| This forum is used with the NationStates web-game designed and run by Max Barry. While not officially affiliated, this serves as the regional forum for the regions: Middle East, African Continent, American Continent, Asian Continent, and European Continent. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and can "read only". In order to get the most out of these forums, please become a member and read this guide - http://z3.invisionfree.com/nationstates/index.php?showtopic=3060 If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| The North German Confederation; How it came into being... | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Jun 7 2017, 07:39 PM (65 Views) | |
| Rhadamanthus | Jun 7 2017, 07:39 PM Post #1 |
|
Legitimist
![]()
|
Germany was in splinters. The closest thing to German unity in ages had been the agreement at Potsdam, in which the remaining German states had agreed to take central Germany under their joint custody, to serve as a foundation for future national unity and the return of the German nation to its rightful place on the world stage. But as political organization crumbled throughout Europe, the German lands burned as they had not in centuries. The Amish communes fell before bandits and despots. While the Colognian pontiff retained his province surrounding Cologne, he no longer controlled vast estates in Scandinavia and the Low Countries. The jointly-governed state of the treating powers in central Germany became quick prey to warring tribes and mad warlords. And even the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Vorpommern, the strongest state in Northern Germany and the instigator of German unity, was threatened with collapse. With the old Margrave, Adrian von Lebus, a guest in Vienna and rumored throughout the Continent to be mentally ill, Berlin was left in the hands of less capable relations. The growth of Brandenburg's industrial economy, combined with the massive rootless proletariat in the cities and an effete governing class of consisting of the former "Moffs" whom Lebus had co-opted into his service, created the ideal conditions for that most feared threat: Communist revolution. The Brandenburger Social Democratic Party, while it purported to be a peaceful political organization, was actually the spearhead of a violent revolt. Communists and their allies rose up during the night, burning houses and killing their owners; stealing property and seizing the factories. The Bolshevist rebels burned the royal palace, and murdered those members of the royal family who could not flee for their lives. The communists and their allies creates workers' councils to take control of government and production throughout the margrave's lands, and these workers' councils immediately started legitimizing the seizure of property and summarily executing anyone deemed to be an "enemy of the working class." Some among the land-owning classes initially sided with the revolutionaries, believing the the revolution was a natural and necessary reaction to the dictatorship in Austria. However, these were not spared by the workers' councils. Many peasants and workers were also imprisoned or killed if they were judged insufficiently committed to the revolution. Only in Mecklenburg, where the scions of the House of Mecklenburg quickly called up their militias and reestablished their old duchies, was the old order maintained. In the rest of Brandenburg-Vorpommern, the rebels declared the Prussian Social Republic. As socialist radicals in other parts of Germany took inspiration from the Prussian Social Republic, the counter-revolution sprung forth with fire and blood. Freikorps from Mecklenburg, Austria, Livonia, and other places converged on the Prussian Social Republic, where they joined together with local anti-communists. The counter-revolutionary units, which included many hardened veterans of Austria's wars in the Balkans, launched violent attacks against the PSR. When they took control of territory, they quickly put an end to the red terror, imposing a white terror that did not discriminate between the diehard communists and those who had merely collaborated or sympathized with them. Meeting savagery with savagery and brutality with brutality, they imposed order on the country. Making no attempt to re-annex Mecklenburg, which had contributed to the counter-revolution, the freikorps imposed their commander, one Colonel (or Oberst) Waldemar Ehrhardt, as Regent of Prussia. |
![]() |
|
| « Previous Topic · European Continent · Next Topic » |





11:35 AM Jul 13