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Description

„Der deutsche Adler breitet wieder stolz seine Flügel aus“

(Era Nacionalcomunista)

Thälmann's worldview in 1924. Variables within the CPG. From international communism to national communism

On a warm summer Monday, June 9, 1924, a train arrived at the main station of Kyiv from distant Germany, inside of which was one of those Reichstag deputies who presented himself as a spokesman for the interests of the German proletariat. This tall and strong thirty-year-old blond man, according to the orders of his party leadership, arrived on a working visit to Shumsky, the chairman of the Ukrainian National Communist Party. The key purpose of the trip to this country, which he had never seen before, was “to enlighten and convince Ukrainians that it is difficult and pointless to create an equal society on their own and that it would be better to do this in a fraternal international union with Russia.” Having discussed this topic together in his office, Alexander Yakovlevich suggested that the German try to express his proposal in front of his fellow party members and the rest of the deputies of the Central Rada. He agreed. For some reason, the inhabitants of the Ukrainian parliament reacted with skepticism to the calls of a rather professional populist speaker. Only Vinnychenko, being a pro-Bolshevik oppositionist in parliament, clapped his hands - at that time he was one of those few Ukrainian politicians who supported the idea of a moderate rapprochement with Soviet Russia. Thälmann, in addition to all this, had the opportunity to see the way of life and life in Ukrainian Republic of Workers and Peasants, in a country that just a few years ago had been tormented in a bloody war of liberation and was now slowly building its national wealth with its own resources and with its own hands. The German had enough time to, in addition to political work, also visit a number of places in this country and assess the situation in it. He visited both thousand-year-old Kyiv and the main industrial center of Ukraine - Kharkov. He even managed to visit a number of German colonies in the steppe south in order to inquire how his compatriots were faring far from their old homeland. Along the way, many happy faces of workers and peasants flashed before his eyes, whom their own state had rightly endowed with material benefits capable of feeding their families. After this trip, Ernie was surprised: “Is it really possible to create absolute wealth only by ourselves, without the efforts of all mankind?” Sitting in the compartment of the Kyiv-Berlin train, Ernst realized that he was returning with an unfulfilled task, but with a large supply of information received, which he needed to chew for a long time with his mind of a Hamburg proletarian.
The individualism of Ukrainian communism quite strongly influenced Thälmann and his vision of the existence of this ideology in Germany itself, which needed its own people's avenger, who was destined to tear the country out of the shackles of injustice and squalor imposed by the Anglo-Saxons, the French and their sycophants under the guise of German social democracy.
Thälmann's faith in the mantras emanating from the Moscow Kremlin about the "falsity" of Ukrainian communist patriotism quickly disappeared after a trip to Ukraine itself, and he became convinced that this was not at all the case. Ernst reflected that the ideals of internationalism were unnecessary and even fraught for his country, and building a class, equal society exclusively within the national German framework would be much more useful for Germany and its future existence.
Until his right moment, while his career in the party was becoming higher and higher, Thälmann had a chance to rethink a lot of things in his communist philosophy, taking more into account the national factor.
And now, in 1925, Ernst Thälmann is the supreme leader of the Communist Party. The opportunity arose to finally make his own right tendency adjustments to the party’s course, while having the kind charisma that had nurtured his authority since the days of the labor strikes in his native Hamburg.
That same year, at the next election of the Reich President, Thälmann ran for this post, but did not receive the required percentage.

"Es ist Zeit etwas zu ändern"!

His party has not received even half of the votes. What then can we say about getting the chair of the head of the country himself?

On October 30, 1925, on a cold Berlin evening, in the house of Karl Liebknecht, a turning point in the existence of the party occurred, which will go down in history as the “October Rebirth” (German: “Oktober Wiedergeburt”). Initially, the First All-Party Conference of the CPG was initiated, at which, having prepared his plan, Thälmann believed and insisted that the policy of the Communist Party until that time was completely useless and fatal for its existence in German politics and it was necessary to completely change its course, its political program. At this all-party meeting, the refusal of the participation of the German proletariat in the building of international communism was put on the agenda and this should only be done within Germany itself and in the interests of the German nation. More than once, Thälmann cited examples of the existence of the national communist regime in Ukraine, and following his instructions, this practice should also be implemented in Germany itself.

The consequences of the decisions made by Thälmann as the party leader initially had a negative impact on the position of the CPG - it was immediately expelled from the International and was regarded by the head of the Commintern Grigory Zinoviev as a national deviationist, and accordingly the party lost support from the outside. A large conservative-minded part of the communists, represented by Wilhelm Pieck and Heinz Neumann, left the party and created an alternative Communist Party of Germany.

From now on, the National Communist Workers' Party of Germany (NKDAP) began to exist.

The main provisions of the program of the National Communist Workers' Party of Germany (NKDAP) and differences from Hitler's NSDAP as a key opponent

The new party program stated the following postulates that determined its future image:
- The ideology of the party has both the goal of building a socially equal communist and a pure national German state;
- Creation of living space for the German nation. Obtaining new territories and a continental sphere of influence for the existence of the German nation;
- Only those who know the German language and respect the traditions and culture of the Germans can belong to the German nation;
- Nationalization of all enterprises in Germany. Elimination of "unfair" income. Creation of a planned economy;
- Creation of a regular army that will protect Germany and will be a tool for realizing its personal geopolitical interests.

Perhaps the emerging National Communism of Thälmann is somehow akin to the National Socialism of Hitler? Yes, the Thälmannists borrowed some parts of the Nazi program and their narratives, adapting them to their own coloring! Basically, the NKDAP program differed from the NSDAP in that the first task should be social-class equality in German society, and also excludes violent genetic methods of extermination of foreign elements and racial policy in general, but it assumes the gradual linguistic and cultural assimilation of non-German elements in the person of Jews, Slavs and others. Both parties have a nationalist component, and among the Thälmannists it is somewhat more moderate.

Participation of the NKDAP in the parliamentary elections to the Reichstag in 1930, 1932. Victory of the National Communists in the elections of 1932. Thälmann - Reich Chancellor

Over the following years, the goal of the NKDAP was to gain as much support and electorate as possible. The party's printed organ was the newspaper "Nationaler Kommunist", which educated about the activities of the NKDAP. The new course of the communist movement caused surprise and shock on the part of the public. The Thälmannists played heavily both on the anti-bourgeois, socio-economic dissatisfaction of the left, and on the nationalist, revanchist sentiments of the right, and as a result, the party has increased support from many. Still, the main opponent in political races remained the center-left SPD - it still had a fairly strong electorate and it also represented a great difficulty for the Nazis.

The writer and theater artist Bertolt Brecht, who became the mouthpiece of the propaganda of the NKDAP, will make a significant contribution to the growth of support for the Thälmannists. Later, in 1933, he would take the post of Minister of Propaganda and Education of the “new” Germany.

Suddenly, as a result of the stock market crash on Wall Street, the “Great Depression” sweeps across the world, which greatly affects the economy and living standards of the citizens of the Weimar Republic, which will later affect German political elections.

The Reichstag elections of 1930 were a significant event for the NKDAP. The National Communist Party received 18.25% of the votes, thereby increasing its personal result by 7 times in contrast to the 1928 elections and becoming the second largest political force in parliament, only compromising the ill-fated SPD. This was only half the victory.

Two years later, in November 1932, elections were held again, in which the NKDAP won by a large margin, having already received 37.27% of the votes and becoming the leading party in the country. In the winter of 1933, the Schleicher government appointed by Hindenburg resigns and is replaced by Thälmann's people with the tolerant consent of Hindenburg himself.

Totalitarization of the state apparatus. Persecution of political opposition. "Night of the Long Knives"

Despite the fact that the National Communists remained the main force in power, they had to secure their position completely. As soon as he grabbed the rudder of power, Thälmann immediately set out to destroy competitors and rivals in the form of representatives of Social Democracy and Nazism. On June 30, 1934, an event called the “Night of the Long Knives” or Operation Blitzkrieg occurred, as a result of which persons disliked by Thälmann were physically eliminated. The victims of this undertaking were, first of all, to be Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Rehm, Goebbels, Neumann, and Schleicher. While many movements fled in all directions, running away from the murderous justice of the Nazis, the Nazis were an unruly force that had the hope of overthrowing the NKDAP. The National Communists concentrated their attention on them first of all, destroying or transplanting the top of this organization. Some of the Nazi functionaries fled abroad. The same Himmler managed to emigrate to Mongolia. Adolf Hitler himself was killed in Munich. Only left-wing, socialist elements remained in the NSDAP in the form of Gregor Strasser, but they were soon removed from the parliamentary environment - there was no trust in them either. In July 1934, a law was passed banning all parties except the NKDAP.

"Die Bedrohung wurde im Keim erstickt."

Soon, another law was adopted, which abolished the post of Reich President and the “Volksführer” (“Volksführer” - German “People’s Leader”), or simply “Führer”, became the sole head of state, as Thälmann established himself at that moment.

Transformation of the German state. Great German Commune

When Thälmann was completely entrenched in power, the Reichstag passed the corresponding law, after which the Weimar Republic turned into a national communist dictatorial state, that is, into the Great German Commune, under which the NKDAP invaded all the institutions of the German state and ultimately received unlimited power.

New state attributes were adopted.

“Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer” - these were the words that most Germans wanted to hear, and this became the country’s motto. Thälmann promised to restore Germany's greatness.

Thälmann, having come to power, had the goal of implementing a grandiose plan to modernize the economy, taking Ukraine or the Soviet Union as an example, that is, he chose a collectivist economy. Workers, many of whom supported Thälmann, demanded action and he decided that action would restore confidence and provide employment. A number of large enterprises were subordinated to the state. Many projects were introduced, such as the construction of German autobahns, the launch of the Volkswagen plant, and, first of all, rearmament.

Agriculture was not of much interest to the National Communists, but “productive cooperatives” were created and prices were generally supported by state-fixed prices.

The Dying of the Versailles Order. Revival of German military power. Remilitarization of the Rhine

Exit from the Versailles treaty system, and subsequently achieving absolute disobedience to the Entente was one of the strategic goals of the NKDAP.

Despite the cry from Paris and London, they began building up their own armed forces. On the basis of, roughly speaking, the weak and impotent Reichswehr, the strong and mighty Volkswehr was formed, which became the basis of the armed forces of Great Germany.

Also, the "VA" (People's Vanguard) (German: Völksavangard - VA) squads began to represent a separate military organization of the country, which was originally a military organization of the NKDAP and is currently subordinate to Thälmann himself and Joseph Remmer, a former Freikorps officer, a sympathizer of national communism, who joined Thälmann's trust after the "October Rebirth".

Rearmament carried great weight for both psychological and political reasons. The German arms sector, which had been slow in its development, was able to resume its capacity very quickly.

Cooperation of the German MI-complex with foreign enterprises

In 1933, cooperation began between the German "Krupp" and the Ukrainian "KhTZ", which had a particularly positive impact on the position of the former.

The army has become technically savvy thanks to the conclusion of a number of agreements with the UWPR and Italy in terms of tank and aircraft construction.

Rearmament ensured the commitment of the army to the new leadership, which in 1935-1936 was able to introduce general conscription. Thälmann did not yet have a specific plan for the use of his rearmed troops, but he was pleased to give people the idea that the Mauser under his jacket was loaded.

Foreign policy of the Great German Commune. Territorial consolidation 1937-1938 Berlin-Rome-Kyiv axis

As mentioned earlier, the National Communists had plans to unite all Germans, Austria is no exception. Whatever appetite Germany showed for Austria, fascist Italy viewed the prospect of the unification of these two countries with fears and therefore tried to guarantee the independence of its northern neighbor, threatening to send its troops there. Mussolini, as the Duce of Italy, perceived Thälmann and his regime with contempt, and Thälmann thought similarly about the Italian fascists.

The German Volksführer did not approve of the actions of the Italians in Abyssinia, with which they started a war, and therefore the latter at first actively helped in the supply of weapons to Ethiopia - this was retaliation for Italy’s obstruction of Germany’s actions in Austria. The moment came when the fascist dictator was “tired” of defending Austrian independence and therefore had to negotiate with this stubborn German. Great Germany promised not to influence the Italo-Ethiopian confrontation, in exchange for this it received Austria - everyone was happy. This is how Italian-German relations began to develop.

That same year, a civil war broke out in Spain between the Republicans and the Falangists (supported by Italy). In this war, Great Germany tried to play along with the position of Italy, which supported the rebel nationalist military under the leadership of Franco.

So, in general, in this regard, Thalmann had no choice but to admit the fact that the Pyrenees, like the rest of the Mediterranean, is completely the sphere of interests of exclusively fascist Italy.

The internal conflict in Spain continued until 1939 and, as a result of active assistance from Italy, ended in victory for the Falangists and the establishment of the regime of Francis Franco, who, due to the strong Italian factor, informally became a puppet of Rome, a kind of “governor general of the Iberian province.”

Regarding the Asian vector of diplomacy, Germany maintained warm relations with China, despite the ideological differences between the NKDAP and the Kuomintang as the official power in this country. The Germans also tried to cooperate in parallel with the Chinese "Maoists", in whom they saw a communist movement with a nationalist overtones like the Thälmannists.

In general, Germany's interests in China were pragmatic and based on the supply of useful raw materials from there. Berlin did not intend to terminate these relations in defiance of repeated ultimatums from Tokyo. Japan could also be a good collaborator for the Germans militarily, but the interests of Berlin and Tokyo were divergent and in some places even contradictory.

In March 1938, the Great German Commune annexed Austria, and the world community perceived this as an act of appeasement of Thälmann himself.

At the same time, in neighboring Poland, on its eastern provinces, an uprising of the Belarusian and Lithuanian population breaks out. The national revolt mainly spread to the territory of the Vilna Voivodeship and to Vilna itself. Lithuania and the Belarusian State provided assistance to the instigators. The Villena uprising became one of the prerequisites for the decline of Polish statehood, as the German leadership believed, and in the near future this made it easier to resolve the Polish issue. The useless radicalism and cruelty of Warsaw's actions regarding the alien population discredited Poland before the whole world and allowed its neighbors to increasingly and loudly put forward their claims against it.

If in terms of realizing geopolitical ambitions in Europe and Africa, Italy got the south, then Germany got the north and east of Europe.

Six months later, after the Anschluss, in September 1938, the Munich Conference initiated by Berlin followed, which began the process of cutting up Czechoslovakia. Great Germany included the Sudetenland, and then Bohemia and Moravia, where the Volksprotectorate was formed under the leadership of Klement Gottwald. Hungary under the patronage of Italy did not hesitate to participate in this event. As a result, Hungary, having put forward its claims, received the Hungarian regions of Slovakia, and also wanted to attempt to seize Transcarpathia, but Germany sharply prevented this. In this region, the pro-Ukrainian corrals of the “Carpathian Sich” quickly intensified, and Volkswehr divisions were introduced and this controlled territory fell under the protectorate of Berlin within the framework of the German-Ukrainian treaty “for the protection of the national and cultural rights of the Ukrainian and German peoples by each other.” The Volksprotectorate "Carpathian Ukraine" was created here with its center in Uzhgorod under the leadership of President Augustin Voloshin.

The Volksprotectorate "Slovakia" was formed, headed by Thälmann's local pawn, the leader of the Slovak national communists Gustav Husak.

"Die Welt wird wieder naiv vermasseln"

Since 1936, following military-economic cooperation between Germany, Ukraine and Italy, such an axis began to form. These three countries had many things in common, especially dissatisfaction with the world order of Versailles. In 1938, the Berlin Pact was concluded, which laid the foundations for a new military-political alliance. Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Turkey also rushed to this union, who also, for their own reasons, wanted changes and benefits in this world.

„Weltkrieg“

On September 1, 1939, on the personal directive of Thälmann, the forces of the Volkswehr invaded Poland, liquidating and annexed it as a separate state.
In the future, Germany began aggression towards other countries, such as Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, and the Baltic states. A colonial policy is carried out on the captured territories. At the moment, Great Germany is in possession of the volkscommissariats of Ostland, Transylvania, Belgium, and Holland.
Now there is an open war with Great Britain. A military intervention against the USSR is planned.

Description

„Der deutsche Adler breitet wieder stolz seine Flügel aus“

(Era Nacionalcomunista)

Thälmann's worldview in 1924. Variables within the CPG. From international communism to national communism

On a warm summer Monday, June 9, 1924, a train arrived at the main station of Kyiv from distant Germany, inside of which was one of those Reichstag deputies who presented himself as a spokesman for the interests of the German proletariat. This tall and strong thirty-year-old blond man, according to the orders of his party leadership, arrived on a working visit to Shumsky, the chairman of the Ukrainian National Communist Party. The key purpose of the trip to this country, which he had never seen before, was “to enlighten and convince Ukrainians that it is difficult and pointless to create an equal society on their own and that it would be better to do this in a fraternal international union with Russia.” Having discussed this topic together in his office, Alexander Yakovlevich suggested that the German try to express his proposal in front of his fellow party members and the rest of the deputies of the Central Rada. He agreed. For some reason, the inhabitants of the Ukrainian parliament reacted with skepticism to the calls of a rather professional populist speaker. Only Vinnychenko, being a pro-Bolshevik oppositionist in parliament, clapped his hands - at that time he was one of those few Ukrainian politicians who supported the idea of a moderate rapprochement with Soviet Russia. Thälmann, in addition to all this, had the opportunity to see the way of life and life in Ukrainian Republic of Workers and Peasants, in a country that just a few years ago had been tormented in a bloody war of liberation and was now slowly building its national wealth with its own resources and with its own hands. The German had enough time to, in addition to political work, also visit a number of places in this country and assess the situation in it. He visited both thousand-year-old Kyiv and the main industrial center of Ukraine - Kharkov. He even managed to visit a number of German colonies in the steppe south in order to inquire how his compatriots were faring far from their old homeland. Along the way, many happy faces of workers and peasants flashed before his eyes, whom their own state had rightly endowed with material benefits capable of feeding their families. After this trip, Ernie was surprised: “Is it really possible to create absolute wealth only by ourselves, without the efforts of all mankind?” Sitting in the compartment of the Kyiv-Berlin train, Ernst realized that he was returning with an unfulfilled task, but with a large supply of information received, which he needed to chew for a long time with his mind of a Hamburg proletarian.
The individualism of Ukrainian communism quite strongly influenced Thälmann and his vision of the existence of this ideology in Germany itself, which needed its own people's avenger, who was destined to tear the country out of the shackles of injustice and squalor imposed by the Anglo-Saxons, the French and their sycophants under the guise of German social democracy.
Thälmann's faith in the mantras emanating from the Moscow Kremlin about the "falsity" of Ukrainian communist patriotism quickly disappeared after a trip to Ukraine itself, and he became convinced that this was not at all the case. Ernst reflected that the ideals of internationalism were unnecessary and even fraught for his country, and building a class, equal society exclusively within the national German framework would be much more useful for Germany and its future existence.
Until his right moment, while his career in the party was becoming higher and higher, Thälmann had a chance to rethink a lot of things in his communist philosophy, taking more into account the national factor.
And now, in 1925, Ernst Thälmann is the supreme leader of the Communist Party. The opportunity arose to finally make his own right tendency adjustments to the party’s course, while having the kind charisma that had nurtured his authority since the days of the labor strikes in his native Hamburg.
That same year, at the next election of the Reich President, Thälmann ran for this post, but did not receive the required percentage.

"Es ist Zeit etwas zu ändern"!

His party has not received even half of the votes. What then can we say about getting the chair of the head of the country himself?

On October 30, 1925, on a cold Berlin evening, in the house of Karl Liebknecht, a turning point in the existence of the party occurred, which will go down in history as the “October Rebirth” (German: “Oktober Wiedergeburt”). Initially, the First All-Party Conference of the CPG was initiated, at which, having prepared his plan, Thälmann believed and insisted that the policy of the Communist Party until that time was completely useless and fatal for its existence in German politics and it was necessary to completely change its course, its political program. At this all-party meeting, the refusal of the participation of the German proletariat in the building of international communism was put on the agenda and this should only be done within Germany itself and in the interests of the German nation. More than once, Thälmann cited examples of the existence of the national communist regime in Ukraine, and following his instructions, this practice should also be implemented in Germany itself.

The consequences of the decisions made by Thälmann as the party leader initially had a negative impact on the position of the CPG - it was immediately expelled from the International and was regarded by the head of the Commintern Grigory Zinoviev as a national deviationist, and accordingly the party lost support from the outside. A large conservative-minded part of the communists, represented by Wilhelm Pieck and Heinz Neumann, left the party and created an alternative Communist Party of Germany.

From now on, the National Communist Workers' Party of Germany (NKDAP) began to exist.

The main provisions of the program of the National Communist Workers' Party of Germany (NKDAP) and differences from Hitler's NSDAP as a key opponent

The new party program stated the following postulates that determined its future image:
- The ideology of the party has both the goal of building a socially equal communist and a pure national German state;
- Creation of living space for the German nation. Obtaining new territories and a continental sphere of influence for the existence of the German nation;
- Only those who know the German language and respect the traditions and culture of the Germans can belong to the German nation;
- Nationalization of all enterprises in Germany. Elimination of "unfair" income. Creation of a planned economy;
- Creation of a regular army that will protect Germany and will be a tool for realizing its personal geopolitical interests.

Perhaps the emerging National Communism of Thälmann is somehow akin to the National Socialism of Hitler? Yes, the Thälmannists borrowed some parts of the Nazi program and their narratives, adapting them to their own coloring! Basically, the NKDAP program differed from the NSDAP in that the first task should be social-class equality in German society, and also excludes violent genetic methods of extermination of foreign elements and racial policy in general, but it assumes the gradual linguistic and cultural assimilation of non-German elements in the person of Jews, Slavs and others. Both parties have a nationalist component, and among the Thälmannists it is somewhat more moderate.

Participation of the NKDAP in the parliamentary elections to the Reichstag in 1930, 1932. Victory of the National Communists in the elections of 1932. Thälmann - Reich Chancellor

Over the following years, the goal of the NKDAP was to gain as much support and electorate as possible. The party's printed organ was the newspaper "Nationaler Kommunist", which educated about the activities of the NKDAP. The new course of the communist movement caused surprise and shock on the part of the public. The Thälmannists played heavily both on the anti-bourgeois, socio-economic dissatisfaction of the left, and on the nationalist, revanchist sentiments of the right, and as a result, the party has increased support from many. Still, the main opponent in political races remained the center-left SPD - it still had a fairly strong electorate and it also represented a great difficulty for the Nazis.

The writer and theater artist Bertolt Brecht, who became the mouthpiece of the propaganda of the NKDAP, will make a significant contribution to the growth of support for the Thälmannists. Later, in 1933, he would take the post of Minister of Propaganda and Education of the “new” Germany.

Suddenly, as a result of the stock market crash on Wall Street, the “Great Depression” sweeps across the world, which greatly affects the economy and living standards of the citizens of the Weimar Republic, which will later affect German political elections.

The Reichstag elections of 1930 were a significant event for the NKDAP. The National Communist Party received 18.25% of the votes, thereby increasing its personal result by 7 times in contrast to the 1928 elections and becoming the second largest political force in parliament, only compromising the ill-fated SPD. This was only half the victory.

Two years later, in November 1932, elections were held again, in which the NKDAP won by a large margin, having already received 37.27% of the votes and becoming the leading party in the country. In the winter of 1933, the Schleicher government appointed by Hindenburg resigns and is replaced by Thälmann's people with the tolerant consent of Hindenburg himself.

Totalitarization of the state apparatus. Persecution of political opposition. "Night of the Long Knives"

Despite the fact that the National Communists remained the main force in power, they had to secure their position completely. As soon as he grabbed the rudder of power, Thälmann immediately set out to destroy competitors and rivals in the form of representatives of Social Democracy and Nazism. On June 30, 1934, an event called the “Night of the Long Knives” or Operation Blitzkrieg occurred, as a result of which persons disliked by Thälmann were physically eliminated. The victims of this undertaking were, first of all, to be Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Rehm, Goebbels, Neumann, and Schleicher. While many movements fled in all directions, running away from the murderous justice of the Nazis, the Nazis were an unruly force that had the hope of overthrowing the NKDAP. The National Communists concentrated their attention on them first of all, destroying or transplanting the top of this organization. Some of the Nazi functionaries fled abroad. The same Himmler managed to emigrate to Mongolia. Adolf Hitler himself was killed in Munich. Only left-wing, socialist elements remained in the NSDAP in the form of Gregor Strasser, but they were soon removed from the parliamentary environment - there was no trust in them either. In July 1934, a law was passed banning all parties except the NKDAP.

"Die Bedrohung wurde im Keim erstickt."

Soon, another law was adopted, which abolished the post of Reich President and the “Volksführer” (“Volksführer” - German “People’s Leader”), or simply “Führer”, became the sole head of state, as Thälmann established himself at that moment.

Transformation of the German state. Great German Commune

When Thälmann was completely entrenched in power, the Reichstag passed the corresponding law, after which the Weimar Republic turned into a national communist dictatorial state, that is, into the Great German Commune, under which the NKDAP invaded all the institutions of the German state and ultimately received unlimited power.

New state attributes were adopted.

“Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer” - these were the words that most Germans wanted to hear, and this became the country’s motto. Thälmann promised to restore Germany's greatness.

Thälmann, having come to power, had the goal of implementing a grandiose plan to modernize the economy, taking Ukraine or the Soviet Union as an example, that is, he chose a collectivist economy. Workers, many of whom supported Thälmann, demanded action and he decided that action would restore confidence and provide employment. A number of large enterprises were subordinated to the state. Many projects were introduced, such as the construction of German autobahns, the launch of the Volkswagen plant, and, first of all, rearmament.

Agriculture was not of much interest to the National Communists, but “productive cooperatives” were created and prices were generally supported by state-fixed prices.

The Dying of the Versailles Order. Revival of German military power. Remilitarization of the Rhine

Exit from the Versailles treaty system, and subsequently achieving absolute disobedience to the Entente was one of the strategic goals of the NKDAP.

Despite the cry from Paris and London, they began building up their own armed forces. On the basis of, roughly speaking, the weak and impotent Reichswehr, the strong and mighty Volkswehr was formed, which became the basis of the armed forces of Great Germany.

Also, the "VA" (People's Vanguard) (German: Völksavangard - VA) squads began to represent a separate military organization of the country, which was originally a military organization of the NKDAP and is currently subordinate to Thälmann himself and Joseph Remmer, a former Freikorps officer, a sympathizer of national communism, who joined Thälmann's trust after the "October Rebirth".

Rearmament carried great weight for both psychological and political reasons. The German arms sector, which had been slow in its development, was able to resume its capacity very quickly.

Cooperation of the German MI-complex with foreign enterprises

In 1933, cooperation began between the German "Krupp" and the Ukrainian "KhTZ", which had a particularly positive impact on the position of the former.

The army has become technically savvy thanks to the conclusion of a number of agreements with the UWPR and Italy in terms of tank and aircraft construction.

Rearmament ensured the commitment of the army to the new leadership, which in 1935-1936 was able to introduce general conscription. Thälmann did not yet have a specific plan for the use of his rearmed troops, but he was pleased to give people the idea that the Mauser under his jacket was loaded.

Foreign policy of the Great German Commune. Territorial consolidation 1937-1938 Berlin-Rome-Kyiv axis

As mentioned earlier, the National Communists had plans to unite all Germans, Austria is no exception. Whatever appetite Germany showed for Austria, fascist Italy viewed the prospect of the unification of these two countries with fears and therefore tried to guarantee the independence of its northern neighbor, threatening to send its troops there. Mussolini, as the Duce of Italy, perceived Thälmann and his regime with contempt, and Thälmann thought similarly about the Italian fascists.

The German Volksführer did not approve of the actions of the Italians in Abyssinia, with which they started a war, and therefore the latter at first actively helped in the supply of weapons to Ethiopia - this was retaliation for Italy’s obstruction of Germany’s actions in Austria. The moment came when the fascist dictator was “tired” of defending Austrian independence and therefore had to negotiate with this stubborn German. Great Germany promised not to influence the Italo-Ethiopian confrontation, in exchange for this it received Austria - everyone was happy. This is how Italian-German relations began to develop.

That same year, a civil war broke out in Spain between the Republicans and the Falangists (supported by Italy). In this war, Great Germany tried to play along with the position of Italy, which supported the rebel nationalist military under the leadership of Franco.

So, in general, in this regard, Thalmann had no choice but to admit the fact that the Pyrenees, like the rest of the Mediterranean, is completely the sphere of interests of exclusively fascist Italy.

The internal conflict in Spain continued until 1939 and, as a result of active assistance from Italy, ended in victory for the Falangists and the establishment of the regime of Francis Franco, who, due to the strong Italian factor, informally became a puppet of Rome, a kind of “governor general of the Iberian province.”

Regarding the Asian vector of diplomacy, Germany maintained warm relations with China, despite the ideological differences between the NKDAP and the Kuomintang as the official power in this country. The Germans also tried to cooperate in parallel with the Chinese "Maoists", in whom they saw a communist movement with a nationalist overtones like the Thälmannists.

In general, Germany's interests in China were pragmatic and based on the supply of useful raw materials from there. Berlin did not intend to terminate these relations in defiance of repeated ultimatums from Tokyo. Japan could also be a good collaborator for the Germans militarily, but the interests of Berlin and Tokyo were divergent and in some places even contradictory.

In March 1938, the Great German Commune annexed Austria, and the world community perceived this as an act of appeasement of Thälmann himself.

At the same time, in neighboring Poland, on its eastern provinces, an uprising of the Belarusian and Lithuanian population breaks out. The national revolt mainly spread to the territory of the Vilna Voivodeship and to Vilna itself. Lithuania and the Belarusian State provided assistance to the instigators. The Villena uprising became one of the prerequisites for the decline of Polish statehood, as the German leadership believed, and in the near future this made it easier to resolve the Polish issue. The useless radicalism and cruelty of Warsaw's actions regarding the alien population discredited Poland before the whole world and allowed its neighbors to increasingly and loudly put forward their claims against it.

If in terms of realizing geopolitical ambitions in Europe and Africa, Italy got the south, then Germany got the north and east of Europe.

Six months later, after the Anschluss, in September 1938, the Munich Conference initiated by Berlin followed, which began the process of cutting up Czechoslovakia. Great Germany included the Sudetenland, and then Bohemia and Moravia, where the Volksprotectorate was formed under the leadership of Klement Gottwald. Hungary under the patronage of Italy did not hesitate to participate in this event. As a result, Hungary, having put forward its claims, received the Hungarian regions of Slovakia, and also wanted to attempt to seize Transcarpathia, but Germany sharply prevented this. In this region, the pro-Ukrainian corrals of the “Carpathian Sich” quickly intensified, and Volkswehr divisions were introduced and this controlled territory fell under the protectorate of Berlin within the framework of the German-Ukrainian treaty “for the protection of the national and cultural rights of the Ukrainian and German peoples by each other.” The Volksprotectorate "Carpathian Ukraine" was created here with its center in Uzhgorod under the leadership of President Augustin Voloshin.

The Volksprotectorate "Slovakia" was formed, headed by Thälmann's local pawn, the leader of the Slovak national communists Gustav Husak.

"Die Welt wird wieder naiv vermasseln"

Since 1936, following military-economic cooperation between Germany, Ukraine and Italy, such an axis began to form. These three countries had many things in common, especially dissatisfaction with the world order of Versailles. In 1938, the Berlin Pact was concluded, which laid the foundations for a new military-political alliance. Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Turkey also rushed to this union, who also, for their own reasons, wanted changes and benefits in this world.

„Weltkrieg“

On September 1, 1939, on the personal directive of Thälmann, the forces of the Volkswehr invaded Poland, liquidating and annexed it as a separate state.
In the future, Germany began aggression towards other countries, such as Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, and the Baltic states. A colonial policy is carried out on the captured territories. At the moment, Great Germany is in possession of the volkscommissariats of Ostland, Transylvania, Belgium, and Holland.
Now there is an open war with Great Britain. A military intervention against the USSR is planned.