IC "Day of the Diktat" RP

[Shimon-Zhivago]

If you would like to join, "Day of the Diktat", you can sign up here: http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=276462

OOC Discussion Page: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=276464
OOC Picture Reference Page: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=276467

Note: This RP follows a specific turn-based system outlined in the rules and regulations on the sign-up page! Make sure that, before you post, you are aware of those rules and regulations!

[Shimon-Zhivago]

Berlin, Deutschland; 11. Januar. 1923

The day was a black day for Germany.

President Friedrich Ebert had gathered with other important politicians in the city of Berlin to protest the latest of a long line of tragedies to befall the fledgeling Weimar Republic: France had invaded the Rheinland, the industrial heart of the country, a major cultural center and where the majority of the population of Germany resided.

The reason? Germany had been unable to pay it's massive war debt, hampered by rising inflation and a crippled economy. Of course, President Ebert thought to himself, of course the French would hop on any opportunity to further cripple Germany. They were down, and the French saw the need to keep kicking. Germany, of course, could do nothing. The Weimar government could do nothing. The Versailles Diktat prevented Germany from using its military, which was, also because of the Diktat, broken and weak. All that could be offered was passive resistance.

Which is just what Ebert was going to do. The Weimar Republic had never been too popular with the people, but here was a chance to improve their reputation; to be seen as the protectors of Germany, the followers of international law; to demonize the French, to gain the support of the German people! Better public approval would also lead to, hopefully, a decrease in the strength of the extremist parties left and right. One could only hope...

That day in Berlin was a black day, for all of Germany, but with any luck, the passive campaign that Ebert and the Weimar were about to embark on would see that darkness turned into light.

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

Streets of Munich, outside NSDAP HQ
Adolf Hitler, the man of the hour. Since his takeover of the Nazi Party, his leadership and his simple face value, had led to an influx in the party's size. His speeches were common, and loved by his followers. He stepped up to the podium, and smiled, as the people began to cheer. "People of Munich, members of the NSDAP, people of the Deutsch volk. We have recently been informed of the occupation of the Rhineland by the Republic of France. I know we feel the same way when I say that this is a clear example that the French attempts to keep our Volk from greatness will not stop. It is a clear example of the oppressiveness of the 'Allies' and the Treaty of Versailles." People were nodding their heads, getting rather riled up.

"It is also a clear display of the weakness of our government. They desperately try to keep up with outside demands for German materials, and money. Look where it has got us! Unless something is done about the French occupation of the Rhineland, where will it end? We must send a clear message to the French that we are not their dogs! We are Germans! We will not be pushed around, we will not be bullied into submission! And we will not tolerate weakness! Weakness has led us to here, weakness of governance. We are surrounded by enemies, those who would see us forever weak, but I say we are strong! We will remain strong, we will become stronger!"

"The weak spots of the Volk must be eliminated! The government, which would have us at the beck and call of the French! The Communists, they would have us answer to Moscow! I say we, the German people, answer to no one but ourselves! We are the Deutsch! We are strong! We will not be pushed around! Seig Heil!" The crowds held their arms high, cheering "Seig Heil! Seig Heil! Seig Heil"!

[Orthodox Brotherhood]

12 Cornelius Straße/NSDAP Headquarters, München

A small crowd had already gathered by the time Hermann Erhardt and his men had arrived, for a year or two now the Wiking Bund had been protecting NSDAP meetings from the communists, anarchists and liberals that would disrupt them, there was already the Sturmabteilung and the Stabswache, but as many of his bund were involved in the party anyway, Erhardt's freikorps often had representation at these events, whether as guards, speakers or regular audience members.

The NSDAP men had prepared a small stage, it was nothing grand, but would allow Hitler to pander to his followers, who were in no small numbers here in the Bavarian heartland, among the huddle of men, Erhardt could see several familiar faces, Hess, Göring, Klintzsch and Röhm were standing together, a few steps from the stage, Röhm waved him over, the SA man was harsh, chubby and openly homosexual, possibly why Klintzsch, a former Organisation Consul member, had been promoted to head of the SA before him, but he was good, and nobody could claim otherwise.

"How many men did you bring?" Röhm asked bluntly, his brownshirts were already placed evenly around the stage and in the growing crowd, though a few more guards wouldn't go awry if leftists arrived and caused a fuss, "And don't tell me you came alone, I know you".

"Thirty in plainclothes, they're spread throughout the crowd, when's Hitler starting?" Erhardt assumed Hitler would be speaking about the recent French invasion of the Rhineland, and that was bound to stir up something in his supporters, Erhardt had never liked the NSDAP leader much, but they had very similar political views, and allies were better than enemies.

"He won't be long now, probably just waiting for the crowd to settle" Hess answered, and as if by magic, a door opened and the rambunctious crowd silenced immediately, Hitler and a few aides left the headquarters and stepped up onto the stage.

"People of Munich, members of the NSDAP, people of the Deutsch volk. We have recently been informed of the occupation of the Rhineland by the Republic of France. I know we feel the same way when I say that this is a clear example that the French attempts to keep our Volk from greatness will not stop. It is a clear example of the oppressiveness of the 'Allies' and the Treaty of Versailles"

People in the crowd nodded and whispered to one another, though it had only been a few years since the war, Deutschland was crumbling, there were riots, strikes or revolutions every other week, unemployment was rife and the price of basic goods was sky rocketing, these were hard times, and with these new actions by the French, as well as the growing Bolshevist threat from the east, the future looked grim, though if anyone could change that, it was Hitler.

"It is also a clear display of the weakness of our government. They desperately try to keep up with outside demands for German materials, and money. Look where it has got us! Unless something is done about the French occupation of the Rhineland, where will it end? We must send a clear message to the French that we are not their dogs! We are Germans! We will not be pushed around, we will not be bullied into submission! And we will not tolerate weakness! Weakness has led us to here, weakness of governance. We are surrounded by enemies, those who would see us forever weak, but I say we are strong! We will remain strong, we will become stronger!"

A few men in the crowd shouted agreement and more people were being swept up into a sort of fervor, Hitler's speeches always had that effect, and Erhardt knew why, the man was charismatic, he was lovable, and he preached something everyone could agree with, a greater Germany, a strong Germany, a united Germany, free from foreign intervention.

"The weak spots of the Volk must be eliminated! The government, which would have us at the beck and call of the French! The Communists, they would have us answer to Moscow! I say we, the German people, answer to no one but ourselves! We are the Deutsch! We are strong! We will not be pushed around! Seig Heil!"

Closing his speech with the trademark NSDAP slogan, 'Hail Victory', Hitler came down from the stage into the cheering crowd, shook some hands and made room for Dietrich Eckhardt, who asked the crowd to donate or join the party, after such a passionate speech from Hitler, there were certainly new members that day, including a riled up young man named Himmler, and a shady looking fellow named Goebbels.

The image is the real Nazi headquarters from this time, hope you don't mind the bit about Himmler and Goebbels, but it is mentioned on wikipedia that they joined in 1923 after the French dickery, so I put them in.

[Jamessonia]

Essen, Deutschland
1. Januar 1923

The smartly dressed man walked to the front of the yard. Here was a perfect opportunity. He looked out to see off duty factory workers milling about loudly, walking home or to the Ratskeller. There was an air of gloom and sadness over these men, as if they were awaiting the fulfillment of some terrible prophecy. The speaker from the Deutschenational Volkspartei called attention.

“Hello, good people. Would you care to hear me speak about the latest news from Berlin?”

The crowd grumbled, but the majority stopped to listen. The DNVP man continued.

“As you know, the damned French have invaded the Ruhr!”

Those in the crowd he knew nodded or whistled, those few who were unaware just stood there looking shocked.

“And do you see a response from Berlin?”

The crowd shook their head, or yelled angrily.

“Do you see the Reichswehr, walking down the streets of Essen to protect you from the harsh oppression and embarrassment of the German people? No!”[i]

The crowd was getting more engaged in the speech. More and more passerby stopped walking in favor of listening to the man from Berlin.

[i]“You do not! No one in Berlin cares about you, so long as you produce your coal and steel quota each year! Your representatives in the Reichstag, they don’t worry about the well being of a few industrial workers! But I know the truth.”

The crowd responded with, “I knew it!” and “Damn politicians!”

“Do you see the French specter looming over you? No, but you will soon. Does it occur to you that the French care more about you than your own people, your own nation, the great German state!?”

The crowd was getting fairly riled up now. The nationalist speaker played on it by quickly adding,

“They do! Because they don’t understand the grief and anguish felt by the worker as his land is defiled and his people raped! I understand! The Deutschnationale Volkspartei understands! If you vote for us, we’ll bring attention to your pain and your trouble, not play the petty power politics played by so many in Berlin! Vote DNVP now!”

The crowd roared in agreement. The speaker began passing out leaflets by the hundreds. Every man in the crowd wanted to grab one.

From across the yard the speaker could hear, “No army anywhere!” and “I think I hear the French now!”

Today had been a good day for the National People’s Party in Essen.

[Gibberan]

January 1, 1923,

Chancellor Wilhelm Marx was alarmed. Very alarmed.

He had just gotten word that France, the most aggressive member of the Versailles Diktat, had occupied the German Rhineland. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't bear it, the shame of having German land controlled by the filthy French. It was a sign of how humiliated they had been after WWI. Germans, especially Prussians like himself, hated France, and the French hated them even more. They were archenemies.

And if the British, and eventually, the Americans, hadn't stepped in, they'd have won the war easily. The Great War, it was called. He chuckled. There was nothing 'great' about it. It was the Kaiser's war policy, though, that had eventually doomed them. Oh well. Nothing he could do about, except restore Germany to it's greater glory.

However, he shook this off as he ran up the steps of the Reichstag. A magnificent building, although it seemed a shadow of it's former self after the infamous Diktat. He entered it's mighty hallway, adorned with German flags. Immediately seeing the president, Freidrich Ebert, he ran up to him, his coat flailing behind him.

"Herr Präsident," he called, catching the president's attention. "Herr Präsident, I have recieved the news. How bad is the occupation, and what is the government-what are you planning on doing about it?" He asked. He knew if this plan, which Ebert was devising (Ebert had always had a plan before), failed, it would bring public opinion to favor extremist parties, both on the left and the right, but if it worked, it could restore the nation of Germany to a reckoning force in the world.

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

München, Bayern
(Munich, Bavaria)
The primary base of voters and supporters of the NSDAP was Bavaria. Munich held the party headquarters, and the majority of donations came from the region. Hitler, in discussion with the inner circle of the party, had decided, instead of trying to spread their influence all over Deutschland, they would cement domination over Bavaria. Hitler's biggest obstacle was the Communists. The KPD also held significant sway over Bavaria, and held it's powerbase in Munich. While there were few ways to deal with them legally, the party had ideas. Another speech was organized, the party renting space in the city square for the event. Amann and Harrer both advertised the speech, one with his flyers, the other in his newspaper.

It was only days before Hitler was on the stage, waving to the crowd. It was significantly larger than at the last speech. Either it had had more sway than he expected, or numerous fence-sitters had come out of curiosity. In any case, Hitler stepped up the the podium, saying "Seig Heil!" In a commanding voice. The crowd responded by raising their arms as Hitler himself did, and solemnly repeating Hitler's words. After a moment, the arms were lowered, and Hitler got to business. "People of Munich, thank you for coming. Today, we must speak on a very important subject. Communism." A pause for effect, murmurs spreading in the crowd.

"Communism, my friends, is a plague on the natural order of the world. A man should be entitled to his work, to the sweat of his brow, but no, say the dogs, Marx, Lenin, they say you must share it with the weak! You do not own your work, it belongs to everyone! The weak, they say, should be rewarded! Let them sit and live on your labor. The communists would have the entrepreneurs, those who have worked hard, and reached the top, butchered! Their homes looted and families raped." The shocking words achieved what they were after, inciting anger in the populace. "Russia, once, was one of the most powerful nations in the world! And look what communism has done to it."

"It has burned homes, killed families. Destroyed industry, infrastructure, agriculture. Communism tore through Russia and destroyed it utterly. And now they would do it to others! Communism spreads like a virus, they prey on the weak, the downtrodden. I say, we are not weak!" A cheer from the people. "We are not powerless to stop them! We, the German Volk, we the NSDAP, will not let communism burn your homes, we will not let it harm your families! Communism will be eliminated from Germany, so we never must worry again! I call on you, the people, to join us! Say to the KPD that we will not kneel to Moscow! Show them that we are not weak! Communism is a disease and you, the people, are the cure! Seig Heil!"

His speech rounded up with a usual fervor inspiring conclusion, the crowds cheered, "Seig Heil! Seig Heil!" Hitler descended into the masses, shaking hands, kissing babies. NSDAP representatives were walking through the crowd with party rosters, handing out badges to people inspired enough by the speech to join the party. After what seemed like hours among the mass, Hitler made his way to the car on the other side of the square. He gave a last wave before entering and closing the door. His driver, Emil Maurice, said "An amazing speech Mein Führer, to the headquarters?" Hitler nodded, both in thanks and confirmation, before sitting back.

It was an uneventful trip, Hitler arriving at the headquarters, he called a meeting with some of the inner circle. They filed in, Heiling as they came through the door. Each took an assigned seat and prepared their notes. Hitler spoke first. "Before I speak, do any of you have anything to say?" Max Amann cleared his throat, drawing attention, before saying "Herr Harrer, Herr Rosenberg and I have jointly prepared an article, which, with the Führer's approval, we will publish in the party newspaper as well as printing pamphlets and flyers." Amann handed Hitler a copy of the article, and after a few minutes of silence, Hitler put down the paper, and said "How long will it take for the article to hit the streets?"

Amann grinned, "We can have them cover half of Munich tomorrow. We were already prepared, simply waiting on approval." Hitler nodded, pleased by the organization of it all. "Now, unless there is anything else, I would like to discuss something with you all." The men immediately sharpened up, paying great attention. "The KPD must be driven out of Bavaria. Preferably, out of Germany. Within legal means this is near impossible, but we have allies who do not always abide by legal means. We will keep our hands relatively clean. I'm of course speaking of the Wiking Bund. Herr Klintzsch, have your men make contact with the Bund, I want Erhardt in my office as soon as possible."

Klintzsch nodded. Hitler looked around the room, and deciding that he had nothing more to say, adjourned the meeting. "That is all. Seig Heil." The men responded in kind and were out of the door in a moment. Hitler leaned back in his chair, planning his party's next moves.

Threats to the Volk
By Alfred Rosenberg

Days ago, our Führer spoke about the threats posed to the German nation and it's Volk. They are numerous, and would see us powerless. They would see Germany never repaired, never strong again. The NSDAP, with your help, can prevent this. We encourage you to register with the NSDAP, show your support of the struggle to reclaim the power that rightfully belongs to the Germans. Help us against the threats to Germany, fight for your Volk! In this article, we will break down the threats to the Volk, one by one, and discuss their individual failings.

The Communists- Followers of a failed ideology. It is the belief of the communist that all men are equal, and all should receive a share in the hard work of others. Through violent, unjust revolution, the Communist menace spreads, hoping to bring more nations under the bloodied wing of the Soviet Union. The communists would have Germany at the Kremlin's beck and call, and through their unintelligent policies, would incapacitate Germany. The Communists promise freedom, but one must only look at the corrupt state of the USSR to see through their thin veil. Their equality is a lie, in reality, all who disagree with the state disappear, and vast portions of the wealth of the state go the the few in power.

The French- The French have, for centuries, feared the German Volk. It has been the long term goal of the French to keep Germany from ever attaining the glory that is it's birthright. Through byzantine webs, unlawful acts and unjustified wars, the French held back Germany. The worst nightmare of a Frenchman is a strong Germany. In 1870, the French saw the Germans gaining too much strength for their liking, under Prussia, and tried to push them back down. The French armies were destroyed, Elsass-Loringen was returned to the German Volk and the French finally tasted German strength.

In the Great War, Germany was drawn into conflict by alliances, and found itself at war on all sides. Once again, the French found themselves powerless, Paris itself under bombardment. Only by their allies did they survive. After the war, the French saw a way to put Germany back to a powerless state. The Treaty of Versailles, wrongfully accusing Germany of the great war, enforced numerous unjust restrictions on Germany. The French will never stop pushing Germany down, their occupation of the Rhineland makes that clear. We must bear their pushes, and rise despite them. And when Germany is strong again, the nightmares of the French will be justified.

The Jews- The Jew is a greedy creature. It is the will of the Jew to see not only Germany, but all righteous nations and volks, powerless. The Jews see money as the only object, and seek to dominate politics and economics through it's use. It would not surprise to learn that many leaders of the Communists, an ideology founded on destroying strong states, were and are Jews, channeling wealth from the corrupt system. The Jews wish to control everything before them, out of some insatiable lust for power, almost as strong as their lust for wealth. The Jew's main threat to the Volk is covert. Through means of monopolizing, or inciting revolution among good Germans, the Jew will take power in the most cowardly of ways.

The Wiemar Government- The government of the German people would be expected to show the same strength as their Volk. One would expect a leadership not willing to be pushed around, one capable of protecting it's sovereignty? Sadly the government of our Republic shows none of these traits. Our government are nothing but the lapdogs of the French. Our own government would see us as powerless as our external enemies would! When Paris calls, demanding more fruits of German labor, or seeking to force our nation into further bankruptcy, our government answers gladly. They are weak. They do not represent us!

When their masters show their colors, and occupy the Rhineland, what does our government do? Nothing. Sadly, possibly the greatest threat of all to our Volk is our own leaders.

[Orthodox Brotherhood]

Bayerische Holz Produkte Firmen / Wiking Bund Headquarters, München

Hermann Ehrhardt had had enough of Hitler for this week, so when news came of another NSDAP event, he had sent a platoon of men under Ernst Pöhner to guard it, and had stayed back at the headquarters, running the Wiking Bund was less stressful than the Organisation Consul had been, in those days his men had killed a man every other day, which made for a lot of trouble, though Pöhner had been chief of police then, which had been convenient, all Ehrhardt's men did these days was beat up communists and help defend NSDAP speeches.

That didn't mean they were getting soft, whenever a leftist tried to mess with the Wiking Bund, they ended up in hospital, if they were lucky, though now the killings were rare, the Organisation Consul had been a bit much, and if the Reichswehr or Polizei figured out he was still going around beating people up, there would be consequences, and Ehrhardt would probably have to go live in Holland with the Kaiser, or stay in Landsberg with von Arco.

A few hours later and Pöhner's men arrived back at the headquarters, an NSDAP man in the truck's passenger seat, it was Klintzsch, a former OC member who Ehrhardt had got the position of SA chief, the two were old accomplices and had mutual respect for each other, after the Wiking men were all inside or had gone home, Klintzsch walked over and started to speak.

"Hermann, Hitler wishes to speak to you as soon as possible" Klintzsch said, the retired naval officer was wearing the browns of the Sturmabteilung, "Is there anything you need to do before we leave?"

Ehrhardt waved vaguely and stepped into the truck with Klintzsch, the only other man being the Wiking driver, who had stayed behind for this 'mission', his memory was a bit hazy, but he thought the young man was named Heinz, or maybe Horst, it didn't matter though, there were fifteen thousand men under Ehrhardt, spread all across Deutschland, though mostly concentrated in Bavaria.

The drive to 12 Cornelius Straße was not that long, only a few minutes, the troop truck they were travelling in was distinctively Freikorps, so any civilian traffic kept out of it's way, the street outside the NSDAP building was pretty empty, where a day or two before there had been a stage and audience, now it was just a few passers by, that was probably a good thing, if any commies saw Ehrhardt going into the building, they'd know something was up.

"Hitler's waiting in there for you"

Coptic Archism can continue this, with my dude meeting Herr Hitler.

[Alleniana]

Essen, Ruhr
In the small, poky office, set up as the headquarters of the Ruhr area being occupied (by the French, as the Belgians had not joined as was expected), a Frenchman paced about, somewhat worried.

The white-bearded man in army uniform peered out the window. He could see the old street sign that directed people to the Grillo Theatre, the building they now occupied, and had just half-bought, half-commandeered, pointing almost accusingly at the grand doors marked with a sign declaring it as the French office. Despite his short tenure here, he knew were beyond the doorway to his left. He turned away from the sights of Germans and French soldiers outside.

"Bernard," he said.

A blonde, young, male, secretary looked up from the desk.
"Oui, monsieur?"

"Write this down, and deliver it to the Head of Information."
Well aware that the 'Head of Information' was not the proper name of the person managing the media in the new occupation, and aware of the person who was, he rifled through a newly-brought in cabinet and found some paper and a pen. The dictation began,

Pierre Lamarck,
How are you, old friend? It's been good to see you recovering after the wounds you took, but I have a bit of work for you. Would you please ensure that a few of the large newspapers in the area, maybe for Dusseldorf, Essen and the region as a whole, as well as even a few outside of the Ruhr, publish stories on why we're here? I feel it would be good for the public to have at least some little explanation, and at least give us more ground and leverage to explain our presence. Thanks,
E. Mouillard

Getting up from the desk, he prepared to act messenger and deliver the missive when the door opened and a middle-aged woman with beady eyes came in.
"Oh, so sorry to disturb you, just moving this cabinet in."
A workman behind her pushed in a large metal set of boxes on a rack into an empty spot in the corner. The occupation and its retinue that entailed would take some time to ease in, for both nationalities involved.

[Shimon-Zhivago]

Berlin, Deutschland: 14. Januar. 1923

President Ebert and his cabinet had gathered at the Reichstag for a special (private) meeting regarding the situation with France. The chancellor soon arrived with his own cabinet as well.

Ebert stood and said, "Comrades, how long and hard have we worked to get Germany back to a point of stability? How many lives have been lost? How many Marks flushed down the drain? Too many, in all cases, I assure you. But when we do return to our destined greatness, the world will marvel at our endurance, and we shall earn it's respect."

"Assuming," Reichsheer general Hans von Seeckt laughed, "that we don't go to war with them anytime soon!"

The entire room filled with laughter.

Ebert spoke again: "The bad news is, of course, that we cannot fight the French. If we were to do so, Germany would be destroyed again. We have but a 100,000 man army with limited tank numbers, a shoddy navy, and a shoddy air-force. Even if we were to call on the Freikorps, can you imagine what would happen? What a disaster that would be?"

A minister questioned, "Then what do we do? We cannot sit idly by and merely speak. We must have other options."

The president smiled."There is, of course, one alternative; we have to meet face-to-face with the French, in some city in the Ruhr. Bring some army regiments just to look nice, as we will not be able to wield them. If we can, of course. At this meeting, we outline the fact that France's occupation is drawing criticism from other countries, and is lending fire to those pesky right-wing extremists; if France wants a peaceful Germany, it should not lend fire to such people."

Seeckt smirked, "But what if this fails? It is so likely that it will!"

Ebert replied, "It is only one week into the occupation, my friend. There is time. But first, I'd like to know what the chancellor and his cabinet has to say on the matter..."

[Gibberan]

Reichstag, Berlin, 14 January, 1923

Wilhelm was taken by surprise. Though he was the chancellor, he hadn't been expected to speak so soon into the meeting. As every eye in the room turned and stared to hi,, he cleared his throat.

"Well, Herr Präsident," he said. "Me and my cabinet have reached the conclusion that peaceful negotiations must be conducted with the French. However, that is not to say that your proposed display of military...power, if you will, will not be useful. We can show the French that we are not afraid of standing up to them."

Telling from the look on the faces of the men gathered, some considered it to be a bold idea, and supported it, but many reacted negatively and scornfully.

"Military Power? Are you even realizing what you're talking about?"

"Chancellor, the French army detachment stationed just in that particular city will probably be more than all the German army combined!"

"This is prepousterous!"

Then he added something, very quietly, although he was sure it caught everyone's attention. "And, if absolutely necessary, we will fight."

[Alleniana]

OOC: We still goin'? :/