Volkspartei für Marx!

[Хahar 🤔]

This is a new TL in which Gustav Stresemann, head of the Deutsches Volkspartei (German People's Party, DVP) decides to back not independent monarchist Paul von Hindenburg but rather Center candidate Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the 1925 German presidential elections.

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This TL starts before the second round of 1925, correct?

[Хahar 🤔]

On April 26, Germans went to the polls for the second time. Both the left and right were split. The most conservative candidate in the race was undoubtably Paul von Hindenburg, but concerns about foreign policy had led Gustav Stresemann, the most prominent conservative in the Reichstag, to abandon him for Wilhelm Marx. On the left, the Social Democrats had endorsed Marx when it became clear that their candidate, Otto Braun, did not have the support of their Weimar coalition partners, the Center and Democrats. However, the Communists were certainly not republican and had no qualms about splitting the vote, leading them to keep their candidate Ernst Thälmann in the race.

Overall, the outlook was good for Marx; he could count on almost all Catholics outside Bavaria, a sizable amount of conservatives and the middle class, and most of the working class. And as the results came in, they confirmed what had already been expected:

Wilhelm Marx: 55.1%
Paul von Hindenburg: 36.4%
Ernst Thälmann: 8.5%

Now, the new Reichspräsident had a difficult task on his hands: assembling a coherent government out of such a disparate coalition of left and right.

[Хahar 🤔]

This TL starts before the second round of 1925, correct?

Sorry, I missed this post. The answer is yes.
Why does nobody care about my great TL?

[Hash]

Why does nobody care about my great TL?

Try getting more than one post in the timeline, then people might respond.

[Хahar 🤔]

Why does nobody care about my great TL?

Try getting more than one post in the timeline, then people might respond.

But everybody loves new TLs!

[Хahar 🤔]

Marx had a quandary in appointing a Chancellor; he had been one of the only non-Social Democrats the SPD could tolerate for a prolonged time, but an overly left-wing government could alienate Stresemann, whose support was absolutely necessary. His first choice was Center ex-Chancellor Joseph Wirth, but the Social Democrats, who had already brought down a Wirth government once before, indicated that he was unacceptable. The only possible option was a moderate Social Democrat. With that in mind, Marx invited the Interior Minister of Prussia, Carl Severing, to form a government. Severing's anti-Polonicism was popular on the right, and Stresemann agreed to join his cabinet, thus averting a potentially major crisis.

Important Positions in the Severing Cabinet:

Carl Severing, Chancellor (Social Democratic)
Karl Jarres, Minister of the Interior (People's)
Gustav Stresemann, Foreign Minister (People's)
Kurt Joel, Minister of Justice (Independent)
Hans Luther, Minister of Finance (Independent)
Otto Geßler, Minister of Defense (Democratic)

The new government could count on the support of 302 of the 493 deputies in the Reichstag.

[specific_name]

I'm writing a research paper on the Wiemar Republic right now. I would comment, but I have Wiemar coming out my ears right now and I'm trying to relax. One thing is for sure, change things slightly and you'll have one hell of a ripple effect; without major effort. Hitler's rise to power was a fluke, no matter how well planned it was still a case of right place/right time. We could have ended with a up a dictatorship under Papen or total civil war...perhaps a communist govt., the list goes on.... I would love to see a clever TL about this area. Keep at it Xahar. I'll comment when my mind is less scrambled.

[Хahar 🤔]

I'm writing a research paper on the Wiemar Republic right now. I would comment, but I have Wiemar coming out my ears right now and I'm trying to relax.

Ha. Me too!

I'm glad you enjoy this.

[Michael Z]

I'm writing a research paper on the Wiemar Republic right now. I would comment, but I have Wiemar coming out my ears right now and I'm trying to relax. One thing is for sure, change things slightly and you'll have one hell of a ripple effect; without major effort. Hitler's rise to power was a fluke, no matter how well planned it was still a case of right place/right time. We could have ended with a up a dictatorship under Papen or total civil war...perhaps a communist govt., the list goes on.... I would love to see a clever TL about this area. Keep at it Xahar. I'll comment when my mind is less scrambled.

I agree. The late 1920s/early 1930s was a period where pretty much anything could have happened. Hitler becoming Chancellor was a fluke, even if it had huge consequences - but it bears mentioning that, as early as January 1933, Hindenburg said that he would never dream of appointing "that Austrian corporal" as Chancellor.

Either way, very interesting thread, I think a scenario where Marx instead of Hindenburg becomes President could prevent Hitler from becoming Chancellor - but then, how would Hitler have fared against Marx in the 1932 Presidential election? And, if the Nazis couldn't seize power through electoral means, would Roehm and the SA have tried to do so in other ways? Would the Communists seize power instead? Would we see a civil war? There are loads of possibilities. Keep it up, Xahar.

[Хahar 🤔]

Locarno coming as soon as I finish reading that part in Erich Eyck's book. Though I have some preexisting knowledge of the Weimar Republic (especially 1932), I'm mostly doing this on the fly.

[War on Want]

Locarno coming as soon as I finish reading that part in Erich Eyck's book. Though I have some preexisting knowledge of the Weimar Republic (especially 1932), I'm mostly doing this on the fly.

I read Rise of the Third Reich, its a great book. You should actually read it, it goes into great detail on why the Germans where Anti-Semitic, and also describes the German populace's electoral views very greatly.
Pretty much the Unemployed were Communists(90% of the party was made up of the unemployed), Union workers and some intellectuals were Social Democrats, clerks and other managers belonged to the more Liberal parties, and Non-Union workers, Catholics and others belonged to the Centrists. The Nazis were an odd mix of the Middle-Class scared of Communists, farmers, Protestants, college students, and even some workers.

[Хahar 🤔]

Locarno coming as soon as I finish reading that part in Erich Eyck's book. Though I have some preexisting knowledge of the Weimar Republic (especially 1932), I'm mostly doing this on the fly.

I read Rise of the Third Reich, its a great book. You should actually read it, it goes into great detail on why the Germans where Anti-Semitic, and also describes the German populace's electoral views very greatly.
Pretty much the Unemployed were Communists(90% of the party was made up of the unemployed), Union workers and some intellectuals were Social Democrats, clerks and other managers belonged to the more Liberal parties, and Non-Union workers, Catholics and others belonged to the Centrists. The Nazis were an odd mix of the Middle-Class scared of Communists, farmers, Protestants, college students, and even some workers.

I have. In fact, it's on my bookshelf.

But it's really only an elementary introduction to the workings of the Weimar Republic.

[Хahar 🤔]

In October 1925, Chancellor Severing and Minister Stresemann went to Locarno, Switzerland to negotiate with the Entente. They returned with a monumental agreement, admitting Germany to the League of Nations.

But neither recieved any acclaim for their achievements domestically, only hate from the rightist press. Physically and mentally exhausted, Severing handed his resignation to President Marx, while at the same time dissolving the Reichstag.

[Хahar 🤔]

The campaign for the June 1926 election was intense, with much of the debate centered on the recently-concluded Locarno agreements. The election would be essentially a referendum on the agreements, and the Nationalists, especially, were counting on public sentiment being against the treaty.

Results:

Social Democrats: 172
Nationalists: 81
Center: 71
People's: 53
Communists: 38
Democrats: 22
Bavarian: 14
Economic: 11
Other: 24
Total: 490
Needed for Majority: 246

The election was an almost total victory for the Social Democrats. They could easily keep the coalition alive, but it would take a complex Nationalist-Centrist-Populist-Democratic-Economic-Bavarian coalition to form a government without the SPD.

Marx duly appointed Hermann Müller Chancellor; his government was essentially identical to the Severing government.

[Хahar 🤔]

In October 1929, Stresemann died. The People's Party had only been a member of the coalition due to the indispensibility of Stresemann, and Müller made it clear that it was no longer welcome in the government. All of the DVP ministers resigned accordingly. Müller kept the Foreign Ministry himself, and gave the Interior Ministry to Prussian Interior Minister Albert Grzesinski.

Later that month, the stock market crashed. Germany was hit especially hard, and Communist support rapdily increased in Landtag elections, as did support for a certain National Socialist German Workers' Party, which held no seats in the Reichstag. The Müller government continued, but it became increasingly difficult to maintain. As it became subjected to more and more scorn and unpopularity, the four-year mandate of the Reichstag ran out. Müller asked for and recieved a dissolution mandate from President Marx. In his letter, he made it clear that the SPD intended to go into opposition.

Results:

Social Democrats: 149
National Socialists: 96
Communists: 74
Center: 68
Nationalists: 54
People's: 34
Bavarian: 18
Economic: 16
Democrats: 12
Other: 18
Total: 539
Needed for Majority: 270

It would be difficult to form a government. In fact, a coalition of every willing party (other than the SPD) would still come up 68 seats short.

[Хahar 🤔]

The Social Democrats announced that they were willing to "tolerate" a new government, as long as it did not include nationalist leader Alfred Hugenburg. The Nationalists, on the other hand, were deeply divided. On one side were the hardliners, led by Hugenburg. They were firmly monarchist and would not lift a finger for the Republic. On the other side were moderates such as Count Westarp and Gottfried Treviranus, who favored joining the government. In the end, the split became permanent: 17 Nationalists left the party and joined the government.

As Chancellor, Marx had to appoint a Centrist; the People's Party was seen as the voice of heavy industry, which the SPD would not stomach, while the Democrats had declined to the point of irrelevance. He chose party leader Monsignor Ludwig Kaas. The new government would have to take a middle path in dealing with the Depression; though the government had many pro-business interests, the SPD loomed in the background.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Here's hoping to never see Hitler in power!

[Хahar 🤔]

Here's hoping to never see Hitler in power!

His hand is significantly weaker, without a President willing to appoint right-wing nutjobs.

[Хahar 🤔]

In 1932, the right-wing parties had been quietly gathering signatures in support of a restoration of the monarchy. The Constitution stipulated that if a proposed amendment recieved the support of 10% of the electorate, it would go before the Reichstag. If the Reichstag approved it by a two-thirds majority, the amendment would pass. If not, it would be voted on by Germany in a referendum. It was clear that 10% of the electorate could be easily found in support of the monarchy. It was equally clear that the Reichstag would not approve a restoration by a two-thirds majority, and it defeated the amendment, 325-118, with 96 (the Nazis) abstaining. What remained to see was how the people would vote.

By that time, the Depression was at its worst. The Kaas government felt compelled to abolish the 40-hour workweek which had been instituted during the 1920s. Immediately, the Communists seized upon the opportunity, calling a vote of no confidence. The wording of the motion specifically stated that it was due to the abolition of the 40-hour workweek. The Nationalists would not vote for such a motion, of course, but the Social Democrats would have to, or risk losing further working-class support to the Communists. The National Socialists, of course, were willing to join in any vote of no confidence.

Thus, the Kaas government lost the vote of confidence, 319 to 220. It was clear that no other government was possible, and thus the Reichstag was dissolved and new elections called, at the same time as the presidential elections. As they had almost a decade before with the Stresemann government, the Social Democrats had once again brought down a government they had not wanted to bring down.

[Хahar 🤔]

Does anyone care about this?

[War on Want]

I do, I really like this TL.

[Хahar 🤔]

I do, I really like this TL.

Good to know. Since I've had only a perfunctory sentance from Ben Constine in almost a month, you can understand my anxiety.

Do you have any comments? Questions? I'm more than happy to answer. I will say, though, that very little has changed internationally. That'll come later.