Chapter 765 Lao Jiang
In March of this year, the first president of the Weimar Republic, Friedrich Ebert, was unable to handle government affairs due to illness, and Germany was forced to hold an early election.
In the first election in March, no one of the seven candidates received an absolute majority, leaving the presidential candidate undecided.
In order to stabilize the situation as soon as possible, the leader of the Fatherland People's Party Alfred von Tirpitz personally went to Hanover, the retreat of former German Commander-in-Chief Paul von Hindenburg, to persuade Hindenburg to come forward. campaign.
On April 26, Germany held its second general election. Hindenburg was elected as the second president of the Weimar Republic with 14.6 million votes, accounting for about 37% of the total votes.
Hindenburg was a resolute royalist. The first thing he did after taking office was to return all the properties of Wilhelm II and the deposed German nobility and compensate them for the losses they had suffered, despite the opposition of the German Parliament.
On May 5, Hindenburg issued a presidential decree instructing all embassies and consulates abroad to fly the black, white, and red flag of the German Empire in addition to the black, red, and gold flag of the Weimar Republic.
Russia was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the Weimar Republic. After the German Embassy in Alexandria hung the black, white and red flag, "Russian News" wanted to publish an article to remind other countries to be wary of the resurgence of German militarism. The Press and Publication Administration forcibly revoked it.
After Hindenburg became president, he took the initiative to propose to Russia, hoping to visit Russia in October.
This was also Hindenburg's first overseas visit after becoming president.
Felix welcomed Hindenburg, who arrived in Alexandria on October 11.
Felix held a grand welcome ceremony for Hindenburg. On the second day after arriving in Alexandria, Hindenburg took the initiative to come to Yuriev Palace on the pretext of visiting Anne.
Hindenburg never concealed his identity as a royalist on various occasions.
Anne, the princess of the Hohenzollern family, has a high status in Germany, so it is reasonable for Hindenburg to take the initiative to visit her.
Visiting Anne with Hindenburg was the former German Crown Prince Wilhelm.
During the World War, William had been fighting on the Western Front and had not directly fought against George.
After Wilhelm II abdicated, Crown Prince Wilhelm fled to the Netherlands with the royal family, and was only allowed to return to Germany last year.
In the Weimar Republic, Crown Prince Wilhelm did not hold any position.
The so-called visit to Anne is just a pretense. What Hindenburg and William really want to visit is George.
George and Anne had a clear division of labor, and the women kept in touch with each other. George, Hindenburg, and William went to the study to drink tea and chat.
During the Russian Empire, both Hindenburg and Wilhelm had participated in the Rivne exercises as military observers or special guests, and George was no stranger to the two.
The topic naturally started from the World War.
“If Princess Nikolayevich had not initiated the Battle of Tannenberg, Germany and Russia would not be where they are now.”
Hindenburg placed all the blame on Nicholas Jr. pull.
This means that Nicholas Jr. was not present, otherwise Nicholas would have fought Hindenburg for three hundred rounds.
"If Nicky hadn't taken the initiative to attack, you wouldn't have even had a chance to come back."
George's attitude was casual. That was already ten years ago. A good man would not mention his courage back then.
"According to what you said, I should be grateful to Grand Duke Nikolaevich——"
Hindenburg's eyes were as wide as bells, and he was a hundred unconvinced.
When George took over the Northern Front, Hindenburg had returned to Berlin to serve as the commander-in-chief of the German army. Strictly speaking, Hindenburg and George did not fight directly.
"You should really be grateful. If Nicky hadn't been bewitched by the British and the French, Germany wouldn't even have been able to survive 1915."
George was actually upset. The world war changed too many things.
"Which Nicky are you talking about?" Hindenburg did it on purpose. This old guy was not here to connect with each other, but to cause trouble.
Just when George was about to fight back, Vasily appeared on the scene.
Hindenburg, who was born in 1847, was already eighty years old. If George were to go all out, he would be afraid that Hindenburg would pass by in a moment of excitement, and he would be embarrassed to say too much. After all, he was a guest.
With the reputation of being the successor of the military god and the current Duke Suvorov, Vasily was no less powerful against Hindenburg.
“If George and I were on the northern front at that time, you would have had no chance at all!”
“Suppose the Russian army on the northern front does not take the initiative to attack and only takes a defensive position, but instead attacks the Austro-Hungarian Empire with all its strength , what can you do? Call Conrad over and ask him how many days he can last!"
"I don't know who Erich (Ludendorff) is."
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After Vasily joined, it became difficult for Hindenburg to rely on his old age.
George did not neglect William and expressed his greetings to the old emperor.
Unlike Hindenburg, William took the initiative to ask George for advice on how Germany should get rid of the current unfavorable situation as soon as possible.
"It is not difficult to revive industry. The key is how to rebuild the confidence of the Germans."
George's words are inevitably a bit Versailles to William.
Whether it is difficult to revive industry depends on who is targeted.
The reason why Russia’s strength can recover so quickly is because Amur still has an almost complete industrial system, and the Russian and European regions have been completely destroyed, minimizing the obstacles of the old forces, so it can Back to the top in just a few years.
Germany is currently suffering from internal and external troubles, and it is not as easy as George said to revive its industry.
As for the confidence of the Germans, this is not the main problem in William's opinion.
It can only be said that the perspectives are different, and the conclusions are naturally different.
"Russian experience does not apply to Germany. To solve your problems, you still have to proceed from reality."
George said half of what he said, and he understood everything.
If William doesn't understand the problem, even if George teaches him step by step, William still can't understand the homework.
If William could seek truth from facts, many of Germany's current problems would actually not be problems.
The most critical reason is that the war did not reach Germany itself, and Germany's industrial base and talent pool were not systematically damaged.
Although after the end of the World War, Germany moved some of its factories abroad due to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, there was also a certain degree of loss of talent.
Most Germans still have feelings for Germany, and German power, especially military power, is still in the hands of the Junker aristocracy.
This is William’s greatest asset.
If William is wise enough and powerful, restoration is not impossible.
Hindenburg, who was having a quarrel with Vasily, suddenly interrupted: "The Austro-Hungarian Empire no longer exists. The fundamental contradiction between Germany and Russia has disappeared. We should face the future and start a new era."
George must give Hindenburg a thumbs up, the old is still the hotter.
(End of this chapter)