- Location
- Indonesia
/pol/tard is a /leftypol/ term to refer to a user of the /pol/ imageboard on a chan.
The Berlin Dome
- Thread starter Zagan7
- Start date
- Timeline Post-1900 Supernatural
- Location
- Romania
And now I have to find the meaning of three terms (leftypol, pol and chan) instead of just one! It's an exponential growth! I give up!
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Chapter 45. Belgium
- Location
- Romania
Chapter 45. Belgium
13 February 1945
King Leopold III of Belgium was a controversial and divisive figure in Belgian politics because of his war-time policy of appeasement towards the German occupiers. The democratic pro-allied Belgian Government and a large part of the population viewed the King as at best a German puppet and at worst a willing German collaborator. When the Germans allowed him to return to his liberated country, the King was received with indiference, coldness or even outright hostility by both the politicians and the men on the street.
14 February 1945
The Belgian Parliament started to discuss whether the return of King Leopold was opportune in view of his 1940 unconstitutional surrender and hostility towards the Belgian Governement in Exile. Several voices were heard asking the King to abdicate in favour of his son Baudouin.
The situation in the capital and other large cities was instable with large anti-monarchical demonstrations clashing openly with smaller but better organized fascist supporters of Léon Degrelle. The police was doing their best to keep the two factions separate, with varying degrees of success. At the end of the day, three people had lost their lives and dozens more were injured. One of those killed in the street clashes was Aristide Leblanc, a rexist whose death gave ample ammunition to the anti-democratic factions.
15 February 1945
Léon Degrelle, still in exile in Germany, asked Hitler to intervene, citing the unstable situation in Belgium and the alleged discrimination and state-sponsored violence against the members of his movement as well as his own interdiction to return to his country.
At the same time, the unrest in Belgium continued, albeit at a reduced scale and with no further fatalities. The Parliament scheduled a vote for the next day regarding whether or not King Leopold should be formally asked to abdicate.
16 February 1945
The German Ambassador delivered a note to the Belgian Government, politely but firmly asking them to respect their obligations stipulated in the text of the Armistice: that Belgium should remain friendly towards Germany and that those Belgian citizens who had supported the war-time German administration should not be harmed or discriminated against in any way.
The German Ambassador insisted that King Leopold was trusted to maintain friendly relations with Germany and any actions of the Government, Parliament or population against their King were seen as unfriendly gestures towards Germany and even as gross provocations.
When the Belgian Foreign Minister explained that Belgium was a democratic country and the Government could not stop its citizens from demonstrating against their King, the German Ambassador bluntly stated that the current Government of Belgium was incompetent and hostile towards Germany and it should resign in order to be replaced with a competent and friendly Government, both willing and able to curb the unrest in the country and stop the bloodshed. The Ambassador finished his diatribe in an ominous tone: "so that the Wehrmacht is not forced to intervene and restore order."
The Belgian Foreign Minister was livid. He promissed to discuss the German requests with his colleagues from the Government and with the members of the Parliament.
At the same time, the Belgian Parliament was voting the motion asking for the King's abdication. The motion passed with 71% of the votes in favour.
Later that day, the Belgian Government discussed the German demands. While accepting them meant a clear loss of soverainty, the alternative meant war and, in the opinion of the Army Staff, a clear and devastating defeat with potentially catastrophic results.
17 February 1945
Emboldened by the German support and the relative inaction of the police, about two thousand armed Rexistes attacked the Parliament building where they clashed with the Parliament Guards and a large mass of unarmed pro-democratic demonstrators. Three hours later, the Belgian Amy intervened and cleared the premises, arresting hundreds and reestablishing order in the capital. At least 27 civilians and 19 soldiers were dead and more than 200 hospitalized with severe injuries.
18 February 1945
The Wehrmacht took positions on the Belgian border and the Luftwaffe overflew Brussels dropping leaflets asking the population to refrain from antagonizing Germany.
Hubert Pierlot, the Prime Minister of Belgium, handed over his resignation to King Leopold III. The King accepted the Government's resignation, dissolved the Parliament and called for Léon Degrelle, the leader of the Rexiste Fascist Party and of the Belgian Waffen SS contingent, to return to Belgium and form a new Government.
The Members of the Parliament refused to dissolve, barricaded themselves in the Parliament Building and voted to depose the King. The King asked the Army to clear the Parliament Building but the Army declared itself neutral in the political conflict and stayed in the barracks. Thousands of pro-democratic, mostly unarmed demonstrators flocked to the impromptu defence of the Parliament with the municipal police watching from a distance.
19 February 1945
The 28th SS Grenadier Division Wallonien, with Léon Degrelle leading it, crossed the Belgian border and headed towards Brussels. The Belgian Army did not intervene and let the Grenadiers enter the Capital.
Léon Degrelle was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Belgium and formed a new Government with the most important positions filled with Rexistes and a few independents and Catholic Party members to give the impression of a wide coalition Government.
20 February 1945
Léon Degrelle ordered his SS Grenadiers to storm the besieged Parliament Building. In the ensuing bloodbath more than one hundred civilians lost their lives and hundreds more were hospitalized or arrested.
For all intents and purposes, Democracy in Belgium was dead and buried. If, initially, there might have been some doubts about the nature of the German influence in the countries unfortunate enough to have been caught under the Berlin Dome, the events in Belgium made the situation crystal clear: "Independence" meant nothing more than being a compliant German Puppet, similar to Tiso's Slovakia.
The fall of Democracy in Belgium was a severe wake up to reality for the other neighbours of Germany and the direct cause of the subsequent events in Switzerland, Norway, Italy and France.
13 February 1945
King Leopold III of Belgium was a controversial and divisive figure in Belgian politics because of his war-time policy of appeasement towards the German occupiers. The democratic pro-allied Belgian Government and a large part of the population viewed the King as at best a German puppet and at worst a willing German collaborator. When the Germans allowed him to return to his liberated country, the King was received with indiference, coldness or even outright hostility by both the politicians and the men on the street.
14 February 1945
The Belgian Parliament started to discuss whether the return of King Leopold was opportune in view of his 1940 unconstitutional surrender and hostility towards the Belgian Governement in Exile. Several voices were heard asking the King to abdicate in favour of his son Baudouin.
The situation in the capital and other large cities was instable with large anti-monarchical demonstrations clashing openly with smaller but better organized fascist supporters of Léon Degrelle. The police was doing their best to keep the two factions separate, with varying degrees of success. At the end of the day, three people had lost their lives and dozens more were injured. One of those killed in the street clashes was Aristide Leblanc, a rexist whose death gave ample ammunition to the anti-democratic factions.
15 February 1945
Léon Degrelle, still in exile in Germany, asked Hitler to intervene, citing the unstable situation in Belgium and the alleged discrimination and state-sponsored violence against the members of his movement as well as his own interdiction to return to his country.
At the same time, the unrest in Belgium continued, albeit at a reduced scale and with no further fatalities. The Parliament scheduled a vote for the next day regarding whether or not King Leopold should be formally asked to abdicate.
16 February 1945
The German Ambassador delivered a note to the Belgian Government, politely but firmly asking them to respect their obligations stipulated in the text of the Armistice: that Belgium should remain friendly towards Germany and that those Belgian citizens who had supported the war-time German administration should not be harmed or discriminated against in any way.
The German Ambassador insisted that King Leopold was trusted to maintain friendly relations with Germany and any actions of the Government, Parliament or population against their King were seen as unfriendly gestures towards Germany and even as gross provocations.
When the Belgian Foreign Minister explained that Belgium was a democratic country and the Government could not stop its citizens from demonstrating against their King, the German Ambassador bluntly stated that the current Government of Belgium was incompetent and hostile towards Germany and it should resign in order to be replaced with a competent and friendly Government, both willing and able to curb the unrest in the country and stop the bloodshed. The Ambassador finished his diatribe in an ominous tone: "so that the Wehrmacht is not forced to intervene and restore order."
The Belgian Foreign Minister was livid. He promissed to discuss the German requests with his colleagues from the Government and with the members of the Parliament.
At the same time, the Belgian Parliament was voting the motion asking for the King's abdication. The motion passed with 71% of the votes in favour.
Later that day, the Belgian Government discussed the German demands. While accepting them meant a clear loss of soverainty, the alternative meant war and, in the opinion of the Army Staff, a clear and devastating defeat with potentially catastrophic results.
17 February 1945
Emboldened by the German support and the relative inaction of the police, about two thousand armed Rexistes attacked the Parliament building where they clashed with the Parliament Guards and a large mass of unarmed pro-democratic demonstrators. Three hours later, the Belgian Amy intervened and cleared the premises, arresting hundreds and reestablishing order in the capital. At least 27 civilians and 19 soldiers were dead and more than 200 hospitalized with severe injuries.
18 February 1945
The Wehrmacht took positions on the Belgian border and the Luftwaffe overflew Brussels dropping leaflets asking the population to refrain from antagonizing Germany.
Hubert Pierlot, the Prime Minister of Belgium, handed over his resignation to King Leopold III. The King accepted the Government's resignation, dissolved the Parliament and called for Léon Degrelle, the leader of the Rexiste Fascist Party and of the Belgian Waffen SS contingent, to return to Belgium and form a new Government.
The Members of the Parliament refused to dissolve, barricaded themselves in the Parliament Building and voted to depose the King. The King asked the Army to clear the Parliament Building but the Army declared itself neutral in the political conflict and stayed in the barracks. Thousands of pro-democratic, mostly unarmed demonstrators flocked to the impromptu defence of the Parliament with the municipal police watching from a distance.
19 February 1945
The 28th SS Grenadier Division Wallonien, with Léon Degrelle leading it, crossed the Belgian border and headed towards Brussels. The Belgian Army did not intervene and let the Grenadiers enter the Capital.
Léon Degrelle was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Belgium and formed a new Government with the most important positions filled with Rexistes and a few independents and Catholic Party members to give the impression of a wide coalition Government.
20 February 1945
Léon Degrelle ordered his SS Grenadiers to storm the besieged Parliament Building. In the ensuing bloodbath more than one hundred civilians lost their lives and hundreds more were hospitalized or arrested.
For all intents and purposes, Democracy in Belgium was dead and buried. If, initially, there might have been some doubts about the nature of the German influence in the countries unfortunate enough to have been caught under the Berlin Dome, the events in Belgium made the situation crystal clear: "Independence" meant nothing more than being a compliant German Puppet, similar to Tiso's Slovakia.
The fall of Democracy in Belgium was a severe wake up to reality for the other neighbours of Germany and the direct cause of the subsequent events in Switzerland, Norway, Italy and France.
Nasty but all too likely.
I was wondering about what would happen to Leopold III given how controversial he was post-war OTL for his decision to stay in Belgium. This is going to make a lot of people in the western part of the dome regret that the allies surrendered without a fight, even if lack of supplies would mean they probably couldn't fight for more than a couple of weeks or so.
Definitely going to cause concerns in Switzerland as that's pretty much partitioned by the dome. Norway and Italy I would think are different matters as the vast bulk of the population and territory are outside the dome. The slices inside the dome are pretty tiny and nothing really the rest of the world can do about it. France is going to be seriously concerned as are the Dutch and possibly also the Danes. However again those areas inside the dome are pretty much defenceless now against new invasions.
I was wondering about what would happen to Leopold III given how controversial he was post-war OTL for his decision to stay in Belgium. This is going to make a lot of people in the western part of the dome regret that the allies surrendered without a fight, even if lack of supplies would mean they probably couldn't fight for more than a couple of weeks or so.Definitely going to cause concerns in Switzerland as that's pretty much partitioned by the dome. Norway and Italy I would think are different matters as the vast bulk of the population and territory are outside the dome. The slices inside the dome are pretty tiny and nothing really the rest of the world can do about it. France is going to be seriously concerned as are the Dutch and possibly also the Danes. However again those areas inside the dome are pretty much defenceless now against new invasions.
- Location
- Romania
At least the treaty was respected. There was no invasion. No German soldier had crossed the Belgian border. It was only the Walloon Waffen SS regiment (Belgian citizens) and some Luftwaffe planes throwing leaflets over Brussels, not bombs. How do we call it nowadays? Yes, regime change.Nasty but all too likely.
Definitely going to cause concerns in Switzerland as that's pretty much partitioned by the dome. Norway and Italy I would think are different matters as the vast bulk of the population and territory are outside the dome. The slices inside the dome are pretty tiny and nothing really the rest of the world can do about it. France is going to be seriously concerned as are the Dutch and possibly also the Danes. However again those areas inside the dome are pretty much defenceless now against new invasions.
Of course, the threat was there.The fall of the Belgian democracy is similar to the OTL Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia in 1948. There were no Soviet tanks there either. Just significant internal and external pressure.
Leopold III had turned from appeaser to official collaborator. His unwilling subjects may want a word with him after the fall of his backers in Germany.
Most of Norway is still under German occupation at this point. Hitler had ordered the Wehrmacht to retreat under the Dome but that would take some time.
Millions of Italians live inside the Dome. Inner Italy is not that insignifiant.
Switzerland cannot be fully neutral anymore. That would surely cause some headaches.
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- Location
- Romania
What exactly? The story? If so, could you provide constructive criticism instead? Like saying what exactly is "silly" and how it could be improved? You are not positively contributing to the discussion with that kind of posts.
At least the treaty was respected. There was no invasion. No German soldier had crossed the Belgian border. It was only the Walloon Waffen SS regiment (Belgian citizens) and some Luftwaffe planes throwing leaflets over Brussels, not bombs. How do we call it nowadays? Yes, regime change.
The fall of the Belgian democracy is similar to the OTL Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia in 1948. There were no Soviet tanks there either. Just significant internal and external pressure.
Leopold III had turned from appeaser to official collaborator. His unwilling subjects may want a word with him after the fall of his backers in Germany.
Most of Norway is still under German occupation at this point. Hitler had ordered the Wehrmacht to retreat under the Dome but that would take some time.
Millions of Italians live inside the Dome. Inner Italy is not that insignifiant.
Switzerland cannot be fully neutral anymore. That would surely cause some headaches.
The treaty was respected in name only. Basically the Belgians now have confirmation that the Nazis won't let them have any real self-government, let alone just controlling their foreign affairs.
Leopold's position is likely to be very vulnerable if the dome falls. Otherwise any nationalistic German government with control of the dome is likely to seek to maintain their 'empire' even if they might suppress overt fascist elements in their puppet.
Ah had somewhat underestimated the size of dome Italy.
Not quite sure if it reaches to Venice but it includes much of its hinterland.Norway I think would be fairly safe as even Hitler has realised that he can't hold substantial lands outside the dome. Even with the heavy losses suffered by the allies in both east and west. In fact if he doesn't withdraw quickly its the one location that the western allies can operate against him.
- Location
- Romania
1. You are basicly right. The following period will be pretty bad for the people of Belgium (and other countries) but not quite Nazi level of bad. Let's say the internal situation in Belgium will be similar to that of Tiso's Slovakia or Horthy's Hungary with no German troops present. Almost bearable. No mass murder. But no democracy either. At least for some time.1. The treaty was respected in name only. Basically the Belgians now have confirmation that the Nazis won't let them have any real self-government, let alone just controlling their foreign affairs.
2. Leopold's position is likely to be very vulnerable if the dome falls. Otherwise any nationalistic German government with control of the dome is likely to seek to maintain their 'empire' even if they might suppress overt fascist elements in their puppet.
3. Ah had somewhat underestimated the size of dome Italy.
4. Norway I think would be fairly safe as even Hitler has realised that he can't hold substantial lands outside the dome. Even with the heavy losses suffered by the allies in both east and west. In fact if he doesn't withdraw quickly its the one location that the western allies can operate against him.
2. I won't comment any more about Leopold for the time being.
3. No, Venice is out but there are many other important cities inside. I believe I calculated some time ago that the population of Inner Italy was about two million (using the present population distribution but the demography of Italy wasn't very different in 1945).
Anyway, you can check it yourself: If you want to play with a live zoomable and pannable map of the Dome, you may follow this link.
I have provided that link both in the title page and in all map posts, exactly for that kind of questions.
4. Sure. The Western Allies have already promissed Stalin at Yalta that they would invade Norway in less than one month (which is not yet due). Anyway, the Germans are already retreating towards the Dome, hoping to avoid any major battles.
But Norway still has three difficult problems: (i) Soviet occupied Finnmark, (ii) German occupied Inner Norway (including a quasi-enclave between the Swedish border and the Dome limit) with Vidkun Quisling running amok there and (iii) the isolation of Oslo which, although outside the Dome, cannot be reached by sea because the Dome cuts the Oslofjord in two.
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I think I should explain: It seems unrealistic and highly silly to me that all of the western and soviet forces inside of the Dome, as well as the occupied populations- much less the people of Germany, would just go "Okay Dome's up, let's all roll over to the Nazis".
If anything, the Dome Going up would only see partisan activity skyrocket- And the Belgium Situation would've likely seen the allied armies within the Dome go "Nah fuck this" and rush to the Benelux to prevent the Nazis from maintaining control.
Remember, at this point in time before the dome went up, the allied armies were still well supplied and had extremely high morale- it's much more feasible for them to fort up in liberated belgium and the low countries alongside a friendly population than to just surrender without a fight.
Like, I get it- You're from Romania. You haven't been steeped in the western nation's mythology we've built up, and had built up at the time, of "FUCK THE NAZIS".
If anything, the Dome Going up would only see partisan activity skyrocket- And the Belgium Situation would've likely seen the allied armies within the Dome go "Nah fuck this" and rush to the Benelux to prevent the Nazis from maintaining control.
Remember, at this point in time before the dome went up, the allied armies were still well supplied and had extremely high morale- it's much more feasible for them to fort up in liberated belgium and the low countries alongside a friendly population than to just surrender without a fight.
Like, I get it- You're from Romania. You haven't been steeped in the western nation's mythology we've built up, and had built up at the time, of "FUCK THE NAZIS".
- Location
- Romania
Meta: I did not start this story with a well made plan in my head. Instead, I thoroughly researched the military situation and benefited from invaluable help from many knowledgeable Alternate History Forums members. Most events in this story are not random flukes but what resulted from long and arduous hours of research.
1. Of course that the Inner Western Allied forces wanted to keep fighting, but it was absolutely impossible to do so for more than two weeks at the most. Eisenhower and Montgomery were realists, not lunatics like Hitler who would have kept fighting until the end.
The Western forces did not have large amounts of supplies amassed near the frontlines. Supplies kept flowing from the west each day, which became impossible after the Dome was powered up. They had food for one to two weeks at the maximum, they were low on ammunition and very low on fuel. Moreover, with most Allied Airforce based in England and western France, they had almost no air cover, the Luftwaffe bombing and strafing them with near impunity. They really had no choice.
2. The Soviet forces, on the other hand, were relatively well supplied for the just started Vistula-Oder Offensive. While documents are more scarce, we could approximate that their supplies would suffice for around six weeks. And the Soviets did not quit the fight. I really don't know why did you make that up. Maybe you didn't read the story with sufficient attention because of your obvious dislike towards it. No, the Inner Red Army is still fighting in Posen at this point and falling back towards Poland.
3. The Partisan activity is mentioned repeatedly in the story.
4. At the time of the Fascist takeover in Belgium, the Inner Western Allied forces had already surrendered most of their heavy equipment. However, as I had already explained, even if they hadn't, they would have been still powerless to act against Germany.
"Rush to the Benelux" makes no sense whatsoever. The Inner Western Allies were already in Belgium, albeit demobilized.
Belgium is not really under Nazi control. It just has a new Government which is friendly towards the Nazis. There are no German troops in Belgium and there is absolutely no intention to invade it.
5. The Allied forces were not well supplied. They were continuously being well supplied, which is very different. When the route for the supplies was blocked forever they were doomed. For the morale part and the "fort up in Belgium" idea, please see above. Basicly, no food, no oil, no hope.
6. I used to live in Communism and anti-Nazi rhetoric was commonplace, probably more than in the West. Anyway, that's not the point. "F**k the Nazis!" Sure but with what means? Mithology and ideology are good but cold reality always trumps them.
If you don't believe me, you are always welcome to read more and form an educated opinion. Because that is exactly what I did while writing this story.
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Chapter 46. Belgian Aftershocks
- Location
- Romania
Chapter 46. Belgian Aftershocks
Preamble
The swift end of Democracy in the Kingdom of Belgium was an important event which dispelled any remaining hopes regarding the fate of the countries caught under the Dome and thus in the Nazi sphere of influence. While the previous plans of completely annexing those countries into a Greater Germanic Reich seemed to have been permanently shelved, their supposed independence was nothing but a farce. Germany had both the means and the resolve to impose foreign policy, to change governments at will and even to alter their constitutional framework, turning democratic countries into quasi-Fascist authoritarian states.
Despite those shortcommings, the internal situation in those countries was still clearly better than in Soviet occupied Eastern Europe. Compared to Romania, for example, Belgium still had nominal independence, full internal autonomy, a national government, its own armed forces, no denationalization policy, a separate economy, some means to conduct independent trade and so on. Unless they decided to really antagonize Germany, of course, in which case anything was on the table.
The other countries in the de facto German sphere of influence reacted differently depending on their particular conditions, internal strength and cohesion and mentality of their people.
Belgium
The pro-democratic demonstrations in Belgium did not end immediately, despite some heavy-handed crackdown by the Degrelle Rexiste Government. While in Brussels and Wallonia the unrest withered away rather quickly and order was more or less restored by the end of the month, in Flanders the situation was more complicated.
Despite the earlier German ultimatum which was ostentatively aimed to restore order in Belgium and led to the imposition of a "friendly" government in Brussels, Degrelle, a Walloon himself, was only allowed to restore order in Wallonia but not in Flanders. In a rather perverse move, the Germans began to pose in protectors of the "persecuted" and "disenfrancized" Flemish community.
With the central government virtually paralized north of the isogloss, radical Flemish factions coalesced into an ad-hoc independence movement, morally and financially supported by Germany and even by some of their brethren in neighbouring Netherlands.
At the beginning of March, the situation in Flanders deteriorated to the point where, under overt German pressure, the Belgian King and Government authorized a referendum in Flanders regarding the future of the Belgian State. The Flemish Referendum was scheduled for the first Sunday after Easter (8 April 1945). The options were (i) status quo, i.e. continued Unitary State, (ii) Federal State, (iii) Real Union between the new Kingdoms of Flanders and Wallonia and (iv) Partition of Belgium in two fully Independent countries. A fifth option, the merger of Flanders with the Netherlands, was vetoed by Berlin who did not want to strenghten one of its neighbours.
In the likely case in which no option counted more than 50% of the ballots, a second round was to be held with only the two options which gathered the most votes. A heated electoral campaign frequently marred by outbursts of violence began in earnest.
Outer Belgium (Poperinge Area) was under French military occupation. Charles de Gaulle categorically refused to hand over the small territory to the Fascist Brussels authorities.
The French colonial troops from French Congo invaded Belgian Congo and overran it in less than two weeks, faced with only sporadic and half-hearted Belgian resistance. Although unilaterally annexed by de Gaulle, France would end up "buying" it in a further settlement.
Although Degrelle mused about a declaration of war and invasion of Inner France, the Belgian military convinced him not to, correctly estimating that the cca. 250,000 strong Inner French Army would be a formidable opponent.
The Netherlands
Queen Wilhelmina, who had just returned from her long war-time exile, declared that she abhorred to turn into a Nazi puppet, abdicated in favour of her daughter Juliana and left the country for a second time. She settled in London, where she spent her retirement years as a private citizen, refraining to comment upon the actions of Queen Juliana or those of the Dutch Government.
Despite all odds and the presence of a small but vocal Nazi Party, the Netherlands managed to retain most of its democratic structures, with only small concessions such as mostly unenforced racial laws.
Almost the entirety of the Dutch East Indies population and territory was still under firm Japanese control, with the newly formed Indonesian Republic being nothing more than a Japanese Puppet State.
In a controversial statement (the 25th of March Washington Memorandum), the Western Allies declared that the countries under German influence have to forfeit all their colonies, either by selling them or by granting them independence.
The Dutch Government protested but ultimately complied and sold Dutch Guyana to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands Antilles to the United States. Indonesian Independence was officially recognized both by the Netherlands and by the Western Allies.
Luxembourg
The Luxembourgish Government in Exile became increasingly irrelevant. The situation in annexed Luxembourg was calm.
Denmark
The situation in Denmark was stable and mostly unchanged. The Wehrmacht had recently vacated most of the Danish Archipelago, with the rest of it and the Jutland Peninsula to remain under light occupation until the completion of the retreat from Norway, due to logistical reasons. The Germans did not attempt to influence the already compliant Danish Government in any way.
Denmark sold Greenland to the United States and granted independence to the Faroe Islands which entered into a confederacy with Iceland with which they shared the same maritime culture and mutually intelligible languages.
Sweden
Both the Swedish authorities and population seemed so far content with the light German influence. The openings in the Swedish portion of the Dome assured an almost normal connecting traffic between the Inner and Outer portions of the country and the overall mood was still optimistic albeit a little more cautious.
Norway
The German evacuation of Outer Norway proceeded slowly amid some skirmishes with the Norwegian resistance and the Western Allied Expeditionary Force landed in Narvik. The truth was that, with an Armistice in sight, neither the Western Allies nor the retreating Germans were eager to head-on engage the enemy.
It was too early to discuss the fate of Inner Norway at that point.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia
The Eastern Countries were not affected by the unfortunate events in Belgium because, for them, the alternative to German "protection" was the hated Soviet Empire on the other side of the Dome.
Lithuania ceded to the Estonian Government in Exile a small enclave, 2.4 hectares in size, until such time when the Estonian Government is able to relocate to a liberated Estonia. The three Baltic States coordinated their policies and actions to such a degree that they began to function as a de facto Union.
In Poland, the war against the Inner Soviet Army continued unabated, with fluid frontlines and several cities frequently occupied and liberated in quick succession, including the almost completely destroyed Polish Capital. The country which had suffered the most during World War II was the only one with the misfortune to have the destruction and loss of life continue after the Armistice. Anyway, hope was not lost because, with the Inner Soviet Army slowly losing stamina, the end of the war seemed within reach.
In Slovakia and Hungary, the situation was unchanged.
In Outer Croatia, the frontlines finally collapsed in the first days of March and the Yugoslav Army quickly reached the outskirts of Zagreb. With all hope being lost, the already weak Croatian Government and Army collapsed completely and tens of thousands of refugees, both civilians and soldiers, started to pour into Inner Croatia, creating a humanitarian disaster of massive proportions.
Italy
Tainted by his collaboration with Mussolini, the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in favour of his son, Umberto II, who was already de facto exercising the royal prerogatives.
The Italian authorities wanted to negotiate with Germany the return of Inner Italy and some of the annexed areas with an overwhelming Italian population but, being a defeated country under Western Allied occupation, their maneouvring space was rather limited. The solution of the Inner Italian question would, most probably, have to wait for the main treaty between Germany and the Western Allies.
France
The French Administration led by Charles de Gaulle was adamantly opposed to any sort of agreement with Germany which would inherently lead to a partial loss of French sovereignty. "Inner France is already lost. We do not want to lose Outer France as well", said de Gaulle.
A hastily organized plebiscite yielded over 84% in favour of de Gaulle's uncompromising stance. Between both Inner and Outer France under German influence and the loss of Inner France but complete freedom for Outer France, the French people had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the latter. The population of Inner France felt obviously betrayed but, besides empty political rhetoric, nobody seemed to really care for their plight.
Hitler was furious but he did not want to break the treaty and have the Wehrmacht invade Inner France. However, Hitler believed he had a workaround. He tried to convince Pierre Laval, the Prime Minister of the recently disolved French State to invade Inner France using the Charlemagne Regiment with promissed support from Degrelle's Belgium. After clearly negative military assesments and the negative answer received from Brussels, the plan was shelved. It was clear that the 12,000 strong Charlemagne Regiment and the 100,000 strong Belgian Army could not be expected to overcome the 250,000 strong Inner French Army, despite superior morale and firepower.
In the end, the ghastly situation in Inner France remained unchanged, with no end in sight for the lawless anarchy reigning over those unfortunate people.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein
The Swiss debacle is so important that it deserves its own chapter.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union declared all countries under German influence to be enemy nations and broke the diplomatic relations with all of them.
At the same time, the Soviet involvement in the Greek Civil War was increased, with the Greek Communists finally getting the upper hand. The relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union were at an all time low and the former alliance was all but inexistent.
Turkey
Faced with an increasingly hostile Soviet Union present on both its Eastern and Western borders, the Turkish Government ordered a general mobilization and increased its diplomatic overtures towards the West.
The Western Allies
On 28 February 1945, the Western Allied Powers released the Boston Memorandum, publicly stating their desire and conditions for a negotiated peace with Germany and its European allies. More about the Memorandum and its far-reaching consequences in another chapter.
Japan
The Emperor approached the Peace Faction in an attempt to outmaneouver the War Hawks and achieve a full Japanese surrender under reasonable terms. The spectre of imminent atomic bombings already permeated all levels of the Japanese society and the Emperor believed it was his duty to save his country and subjects from that horrible fate.
Preamble
The swift end of Democracy in the Kingdom of Belgium was an important event which dispelled any remaining hopes regarding the fate of the countries caught under the Dome and thus in the Nazi sphere of influence. While the previous plans of completely annexing those countries into a Greater Germanic Reich seemed to have been permanently shelved, their supposed independence was nothing but a farce. Germany had both the means and the resolve to impose foreign policy, to change governments at will and even to alter their constitutional framework, turning democratic countries into quasi-Fascist authoritarian states.
Despite those shortcommings, the internal situation in those countries was still clearly better than in Soviet occupied Eastern Europe. Compared to Romania, for example, Belgium still had nominal independence, full internal autonomy, a national government, its own armed forces, no denationalization policy, a separate economy, some means to conduct independent trade and so on. Unless they decided to really antagonize Germany, of course, in which case anything was on the table.
The other countries in the de facto German sphere of influence reacted differently depending on their particular conditions, internal strength and cohesion and mentality of their people.
Belgium
The pro-democratic demonstrations in Belgium did not end immediately, despite some heavy-handed crackdown by the Degrelle Rexiste Government. While in Brussels and Wallonia the unrest withered away rather quickly and order was more or less restored by the end of the month, in Flanders the situation was more complicated.
Despite the earlier German ultimatum which was ostentatively aimed to restore order in Belgium and led to the imposition of a "friendly" government in Brussels, Degrelle, a Walloon himself, was only allowed to restore order in Wallonia but not in Flanders. In a rather perverse move, the Germans began to pose in protectors of the "persecuted" and "disenfrancized" Flemish community.
With the central government virtually paralized north of the isogloss, radical Flemish factions coalesced into an ad-hoc independence movement, morally and financially supported by Germany and even by some of their brethren in neighbouring Netherlands.
At the beginning of March, the situation in Flanders deteriorated to the point where, under overt German pressure, the Belgian King and Government authorized a referendum in Flanders regarding the future of the Belgian State. The Flemish Referendum was scheduled for the first Sunday after Easter (8 April 1945). The options were (i) status quo, i.e. continued Unitary State, (ii) Federal State, (iii) Real Union between the new Kingdoms of Flanders and Wallonia and (iv) Partition of Belgium in two fully Independent countries. A fifth option, the merger of Flanders with the Netherlands, was vetoed by Berlin who did not want to strenghten one of its neighbours.
In the likely case in which no option counted more than 50% of the ballots, a second round was to be held with only the two options which gathered the most votes. A heated electoral campaign frequently marred by outbursts of violence began in earnest.
Outer Belgium (Poperinge Area) was under French military occupation. Charles de Gaulle categorically refused to hand over the small territory to the Fascist Brussels authorities.
The French colonial troops from French Congo invaded Belgian Congo and overran it in less than two weeks, faced with only sporadic and half-hearted Belgian resistance. Although unilaterally annexed by de Gaulle, France would end up "buying" it in a further settlement.
Although Degrelle mused about a declaration of war and invasion of Inner France, the Belgian military convinced him not to, correctly estimating that the cca. 250,000 strong Inner French Army would be a formidable opponent.
The Netherlands
Queen Wilhelmina, who had just returned from her long war-time exile, declared that she abhorred to turn into a Nazi puppet, abdicated in favour of her daughter Juliana and left the country for a second time. She settled in London, where she spent her retirement years as a private citizen, refraining to comment upon the actions of Queen Juliana or those of the Dutch Government.
Despite all odds and the presence of a small but vocal Nazi Party, the Netherlands managed to retain most of its democratic structures, with only small concessions such as mostly unenforced racial laws.
Almost the entirety of the Dutch East Indies population and territory was still under firm Japanese control, with the newly formed Indonesian Republic being nothing more than a Japanese Puppet State.
In a controversial statement (the 25th of March Washington Memorandum), the Western Allies declared that the countries under German influence have to forfeit all their colonies, either by selling them or by granting them independence.
The Dutch Government protested but ultimately complied and sold Dutch Guyana to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands Antilles to the United States. Indonesian Independence was officially recognized both by the Netherlands and by the Western Allies.
Luxembourg
The Luxembourgish Government in Exile became increasingly irrelevant. The situation in annexed Luxembourg was calm.
Denmark
The situation in Denmark was stable and mostly unchanged. The Wehrmacht had recently vacated most of the Danish Archipelago, with the rest of it and the Jutland Peninsula to remain under light occupation until the completion of the retreat from Norway, due to logistical reasons. The Germans did not attempt to influence the already compliant Danish Government in any way.
Denmark sold Greenland to the United States and granted independence to the Faroe Islands which entered into a confederacy with Iceland with which they shared the same maritime culture and mutually intelligible languages.
Sweden
Both the Swedish authorities and population seemed so far content with the light German influence. The openings in the Swedish portion of the Dome assured an almost normal connecting traffic between the Inner and Outer portions of the country and the overall mood was still optimistic albeit a little more cautious.
Norway
The German evacuation of Outer Norway proceeded slowly amid some skirmishes with the Norwegian resistance and the Western Allied Expeditionary Force landed in Narvik. The truth was that, with an Armistice in sight, neither the Western Allies nor the retreating Germans were eager to head-on engage the enemy.
It was too early to discuss the fate of Inner Norway at that point.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia
The Eastern Countries were not affected by the unfortunate events in Belgium because, for them, the alternative to German "protection" was the hated Soviet Empire on the other side of the Dome.
Lithuania ceded to the Estonian Government in Exile a small enclave, 2.4 hectares in size, until such time when the Estonian Government is able to relocate to a liberated Estonia. The three Baltic States coordinated their policies and actions to such a degree that they began to function as a de facto Union.
In Poland, the war against the Inner Soviet Army continued unabated, with fluid frontlines and several cities frequently occupied and liberated in quick succession, including the almost completely destroyed Polish Capital. The country which had suffered the most during World War II was the only one with the misfortune to have the destruction and loss of life continue after the Armistice. Anyway, hope was not lost because, with the Inner Soviet Army slowly losing stamina, the end of the war seemed within reach.
In Slovakia and Hungary, the situation was unchanged.
In Outer Croatia, the frontlines finally collapsed in the first days of March and the Yugoslav Army quickly reached the outskirts of Zagreb. With all hope being lost, the already weak Croatian Government and Army collapsed completely and tens of thousands of refugees, both civilians and soldiers, started to pour into Inner Croatia, creating a humanitarian disaster of massive proportions.
Italy
Tainted by his collaboration with Mussolini, the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in favour of his son, Umberto II, who was already de facto exercising the royal prerogatives.
The Italian authorities wanted to negotiate with Germany the return of Inner Italy and some of the annexed areas with an overwhelming Italian population but, being a defeated country under Western Allied occupation, their maneouvring space was rather limited. The solution of the Inner Italian question would, most probably, have to wait for the main treaty between Germany and the Western Allies.
France
The French Administration led by Charles de Gaulle was adamantly opposed to any sort of agreement with Germany which would inherently lead to a partial loss of French sovereignty. "Inner France is already lost. We do not want to lose Outer France as well", said de Gaulle.
A hastily organized plebiscite yielded over 84% in favour of de Gaulle's uncompromising stance. Between both Inner and Outer France under German influence and the loss of Inner France but complete freedom for Outer France, the French people had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the latter. The population of Inner France felt obviously betrayed but, besides empty political rhetoric, nobody seemed to really care for their plight.
Hitler was furious but he did not want to break the treaty and have the Wehrmacht invade Inner France. However, Hitler believed he had a workaround. He tried to convince Pierre Laval, the Prime Minister of the recently disolved French State to invade Inner France using the Charlemagne Regiment with promissed support from Degrelle's Belgium. After clearly negative military assesments and the negative answer received from Brussels, the plan was shelved. It was clear that the 12,000 strong Charlemagne Regiment and the 100,000 strong Belgian Army could not be expected to overcome the 250,000 strong Inner French Army, despite superior morale and firepower.
In the end, the ghastly situation in Inner France remained unchanged, with no end in sight for the lawless anarchy reigning over those unfortunate people.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein
The Swiss debacle is so important that it deserves its own chapter.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union declared all countries under German influence to be enemy nations and broke the diplomatic relations with all of them.
At the same time, the Soviet involvement in the Greek Civil War was increased, with the Greek Communists finally getting the upper hand. The relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union were at an all time low and the former alliance was all but inexistent.
Turkey
Faced with an increasingly hostile Soviet Union present on both its Eastern and Western borders, the Turkish Government ordered a general mobilization and increased its diplomatic overtures towards the West.
The Western Allies
On 28 February 1945, the Western Allied Powers released the Boston Memorandum, publicly stating their desire and conditions for a negotiated peace with Germany and its European allies. More about the Memorandum and its far-reaching consequences in another chapter.
Japan
The Emperor approached the Peace Faction in an attempt to outmaneouver the War Hawks and achieve a full Japanese surrender under reasonable terms. The spectre of imminent atomic bombings already permeated all levels of the Japanese society and the Emperor believed it was his duty to save his country and subjects from that horrible fate.
I can see Greece getting very hot as this breaches Stalin's existing agreement with Churchill which put Greece into the western sphere. Coupled with the existing tension between the west and Stalin you're at least going to see a lot of supplies reaching the royalist faction and probably troops as well.
Don't think France had much choice. They had no chance to protect inner France but selling outer France, even in part into German control would be pointless.
Not sure if the vague rumours of a new weapon being developed in the west would have much impact on the Japanese government. They might be more influenced by the improvement in their condition [as their likely to see it] of large western losses in Europe and continued insecurity there and the west and Stalin being at loggerheads. They would probably be seeking even harder friendly relations with Russia, although their probably less likely to look to them as mediators given the tension between Stalin and the west.
In two minds about the forced sale/independence of colonies/territories of states trapped in the dome. It might be something the US would push for internal political reasons but if so I could see them buying Dutch Guyana as Britain taking it would breach the US's Monroe Doctrine plus I think Britain would have better things to spend what money it has on. Suspect the more likely option would be such colonies would be 'taken into care' until the home nation was free again.
Don't think France had much choice. They had no chance to protect inner France but selling outer France, even in part into German control would be pointless.
Not sure if the vague rumours of a new weapon being developed in the west would have much impact on the Japanese government. They might be more influenced by the improvement in their condition [as their likely to see it] of large western losses in Europe and continued insecurity there and the west and Stalin being at loggerheads. They would probably be seeking even harder friendly relations with Russia, although their probably less likely to look to them as mediators given the tension between Stalin and the west.
In two minds about the forced sale/independence of colonies/territories of states trapped in the dome. It might be something the US would push for internal political reasons but if so I could see them buying Dutch Guyana as Britain taking it would breach the US's Monroe Doctrine plus I think Britain would have better things to spend what money it has on. Suspect the more likely option would be such colonies would be 'taken into care' until the home nation was free again.
I would agree, although it sounds like the decision of one AI doctor who seems to have put his patient's 'care' ahead of anything else.
Zagan7 is arguing the way things will turn out will see less bloodshed and suffering in total than OTL but I still have doubts about this. Both in the short term and possibly a longer one. Have to see how things develop but without the dome coming down and an allied - or at least western - occupation I can't see anything like a real de-Nazification and de-militarisation of Germany which would leave most of central Europe and possibly wider areas worse off in the longer run.
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- Romania
This TL is very far from "make[ing] things worse for everyone". On the contrary, the vast majority of humans will enjoy significantly better lives in the future of TTL.
Granted, the Nazis are still in power, but it's February 1945 and the Nazis were still in power in OTL in February 1945, so there is no difference here. You are actually forcing me to provide spoilers here with your insistence:
In TTL, the Nazi Regime will fall earlier than in OTL, the Communist Regimes will also fall earlier than in OTL, there will be no Communist China, Vietnam, North Korea, etc, the decolonization will proceed in an average better way, monumental advances in science and technology will drastically improve the lives of people, etc.
1. In TTL, there was no Churchill-Stalin agreement regarding Greece (which had occured in OTL after the POD). In conclusion, Stalin did not breach anything here.
2. Makes sense.
3. Not only rumours. They will be soon provided with pictures and video... Additionally, the perspective of the Western Allies making peace with Germany would surely unnerve them. Anyway, there will be a few chapters about Japan and the Pacific War later in the story.
4. This is probably a little forced but it cannot be changed because it is important for the future and coherent with the rest of the story.
Moreover, the Monroe Doctrine was clearly not breached, because it did specifically exempt transfer of colonies between European Powers as it did only cover the imposition of European rule over a priorly liberated land.
5. There will be at least another chapter about the Uptime Universe which will make things more clear. Anyway, I believe I can confirm that, indeed, the AI Doctor had really made a mistake here.
6. With a future democratic Germany I really can't see why would you find it worse for the smaller European countries to be allied with Germany rather than with the United States or the Soviet Union as in OTL.
Your remarks would only hold water if my TL would feature a surviving Nazi Germany. As this is clearly not the case, I really don't know how should I interpret them or what else could I answer...
Chapter 47. Switzerland
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- Romania
Chapter 47. Switzerland
Preamble
Before the 17th of January 1945, Switzerland was one of the most stable and tranquil countries on the face of the Earth. Staunchly neutral and possessing a decent military, the small heavily mountainous landlocked country had so far managed to keep out of all the deadly conflicts that had engulfed its more powerful neighbours since the times of the Napoleonic Wars.
While Switzerland was under a moderate threat of German invasion during the first part of the War (Operation Tannenbaum), the subsequent destruction of the German military might had long rendered those plans obsolete. With the Second World War inching towards its logical conclusion, the peaceful Swiss Confederation seemed to be able to keep enjoying its neutrality for the foreseable future.
If a geopolitical pundit were to predict the disolution of the Swiss Confederation before the 17th of January, he would have been rightfully laughed at. Even after the Berlin Dome bisected the country almost in half, the future of Switzerland seemed pretty secure, because the German authorities quickly offered to open up several passages in the Dome to allow the two halves of the country to reconnect. Actually, as late as the first week of February, nobody had seriously predicted the demise of the Confederation.
The rapid end of Switzerland perplexed almost everybody. Why did the Swiss fail where the Swedes thrived, even under those adverse conditions? Why did the centuries old Confederation implode without being invaded by any foreign forces? Why did the Swiss people seemingly lose their collective marbles? These questions demanded answers.
Actually, the reason for that apparently absurd behaviour was quite prosaic: the Swiss people simply cherished their independence and neutrality more than their national unity. Since Switzerland was not an unitary state but a rather decentralized confederation of largely autonomous Cantons, the Outer Cantons refused to share the fate of the Inner Cantons and rejected the pervasive German influence which spelled the end of their neutrality and ultimately of their full independence.
The Swiss Cantons
For details, please check this previously posted Map of Switzerland.
Inner Cantons:
Bisected Cantons:
Outer Cantons:
27 January 1945
The Swiss Confederation and the German Reich had signed a State Treaty in order to regulate the reconnection of Inner and Outer Switzerland:
30-31 January 1945
The State Treaty between the German Reich and the Swiss Confederation was subjected to a National Referendum in Switzerland. It passed with an overall 71% in favour but the geographic distribution of the votes was clear -- while the Inner Cantons had voted overwhelmingly in favour (with almost 97% in Schaffhausen and Basel), the Outer Cantons had clearly rejected the treaty (22% in Geneva, 28% in Vaud, 31% in Valais, 33% in Neuchâtel, 34% in Fribourg and 49% in Ticino) and the evenly bisected Canton of Bern had agreed to the treaty with a slim majority of just 54%.
The rift between the Inner Cantons and the Outer Cantons continued to deepen during the following weeks due to a series of small but very ill-percieved German encroachments on Swiss neutrality and sovereignty.
6-7 February 1945
During the first chaotic days after the setup of the Berlin Dome, the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein had been besieged by an angry mob of Swiss citizens who had blocked the road connecting it to the rest of Germany.
While the issue had been swiftly solved by an airlift provided by the Luftwaffe and the situation had been finally defused after the signing of the State Treaty, Germany used the unfortunate incident to press for a more permanent solution of the German exclaves' problem.
Under some German pressure, both the Federal and the Schaffhausen Governments agreed to a swap of territory: the German exclave of Verenahof plus some uninhabited border areas were ceded to Schaffhausen in exchange for a 700 metres long corridor connecting Büsingen to the rest of the Reich.¹
The fact that the land swap was done quickly, without a local referendum and seemingly against the interests of the inhabitants of the Swiss Dörflingen village made many Swiss people wary of the increasing German influence in their country.
1. See the map in the next post.
11 February 1945
In a secret protocol which was leaked to the Swiss public, the Swiss Federal Government had agreed to terminate the Swiss informal protection of Liechtenstein and allow a future merger of the tiny Principality into the German Reich.
16-20 February 1945
The Belgian crisis and its resolution had a very powerful impact in Switzerland, feeding fears of German dominance.
22 February 1945
Hitler telephoned Franz Joseph II, the 39 years old Prince of Liechtenstein.
Adolf Hitler: "Hello, Prince Franz Joseph, Adolf Hitler speaking."
Prince Franz Joseph II: "Umm, good day, Herr Hitler."
Hitler: "I wanted to personally inform you, as former ruler of Liechtenstein, that your Principality has just been returned to Germany from which it had been unlawfully separated in 1866. I have just signed the annexation law..."
Franz Joseph II: "I see... And what am I expected to do?"
Hitler: "You have two choices. You can either publicly endorse the return of Liechtenstein to the Vaterland and retain all your properties, privileges and way of life or you can run away and form a Government in Exile. I expect your call until midnight. Good bye."
Franz Joseph II: "Hello... Hello..." (the phone call was over)
************
Four hours later, the Prince issued a short proclamation welcoming the return of Liechtenstein to the German Vaterland.
The flag of Liechtenstein was lowered and the Swastika flag was flown in its stead over the Princiary Palace in Vaduz. The Principality of Liechtenstein had ceased to exist without a single German soldier crossing its border.
The day to day life of the people of Liechtenstein did not change in a visible manner, the only sign of the annexation being a few workers dismantling the border markings and several unobtrusive plain closed officials taking over the most important Government buildings in Vaduz. An anecdote which could very well be true mentioned an old peasant from Mauren who was surprised to learn in 1965 that his country had been annexed to Germany twenty years before!
27 February 1945
Hitler announced that all German territories ought to be reunited with the Reich. Although he did not explicitely mention which those territories were, for the people in the Swiss German Cantons (almost all of them inside the Dome) the threat was very clear.
1 March 1945
Hitler offered to detach the Valtellina from Inner Italy and rejoin it to Graubünden from which it had been separated by Napoleon. The Swiss Canton declined the offer the next day.
3 March 1945
The Outer Cantons of Neuchâtel, Fribourg, Vaud, Geneva and Valais informed the Federal Government in Bern of their intention to organize a referendum in order to secede from the Confederation.
Preamble
Before the 17th of January 1945, Switzerland was one of the most stable and tranquil countries on the face of the Earth. Staunchly neutral and possessing a decent military, the small heavily mountainous landlocked country had so far managed to keep out of all the deadly conflicts that had engulfed its more powerful neighbours since the times of the Napoleonic Wars.
While Switzerland was under a moderate threat of German invasion during the first part of the War (Operation Tannenbaum), the subsequent destruction of the German military might had long rendered those plans obsolete. With the Second World War inching towards its logical conclusion, the peaceful Swiss Confederation seemed to be able to keep enjoying its neutrality for the foreseable future.
If a geopolitical pundit were to predict the disolution of the Swiss Confederation before the 17th of January, he would have been rightfully laughed at. Even after the Berlin Dome bisected the country almost in half, the future of Switzerland seemed pretty secure, because the German authorities quickly offered to open up several passages in the Dome to allow the two halves of the country to reconnect. Actually, as late as the first week of February, nobody had seriously predicted the demise of the Confederation.
The rapid end of Switzerland perplexed almost everybody. Why did the Swiss fail where the Swedes thrived, even under those adverse conditions? Why did the centuries old Confederation implode without being invaded by any foreign forces? Why did the Swiss people seemingly lose their collective marbles? These questions demanded answers.
Actually, the reason for that apparently absurd behaviour was quite prosaic: the Swiss people simply cherished their independence and neutrality more than their national unity. Since Switzerland was not an unitary state but a rather decentralized confederation of largely autonomous Cantons, the Outer Cantons refused to share the fate of the Inner Cantons and rejected the pervasive German influence which spelled the end of their neutrality and ultimately of their full independence.
The Swiss Cantons
For details, please check this previously posted Map of Switzerland.
Inner Cantons:
- Basel (Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft)
- Solothurn
- Aargau
- Zürich
- Schaffhausen (which surrounded the German exclaves of Büsingen am Hochrhein and Verenahof)
- Thurgau
- St. Gallen
- Appenzell (Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden)
- Glarus
- Schwyz
- Zug
- Luzern
- Unterwalden (Obwalden and Nidwalden)
- Uri (97.6%, Capital and almost all of the population inside)
- Graubünden (96.6%, Capital and almost all of the population inside)
Bisected Cantons:
- Uri (97.6% inside, 2.4% outside)
- Graubünden (96.6% inside, 3.4% outside)
- Bern (47.5% inside, 52.5% outside, Capital bisected by the Dome but mostly outside)
- Ticino (18.6% inside, 81.4% outside)
- Valais (0.3% inside, 99.7% outside)
Outer Cantons:
- Neuchâtel
- Fribourg
- Vaud
- Geneva
- Valais (99.7%, Capital and almost all of the population outside)
- Ticino (81.4%, Capital and almost all of the population outside)
27 January 1945
The Swiss Confederation and the German Reich had signed a State Treaty in order to regulate the reconnection of Inner and Outer Switzerland:
30-31 January 1945
The State Treaty between the German Reich and the Swiss Confederation was subjected to a National Referendum in Switzerland. It passed with an overall 71% in favour but the geographic distribution of the votes was clear -- while the Inner Cantons had voted overwhelmingly in favour (with almost 97% in Schaffhausen and Basel), the Outer Cantons had clearly rejected the treaty (22% in Geneva, 28% in Vaud, 31% in Valais, 33% in Neuchâtel, 34% in Fribourg and 49% in Ticino) and the evenly bisected Canton of Bern had agreed to the treaty with a slim majority of just 54%.
The rift between the Inner Cantons and the Outer Cantons continued to deepen during the following weeks due to a series of small but very ill-percieved German encroachments on Swiss neutrality and sovereignty.
6-7 February 1945
During the first chaotic days after the setup of the Berlin Dome, the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein had been besieged by an angry mob of Swiss citizens who had blocked the road connecting it to the rest of Germany.
While the issue had been swiftly solved by an airlift provided by the Luftwaffe and the situation had been finally defused after the signing of the State Treaty, Germany used the unfortunate incident to press for a more permanent solution of the German exclaves' problem.
Under some German pressure, both the Federal and the Schaffhausen Governments agreed to a swap of territory: the German exclave of Verenahof plus some uninhabited border areas were ceded to Schaffhausen in exchange for a 700 metres long corridor connecting Büsingen to the rest of the Reich.¹
The fact that the land swap was done quickly, without a local referendum and seemingly against the interests of the inhabitants of the Swiss Dörflingen village made many Swiss people wary of the increasing German influence in their country.
1. See the map in the next post.
11 February 1945
In a secret protocol which was leaked to the Swiss public, the Swiss Federal Government had agreed to terminate the Swiss informal protection of Liechtenstein and allow a future merger of the tiny Principality into the German Reich.
16-20 February 1945
The Belgian crisis and its resolution had a very powerful impact in Switzerland, feeding fears of German dominance.
22 February 1945
Hitler telephoned Franz Joseph II, the 39 years old Prince of Liechtenstein.
Adolf Hitler: "Hello, Prince Franz Joseph, Adolf Hitler speaking."
Prince Franz Joseph II: "Umm, good day, Herr Hitler."
Hitler: "I wanted to personally inform you, as former ruler of Liechtenstein, that your Principality has just been returned to Germany from which it had been unlawfully separated in 1866. I have just signed the annexation law..."
Franz Joseph II: "I see... And what am I expected to do?"
Hitler: "You have two choices. You can either publicly endorse the return of Liechtenstein to the Vaterland and retain all your properties, privileges and way of life or you can run away and form a Government in Exile. I expect your call until midnight. Good bye."
Franz Joseph II: "Hello... Hello..." (the phone call was over)
************
Four hours later, the Prince issued a short proclamation welcoming the return of Liechtenstein to the German Vaterland.
The flag of Liechtenstein was lowered and the Swastika flag was flown in its stead over the Princiary Palace in Vaduz. The Principality of Liechtenstein had ceased to exist without a single German soldier crossing its border.
The day to day life of the people of Liechtenstein did not change in a visible manner, the only sign of the annexation being a few workers dismantling the border markings and several unobtrusive plain closed officials taking over the most important Government buildings in Vaduz. An anecdote which could very well be true mentioned an old peasant from Mauren who was surprised to learn in 1965 that his country had been annexed to Germany twenty years before!
27 February 1945
Hitler announced that all German territories ought to be reunited with the Reich. Although he did not explicitely mention which those territories were, for the people in the Swiss German Cantons (almost all of them inside the Dome) the threat was very clear.
1 March 1945
Hitler offered to detach the Valtellina from Inner Italy and rejoin it to Graubünden from which it had been separated by Napoleon. The Swiss Canton declined the offer the next day.
3 March 1945
The Outer Cantons of Neuchâtel, Fribourg, Vaud, Geneva and Valais informed the Federal Government in Bern of their intention to organize a referendum in order to secede from the Confederation.
[Map] Büsingen am Hochrhein Corridor
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- Romania
Büsingen am Hochrhein Corridor
detail
detail
The highlighted area (cca. 15 hectares) was transferred from Switzerland (Schaffhausen Canton) to the German Reich in exchange with Verenahof and other small territories (not shown on this map).
Zagan7
Just to reply quickly on a couple of points.
1) Sorry thought the Churchill-Stalin agreement on influence had already occurred in an earlier meeting. Obviously should have checked the date.
4) Again think your correct on the Monroe Doctrine interpretation but still think the Dutch colony is more likely to go to the US rather than Britain for both political and economic reasons.
6) There's a difference between allied to a democratic Germany, which doesn't necessarily include being allied to other powers, as happened OTL and being dominated by Germany politically and militarily. Especially since I'm still finding it difficult seeing how you will remove both Nazi and hard-nationalist elements from Germany in this scenario but still willing to see what might develop. Haven't looked at your spoiler as I don't want to know too much too soon.
Just to clarify here that I'm not only talking about a lower degree of denazification, as it was called, being pretty much certain TTL. There's also the question that Germany has engaged in offensive war and gained territory as a result and its difficult to see, for those other non-Germany lands inside the dome, that many Germans won't feel they have the right to dictator to those people's on their government and economic activities.
Steve
Zagan7
That sounds bad for Switzerland. Especially the annexation of Liechtenstein and the demand for all German territories to be 'reunited' with his Reich. I can understand the panic in both parts of Switzerland but fear that's playing into his hands.
Has Hitler made any demands of the western powers for the return of the 1914 German colonies in Africa? I know that was a frequent claim for the Nazis and given the hostages he has it seems a likely move.
Steve
That sounds bad for Switzerland. Especially the annexation of Liechtenstein and the demand for all German territories to be 'reunited' with his Reich. I can understand the panic in both parts of Switzerland but fear that's playing into his hands.
Has Hitler made any demands of the western powers for the return of the 1914 German colonies in Africa? I know that was a frequent claim for the Nazis and given the hostages he has it seems a likely move.
Steve
- Location
- Romania
4. Netherlands Guyana (Suriname) went to the United Kingdom because it was adjacent to British Guyana (with whom it was subsequently merged) and because the United States was less interested in a South American territory. Moreover, the United States "bought" the more valuable Netherlands Antilles. Anyway, this is not the end of it. There will be further colony shuffling in the future of TTL.
6. Oh, sure. I just wanted to draw a parallel between the OTL situation in which smaller European Countries were mostly content with being "dominated" by the military might of the United States during the Cold War.
Surely, making Nazis change their views is not necessary for the well functioning of a democratic Germany. It is enough to remove them from power and ban any para-military groups. After all, the Nazis had less than 10% popular support in OTL / TTL 1945 so it is impossible for them to regain power. We will have several chapters about the political life in Germany later in the TL.
You are right about "normal" nationalists and Prussian militarists though. We shall see how that would play out.
Of course, you may fear that Germany would try to economically exploit the other countries but, quite soon, the reality will be the other way around, with the much greater and powerful German economy ending up subsidizing its allies / puppets. In fact, that's similar to the way things happened in OTL with the Marshall Plan.
About political pressure, sure, a democratic Germany may want to topple the Ustashe Government from Inner Croatia for example, because continuing association with those murderers would be unpalatable but I won't consider that to be a bad thing! Again, we may make a parallel to OTL, when the Western Powers routinely intervened against real or imagined threats of Communist takeovers in their allies.
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- Romania
1. We will have more chapters dealing with the situation in Switzerland.1. That sounds bad for Switzerland. Especially the annexation of Liechtenstein and the demand for all German territories to be 'reunited' with his Reich. I can understand the panic in both parts of Switzerland but fear that's playing into his hands.
2. Has Hitler made any demands of the western powers for the return of the 1914 German colonies in Africa? I know that was a frequent claim for the Nazis and given the hostages he has it seems a likely move.
2. So far, we have this in the German peace proposal sent to the Western Allies:
Of course, that was just a proposal and the future may unfold in a different way but it clearly suggests a relatively low level of interest in having undefendable colonies.
Chapter 48. Credo in Unum Deum, Patrem Omnipotentem
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Chapter 48. Credo in Unum Deum, Patrem Omnipotentem
26 February 1945, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
In a bizarre speech broadcasted to Germany and the World, Adolf Hitler stated that:
Very few people understood what Hitler meant by "the other history", "the Hirn" or his apparent new obsession with the "White Race" instead of the former "Aryans". For those who knew what he was talking about, it was readily apparent that Hitler had significantly veered from his script and, more importantly, that the aging and ailing Führer had visible trouble focusing upon a seemingly simple task.
Hitler's speech was received with widespread horror, disgust and utter consternation both inside and outside the Reich but the idea that made the Germans cringe the most was Hitler's promise to replay the catastrophic invasion of the Soviet Union in the near future.
The vast majority of the Germans, both soldiers and civilians, realized, without any remaining doubt, that they had had enough of Hitler and the Nazi Regime. If Hitler, who had already started a devastating war which had nearly destroyed both the Vaterland and the Volk, did not want to let them live in peace, then Hitler had to go. Except commiting collective suicide at the whim of a madman, there was no other option left for the German People. Too bad they hadn't realized that back in 1939!
27 February 1945, Pariser Platz, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
In the early hours of the morning, a small group of Berliners had congregated in the Pariser Platz, in front of the iconic Brandenburger Tor. The people were waving flags, singing the Deutschlandlied and cheering the end of the war. By noon, the crowd had grown to an estimated 12,000 people.
Despite the advice of his assistants, Hitler chose to go to the Square and address the crowd. A makeshift podium was quickly installed, the security was beefed up and Hitler showed up in the midst of his people. And, for the first time in his long political career, Hitler was not alone, but accompanied by his newly wed wife and his adopted adolescent daughter.
The crowd reacted rather poorly to the sight of their Führer. The shoutings of "Heil Hitler" were few and far between and the expected cheers were replaced by a less than flattering murmur.
Adolphine was extatic, the power of the crowd mesmerizing her. She jumped, smiled, waved and sent kisses to the tens of thousands listening to her adoptive father's speech.
After introducing his wife and daughter, Hitler began to reiterate the ideas presented the previous day during his long radio broadcast. The people were obviously not happy but Hitler seemed completely oblivious to their manifest displeasure.
By the time Hitler began to talk about the planned resumption of the war against the Soviet Union, the crowd had got increasingly agitated. For the first time in his life, instead of the usual cheers, Hitler was booed by his people. Seemingly incapable of fully processing the idea, Hitler stopped talking and stared blankly at the restless mass of people undulating in front of him.
The gigantic mass of people was chanting in unison: "Brot, nicht Kugeln!" (bread, not bullets) and "Nie wieder Krieg!" (never again war). Some isolated voices also shouted "Freiheit!" (freedom) and even "Demokratie!" (democracy) and "Nicht mehr Nationalsozialismus!" (no more National Socialism).
Hitler tried to continue his speech but, in that cacophony of noises, he could hardly hear his own voice. The SS tried to convince Hitler to quit the meeting gone awry but he wasn't listening to anything but the rhythmic chants of the crowd in front of him. Eva was already crying when an unusually determined Adolphine grabbed Hitler's arm and literally dragged him from the stage.
While departing the Pariser Platz under heavy SS protection, Adolphine heard something that had been conspicuously absent during Hitler's ill-fated speech -- joyful cheers.
************
Man #1: "You had a clear shot! Why didn't you shoot the bastard?"
Man #2: "Come on, Hermann, didn't you see that girl's eyes... I just couldn't do it."
Man #1 (Hermann): "But..."
Man #2: "Don't worry. Someone else will do it."
************
Safe in the Hirn, Hitler exploded with uncontrollable rage. After yelling non-stop for more than twenty minutes, he started to stutter, rolled his eyes and collapsed on the floor.
Fortunately for him but unfortunately for his people, Hitler survived his stroke to wake up ten minutes later with a horrible head ache and a paresis in his left arm.
Eva was kneeling by his bedside, caressing his forehead and crying quietly, Adolphine was nervously pacing the room and Goebbels was sitting in an armchair with his face in his hands.
All over the Reich, the Germans were celebrating the end of the war, dreading the possibility of yet another one and hoping for the whole madness to just go away and let them live their lives in peace.
28 February 1945, the Hirn, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
The Head of the German Episcopate, Cardinal Adolf Bertram, who, just nine days before, had officiated the wedding of Adolf and Eva Hitler, was administering the Blessed Sacrament to the bedridden and unusually calm Führer. Adolphine had listened to the whole Mass with undisguised interest and, at the end, crossed herself for the first time in her life.
Adolphine: "Father... I would like to join the Catholic Church... Can you... ahem... baptise me?"
Cardinal Bertram: "Sure, my child. My heart is filled with joy because of your decision and I am sure that your parents are very proud of you."
Hitler: "Yes, Adolphine. I am proud of you... And I thank you. May God guide your steps."
Eva (crossing herself): "God be with you, Adolphine! For He is the One Who had given us hope in this difficult times." (kissing Adolphine)
1 March 1945, St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
In a private ceremony, with only Eva and the Goebbels family present, Cardinal Bertram baptised Adolphine in the Roman Catholic Faith.
Adolphine: "I would like to confess my sins now."
Cardinal Bertram: "Technically, there is no need for a confession right now... The Holy Baptism had abluted your previous sins..."
Adolphine (smilling): "Just indulge me, please."
Cardinal Bertram: "As you wish... Follow me to the confessional."
************
Adolphine: "Is there... Umm... Is it a thing... The secrecy of the confession... I mean..."
Cardinal Bertram: "Sure. A Catholic Priest will never tell what he heard in the confessional. Everything you say here is between you and God."
Adolphine: "Umm... Thanks... Before we begin, I mean, before I begin to tell you about my sins... Or what I believe to be sins... I am not very good at that sort of thing. Anyway, before I begin, I want to take advantage of this secrecy vow and tell you something..."
Cardinal Bertram: "I am listening."
Adolphine: "I know that you, the Catholic Priests, are not very fond of Herr Hitler and National Socialism..."
Cardinal Bertram: "No! How can you say such a vile thing?"
Adolphine: "Come on, Father, don't be scared. I am not going to turn you in or something. Please, just listen and let me do the talking for now... There were many conspiracies to kill Herr Hitler in the past and there will be still many more in the future. I have arrived to the conclusion that it is now in the best interest of the Reich for Herr Hitler to step down. I will do my best to convince him that, in these circumstances, a dignified retirement is by far the best option, both for him and for the Vaterland... However, I understand that we... I mean myself and my robots, could very well fail in this endeavour... And in that case... the only remaining solution is a coup. Now, if you happen to come across the plotters... Please, let me finish. If you, by chance, happen to come across the plotters, just tell them that I will continue to serve the Reich. I mean, the Dome is not going to come down or anything."
Cardinal Bertram (sighing): "I understand."
Adolphine: "There is one thing, though... No murder! I agree to have Herr Hitler removed from power but I will never accept to have him murdered! Do you understand?"
Cardinal Bertram: "Our Catholic and Apostolic Church teaches that all life is sacrosanct. It is God's will."
Adolphine: "We have a deal then. Herr Hitler will receive a pension and will live the last years of his life away from the tumult of politics in the tranquility of the Berghof. Please tell them that I will protect him with the best of my abilities. I will barricade myself inside the Hirn... I swear to God, no more murders!"
Cardinal Bertram: "If it ever happens for me to come across some would be plotters, I will surely convey to them what you have just told me."
Adolphine (relieved): "Good. And now the actual confession!... I'm a little ashamed to tell you this but, you know, I put Olaf in there... In my you know what." [...]
************
After more than one hour of confessing, Adolphine was granted absolution and she returned to the nave to the warm embrace of her adoptive mother.
Adolphine (joyous): "Come on, let's go and tell Adolf the good news! Hurray! I'm a Christian!"
Yes, it is for the best. Adolf is clearly unable to lead the Reich anymore. It is better this way, both for the Reich and for him. This is not treason, God is by my side... Isn't that so, my dear God? (humming an unknown tune)
26 February 1945, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
In a bizarre speech broadcasted to Germany and the World, Adolf Hitler stated that:
- The Second World War was de facto over.
- The German Reich was no longer at war with the Occident.
- Besides the ongoing retreat from Norway, the Wehrmacht was no longer conducting any military operations.
- The Partisan problem in Inner Carniola (Krain), Lower Styria (Untersteiermark) and Inner Norway would be swiftly solved by the SS alone.
- The Total War geared economy would be converted into a Peace-time economy as fast as possible.
- The Wehrmacht would be downsized to a million men.
- The Axis Alliance was unilaterally terminated.
- Japan should immediately surrender to the Americans lest it be utterly destroyed in nuclear fire in a matter of months.
- Germany had actually lost the war, because the borders of 1914 instead of the Eastern Lebensraum could not be considered a victory.
- In the other history, Germany would have been completely destroyed, occupied and partitioned by the victors and the German people would have been slowly exterminated.
- The culprits for the military disaster were the defetists, the traitors and the saboteurs.
- In a matter of years, the German Volk would be once again ready for the Drang nach Osten, that time with the cities and factories of Germany protected by the Dome.
- The White Race would eventually unite and expand into Africa and other regions on the expense of the lesser races who should make room for the Master Race.
- With the return of Liechtenstein to the Vaterland, German Unity is almost complete.
- The population of Germany should triple before the end of the century to reach 300 million.
- All Jews should be immediately expelled from the Dome, preferably to Palestine and not to other brotherly White Countries.
- There were a few cases of overzealous camp administrators who had actually murdered Jews and other inmates instead of simply keeping them away from the Volk as it was always intended.
- All those guilty of crimes had been punished.
- Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, was aware of the crimes but did nothing to stop them and, when confronted, he chose to take his own life.
- The Western Powers should finally come at the negotiating table in order to forge an equitable and durable peace between the White Nations.
- Should the Western Powers fail to make peace with Germany, in less than one year Germany would be able to use atomic weapons against them.
- The Hirn had everything needed to start producing fission weapons and even fusion weapons in the near future.
- Germany would send a manned rocket to the Moon before the end of 1946.
- And so on and so forth.
Very few people understood what Hitler meant by "the other history", "the Hirn" or his apparent new obsession with the "White Race" instead of the former "Aryans". For those who knew what he was talking about, it was readily apparent that Hitler had significantly veered from his script and, more importantly, that the aging and ailing Führer had visible trouble focusing upon a seemingly simple task.
Hitler's speech was received with widespread horror, disgust and utter consternation both inside and outside the Reich but the idea that made the Germans cringe the most was Hitler's promise to replay the catastrophic invasion of the Soviet Union in the near future.
The vast majority of the Germans, both soldiers and civilians, realized, without any remaining doubt, that they had had enough of Hitler and the Nazi Regime. If Hitler, who had already started a devastating war which had nearly destroyed both the Vaterland and the Volk, did not want to let them live in peace, then Hitler had to go. Except commiting collective suicide at the whim of a madman, there was no other option left for the German People. Too bad they hadn't realized that back in 1939!
27 February 1945, Pariser Platz, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
In the early hours of the morning, a small group of Berliners had congregated in the Pariser Platz, in front of the iconic Brandenburger Tor. The people were waving flags, singing the Deutschlandlied and cheering the end of the war. By noon, the crowd had grown to an estimated 12,000 people.
Despite the advice of his assistants, Hitler chose to go to the Square and address the crowd. A makeshift podium was quickly installed, the security was beefed up and Hitler showed up in the midst of his people. And, for the first time in his long political career, Hitler was not alone, but accompanied by his newly wed wife and his adopted adolescent daughter.
The crowd reacted rather poorly to the sight of their Führer. The shoutings of "Heil Hitler" were few and far between and the expected cheers were replaced by a less than flattering murmur.
Adolphine was extatic, the power of the crowd mesmerizing her. She jumped, smiled, waved and sent kisses to the tens of thousands listening to her adoptive father's speech.
After introducing his wife and daughter, Hitler began to reiterate the ideas presented the previous day during his long radio broadcast. The people were obviously not happy but Hitler seemed completely oblivious to their manifest displeasure.
By the time Hitler began to talk about the planned resumption of the war against the Soviet Union, the crowd had got increasingly agitated. For the first time in his life, instead of the usual cheers, Hitler was booed by his people. Seemingly incapable of fully processing the idea, Hitler stopped talking and stared blankly at the restless mass of people undulating in front of him.
The gigantic mass of people was chanting in unison: "Brot, nicht Kugeln!" (bread, not bullets) and "Nie wieder Krieg!" (never again war). Some isolated voices also shouted "Freiheit!" (freedom) and even "Demokratie!" (democracy) and "Nicht mehr Nationalsozialismus!" (no more National Socialism).
Hitler tried to continue his speech but, in that cacophony of noises, he could hardly hear his own voice. The SS tried to convince Hitler to quit the meeting gone awry but he wasn't listening to anything but the rhythmic chants of the crowd in front of him. Eva was already crying when an unusually determined Adolphine grabbed Hitler's arm and literally dragged him from the stage.
While departing the Pariser Platz under heavy SS protection, Adolphine heard something that had been conspicuously absent during Hitler's ill-fated speech -- joyful cheers.
************
Man #1: "You had a clear shot! Why didn't you shoot the bastard?"
Man #2: "Come on, Hermann, didn't you see that girl's eyes... I just couldn't do it."
Man #1 (Hermann): "But..."
Man #2: "Don't worry. Someone else will do it."
************
Safe in the Hirn, Hitler exploded with uncontrollable rage. After yelling non-stop for more than twenty minutes, he started to stutter, rolled his eyes and collapsed on the floor.
Fortunately for him but unfortunately for his people, Hitler survived his stroke to wake up ten minutes later with a horrible head ache and a paresis in his left arm.
Eva was kneeling by his bedside, caressing his forehead and crying quietly, Adolphine was nervously pacing the room and Goebbels was sitting in an armchair with his face in his hands.
All over the Reich, the Germans were celebrating the end of the war, dreading the possibility of yet another one and hoping for the whole madness to just go away and let them live their lives in peace.
28 February 1945, the Hirn, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
The Head of the German Episcopate, Cardinal Adolf Bertram, who, just nine days before, had officiated the wedding of Adolf and Eva Hitler, was administering the Blessed Sacrament to the bedridden and unusually calm Führer. Adolphine had listened to the whole Mass with undisguised interest and, at the end, crossed herself for the first time in her life.
Adolphine: "Father... I would like to join the Catholic Church... Can you... ahem... baptise me?"
Cardinal Bertram: "Sure, my child. My heart is filled with joy because of your decision and I am sure that your parents are very proud of you."
Hitler: "Yes, Adolphine. I am proud of you... And I thank you. May God guide your steps."
Eva (crossing herself): "God be with you, Adolphine! For He is the One Who had given us hope in this difficult times." (kissing Adolphine)
1 March 1945, St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Berlin, Großdeutsches Reich
In a private ceremony, with only Eva and the Goebbels family present, Cardinal Bertram baptised Adolphine in the Roman Catholic Faith.
Adolphine: "I would like to confess my sins now."
Cardinal Bertram: "Technically, there is no need for a confession right now... The Holy Baptism had abluted your previous sins..."
Adolphine (smilling): "Just indulge me, please."
Cardinal Bertram: "As you wish... Follow me to the confessional."
************
Adolphine: "Is there... Umm... Is it a thing... The secrecy of the confession... I mean..."
Cardinal Bertram: "Sure. A Catholic Priest will never tell what he heard in the confessional. Everything you say here is between you and God."
Adolphine: "Umm... Thanks... Before we begin, I mean, before I begin to tell you about my sins... Or what I believe to be sins... I am not very good at that sort of thing. Anyway, before I begin, I want to take advantage of this secrecy vow and tell you something..."
Cardinal Bertram: "I am listening."
Adolphine: "I know that you, the Catholic Priests, are not very fond of Herr Hitler and National Socialism..."
Cardinal Bertram: "No! How can you say such a vile thing?"
Adolphine: "Come on, Father, don't be scared. I am not going to turn you in or something. Please, just listen and let me do the talking for now... There were many conspiracies to kill Herr Hitler in the past and there will be still many more in the future. I have arrived to the conclusion that it is now in the best interest of the Reich for Herr Hitler to step down. I will do my best to convince him that, in these circumstances, a dignified retirement is by far the best option, both for him and for the Vaterland... However, I understand that we... I mean myself and my robots, could very well fail in this endeavour... And in that case... the only remaining solution is a coup. Now, if you happen to come across the plotters... Please, let me finish. If you, by chance, happen to come across the plotters, just tell them that I will continue to serve the Reich. I mean, the Dome is not going to come down or anything."
Cardinal Bertram (sighing): "I understand."
Adolphine: "There is one thing, though... No murder! I agree to have Herr Hitler removed from power but I will never accept to have him murdered! Do you understand?"
Cardinal Bertram: "Our Catholic and Apostolic Church teaches that all life is sacrosanct. It is God's will."
Adolphine: "We have a deal then. Herr Hitler will receive a pension and will live the last years of his life away from the tumult of politics in the tranquility of the Berghof. Please tell them that I will protect him with the best of my abilities. I will barricade myself inside the Hirn... I swear to God, no more murders!"
Cardinal Bertram: "If it ever happens for me to come across some would be plotters, I will surely convey to them what you have just told me."
Adolphine (relieved): "Good. And now the actual confession!... I'm a little ashamed to tell you this but, you know, I put Olaf in there... In my you know what." [...]
************
After more than one hour of confessing, Adolphine was granted absolution and she returned to the nave to the warm embrace of her adoptive mother.
Adolphine (joyous): "Come on, let's go and tell Adolf the good news! Hurray! I'm a Christian!"
Yes, it is for the best. Adolf is clearly unable to lead the Reich anymore. It is better this way, both for the Reich and for him. This is not treason, God is by my side... Isn't that so, my dear God? (humming an unknown tune)
Well that scene in Berlin where Hitler is unable to understand the growing hostility of the crowd to what he's saying reminds me a lot of the last day of Ceausecu's regime, when he faced a bitterly hostile crowd and was totally unable to comprehend that people were finally desperate and angry enough to stand up to him. It was helped in that case by the collapse of the wider Soviet empire, which gave them hope and an example and left the Romanian regime politically isolated. Whereas here, apart from less access to news from the wider world Germany is secure and the government is able to claim considerable successes. [Securing substantial territorial gainsas well as total security for Germany and its inner empire. Plus the promise of dramatic new technological successes, both militarily and non-miltary.] There is some comparison with the Soviet case in that fascist regimes elsewhere have fallen [Italy] or are falling [Japan] but neither of them were significant for the Germans as a whole and Italy was largely seen [rightly or wrongly] as a burden.
Adolphine has made some dramatic progress in realising changes need to be made and even if unwilling to accept it openly, that Hitler is at the heart of the problem. Whether its practical for Germany to simply have Hitler [and many of his party and military supporters] simply retired I don't know, although I suspect he will end up dying shortly. There is simply too much bad history with his actions and views and too many victims, even if most of the regime is going to end up being pardoned in some way. [His assassination could make matters even worse as he could end up being presented as a martyr by many of the ultra-nationalists].
I fear that Germany is far more likely to end up like Russia post the fall of the Soviet empire without a real chance to clear out the sewers of the last decade or so and the extreme nationalism that enable it. Except that without the insecurity of Russia in the 1990's and still maintaining a considerable empire the move to a Putin like figure could take even less time.
Sorry about the striking out. Noticed that before on some sites where a pattern of three characters seems to enforce the commencing of a strike-out of all following posts and nothing can seen to clear it. Have re-written with some expansions of points so hopefully easily readable now.
Adolphine has made some dramatic progress in realising changes need to be made and even if unwilling to accept it openly, that Hitler is at the heart of the problem. Whether its practical for Germany to simply have Hitler [and many of his party and military supporters] simply retired I don't know, although I suspect he will end up dying shortly. There is simply too much bad history with his actions and views and too many victims, even if most of the regime is going to end up being pardoned in some way. [His assassination could make matters even worse as he could end up being presented as a martyr by many of the ultra-nationalists].
I fear that Germany is far more likely to end up like Russia post the fall of the Soviet empire without a real chance to clear out the sewers of the last decade or so and the extreme nationalism that enable it. Except that without the insecurity of Russia in the 1990's and still maintaining a considerable empire the move to a Putin like figure could take even less time.
Sorry about the striking out. Noticed that before on some sites where a pattern of three characters seems to enforce the commencing of a strike-out of all following posts and nothing can seen to clear it. Have re-written with some expansions of points so hopefully easily readable now.
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