revenues had been supplemented by the country’s own gas fields to the North East.

By the 1970’s when world gas and oil prices climbed exponentially, the country had started to progress, with more infrastructure built and the beginnings of prosperity that had commenced in the 1940’s finally started to flower in a larger manner. Relations with Russia had been strained for many years, a thaw only really commencing towards the end of the Zhukov years where the need for both countries to co-operate to ensure their economic prosperity had become paramount.

The country had strongly relied on her Warsaw Pact fellow members for external security and to some extent for internal as well. Poland had recognised the need for a buffer state from Russia and had secretly helped supress Polish separatists. Romania had also been a strong supporter. Strongest of all were Hungary and Germany. Germany had stationed some military units in the Ukraine until 1964 and for many years was her main trade partner. Hungary was especially supportive, perhaps due to the personal relationships between two dynasties’ that came to the thrones very late in life, in Ukraine in 1942, in Hungary for Istvan Horthy in 1957.

The Ukraine had become a modern state, global investment skyrocketing in the 1980’s and by the time Pavlo had come to the throne as Hetman and King of Ukraine, the country had started to thrive. He looked down at the gardens. It may have been a public holiday, however, preparations were well underway for a wedding.

After many years of Regency, Miklos Horthy died in 1957 and his son moved to crown himself King in his own right later that year, rapidly moving the country to a modern constitutional monarchy within 8 years. It was around that time that Pavlo’s own father had begun a similar process in the Ukraine. It was Istvan’s grandson Miklos, Third son to the reigning King, was to marry his youngest sibling and only sister Olena. Pavlo himself had moved up to the privacy of the former playroom, which gave an excellent view of the garden and protected him from involvement in the wedding preparations. He had spent the morning at ceremonies to commemorate the day and now just wanted to escape the chaos that came with wedding preparations when a man had a wife, no sons and six daughters.

17 May 2017

Akkan Akipoff looked over the almost finished icebreaker as she sat alongside the GMF Shipyard docks in Murmansk. Murmansk was the build site for most icebreaker orders under 3000 tons. Ships larger than that were mainly built at GMF's main yard in Helsinki. None the less, nearly all of the ice breakers that were retained in Finland eventually ended up at Murmansk, which was not only the center of ice breaking activity in Finland but was also the most Northern base of the Finnish navy, which consisted of one destroyer, 2 minelayers and a division of minesweepers. It was important that passage through to the oil and gas extraction platforms in the Barents Sea and the Finnish icebreakers based in Murmansk performed this function for not only themselves but occasionally the Russians and Norwegians as well.

The port and the oil and gas industry, as well as it's status as the main station on the Great Northern Railway(whose terminus was Petsamo) ensured it's status as Finland's third largest city. Akkan himself was Karelian, a people that were almost all located in Finland after many had elected to move over the border in 1944 population exchanges. They numbered over 130,000 and differed from Finns not only in regards their language but also due to religion, most being Russian Orthodox.

Finland made more than 60% of the world's icebreakers and it was a large industry for the country, along with electronics, forestry and increasingly tourism as more and more companies included Finnish fjords along the Kola Peninsula in Arctic tours. Whilst he himself worked at the shipyard, his daughter was studying to become a teacher at the Karelian and Sami language education institute at the University of Murmansk. Like all Karelian Finns, Akkan had a complete command of Finnish, which was a related language in any case, however, in modern times the revival of the Karelian language had been encouraged.

1939 Map showing later Finnish gains in lemon

Extract from “The Pan Atlantic Eagles- US and German relations during the Hitler years 1933-58, by Stephen Ambrose”, Macmillan Publishing. 1988.

The Hitler years covered almost exactly the terms of three U.S Presidents- Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Dewey and Robert Taft. When Hitler came to power Roosevelt had been President only a year. When Hitler left office in mid-1952 Taft, elected to a second term was less than a year from dying midterm. The relationship throughout that time was a conundrum, periods of warming followed by periods of cooling as German policy, in particular, influenced public and governmental opinion in the US.

When the Nazi’s came to power in 1933 ties between Germany and America were distant but cordial enough, although the President had very early concerns about Nazi Germany’s agenda. After the death of Hindenburg and the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, these suspicions were only magnified.

Despite the internal anti-Jewish measures, the intervention in the Spanish Civil War and the reoccupation of the Rhineland, Roosevelt’s hands were largely tied by the provisions of the Neutrality Act of 1935. It was only with the advent of Anschluss, the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia and then the breaking of the Munich Agreement in early 1939 that Roosevelt felt compelled to go back to Congress and the 1935 Neutrality Act was revoked in favours of the 1939 Act. Yet in many ways this represented the high water mark of tension.

Relations between the two old Great War allies the UK and the US had always been closer than they had between the US and Germany and with a commencement of a thaw in German-British relations, so the level of concern within the US as to Germany’s intentions abated. The partial rolling back of anti-Jewish legislation and the purge enacted during the Night of Disappearances also helped to allay many fears that the extremist elements within Germany were unstoppable.

The new President, Dewey, had met with Hitler personally and found him personable enough, however, he was also suspicious of his motives and ambitions, a reasonable enough position based on the events of the previous 24 months. Yet it was not enough for Dewey, who had campaigned against Roosevelt’s wasteful naval spending, to further increase naval spending, only to maintain current levels.

It was not until the Warsaw Pact invasion of Stalin’s USSR in 1941 and it’s rapid success that America had again been concerned by events in Europe. Dewey, along with Halifax for that matter, had initially thought it would be a long and bloody campaign and that if Germany wand her allies won, it would be only after a long and most brutal struggle that ripped the heart out of both sides military capacity. There was no question of supporting Stalin’s USSR either materially or militarily, public opinion against Stalin’s regime was even stronger than against Hitler’s. In fact, by September 1942 Stalin was overthrown, his USSR prostrate, Warsaw Pact forces as strong as ever.

When it had become obvious that Germany were going to achieve such a victory in the late summer of 1942, Dewey authorised large military expansions with the support of Congress. However, by that stage it was not only Germany that America had to concern itself with. Japan was labouring under a raw materials embargo that was slowly drifting her towards war.

When war came to the Pacific not long after it had ended in Europe Germany declared her neutrality, yet privately, gestures such as solving the USN torpedo malfunctions, sending a medical unit to Pearl Harbour and assisting China with war munitions made her position in support of the US clear enough. This had given Germany a huge boost in public support and made many doubters gloss over some of the more unsavoury aspects of Hitler’s Germany. Germany taking no lands to the East had also served to reinforce this.

By late 1945 Germany was an ally and in the immediate post war honeymoon period relations were as strong as they had ever been, confirmed by Dewey’s 1947 visit to Hitler in Berlin. Dewey was glad that Hitler had withdrawn German forces from the Pacific and declared no interests or desires in that theatre. It was towards the end of Dewey’s term that many of the more sober US commentators commenced pointing out the other side of the coin, how the US was effectively locked out of significant influence in Europe.

What’s more, US intelligence chiefs were concerned that Germany would be able to use submarines to launch ballistic missiles equipped with Sarin towards US cities. Whilst there is absolutely no suggestion that plans existed for such an event within Germany, it remained a valid enough concern givens Germanys lead in both nerve gas and rocketry. US efforts to gain influence in Europe via Greece, where her forces assisted in the suppression of Communist partisans and the Balkans was also viewed by Germany with suspicion. Consequently, relations in the Taft presidency cooled yet again, not helped by Germany’s first nuclear test in early 1952 and both countries realisation that with the power of the UK waning, they remained the only obvious rivals for world hegemony.

It was only after the resignation of Hitler from power that tensions again abated, becoming cordial by the 1970’s during the long Schmidt Chancellorship, where good relations existed with both Presidents Kennedy and Carter.

18 November 2017, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

If it was a controversial film in Germany, then it certainly certainly effected him all the way onto the other side of the world here. It was a curious and horrific thing to know that at the end of the day that you had ordered someone to be abused. He had known how it may effect him and had sat through some of the German language film with tears streaming from his own eyes. He remembered giving Heydrich the order "She must remain unmarked but do whatever is necessary to break her and bring her to our side. She has a daughter that is held in Moscow. If she can be gotten out that may be the final straw."

How easy it had been to focus on the results, to not know how Heydrich had used Arno Rahl to break the women. There was no doubt it was a brilliant bit of cinema, Hamburg actress Kirsten Dunst playing Maria Poliakova in the movie "Trapped between." The movie pulled no punches, her brother and father liquidated by the NKVD, her daughter held in state care. Her travels to Switzerland. The Lucy spy ring. Her capture. What Rahl had done to her to break her, which he know full well was taken direct from the real Maria Poliakova's last interviews a few months before her death in 2008.

Her work passing the Soviets a mixture of truths, half truths and disinformation, her forced marriage to Yrjö von Grönhagen. How she had bizarrely come to feel some if not love affection for the Finnish nobleman and bore him a daughter. His obsession with her. Her eventual reunion with her first daughter, removed from Russia by Abwehr operatives. Post war her marriage break up and her husband's suicide when he had not been able to live without her. It was harrowing stuff that placed Germany, himself, Heydrich and most of all Rahl in a very poor light. Had he ordered what had happened? No. Had he known what Heydrich would likely do considering what he had asked? Well, yes.

Hugo Weaving as Heydrich appearing at the end of the film in 1952 to leave her enough money to be comfortable and commenting on the amount of lives saved did little to ameliorate the sense of pathos and general sorrow. For himself personally, it was gut wrenching stuff, made even more so by his own sense of complicity. It is not often that one gets to see first hand the results of decisions made by one self on film, especially in such a context.

Yet to have not explored all such aspects would in many ways have been a crime against the ordinary long suffering soldier. Without some of the vital intelligence gained, without some of the disinformation passed at vital times, how much longer would the war have gone? Would it have reached into 1943 at the cost of another million German, Russian and other countries soldiers lives. Was that worth the torture and worse of one woman? Fuck it did not feel like it right now. But was it? Is it possible to feel OK about shooting one person if it means saving 20 others? These were the imponderables that he had lived with this last year since "returning" from being Hitler. If one looked at it purely as a mathematical equation, he had seemingly saved millions of lives by eliminating communism. When it came down to examining individual lives, it was not quite so simple. There were people dead because of him, thousands or ten of thousands of them. Likewise, the inverse was also true. Was he a bad person, a war criminal, a murderer? Those were the thoughts that had come to him in more maudlin moments.

All he could do as push those thoughts down and move on. What else was there to do. He had his own responsibilities, and even though they no longer involved running a country, they were no less important to himself and those that did hold him dear.

17 August 1964, Kiel, German Empire

Reinhard Heydrich sat back in his chair as the women was admitted. It had been 20 years since he had seen her yet her face was still instantly recognisable. He had no idea why she had requested the meeting yet had his suspicions so had prepared. He had contained so many secrets over the years and her story was only one of them. He had risen all the way to the acting head of the Küstenwache, although retirement beckoned from the Coast Guard.

Birgitte saw the strange women into the admiral's office. He had just gotten off the telephone with Karl-Adolf Zenker, the professional head of the Navy and if the Chief retained his characteristic hate of the Navy then he would not be in a good mood to receive his guest, a statuesque well dressed blonde with crow's feet around her eyes, making her as in her 40's.

Heydrich looked at the women. Even 20 years had done little to alter her flawless appearance. He opened the conversation. "It had been some time, I make it 20 years. What brings you here? Miss Poliakova or Mrs von Grönhagen, I am unsure which you prefer? I see you have lost none of your beauty. I have never been a connoisseur of beautiful women but I know one when I see one."
Maria Poliakova settled herself. "I have gone back to Poliakova recently. I have come here to confront you, to gain an apology."

Heydrich barked a short laugh. "Then I am afraid you have come a long way for nothing madam. An apology for what? Doing my duty?"
"You duty? It was your sworn duty to rape and torture women?"
"I never raped or tortured anyone madam."
"Yet you order this treatment."
"Mea cupla. Of course."
"Of course, you bastard."
"Madam, I gave the the opportunity to serve us voluntarily. Why you would have had any love for the Bolsheviks I cannot fathom. They killed your husband, father, held your daughter."
"It was still my country. I had no reason to believe you would free my daughter. You forced me into a marriage I did not want."
"I warned you. I said, if I am not mistaken "So far aside from the circumstances of yourself being brought to us, you have been treated as an lady, but don't think that this will go on if you don't behave better than you have done. You have two hours left in which to confess everything. If you don't, I shall hand you over my colleague, who is used to dealing with such communist gangsters and criminals — you won't enjoy his methods a bit." "Fair warning indeed madam. You did not heed it."
"There is no justification for the way I was treated, none at all, it was against all convention."
"There was every justification. I had received an order, an order I intended to carry out and there was no more justification needed than that. There was no problem I was not prepared to take on, no problem I was not prepared or able to solve. How that problem was solved was immaterial. Your well being was immaterial in the great scheme of things. I cared not a jot for it aside from the need for you to play your role. I would have let Rahl rape and torture you, everyone in the building and the cleaner to if that gained me what I needed."
Maria Poliakova looked at Heydrich. His eyes looked over her settling on her own with a disturbing lack of emotion, his high pitched voice lacking any real inflection at all. It was frightening, indeed terrifying in it's complete indifference.
"I have friends in Finland who can dig for information, bring this to light."
"Mrs von Gronhagen, let me make a number of points clear to you. Firstly, I am nothing if not a man of my word. You performed a service for me, in return I promised to extract your older daughter, Lina was it not? Despite considerable difficulties, that is indeed what I did. One service for another. Quid pro quo. Secondly, yes I arranged your marriage to von Gronhagen. You were not married, he was not married, he was not the type to beat or mistreat you. In fact, it seems you may have mistreated him, else why would he shoot himself?"
"Fucking bastard, I was fond of Yuri."
"Thirdly, this is all in the past, of no concern now. You seek to embarrass me? I am being retired anyway as not the man to work with the Navy. Embarrass the Nazi Party? They are nothing now and yes I helped make that so as well. Fourthly, where would you gain this information. Your husband? Dead, I believe? Arno Rahl. Well, dear Arno hung himself 18 years ago when the domestic abuse of his wife suddenly came to light. A sad businesses. There are no written records, all SS records were lost in that huge fire at Wansee in 1952 you see.

I think it best to safeguard your own reputation. How old is your youngest? Regine is 18 and at the University of Helsinki? Children that age are so impressionable. If she was to find out you drove her father to suicide, that you married him only whilst working as a German operative, that you did not love him, well that would shake a girl that age to the core and it does seem that suicide runs in that family-grandfather, father, no one would be surprised if it was daughter to I fear.

You have two lovely daughters, health and financial security that I in no small measure helped provide. I think that past is best left in the past."

Maria heaved herself out of the chair. She felt she could not stay in the room with this man any longer. "One day.."

"One day we will be all dead my dear Baroness and in those days no one will be concerned at how we got there, just the results of doing so. And in those days those that were prepared in the past to put their emotions aside and make the decisions that needed to be made will be hailed as heroes. Even beautiful double agents who so gallantly served their adopted country of Finland. Who knows, that may make a movie out of it."

18 July 1996, Blauer Schloss, Laxenburg, German Empire

Otto von Hapsburg contemplated his niece, who appeared to be truely happy marrying the Baden Grand Ducal heir Bernhard. They had known each other fr many years but had been close these last two. It was a remarkable achievement that Baden had been restored as a Grand Duchy after the 1960 referendum, no doubt due to the Hitler connection. It was a restoration that had almost come again in Austria with a 55/45 split against.

He himself had come back to Austria only in 1955, when it had become quite clear that Hitler would not be returning to power and seemingly had no desire to do so. The family possessions lost in 1938 had been restored in 1948 when he had agreed to the family taking German citizenship to go with his Spanish. In the end his own line had merged with the Hohenzolern line in any case when his eldest child and daughter Andrea had married Phillip I's father Crown Prince Frederich Wilhelm in 1976, only to have him die in a plane crash near Memel in 1986 leaving her a widow. She was later to become regent for her 16 year old son on the death of Louis-Ferdinand in 1994.

Otto himself had spent much time in the Reichstag after being elected as a Bundesrat representative for Austria in 1966 until he retired from politics in 1986 after the death of his son in law.

23 December 2017, Karlsruhe, German Empire

Rudolf Bender looked over the basic outline of the will yet again. Bender Harrer Krevet had always been the solicitors for the Zahringen family to the contact to disperse the estate had been no surprise. The death of Ingrid Zahringen(nee Hitler) in October 2017 had left an enormous series of family trusts, charitable foundations, the Hitler Institute itself, dairies, recordings or Hitler, property and stock, particularly the later.

One thing that had certainly occurred with remarkable foresight was the investment in stocks. The initial investment back in the 1940’s that delivered so much HP stock had been followed by a number of other remarkably astute purchases. Microsoft in 1986 at 10c, Australian shares Blackmores and CSL in 1999 at $4.75 and $13.25. Both were now worth in excess of $100 per share, although the Blackmore’s parcel had been sold for more than $200 at the end of 2015. The most remarkable find he had found had been a small notebook indicating at times and dates of share purchases. The handwriting remained a mystery. It was not Ingrid Zahringen’s.

In all he estimated the estate to have a net worth of 8-10 billion USD and that did not count the personal property of Ingrid Zahringen’s husband Max, who was not due to inherit at all. Exactly 50% of the state was due to go towards charitable institutions, notably towards war widows and survivors, homelessness, medical research and assistance for physical and mental disabilities. It would be a long process to unravel and distribute the proceeds.

Extract from "Economic Blitzkrieg, the European Struggle for dominance 1946-86", by Katherine Marlow

"The forty years covering the period from the end of the Great Pacific War and the collapse of authoritarianism on Russia in 1986 helped shape the globalised world as we know it today and much of this change came in Europe, which spent the 1940 to 1960's divesting itself of colonialism and laying the basis of a modern world as well. It was a period not only of rivalry with the United States before the emerging powers of Asia latterly challenged for economic leadership but also a period where the four great European powers, Germany, Italy, the UK and France fought if not militarily then at least economically and diplomatically for dominance in Europe, Russia all the while lying to the East, a somewhat sullen spectator who was at times courted by all four other powers as well.

Prior to the commencement of the Eastern War, Hitler had built a militaristic, powerful state united into one purpose but also one with a feet of clay. Germany debt was at enormous levels that could only bring a hard landing and collapse at some stage despite the best efforts of his economic guru, Schacht. She had also brought herself two avowed enemies in Britain and France, along with an ally sought more by envy than common interest, Italy. By 1946, the fires of war and the infusion of some remarkable diplomatic tap dancing, relations between Great Britain and Germany had almost normalised, whilst Germany's relations with France, whilst still tense, had moved back from the brink. All three had finished as allies in 1946 against Imperial Japan after the laters biological warfare attack against the American mainland and Singapore. With the Great Pacific War over by early 1946, it then remained to be seen who would be able to seize post war prosperity and, as Palmerston quoted "Nations have no permanent friends or allies, only permanent interests." Until globalisation, this remained largely true.

In 1946, all four countries faced different challenges. The UK, so long pre eminent, was on the verge of losing her luster. Extensive pre war defence spending had so emptied her coffers that by the end of the Great Pacific War whilst she had no huge foreign debt she had largely expended her reserves and could not continue her current level of military spending, even to help prop up her friends in the "mini Entente" she had herself created in 1942-43. Also, for her East Asian possessions, including India, independence beckoned, as did the end of colonialism in general. Germany seemed to be a colossus, a colossus that had a hard core of unshakable allies that had contributed to her success in the eastern war. Yet this to was largely an illusion. The Germany of 1946 was not the Germany of 1956 and largely had feet of clay. German debt had reached an all time high by 1943 and was only just beginning to turn around. It would require a peacetime economy to fully do this, which was something the huge Germany manufacturing sector, fed by military orders, had yet to transition to. France faced issues to. Insurgency in Indo-China right next door to the chaos of China, a military expenditure she could not afford based on her fear of Germany and a feeling that her main ally, the UK had largely jettisoned collective security and moved on, a state of affairs greatly resented by former Anglophile Paul Reynaud. Lastly Italy, who had removed herself from the orbit of the Warsaw Pact only to fall foul of her Great Britain by her actions in Yugoslavia. By 1946, Balbo and his triumvirate were looking again towards Germany. Unlike the UK and France, the two countries wanted nothing from each other, always a happy precursor to a good relationship.

Whilst one would like to think that two large wars would provoke a period of peace, such was not the case. By 1947-48 France was at war in Indochina, the Netherlands in Indonesia, India and Pakistan were at loggerheads and the UK and increasingly the US were involved in suppressing a communist insurgency in Greece. The first two were all wars of National determination. France and Reynaud gained little support for their colonial endeavors in Indo-China, further estranging them from the UK and Germany in regards to foreign policy just when it looked like increased trade ties and lessening tension may finally bring both countries together. Hitler's 1948 speech imploring a French withdrawal did not assist matters materially either, although it did garner American support. In Greece America intervened to suppress communist agitators, although in reality this was largely about regaining some influence in Europe. This the UK viewed as an intrusion into her own sphere of influence, although the reality was that with unrest in Palestine, Pakistan and India at war and rumblings in Egypt and most of Africa, as well as a dispute between Australia on one hand and the Netherlands and Indonesia on the other in regards to Western New Guinea she had more than enough on her plate as it was.

It was Italy that drifted back to Germany first. Germany shared none of her ambitions in the Mediterranean and neither did any of her Warsaw Pact allies. This presented a good front for an alliance, much as it had in 1938 when the Austrian question had finally been resolved. After the sale of Vinschgau the question of the Tyrol was still an active one, however Hitler and Balbo put this issue to bed in 1947 by signing a confirmation of minority rights and an affirmation of the current border in the Bolzano Protocols. From this time on, relations between the two powers, from the closing years of the Hitler administration to the earlier Chancellors such as Joos, were cordial indeed. This was a policy that was popular enough in Italy, where Balbo remained leader of a one party Fascist state until the 1959 Albanian crisis resulted in his removal and replacement by the short lived Ciano premiership and a return to democratic government in 1960.

France's reasons for a closer association with Germany come from different sources. First and ultimately geography. With Spain to the West of France mainly an agrarian closed state, Germany to the East remained France's most likely trading partner and the Germans, much like the plain girl at the dance, had been open to closer ties for some time, if the attitude of the French would only soften. After the removal of Reynaud in 1949, the next Prime Ministers Pleven and Cloty were much more accommodating and after a fruitless war in Indochina that had ended in humiliation France needed allies. Initially she looked to the Benelux countries and when these had grown closer to Germany so she proceeded to do so herself.

Although the UK had finished the Great Pacific War closer to Germany than either Italy or France, her relationship with Germany took longer to develop, not helped by German criticism of British actions in Israel and it was not until the later 1950's that the countries again drew close, even more so when Ted Heath became UK Prime Minister in 1961.

Ultimately what drew three countries closer to both Germany and co-operation in general was two main factors, firstly the paramount position of the Germany economy in Europe by the early to mid 1960's and secondly the rising tide of Pan-Europeanism all that became the vogue in the 1960's, fueled by social changes, increased communications, increased foreign travel associated with a larger middle class and better transportation links, as well as a need to collectively formulate a policy towards Russia, which was looking to foster closer ties to the West so as to establish markets for large surpluses of natural gas and oil.

23 February 2035, Ringarooma, Australia

She had insisted on coming without any security at all, making it purely a family trip with her daughter Amalie, 14 and her son Max 12. It was a poorly guarded secret that the recently elected Chancellor of Germany was to attend the funeral, yet there was little press presence here, although she had agreed to give an interview to the local newspaper tomorrow. She had felt a connection with John right from the start and she knew her own long dead mother had as well in their brief meeting.

She hugged the three children Alex, Isabelle and Anna. Over the last 20 years she had tried to come once every 2-4 years and had always felt at home. It had been a short road to Chancellor really, only 13 years in the Reichstag before gaining the top job and it had been a pleasure to have her friend Phillip offer her the commission.

She was really sweating, the direct sunlight such a contrast from a German winter. The choice of grave site surprised her. Right next to Adolf Hitler, a spot that had seemingly been reserved for many years.

Things had come full circle.

END OF TIMELINE.

THANK YOU ALL

Table of Contents

Information
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Chapter 137
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141
Chapter 142
Chapter 143
Chapter 144
Chapter 145
Chapter 146
Chapter 147
Chapter 148
Chapter 149
Chapter 150
Chapter 151
Chapter 152
Chapter 153
Chapter 154
Chapter 155
Chapter 156
Chapter 157
Chapter 158
Chapter 159
Chapter 160
Chapter 161
Chapter 162
Chapter 163
Chapter 164
Chapter 165
Chapter 166
Chapter 167
Chapter 168
Chapter 169
Chapter 170
Chapter 171
Chapter 172
Chapter 173
Chapter 174
Chapter 175
Chapter 176
Chapter 177
Chapter 178
Chapter 179
Chapter 180
Chapter 181
Chapter 182
Chapter 183
Chapter 184
Chapter 185
Chapter 186
Chapter 187
Chapter 188
Chapter 189
Chapter 190
Chapter 191
Chapter 192
Chapter 193
Chapter 194
Chapter 195
Chapter 196
Chapter 197
Chapter 198
Chapter 199
Chapter 200
Chapter 201
Chapter 202
Chapter 203
Chapter 204
Chapter 205
Chapter 206
Chapter 207
Chapter 208
Chapter 209
Chapter 210
Chapter 211
Chapter 212
Chapter 213
Chapter 214
Chapter 215
Chapter 216
Chapter 217
Chapter 218
Chapter 219
Chapter 220
Chapter 221
Chapter 222
Chapter 223
Chapter 224
Chapter 225
Chapter 226
Chapter 227
Chapter 228
Chapter 229
Chapter 230
Chapter 231
Chapter 232
Chapter 233
Chapter 234
Chapter 235
Chapter 236
Chapter 237
Chapter 238
Chapter 239
Chapter 240
Chapter 241
Chapter 242
Chapter 243
Chapter 244
Chapter 245
Chapter 246
Chapter 247
Chapter 248
Chapter 249
Chapter 250
Chapter 251
Chapter 252
Chapter 253
Chapter 254
Chapter 255
Chapter 256
Chapter 257
Chapter 258
Chapter 259
Chapter 260
Chapter 261
Chapter 262
Chapter 263
Chapter 264
Chapter 265
Chapter 266
Chapter 267
Chapter 268
Chapter 269
Chapter 270
Chapter 271
Chapter 272
Chapter 273
Chapter 274
Chapter 275
Chapter 276
Chapter 277
Chapter 278
Chapter 279
Chapter 280
Chapter 281
Chapter 282
Chapter 283
Chapter 284
Chapter 285
Chapter 286
Chapter 287
Chapter 288
Chapter 289
Chapter 290
Chapter 291
Chapter 292
Chapter 293
Chapter 294
Chapter 295
Chapter 296
Chapter 297
Chapter 298