This is a peculiar epoch, or rather stage of development, and in order to defeat capital completely, we must be able to adapt the forms of our struggle to the peculiar conditions of this stage.
~ Vladimir Lenin,
The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government
Adolf Hitler sat pondering the newly reconstructed foundations of Karl Liebknecht Haus whilst he sat amongst his own recently rebuilt Zentrale.
The old foundations of the building had been kept the same although much of the equipment had been replaced at the expense of the German National People’s Party and Volkisch Bund offices. They didn’t need it anymore. Both Goebbels and Lang had been excited by the propaganda potential of the expropriations of UFA conducted clandestinely by the People’s Guard. The new Zentrale was in some ways also enhanced by defunct parties.
Heinrich Brandler had returned to the Zentrale alongside his dissolved KPD (Opposition) which had been named after the group organised around Nikolai Bukharin in opposition against Stalin. Those denounced by the Kremlin as “right-oppositionists” had been the only people to say kind things about the KPD after their split with the Comintern. Conversely Adold had also now brought Ruth Fischer and Arkadi Maslow back into the fold with Fischer on the Zentrale. Both Fischer and Maslow had been expelled from the party for their support for the ‘Left Opposition’ to Stalin. They had set up the Leninbund, a bizarre organisation that had aimed to operate both within and without the KPD but it had now become overrun with Trotskyites and, denounced by both Stalin and Trotsky, they found themselves in the same boat as Adolf once again.
He realised there were old scores between these two groups but he could rely on the fact that they were competent in their chosen roles of union and party propaganda. The fact that these right and left oppositionists had even less regard for each other than they did for him had also made them easier to control. This was what Stalin had done after all and it was what made Hitler prefer him, even now, to Trotsky and his reckless dreamers. As long as Brandler, Fischer and their ilk could be relied upon to stay focused on the important matters at hand they were useful, and unless they allowed their resentments to come to the forefront of their actions there would be no need to purge them once more.
Now the Civil War had been won both Brander and Fischer’s groups had been silenced from criticising Moscow and it seemed Moscow was playing along as well. The success of the United Front seemed to have gained Stalin’s attention. He had considered re-establishing links with Moscow but it wasn’t a conversation he was necessarily looking forward to.
Alongside these reunited elements were the loyal members who had remained with him throughout the split. Ludwig Renn, a senior member of the Citizens Defence Council, allowed the strong link between the Communist and the People’s Guard to be maintained. It was considered controversial for an individual to have a senior position in both the largest party in the Reichstag and the new German military but Renn had defended himself by pointing to the more furtive actions of the Reichswehr over the years and stating that at least he was being transparent. Then there was the Party President, Rose Levine-Meyer. Her role would have technically made her more powerful within the party than Adolf himself in the past but now it had been reduced to being effectively a ceremonial position. This didn’t mean she wasn’t a competent administrator however and her role in the Bavarian Soviet provided a link to when Adolf had first fought as a revolutionary. He had learned many lessons since then. There was also Willi Munzenberg, financial expert with an organisational capacity that Adolf feared might go beyond his own. He was also not here, something which had become a recurring problem recently.
The meeting couldn’t start without him and as such it was a relief to hear a similar sound of feet screeching on the newly waxed floor before the door opened with a jolt.
“Sorry, sorry, I know I’m late again.” Willie Munzenberg nearly dropped several folders he was carrying, holding up a hand as if to hold off any imminent criticism in spite of the fact his colleagues had already grown well acquainted to it in the past weeks.
“We make allowances for the Minister for Economic Affairs.” Adolf replied coolly.
“Don’t they offer you a car?” Heinrich Brandler asked wearily
“Working people take the tram. If it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for me.” Munzenberg muttered, dumping his bundles of paper on the desk in front of his seat.
Adolf was happy enough with that.
Munzenberg wasn’t the only Communist in the United Front cabinet but in his role as finance minister he was the most senior out of them and he was the only one amongst them who was a member of the Zentrale. Hitler was confident of his control over the party’s leading body but he didn’t want too much mingling between the Communist party leadership and the Republic that he couldn’t directly control. Munzenberg however was both competent and loyal, the next best thing to himself being there.
“Well now you’re here we might as well have your report on the affairs of the republic.”
“I’m finding my remit to be increasingly infringed upon by foreign affairs,” Munzenberg sighed, still out of breath due to running from the tram, “we’ve managed to not only get the Austrians to agree to the economic union in principle but they’re now willing to chat specifics to the extent of getting a treaty signed before the end of the Summer, only now we’re having to sound out the other major powers about that and it could be going better.”
“The French.” Adolf growled.
“The French aren’t happy at all, the Japanese are sympathetic however and the British are at least trying to be accommodating. The less said about the Italians the better.”
“Why on earth should we care about fascist opinion?” Ruth Fischer complained.
“They’re on the League of Nations Council and as any economic union with Austria could be seen as a violation of the Versailles Treaty it is best that we submit it for international consideration. They would become aware of it at some point regardless but this way it looks like less of a conspiracy and gets us a fairer hearing.” Munzenberg was defensive, he wasn’t any more comfortable with this than Fischer was.
“But don’t these sorts of Council votes need to be unanimous anyways? So we do need to seek fascist approval.” She noted.
“No-one’s trying to seek fascist approval.” Munzenberg emphasised. “It would be pointless even if their regime could be tolerated or they hadn’t just sponsored a coup within our own country. They want Austria as a buffer, especially now that their bid to install Hohenzollern has failed. It doesn’t matter to them if they burn their bridges with Austria as they have with ourselves. It probably wouldn’t matter if they ostracize themselves in the international community either. So we take advantage of that to get the British and Japanese on-side and then get them to work on the French and the four of us then agree it should be taken to the World Court, where the Americans can also arbitrate in our favour.”
“That still means getting the French on-side first.” Adolf responded.
“Yes and that’s another headache for me. The French can’t say we’ve misled them when it comes to Austria but they’re saying the expropriated Krupp factories are mass producing arms all of a sudden. Because they are.” Munzenberg rubbed his temples at that, as if thinking back to the headaches it had already induced.
“Tell the French they can’t have it both ways,” Brandler stated, “Either they respect the spirit of Versailles and allow the self-determination of the German peoples or they don’t respect it and we re-arm.”
“The only ‘spirit’ of Versaillies was making the German worker suffer for the crimes of imperialists on both sides. Playing that card would make us look ridiculous, both to the French and our own people.” Hitler grunted.
“That still means going to workers we’ve just handed factories to and telling them they can’t produce what they want and sell to whom they want, when the workers from factories which haven’t been expropriated are pissed off at us already.” Levine-Meyer added, she had seen the failures of a compromise strategy firsthand during the Bavarian Soviet.
“It’s not much better with the farms apparently.” She went on. “The Rural People’s movement has been asserting itself again and it looks like they might be growing.”
Adolf couldn’t help but admire Claus Heim’s relentlessness but if he became a problem he would have to be dealt with. Until then there was another way.
“If we’re forced to put up with these reformist concessions we should at least encourage the labourers who’ve already taken over their farms and factories by stating we’ll support them.” Adolf said. “That will still leave some waiting their turn but it will be less of a betrayal.”
“That will spook the liberals in the Reichstag, and many of the Social Democrats.” Brandler pointed out.
“We shouldn’t get used to the former and for the latter, well it would be good to see where they stand on these sorts of things. To see how many could be counted on if we were to face the sort of schism Noske tried to pull before the Presidential election.”
“I appreciate the sentiment but it would be best if you were to express it yourself,” Munzenberg replied to Hitler hesitantly, “there is still an opening for you in the cabinet. You just have to take it.”
Adolf shook his head.
“As before, unless it’s the Chancellery I’m not interested. We’re the largest party in the Reichstag, its leader should be Chancellor or not in the cabinet at all. You will have to get on without me until Zeigner relents.”
Erich Zeigner had been chosen to be the United Front’s candidate for President due to him being a unifying figure but he was now taking on that role far more actively than many had expected, including Adolf.
“Is there any good news?” Brandler now asked.
“Well, good news is only ever temporary in an economy which isn’t properly planned but there are some reasons to be positive. The mark has returned to something resembling stability with all the properties and land we’re remortgaging and the talk of further reparations relief by the Americans has made said remortgaging easier as well. The taxes we’re putting forward are going to bite hard but capital flight should hopefully be limited by the number of bank holidays we’ve introduced. Hamburg should be open to shipping again soon which will hopefully allow us to get exports back to where they were sooner rather than later.”
“I thought the international markets were drying up?”
“The Soviets are picking up a lot of the balance. They’re so relieved we rid ourselves of Schleicher that any unpleasantness that happened between our party and themselves has been forgotten, at least at the trade level. Their economy is still developing and they need the capital and equipment to finance that. We have the equipment and we need their resources, we’re hoping we can convince the Americans to make up the capital. Many of their businesses are collapsing but others are still desperate to get their hands on Soviet trade. Whilst America continues to refuse to deal with the Soviet government, that leaves us as intermediaries.”
Munzenberg seemed satisfied with the convoluted scheme but many around the table winced, Adolf included. Munzenberg seemed to sense the discomfort and went on.
“We are still working on a new economic deal with the Soviets but it should be enough to get the economy growing again and then we throw everything into infrastructure spending and, with luck, in a few years time we can look at a new society and think this depression was merely a bad dream.”
“There’s a lot of factors that could prevent that outcome.” Fischer apparently remained sceptical.
“Yes but we at least now have a government, unlike any other in the world, determined to take action.” Munzenberg added.
Adolf nodded, and started banging his knuckles on the table. Others joined in displaying their assent to the report. It was the best way of avoiding votes. Once Adolf had made up his mind, votes were a waste of time.
Yet, at the same time he couldn’t help but wonder for how long that determination would last with such reformists alongside Munzenberg and other loyal Comrades. He had reunited the KPD under his control but would that matter if he were locked out of power again?
Perhaps it would be good to have some opportunities to see where the SPD’s own “left-oppositionists” stood.
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The painting is
The Soul of the Soulless City by Christopher Nevinson
