Germany does not seek survival

It gave political resources, prestige and a prudent character to Liebknecht; but it gave radicalism, determination and desperate courage to another Polish woman.

After hesitating for a moment, the pen in Liebknecht's hand finally fell on the paper.

Liebknecht signed the Labour Community Agreement on behalf of the Spartacus League.

Albert's eyes lit up. Although he failed to force the entire left-wing coalition to submit, the National Socialist Party was unique in opposing the agreement. However, the National Socialist Party was nothing more than a Faustian "one-man party" and its influence was still very small.

This time, Faust again refused to sign the labor community agreement that was beneficial to the workers. Albert concluded that the National Socialist Party's mass influence, which still needed to be developed, would be negatively affected.

Faust was not much affected by Liebknecht's signature, and he had no complaints against Liebknecht and the Spartacus League. He just clapped his hands lightly, clapped twice, turned around and left the venue alone.

Everyone looked at Faust's back as he left with complicated expressions. It seemed that everyone had a new understanding of Faust in their letters.

Noske wanted to summon the guards to stop Faust, but Sheriff Gantner didn't dare to do such a stupid thing again. Albert also stopped Noske and whispered:

"Don't worry, we've already won Berlin. Faust refused to sign the Labor Community Agreement. The National Socialist Party has offended the workers of Berlin and all of Germany. No matter how powerful he is, what's so great about him? Does he think he's Superman?"

Chapter 182: The General Staff Can Also Pick Up Loot

Everyone was shocked by Faust's actions at the Labor Community Meeting. No one expected that at such a high-level meeting, someone would dare to directly use violence to fight back against Albert.

The SPD would certainly not swallow this insult easily, so after the Labor Community Conference ended, Ebert immediately ordered Scheidemann to start the SPD's propaganda machine to "expose and criticize" Faust in the entire Greater Berlin area and in areas across the country where the SPD had influence!

Albert's right-hand men were the ruthless Razor Noske, who did the dirty work, and Scheidemann, who handled some political propaganda work for Albert.

Scheidemann was still hesitant. "Your Excellency, Faust has elite troops at his disposal. Looking across Berlin, the Peace Army, the Berlin Police, the Red Guards, the People's Navy Division... are no match for the Red Army. Shouldn't we continue to strive for Faust? The National Socialist Party still has some value in being won over."

"hehe."

Albert laughed heartily, then shook his head. He looked at Scheidemann and said, "To win someone over, you first need leverage. Faust has an army, territory, and immense prestige from the Battle of Berlin. To win him over now would require an exorbitant price, a price we can't afford."

"what do you mean?"

"The Red National Defense Army is an elite force, and Faust is a renowned war hero. I will not underestimate him, so I must carefully manage my tactics, suppressing him first and then winning him over."

Who is Albert?

A right-wing element rose step by step in the Social Democratic Party, a fifty-year-old revolutionary party founded by Marx and Engels, and finally achieved the miracle of replacing the emperor with the emperor, usurping the leadership of the world's oldest socialist party from within.

Albert's cunning is unmatched by ordinary people. His students and former officials are all over Germany, which means he is very weak in the military field. He suffered a great loss in the turmoil since the Tyrol Uprising.

As long as the situation stabilizes a little and the rules of the game change from iron and blood to paper and ink, it will be Albert's home court.

Faust was a dropout from the University of Munich, and the National Socialist Party was a group of rough people who didn't even have a member of parliament. Ebert was of course very optimistic and fully believed that he was capable of controlling the National Socialist Party through political means.

"Scheidemann, you see, after Liebknecht signed the Labour Community Agreement, he recognized the authority of the Provisional Government. From that moment on, his every move was restricted by us. If he ever tried to start a revolution again, he would be in a difficult position."

Albert played with the Chancellor's seal he had received from the Prince of Baden and smiled confidently:

"Kautsky is a mediocre man. He's fine as an author, but he's completely clueless in politics. As for Liebknecht, in times of turmoil, he and a soldier like Faust might be able to outmaneuver us, but as long as things are stable, he has no chance."

Scheidemann said, "President, you still can't underestimate Faust. He has a stronghold in Munich and may even harbor ideas about splitting off and establishing an independent Bavaria."

Albert placed the Chancellor's seal on the table and said, "Don't worry, start our party's propaganda machine and let everyone in the country know that the National Socialist Party opposes the Labor Community Agreement. After that, there are only two most important things: one is to negotiate peace with the Allies, and the other is to take control of the army. These two things are actually the same thing. The million-strong army on the Western Front has been disarmed by the Allies. As long as we can cooperate with the Allies, we can take over the Western Front army from them."

"With the Western Front Army, we won't have to be too afraid of Faust. When the time comes, whether to destroy Faust or use the weak National Socialist Party to deal with the Spartacus League, it will all be up to me."

Albert was extremely confident.

The left-wing united those armed forces, various Red Guards, which seemed to be spread all over the country and numerous in number, but in fact had no combat effectiveness. Their weapons and equipment and training level could not be compared with those of the German regular army. The reason why they were so rampant for a while was simply because the army on the Eastern Front was blocked by the Poles in Eastern Europe and could not return, and the army on the Western Front was surrounded and disarmed by the Allies.

Now that Albert is in control of the provisional government, he can represent the provisional government to negotiate peace with the Allies. He doesn't care about the outcome of the talks. The key is to gain the support of the Allies.

By then, whether it was lending troops to help suppress the rebellion or the Allies releasing a batch of detained Western Front troops, it would be enough for Albert to deal with the Left-wing Alliance.

When Faust left the Siemens Villa, many representatives, regardless of their party affiliation, just bid him farewell in silence, either in astonishment or speechlessness. Even the Aryan superman could not help feeling a little pressure in this dull atmosphere.

When Faust walked out of the garden of Siemens Villa, among so many people's representatives who claimed to be revolutionary patriots, only Luxemburg followed Faust out.

Faust smiled and said, "Ms. Luxembourg, you can't sit down anymore?"

Luxemburg put on her veiled hat and trotted after Faust, her face still flushed and slightly panting. "Comrade Faust, you can call me Comrade Rosa... Your speech today, do you represent yourself personally, or do you represent the position of the entire National Socialist Party?"

Faust suppressed his chuckle and said seriously, "Today I am speaking on my own behalf, but I can assure you that after the National Socialist Party convenes its Supreme Revolutionary Committee meeting, the position of the National Socialists will probably align with mine."

"Well," Luxemburg took a deep breath. "I beg you to forgive Dr. Liebknecht's behavior today; he was simply trying to maintain unity. . . . Comrade Faust, are you really not planning to join the KPD?"

Faust crossed his arms, as if thinking of something, and joked, "It's better to be a friend of the KPD than a member of the KPD. If I don't join the KPD, I can play a greater role outside the party."

"Ok."

A hint of disappointment flashed across Luxemburg's face.

"Comrade Faust, I really don't want us to stand on opposing sides one day in the future."

Faust turned around and got into the car. He then rolled down the window and waved to Luxemburg outside, saying, "Comrade Rosa, don't worry. That day will never come."

After saying that, Faust's car drove away from the Siemens Villa. Luxemburg looked at the car going away with a hint of sadness on her face. She was not as optimistic about the future as Faust.

After leaving the Siemens Villa, Faust did not go directly back to his apartment, but took a car to the headquarters of the Great German Division in the city of Berlin.

The division headquarters was located in the German General Staff building. During the November Revolution, almost all the combat personnel of the General Staff followed Hindenburg and Ludendorff to the Western Front.

During its heyday, the General Staff had more than 300 elite officers, more than 80% of whom were from Junker families and completely monopolized the most important combat staff positions.

Only in the lower-level logistics, transportation, military law and clerical positions are there some officers of civilian origin.

Ludendorff took away almost all the combat staff. Most of the General Staff officers who remained in Berlin were in civilian positions. These people's positions were insignificant, but their abilities were definitely not bad. You must know that if you want to enter the General Staff, whether it is a combat staff position or an auxiliary position, you need to go through extremely rigorous assessments.

Rather, the fact that civilian officers can squeeze into the General Staff is enough to prove that they are absolutely highly intelligent talents.

"The Central Department of the General Staff originally had 27 officers, but now has one; the Clerical Department originally had 11 officers, but now has three; the Finance Department originally had 12 officers, but now has three; the Personnel Department originally had 8 officers, but now has two."

"The Foreign Military Intelligence Department originally had 19 officers, and now has 4. The Intelligence Collection Section originally had 12 officers, and now has 1. The Intelligence Analysis Section originally had 10 officers, and now has 2. The Archives Section originally had 8 officers, and now has 2.

"The Military Force Statistics Section had thirteen officers, and now has four. The Resource Assessment Section had eleven officers, and now has two. The Mobilization Planning Section had twelve officers, and now has three.

"The Technical Research Section originally had eleven officers, but now has four. The Tactical Research Section originally had fifteen officers, but now has no officers. The Test and Evaluation Section originally had eleven officers, but now has two. The Railway Department's Transportation Planning Section originally had ten officers, but now has one. The Line Management Section originally had ten officers, but now has no officers. The Dispatching Section originally had ten officers, but now has two.

"The Military History Department's Historical Materials Collection Section originally had seven officers, but now has four. The Historical Theory Research Section originally had seven officers, but now has two. The Military Statistics Section..."

……

After the Berlin Revolution, the German emperor's officers became trapped. Trucks loaded with Red Guards drove through the streets, shooting German officers who were still loyal to the Hohenzollern royal family. It didn't take long for the revolutionaries to achieve complete victory and the old order completely collapsed.

Many generals who had made outstanding military achievements in the world war were also arrested, and many were indiscriminately executed without trial in the chaos.

Even many officers of the General Staff who came from civilian backgrounds were implicated because of this layer of gray skin on their bodies. Many of them had their medals torn off and thrown on the sidewalk, their helmets were also thrown off, their sabers were broken, and their armbands were torn off their uniforms. They suffered humiliation.

The officers were luckier than the generals. The Red Guards were busy executing German generals at the time. During the most chaotic days, no one cared about the people hiding in the General Staff building.

After Faust led the Great German Division into the "Imperial Capital", the situation gradually recovered, and the Great German Division simply set up its headquarters in the General Staff Building.

Faust knew very well that this group of officers of the General Staff, regardless of their class stance, were definitely one of the best officer corps in the world. To a large extent, even the suffix "one of" could be removed.

The Wehrmacht saved the lives of many officers of the General Staff. Faust did not rush to ask them to join the National Socialist Party. If they really had different beliefs, they would not be able to work together.

Chapter 183: Not of My Race

What Faust did was to gather this group of auxiliary officers of the General Staff who came from humble backgrounds, hold democratic life meetings from time to time, and first promote the National Socialist Party's ideology to them.

As a war hero that Germany has been promoting vigorously for two years, Faust still has a lot of appeal in the army. At least for these officers of the General Staff, Faust is a familiar face to them. He definitely looks safer than the people of the Spartacus League and the Independent Party, and more reliable than the Social Democratic Party.

The officers were actually not very interested in the National Socialist Party’s democratic life meetings, but they were very interested in the safe territory controlled by the National Socialist Party in the south.

In the past few days, many people have passed notes to Faust, not talking about joining the National Socialist Party, but hoping to join the Red Army and then be transferred to Munich.

Furthermore, the top leaders of the National Socialist Party, several Central Revolutionary Committee members of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, such as Rommel, Paulus, Kesselring, and Guderian, who played a significant role in the Tyrol Uprising and the March on Munich, were all old acquaintances of the General Staff officers.

Even without mentioning the National Socialist Party's ideology, the mere existence of this relationship as colleagues and classmates could give the officers, who were living in uncertainty, a strong sense of security.

In the past week, the office of the Great German Division headquarters received more than 200 application letters. Among the officers of the General Staff who remained in Berlin, six or seven out of ten wanted to go to Munich. The situation was similar for officers in other departments.

Everyone could see that the situation in Berlin was turbulent. The confrontation between Ebert and Liebknecht had just begun, but no matter who won or lost, the officers would most likely suffer.

The officers who were once the most respectable and prestigious in German society also suffered bad luck and fell to this point.

After Faust returned to the division headquarters, he ignored the numerous officer application letters piled up on his desk. What the National Socialist Party lacked the most at the moment was indeed elite officers.

What's missing...

There is a shortage of people in all aspects.

There is a serious shortage of staff in party affairs, propaganda, finance, industry, and trade unions.

The National Socialist Party was already recruiting on a large scale in Munich and Innsbruck, but Faust was worried that if the National Socialist Party expanded so drastically in a short period of time, it would likely attract many dissidents.

Therefore, Faust has always been very cautious about recruiting people.

However, after the Labor Community Conference, Faust clearly felt that the National Socialist Party indeed had too few political talents. Once the focus of the German revolutionary struggle shifted from military to politics, the National Socialist Party would be very passive.

"Sir, someone is looking for you."

Sorge hurriedly pushed open the door of the Great German Division's office and brought a guest to Faust, a guest of very special identity.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the German General Electric Company, Rathenau.

"Mr. Rathenau...what brings you here?"

Rathenau, the Jewish boss, had shown some goodwill to Faust at the Labor Community meeting before, but Faust did not give the big capitalists any face at the meeting. He just walked away and became the only person in the provisional government who opposed signing the Labor Community Agreement.

Faust had done all this, but Rathenau still wanted to visit him in person, which made Faust alert.

Rathenau looked up at Faust and shook his head gently: "Mr. Faust, there's no need to be so nervous. I came to you to fulfill my previous promise."

"promise?"

"Didn't I promise you, Mr. Faust, that I would introduce some experts in the financial field to your party?"

Faust touched his chin and remembered that this incident really happened, but Rathenau was a Jewish boss. Faust was very strict even when the National Socialist Party was recruiting ordinary people. How could he easily accept the so-called economic expert recommended by the Jewish boss?

Faust curled his lips. "Chairman, I've already made my position clear at the Labor Community Conference. Unless you, the representatives of the big bourgeoisie, are willing to transfer absolute control of your companies to the revolutionary regime, I have nothing to discuss with you, and there's no basis for us to sit down and talk."

Rathenau smiled and said, "It was your words that made me decide to come over."

"Forehead?"

Faust was very interested. "Let me make it clear. The National Socialist Party is not short of money. We will not change our revolutionary stance because of money or a few economic experts."

Rathenau smiled and said, "I came here because I believe you are firm in your position."

"That's interesting, Mr. Chairman. As far as I know, you're a tycoon with wealth comparable to that of a nation," Faust said calmly. "The National Socialists don't distinguish between financial capital and industrial capital. In their view, all capital, regardless of its nature, must be socialized, with control of it transferred to the hands of the people."

Upon hearing this, Rathenau laughed twice, nodded to his secretary, and the secretary took out a large book from his briefcase.

Rathenau placed the book on Faust's table and said, "If you still have any doubts about me, you can read this book, "The Criticism of the Time," which I published before the outbreak of the war."

Faust raised his eyebrows, picked up the book, and flipped through it at the speed of light, quickly scanning through the contents of the hundreds of pages of the book.

"Critique of the Age" is an economics work published by Rathenau in 1912. He put forward several core concepts in the book. One of them is that the fundamental contradiction of capitalism lies in the fact that "capital logic" overrides "life logic", which is somewhat similar to the alienation theory in Marxism.

Second, it is believed that in order to solve the problem of social degeneration caused by the logic of capital, a "new elite class" composed of engineers and technical experts is needed to replace traditional capitalists in dominating economic decision-making, establish "planned capitalism", and achieve "economic justice" through state regulation.

On the issue of property ownership, Rathenau believed that some public services that involved the public interest should be nationalized mainly by the state; on the other hand, non-strategic industries should be socialized through the securities market.

Of course, the "socialization" mentioned in Rathenau's book is not the collectivization and nationalization in the socialist revolution, but is closer to the later concept of people's capitalism, which is to gradually dilute the equity of the enterprise and distribute it to all citizens through the issuance of small stocks.

As a super boss, Rathenau's ideas are generally close to a more moderate left-wing position.

After reading the book, Faust looked at Rathenau again: "So you agree with the doctrines of the National Socialists?"

Rathenau coughed, looked around, and said, "There are so many people here, it's not very convenient, is it?"

Faust smiled and said, "Okay, let's go to a more convenient place."

There were indeed many old officers in the General Staff Building who were not completely reliable, so Faust asked Sorge to arrange a safe place for them.

Sorge found a workers' restaurant. Because of the Battle of Berlin, part of the power system was severely damaged. The restaurant was dark and the only source of light was the fire in the fireplace.

Only two gas lamps were still on at the door.

The principle of a gas lamp is to light a gas stove, cover the flame with a ball of mineral mesh, and then the gas burns the mesh to an incandescent state, emitting a red, hot light.

This gas is water gas. If it is placed in a closed room and leaks due to a collision, it may cause an explosion if not careful. Therefore, it can only be used at the door.

Before the German General Electric Company in Rathenau promoted electric lights in Europe, in addition to gas lamps, Germans also used whale oil lamps for lighting. They could be used both indoors and outdoors. They did not emit black smoke or a strong, unpleasant odor like other animal fats when they burned, and were also safer than gas lamps.

More than 40 tons of oil can be extracted from the body of a 100-ton whale. In that era, whaling was still a very important industrial industry. In addition to lighting, whale oil also played an important role in many industrial fields.

A dinner had been prepared on the table, including bread, sausage, cheese and soup. The bread was the cheapest black bread. Rathenau probably had never had such a bad dinner in his life.

Rathenau gritted his teeth and only ate a bite of sausage. Sausage is Germany's national dish and it wouldn't be too bad in any restaurant.

The typical sausage making method involves chopping up leftover meat and offal, stuffing it into pig intestines, and then air-drying and storing it. More upscale sausages use beef, lamb, pork, fish, animal offal, or even coagulated blood as their primary ingredients. These ingredients are then chopped up, mixed with spices, vegetables, or cheese, and then stuffed into natural or synthetic casings.